Two Sides of the Coin

Sophia's been hoping all winter for enough snow to build something. After a very mild beginning, winter has finally come to us in force this February. Alathea had a contradictory relationship with the snow that fell last weekend--it looks nice, but she's not quite sure when experiencing it.

Alathea never moved again from the spot her feet stop in this video until I picked her up.

 View from our back windows

"Snowgirl" complete with pony tail, courtesy of Sophia

Burns' Night

My friend Fiona treated us to traditional Scottish fare for Burns' Night, a celebration of Robert Burns' birthday, which is today. Burns is the national poet of Scotland, and many Scots celebrate his birthday by eating haggis, mashed tatties, and mashed neeps (potatoes and turnips). You're probably familiar with "Auld Lang Syne," which Burns wrote, along with TONS of other poems, most of them in the Scots dialect.

 

Wes is reading Burns' "Address to a Haggis" in the video. All of the food went over very well with everyone, with the exception of the turnips. Both little girls abstained after an initial taste. But the next day Sophia asked for haggis again. It tastes like spicy ground beef, so long as you don't think about what you're eating (animal lungs, heart, liver).

 

Cranachan plus shortbread for dessert

Doll House

 

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa E and Hurtland South for this great birthday gift!

We particularly like the doorbell sounds complete with flashing lights and the 3 sets of doors, which we managed to get all sorts of old school Little People vehicles through today, including a forklift and an airplane, but excluding the Royal carriage, which Alathea calls "the bus." So "the bus" has to park outside the doll house.

Alathea Turns 2

In my haste to get caught up on a backlog of holiday photos, I forgot to mention that the reason for the helicopter cake Wes made is that Alathea is enamored with things of the sky: airplanes, fireworks, helicopters, the moon...