Hello from the tundra… I mean Pittsburgh…

It. Is. Cold! So cold that lots of businesses and schools are closed. Not our school, though! Sadie girl finished All About Reading Level 1! Her teacher (me 😬) said she deserved a little prize, so she earned a Lego set for her hard work on those 53 lessons over the past six months!

She is now the proud owner of a Lego hamster set that I scored on super sale around Black Friday (since she’s not allowed to have a real hamster… we’re still working on convincing Jimmy we need one 😉). Also, I still can’t get over that missing-tooth-smile!

On Sunday, it snowed. Afternoon turned into evening and it snowed some more. And more! Jimmy brought the kids outside to shovel the driveway and then they got out the sled and romped around the yard with the dogs while I did some cooking. They came inside with rosy cheeks and then it was bath time.

Jimmy gave the kids their bath and they were splashing happily while I folded laundry in the other room. The robot vacuum was running and I was feeling so content in our warm little home with so much love. God has blessed me with more than I could ever deserve and that fact is never lost on me. A husband who is so kind a loving, sweet children who are happy and healthy, our home, and so much more… sometimes I just can’t grasp God’s good gifts (I am praying this comes off as being *humbled* by His love and gifts). He is all I truly need, and yet He has blessed me with so much more. It’s just amazing when I think about it 🤍

So, what does one do when it’s -12 degrees outside? Well, you finally get that bed blanket you’ve been needing. We have this very affordable quilt, which I love because it’s thin enough that I can pop it in the washing machine (despite it being king-sized!), but it’s also thin enough that I often feel chilled in the night!

I didn’t want to buy a whole new comforter, so: enter this faux fur blanket. I am happy to report that the past few nights when I’ve rolled over like a turtle on its back to relieve my squished bladder #pregnantlife… I actually feel hot (!) from the warmth of this blanket. Mission accomplished!

When it’s -12, you whip out the watercolors (and coffee). I still have my same watercolor set I’ve had since 2016. It looks a lot more…. loved these days than it does in this old post. And that’s why I love it. That set of watercolors has brought me through all sorts of life changes! It has been so fun to introduce Sadie to watercoloring, too.

I’ll tell ya what, she is one artsy girl. She will quickly surpass my skills in the art-world, I’m sure of it! She especially likes to draw.

When it’s -12 degrees, you practice perfecting hot cocoa bombs. They’re getting better each time! I need to get an actual cocoa bomb mold versus an egg-shaped mold, though 😂

When it’s -12, you bake cupcakes just to keep the house warm… and for a sweet treat! I made red velvet cupcakes and filled half of them with cherry and half with chocolate buttercream. Then I topped them with cream cheese frosting!

Jimmy and I had an in-depth conversation about my idea for these cupcakes. Here’s how it went:

Me: I have the most fun idea for red velvet cupcakes! What if I fill them with chocolate filling!
Jimmy: Oh, no. No. Definitely not.
Me: What? Why?
Jimmy: Chocolate doesn’t go with red velvet at all.
Me: Umm… red velvet cake has chocolate in it?
Jimmy: It just doesn’t work.
Me: Okay… I’ll do some filled with chocolate and some filled with cherry.
Jimmy: You should just fill it with cream cheese frosting.
Me: That’s the frosting on top though…
Jimmy: Exactly!

We don’t always see eye to eye on baking 😂

When it’s -12 degrees outside, you enjoy soup made by a neighbor! The lovely woman we buy Niva’s dog food from made us 100% from scratch chicken noodle soup (like the chicken, homemade broth with herbs, and homemade(!!!) pasta) and whew was it good! Warmed the soul and body.

I was going to crop the above photo to cut out my varicose veins and then I saw my shirt and shorts were mismatched and I was like you know what… who cares? That’s me! Hi 🙂

When it’s -12 outside, the dogs snuggle up inside! For a little… then they want to go right back out in the snow. Crazy girls!

When it’s -12 outside, you play with dad inside! Jimmy is just so good at playing with the kids. I don’t know how he works a full 10 hour day and then comes home and lets the kids crawl all over him. He’s a champ!

Other notes:

• To probably nobody’s surprise, Sadie and I made another batch of energy bites! This time, we chopped up this fancy chocolate and added it in place of the chocolate chips!
• Sadie is going to a trial lesson at a coding school tomorrow! She’s so, so excited. She wants to learn how to make an app one day. This blows my mind. I promise, just yesterday she was a few months old and now she wants to make an app?!

Is it cold where you live?