Day Three

I didn't make it 3 days in a row, but I was thinking about it, does that count? I'm wrapping up my winter break posts with a few more pictures and summaries.

We are learning to build with linking logs (not the official brand, but close). Maddy and Marc have been playing together and have made some really cool things, like this great cabin. I want one big person size.

We spent a little time at the Kohl Children's Museum over the break. I was prepping for a field trip with my class with another teacher from school so Marc and Maddy came along. Maddy loves the face paint (apparently, so do the 2nd graders) and she gave me some cool arm tattoos. Loving that it comes right off with soap and water!

We almost forgot to visit the trains at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We have gone every year, even before Maddy was born.

I love the Chicago skyline, all made from natural materials: branches, plants, nuts, husks. So cool.

For New Year's Eve we invited friends with small kids to help us celebrate in a kid friendly fashion. It is so much fun to countdown to the new year at 7PM and be in bed by 9. My friend Jen became a vegan in 2010, so I searched around to find a vegan chocolate cake recipe to make for her for the party. I hit on a great one at the Moosewood website. It was really pretty good, no dairy at all.

Besides the vegan cake I made a snowball cake. As in Hostess snowballs. Oh yeah. It was ridiculously good and tasted just like a snowball. You can see Maddy checking it out, she couldn't wait to have some.  I want to try it again to see if I can make it rounder. My chocolate cake keep falling off in bits as I tried to shape it. This recipe came from my Cook's Country magazine.

Here are some of the kids ringing in the new year. We had a blast. Happy New Year!