Camping at Hog Island

We went camping at the Hog Island on the Withlacoochee River. I was disappointed we didn't see any hogs. It was sort of cold, it got down to 33 at night. That is really cold for Florida. Thank goodness for seat heaters. At 5:00 in the morning, I got up and put Grace on one to warm up. Other than the cold at night, we had tons of fun. I think we will wait another month before attempting another camping trip.

Grace all bundled up.

The fire was by far the most popular entertainment.

The Withlacoochee in the early morning. I love the steam over the water when it cools down in Florida.

Merry's routine

More of Merry in her birthday dress. Merry would not be Merry without some sort of road rash present.

This is Merry's evening routine. Lots of drugs keep her breathing. Hopefully we see some result from allergy shots in a while.

EYES

A post dedicated to my kid's eyes.

Jacob has clear brown eyes.

Our pediatrician was a little surprised by this because Brian and I both have green eyes.

She actually said if I didn't know you 2 better I would say "milk-man child."

Both his Granny and his Grandma Stott have brown eyes.

His are not as light brown as Granny's or as dark brown as Grandma Stott's but a nice shade right in the middle.

Merry's eyes are gray, some times greeny or some times bluish.

They are moody eyes and change with lighting.

Her eyes are like her Papa's and Aunt Ann.

Grace has dark green eyes.

Not green like her parents, Brian and I both have light green.

They remind the most of her Aunt Leslie's eyes.

Adam's eyes are still really blue.

Our kid's eye colors change really late so do not think this is their permanent color.

Right now they remind me of Grandpa Stott's bright blue eyes.

Adam at 11 months

Adam is 11 months old this week and he is full of spunk and personality.

He loves to peek out the windows to see what is going on. There is a pair of sandhill cranes that live by our house that are frequently strolling by on the sidewalk.

He still loves blankies and pacifiers.

His thighs are nice and chubby.

He finally grew tooth #8 and likes to show it off.

A few in color, to show his eyes are still blue. Sometimes I think they are looking more greenish, we will have to wait and see. He knows how to blow kisses, play peek-a-boo, clap and wave. He loves the other kids and crawls around the house looking for them.

Merry, Merry

Merry picked the fabric for her birthday dress from my fabric stash. This particular fabric I inherited from my Mom's fabric stash, very appropriate as Merry is her namesake. Merry loved the cloth until the first time she wore the dress and realized none the girls were holding balloons. Jacob tried to reassure her by telling her that the little boy was trying to give the little girl a balloon but it floated away. Now Merry is just upset that the balloon flew away.

This week the challenge is hearts. Merry loves Valentine cards and has been making hearts for several weeks now.

Flatwoods Park

One Saturday in January we headed to Flatwoods park to go for a bike ride, picnic and hike. Did I mention I love Florida winter weather. We hiked until we found a bridge with a small creek. Then we had to stop and throw everything in the water to see if it would sink or float. Who knew that acorns sink? A grand time was had by all and we will definitely return to finish the bike loop and see some more of the hiking trails.

Happy birthday Brian

Brian turned 30-something this week. I usually do not bake or cook or really do anything in the kitchen, but I actually made a from scratch cake for Brian's birthday. I always thought that Brian liked hummingbird cake or italian creme cake because that is what I like, but it turns out that he likes just plain old chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Good to know after 10 years of marriage. Costco is forever away from my new house so I could not get the old stand by, the All-American Chocolate Cake. Good thing allrecipes.com had an excellent subsitute. Good ole Sandy, saved the day.

Sandy's Chocolate Cake.

• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 1/3 cups boiling water
• FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  

Some how I did not take a precut picture. Oh well you get the point, delicious.

A post chocolate cake coma.

Adam was happy munching on some sweet potato puffs when Gracie decided he was getting jipped and slipped him a piece of cake which he promptly destroyed. He sort of looks like Hitler.