Happy Valentine's Day

This Valentine's we'd planned some Daddy dates for everyone.  Daddy has been working so much, since before Thanksgiving, that we all needed some one-on-one time with him.  The weekend started with Justin surprising me by taking Friday off and not even telling me!  So when I left the Y at 10am on Friday, I found the kids and daddy swimming in the pool, and when they got out, they handed me a box of truffles from our local chocolatier...Yum!  Later that afternoon began the first of our daddy-dates with Ethan and Daddy heading to the theater to see the new Lego Movie.  Ethan loved it and had a blast with his one-on-one time with daddy.  Next we'd planned that night for Daddy and Claire to dance it up at our local YMCA's Valentine's dance.  Claire loves to dance since she's a ball of energy, and she loves balloons, which covered the gym floor, so you can bet daddy and Claire had a blast.  Finally, Saturday we planned our Mommy and Daddy date.  We took the kids to our Y's Parent's Night Out (seriously amazing, if you haven't checked into your local Y's Parent's Night Out, you need to!) and then we headed home to enjoy being in our own home sans children...which never happens.  We both worked together to cook up a Valentine's dinner for two that included california rolls, pork & leek dumplings, stuffed clams, and crab bisque...man did it hit the spot.  Of course, there was nothing better than a quiet dinner for two in the comforts of our own home. :)  We picked up the kids around 8pm to put them to bed and it was back to reality...almost.  Daddy took off Monday from work too!  So we had even more daddy/family time together, even though Monday did include dentist appointments for mom and dad...ugh. :) But I guess there's no better time for a teeth cleaning than after Valentine's weekend.  Happy Valentine's to you and yours!

Daddy & Claire at their Sweetheart Dance

Our delicious dinner for two

A Night Full of Love

Well, I've been asked to coordinate our "ladies night" activities at church that we hold every other month. I have to admit the thought of doing this is very overwhelming for me...not the actual carrying out of the duties, simply the thought of it.  Mostly because my hubby works soooo much; I was worried about when I would find time to get everything done in the midst of caring for my small children, and heaven knows the thought of shopping with my children is overwhelming enough :)  So after many re-assurances by myself and the hubby...and a few stress-filled tears, I got down to business...and had a lot of fun in the process.  This month our theme was "A Night Full of Love".  Our topics were "Husband Love", "Love thy neighbor", "Divine Love", and of course "Chocolate love"...AKA fondue fountain.  We also threw in a game of "guess how many candies in the jar", a "heart-to-heart" icebreaker game, and we even put our names on individual paper hearts so that all the ladies could write down something sweet about us...so we could take home some love :).  I really enjoyed the preparation and the night of love and I am soooooo grateful for those who helped in the prep, and those who took the time to show up and enjoy the "ladies night".  Looking forward to our "This Little Piggy" themed night in April.  See you there!

Just some pics of the decor for the night....I managed to forget I had the camera when ladies arrived so didn't get any people pics :)

Sunday Sweets...Chocolate Peanut-Butter Brownies

Chocolate- Peanut Butter Brownies

Ok, so I made these for the first time today and they're DIVINE...so of course I say, "oh i need to write down what I did before I forget"...well I can't find a single index card anywhere in my house to add this recipe to my recipe box...so I guess I'll just have to blog it!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter

2/3 c. creamy peanut butter

5 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate

1 1/2c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1c. flour

Heat oven 350 and grease 8x8 baking pan

On stovetop, melt together butter, chocolate, and peanut butter on low, stirring as needed.  Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in medium size bowl, beat sugar, vanilla, and eggs on high ~5 min.  Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed.  Slowly add in flour.  

When mixture is blended pour into prepared pan and bake 40-45 min.

We did NOT do this but thought it might be nice to top with some peanut butter and a sprinkle of chocolate chips or just sprinkle with crushed up peanut butter cups.

ENJOY!