Fire Truck Cake

I purchased a book Birthday cakes for Kids several years ago. Finally, I have actually attempted one of the cakes! Quinten has developed a strong fire truck fascination. He only asked for two items for Christmas and one was a fire truck with a hose and a ladder. Yesterday was Mommy and Quinten day and I decided to make the cake. Quinten was right beside me for all of the decorating. He was patient when I was not! Only half of the cake came out of the pan so I had to do some shifting with the design. Quinten deemed the cake "perfect". He says he wants to save it for his birthday which is only six months away! He loves the fact that the fire truck has a hose (red licorice) and ladder (black licorice). I love the fact he is so easily pleased and appreciative. Wouldn't this world be a better place if we could all be so kind and gently with each other?

Winter in Michigan

Mackinaw on the ice. Quinten said to him "Mackinaw you're my best buddy". They really bonded over the weekend.



Our hosts' home-Aunt Linda and Uncle Carl Nelson.



Daddy and Quinten walking on frozen Burt Lake.



I like this picture!

Quinten is trying to break up the ice at the ice house.


We traveled north to Brutus, Michigan for the long President's weekend. Our trip was long at 8 hours arriving after midnight. We were the guests of Mark's aunt and uncle in their north home. Mark and Lauren were able to ski both Saturday and Monday at a fairly empty ski resort called Nub's Knob. This was great news for them-not so good for the ski resort. Janet got to hang out at the Nelson home with Linda's great cooking. We did enjoy hiking on frozen Burt Lake. I am so glad Quinten likes being outside in all weather conditions.

Quinten again traveled phenomenally! He travels best when we do very little stopping and let him watch little tv. Most people travel with their DVD players with little kids but Quinten needs to be an active learner. He finally fell asleep about 10:30 but never cried.

We returned home Tuesday after hearing more snow was falling in Columbus. It turned out to be an excellent decision as the return was without incident. We returned to our wonderful neighbor snow blowing our driveway from the 9 inches of snow fallen the day before.

Winter Pictures

Attempting a black and white contrast.



Guess the birds are planning on staying in today!




Loved the contrast in the trees in our neighborhood.





The sun was out today!

I enhanced the contrast and like the outcome.

Winter!

Friday night about 6PM

Saturday morning!

Friday the snow started falling in big beautiful flakes-lots of flakes! I have always loved the snow and associated winter activities. After work, Mark, Quinten and I built this snowman. He is taller than Mark! Yes, that is a Longerberger basket on his head!! The snow can be so fun! As you can clearly see from picture #2, the wind and extra snow had a profound effect on the snowman. We still have not found the head or the basket/hat. Quinten loves being outside and the cold does not bother him in the least. Tomorrow we hope to go sledding at the local school hill. Quinten rides backwards so the snow does not fly into his face. I hope to post more pictures playing in the snow this weekend!

Bowling

Lauren-are you bowling or are you texting?!


Quinten getting excited for another ball!

We took the kids bowling yesterday afternoon. Lauren was less than thrilled and yet she bowled a 120!! Quinten loved bowling and watching the balls get returned. He would try to throw down the lane but needed assistance. Twice the ball stopped mid-lane and the staff had to retrieve it for him. He put his fingers in the ball like a pro and could pick up the ball with one hand. Quinten even liked his bowling shoes. When it was time to leave, he threw a major fit. Lucky for us it lasted only a few minutes but wow the scream! Tonight Quinten asked if he could go bowling again tomorrow. I really look forward to doing activities with the kids now that Quinten is older.

Quinten sayings

Quinten has the funniest sayings and I want to capture some of them for you.



"Dad is on speed". He is referring to daddy's driving speed! It is hysterical and we hope he does not ask about the speed in front of anyone outside of our family.


"First finger". This alludes to getting him to race to do just about anything! First finger can get him upstairs to change clothes, get ready for bath/bed, go to the bathroom, etc. The person person who gets the first finger to the destination gets to pick the activity. IE: First finger upstairs gets to pick the 1st book to read.


"Real Pink Barbie". This has to be my favorite saying of the holiday. As you can read in a previous post, real pink barbie refers to his kitchen. He still calls it his real pink barbie. He will point out that it is not really pink as Santa's elves ran out of pink paint!

"Best Lights". This refers to our home's outside holiday lights compared to anyone else's! Whenever we were driving in the dark, he would announce close to home, "we are about to see the best lights".

Family Picture

Here is the official 2009 family holiday photo. Don't you love this one? Quinten refuses to get his picture taken by himself or with a group. He is in only one picture at my parents' home. As you can see, Quinten is under duress. Only his favorite big sister can get him to sit for the picture. It is taken with my camera timer which I cannot figure out how to take multiple photographs. Mark is not happy that his eyes are not open. Go figure! His eyes are never opened for posed pictures. It will give us laughs in future years.