Valentine Celebration Catch Up

The 2nd Annual Chocolate Fondue Party

Dakota in her Valentine Gear (poor puppy!)

Happy Valentine's Day

Chalking Up Some Easter Eggs...

Check out these beautiful Easter Eggs handmade by the kids - with the help of Grandma Kathy. In the spirit of Pioneer Woman Cooks, I'll lay out all the steps for you so you can try it for yourself next year.

Here are the ingredients - a dozen eggs, hardboiled of course. Chalkboard paint, a small paintbrush, and regular old sidewalk chalk.






First, take one egg and apply a coat of black chalkboard paint over its entire surface. This gets a little tricky, especially for those small hands, so we did use some plastic measuring cups (like you get from TANG) and placed the egg on it once one half of it was painted.




When each egg is painted, place it back into the egg carton to dry. Wait an hour or two before putting on the second coat of chalkboard paint. During this time you may need to turn the eggs a bit as we found they did stick to the styrofoam carton. This may not be a problem if you use a paper carton.

After the second coat, let the eggs rest overnight and then get out the sidewalk chalk and get creating. Once this step is done, take the eggs outside and holding the egg an arm's length away, spray it with hairspray to let the chalk set. If the chalk disappears, don't get scared. As the hairspray dries, the color will come back. Finally, arrange the eggs in a basket with colored grass and enjoy them. BUT - I wouldn't recommend eating them.

February Events

Weekend Getaway with Mitch, Jackie, Zach and Maggie There was a whole lot of outside time, inside time and watching hockey time. Oh, and there was the "skinning the squirrel time" where Sophie held the book, Dangerous Book for Boys open to page 239 and read the directions for skinning a squirrel to Zach as he gave it a go. Meanwhile I was inside the house trying to keep my breakfast down.

Fat Tuesday Party
Our friends Michelle and Paul lived in New Orleans for quite a few years and fell in love with the city - so much so the walls of their house are painted in Mardi Gras colors... in a very rich and tasteful way. They hosted a party where the kids decorated masks, made floats and had a parade for all the adults. Our "prizes" from the party decorated the dining room table for the next few weeks.

Valentine's Day Fondue
After months of searching for a vintage fondue pot I gave up and bought a new one from Target. I would much prefer the orange or yellow or brown kind to the polished line of the stainless steel one but Valentine's Day was approaching and I wanted to start a new tradition here on Belmont Road. So I splurged and we had a wonderful fondue on Valentine's Day - complete with homemade angel food cake, big marshmallows, and bananas and strawberries. Yummy!


BRRRRRR! February here was unseasonably cold - even for us North Dakotans - and we spent A LOT of time hanging out by the fire. One night Dave called me into the family room so I could see that the girls had found the perfect mix - reading by a warm fire. After that there were often four of us reclining on the floor with books in hand - Dave still preferred the chair over the floor.

As of Sunday I think we're done with indoor fires until fall - during one of Dave's roaring fires the glass of one of the doors blew out. Luckily nobody was in front of the fire at the time and the glass blew into the fire. Then yesterday morning, while everybody was in the kitchen having breakfast, there was again the sound of shattering glass and Dave found a mess of glass all over the front of the fireplace. I called a local business, they sent a repairman over and the glass is getting fixed. But he told us one very important piece of advice I'll pass on - do not use the fire starter bricks in indoor fireplaces. Apparently they're made of wood shavings that are glued together - but the glue, when it melts, sticks all over the place and causes uneven heating that is dangerous. He suggested buying a packet of shims and using those for firestarters instead.

817 Here they are - the two guys that made it all happen. I tried to help as much as I could but I'm no match for these two. The house looks fabulous and Charlie and John deserve oh so very much of the credit. As for Charlie calling me an "old shoe" I'm still not sure how I feel about that - but he insists it was meant as a compliment. :)

Two Months of Tuesdays
Caprice, Anna and I finally finished Theresa's quilt yesterday and got it delivered. The ironic part is we delivered it to her on a day where it hit 40 degrees above zero and we were walking around without coats on. But I'm sure she'll still cuddle up in it and know how much she's loved and cared for.

What Kind of Holiday Food Am I?

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

Take your own quiz here.

Kids and Decorating

Even as I've been thinking about painting instead of Christmas decorating, the kids have been decorating for me. Here's the tree in John's room - all decked out from top to bottom: a playmobil angel (albeit on its side) at the top and handmade decorations throughout. They're pretty sweet... the kids and their decorations.

A new game for the season: Guess the Pie Dough Shape

...a game not all that different from the "Lay on your back in the grass, look to the blue sky and name the cloud shapes." This game is even better though because after you've named the shape on the pie dough you get to lather the dough in butter, sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon, put it in the oven for a few minutes and after it cools, gobble it up. It's an awesome treat while you're waiting for the pumpkin pie to bake. While you're at it you could pick up the book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, and read it to your kids.

By the way, we determined that this shape looks like the USA. What do you think?

Glessner Family Traditions

Growing up, my family was never really big on candy; we were (and still are) definitely more dessert people. Give us a pumpkin pie, apple pie, sheetcake brownies, banana bread, or chocolate chip cookies over M&Ms any day. The Glessner family, on the other hand, is all about candy - no family gathering is ever complete without at least one bowl (usually 2-3) of candy.

The first time Dave and I hosted a family event I purchased all the ingredients for the Thanksgiving dinner: potatoes, butter, cream cheese, corn, fresh cranberries, sugar, pecans, pumpkin, Pillsbury pie crusts, evaporated milk, etc... Dave was in charge of purchasing the pop, beer, and the turkey. I was quite surprised when he came home from shopping with five large bags of M&Ms - three plain and two peanut. It hadn't even occurred to me that with the pumpkin and pecan pies I was making we would also need candy. Apparently I hadn't been paying very much attention to Glessner holiday gatherings - there was always candy around. The thing is - you can't take the dessert out of the girl so I still insist on making pies for the family events, only now I've learned no matter how big the gathering is, I only need to make one pie.

So tomorrow when we go to Fargo for Amy's college graduation party I'm sure there will be lots of bowls of candy spread around the house. And next week, when we host everyone for Sophie's first communion I'll make sure to include M&Ms on my grocery list. It's taken me almost 20 years, but I am learning.

Valentine's Tradition

Each year at this time Sophie, Lucy and I head to my favorite coffee shop, The Urban Stampede, for hot chocolate, sweet treats and some intense valentine making. We started this when Sophie was in Kindergarten, last year Lucy joined us, and next year there will be four of us making valentines as John will be in Kindergarten. Nothing beats drinking hot chocolate, thinking about friends and family, and sneaking in a piece of chocolate candy every now and then. Happy Valentine's Day!

House of a Different Kind

I know the Christmas season is past, but I still wanted to show off these gingerbread houses the kids made with the Shorma cousins on Thanksgiving. Kylie was awesome at putting together the frames (Roxy and I, after trying one or two ourselves, quickly delegated that chore to her.) and guiding the process. I’m not sure what they thought was more fun – the decorating or the eating of the candy. Even last week, when the rooftops and red hot paths were covered in a fine layer of construction dust, the kids were asking when they could eat the houses. I told them for the umpteenth time they were not for eating, just for decorating and then, in a total act of cowardice, placed them in the trash while all the kids were at school. What would you have done?

Santa Letter

The picture says it all - have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, Marci, Dave, Sophie, Lucy and John