Much Overdue Update!

... do you hear that? Its silence... yes, the house is empty... except for me! My friend Brenda from church came and took Ariel home to play with her 3 kids until supper time! Talk about a lovely gift and I am enjoying it to the fullest. I am going to blog, have a bath and a rest. Easy dinner tonight, so no prep work, whee!

Well we have left so much to talk about, first off.... THANK YOU for your prayers for Dianne and Chris, third times a charm I guess as they are now the proud parents of little Elena! I woke up at 5am Thursday morning and walked around our house praying. Finally at 630am I went back to bed and fell asleep and woke up right at 830am. I ran to the computer and checked Dianne's blog and saw that beautiful little girl's face smiling and I wept and shouted for joy. I can't wait till we have the honor of meeting her in person, what a day that will be. I made the calls to Nana and Ken, and everyone was so excited. Yay. (Dianne was kind enough to let me post her picture, isn't she darling!)


Also when I left you all, we were just making some dramatic progress in the potty training adventure. Can I just say, my little girl is doing AMAZINGLY!!! I am shocked, really, after day one I was so ready for the worse. Ariel is just wearing panties now, and even has gone through the night and woken up with dry pants! Mommy and Daddy are so excited and Ariel has been given some little rewards for her efforts, a new My Little Pony toy and a big coloring book. We started dressing her in clothes by the weekend so she could work on getting things off and on, and she has done very well. Then on Sunday night she really blew us away when she did a poopy on the potty. Crazy! Good bye diapers and pull ups, we will see you when the new baby arrives.


Friday morning we had breakfast with Dad and Rita at a restaurant to celebrate Valentine's. Ariel was excited to see them and didn't have any accidents at the restaurant, woot. She stuffed back a big breakfast of a pancake, eggs and 2 pieces of bacon. She loved her little bag of goodies, especially her Mr Mutt, a dog that has a magnetic bone to make him do tricks.


We came home and had a lazy afternoon. I had fun taking some pictures of Ariel since she was in a photogenic mode. She has mastered saying cheese and not looking silly. Haha.


Talking to our neighbor who was coming home from work. We have some lovely neighbors who love chatting with her, which is very sweet.


Saturday, Ken went off to teach and Ariel hit the store to pick up the last items we needed for our fancy dinner we were making Daddy for his Valentine's present. We then had lunch with Nana and Papa, fish and chips - yummy! Don't these guys look like two peas in a pod? Haha.


Ariel loved her little gift of a red bear, chocolates and the card. This girl loves cards, can you tell?


We came home and prepped for dinner. Ariel helped me dip the strawberries in chocolate and set the table. Here is the final look, very pretty. Its amazing what a scrap piece of fabric can do to add some color. I got this great bag of organza materials from Stella one time, and I use them as table cloth overlays, so cool.


Ken got home and surprised me with a single rose and a box of chocolate! Woot! He was so cute with his card, as he printed out an old picture from when we first were dating to tape inside. Such a sweetie!!! He even got me an itunes gift card, so unexpected but a lovely gesture. I got him some jelly bellies Valentines mix to go with his fancy dinner, that he was eager to see. So lets begin the dinning experience. Whee.


First course was a tomato and red pepper soup with sour cream heart. It was from the new line of Knorr soups in the color line. This one is called red and I thought it was right for the occasion. Ken loved it and my added touch of adding the heart.


Next we shared a portobello mushroom that was stuffed with Italian Sausage. I picked it up from our new fancy meat counter at Safeway. Thought it was worth a try and Ken loved it!


Then the main course was one of our favorite recipes of Cornish game hens with apple sauce glaze baked over the stuffing. Its from one of my favorite Company's Coming books, Cooking for Two. Very, very yummy! Then added a baked potato and veggies.


Dessert was our chocolate covered strawberries and some heart shaped sugar cookies we picked up at the cafe. The perfect way to end a yummy meal.


Ken was full and very happy from his meal made with love by his girls. Sadly our evening took a nose dive shortly afterwards as I got a nasty headache and went to bed early. Perhaps a food hangover, haha.


Sunday morning I still had a sore head but had to be in the nursery. Thankfully it went well and fast and by lunchtime I was feeling better. I went to the bridal shower for Kalia at church and had a wonderful time visiting and snacking on goodies. Nothing better than getting away for a few hours. Ken had taken Ariel to the park since it was a beautiful day, so I knew they were having a good time too. When I got home at 5pm, this is what I found. Tired out from all their fun, awww.


Today was ballet class and Ariel again did well. Miss Nicole told me Ariel is getting more confident every time, so its great to see. Its weird since she is so lively at home and yet when she is with other kids sometimes gets shy. Guess she is like her mother a bit that way. After class we drove to Costco to FINALLY get the toilet paper and paper towel we desperately needed. Ariel didn't have any accidents and went on the big potty when I helped her. Yay! We had a hot dog before leaving, Mommy needed a pick me up. Hee.

That pretty much leads me to now and my house of quietness... ahhh. Ok, time for a bubble bath and a nap. Byeeeeeee.