Lemon Buttercream Frosting

One of Troy's favorite desserts is lemon cake with lemon frosting. I wanted to forgo the store-bought can of frosting (with mystery ingredients that I don't know how to pronounce) and make my own. I came across a recipe for lemon buttercream frosting, and it pairs perfectly with lemon cake. The best part? It only has four ingredients, all of which I can pronounce.

1/2 cup butter (softened)

4 cups powdered sugar

1 lemon (to make 3 Tablespoons juice and about 1/4 teaspoon zest)

1 Tablespoon milk

Cream butter. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, mix well. Add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, mix well. Add remaining 2 cups powdered sugar, mix well. Add remaining 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon milk, mix well. Frosting will be stiff; you can add more lemon juice or milk for thinner consistency. Frosts one 9x13-inch cake.

Evelyn's New Afghan

A couple of days ago Evelyn received a package in the mail from Grandma Luster. It was a big box, but it didn't weigh very much. What could it be? Hmmmm.....Evelyn thought about it for a little bit and figured it would be her afghan. She was right! And it was just the thing to keep her warm after playing in the snow.

Our First Snow!

It finally snowed last night! We have had our fair share of precipitation this winter, but the temperatures haven't been cold enough for it to snow. We only got an inch and a half of snow (with a bit of freezing rain after the snow).Evelyn took full advantage of the snow - she was eager to help scoop the sidewalk...
...and build as much of a snowman as possible. We have had such a mild, warm winter that this could possibly be our only snow of the season. We'll just have to wait and see.

Losing the Baby Language

Julia lost another baby word today. This morning, she told me, "Don't forget about my dolly." I asked her to repeat the question, and she said it correctly again. She used to say, "Don't get-for-bout."

A couple of months ago Julia finally started saying elephant correctly. That word, in Julia's mind, was pronounced Evelent.

Julia still says two things incorrectly, which I think is cute, while Troy wishes she would say the words and phrases correctly - aminal (for animal), and My tumbly is grumming (instead of My tummy is grumbling).

Evelyn held onto brefkast until Kindergarten, and I have a feeling that's how Julia's aminal is going to go.

Evelyn's Little Gym Day

Today was the day to observe Evelyn's gymnastics class from inside the gym. Even though I watch her class every week, it was fun to see her skills close-up. In this picture, she is doing a straddle-travel on the parallel bars.It's hard to get a still picture of Evelyn on the bar, with all the flips and turns she does. So I asked her to do a front-support pose for me.
The grand finale for this afternoon's class was doing a run-hurdle-springboard jump onto a high mat, followed by a handstand-into-a-bridge. Evelyn really loves going to gymnastics, and she continues to master more and more challenging skills.

Bird Watching

This winter, we've frequently seen one or two red-tailed hawks in the treetops of the neighborhood park. While getting ready for school this morning, Evelyn spotted one of the raptors perched in a tree across the street. You can tell it was a chilly morning, judging by how the bird has its feathers puffed out. The girls have so much fun watching for the hawk(s)!

Jump Rope for Heart

Evelyn's school did a fundraiser for the American Heart Association today called Jump Rope for Heart. Parents were invited to come to the school during their kids' jumping times to cheer them on, and you know I was there, camera in hand. Each second-grade class had four turns to jump, and each turn lasted two minutes. As far as I could tell, Evelyn was one of a handful of students who actually jumped the entire two minutes...straight! That's eight minutes of jumping rope. Our little Peanut is quite the cardio machine!