Valentine's Day

I have never really liked Valentine's Day and never really celebrated it. But this year, with the kids I decided I wanted to make the day special for them. I have some little gifts I made for them, but those cannot be reveled until Tomorrow. And am planning to make some heart cookies tonight. A few days ago Katie, Lydia and I decided to make some window decorations. It was really simple using just wax paper and crayons but turned out cute, and most importantly gave us girls an activity to do together! Here are some pictures, of course since they are in front of the window they didn't turn out the greatest but its an idea.

Gingerbread Pancakes

Here is the recipe for the gingerbread pancakes we had, they are so yummy and definitely worth a try. I halved the recipe and had enough for four people.

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. packed brown sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. brewed coffee, cold or at room temp.
4 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1/4 c fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk water, coffee, eggs, butter & lemon juice. Whisk wet and dry together until just combined. Let stand 15 min. so batter will thicken.
Cook in a skillet, but use a bit lower temperature, they tended to burn quickly.
Good with butter and syrup, but excellent with applesauce on top or apricot preserves!

Sunday Afternooon

We had a wonderful Sunday here at the Conner Villa, actually the entire weekend has been pretty nice. Saturday Trisha and I took Lydia and Katie to Mira Flores, the local mall. We got to have tea and crepes and watch a movie at the theatre. Meanwhile Davie made us 3-way-chilly (in Honor of the Blacks) for lunch. Trisha and Davie rented movies for us and somehow got 4 for the price of 1 ! haha.

This morning I decided to try out a recipe that Katie copied for me of Gingerbread Pancakes. They ended up wonderful and not one of the kids complained about getting up at 8:30 to eat them. Lydia asked if it could be "a tradition."

Later everyone pitched in to make Valentine cards for Lydia's party this Friday. They ended up quite cute with little ribbons and Lydia's handwriting.
While that was happening Katie made us pizza for lunch- it was excellent! We are about to enjoy it again for dinner. It is so rewarding to be with my little siblings, and I am loving every moment of it.

I better go check on the pizza reheating in the oven. Katie is helping Lydia do dishes- I am so proud of them two!

What am I supposed to Do?

Since deciding to stay down in Guatemala with my family for a while, I have had many interesting family moments.
Much of my day is usually filled with cooking, reading recipes, and planning meals. Today I made 3 loaves of bread and a batch of cinnamon rolls (half plain and half raisins of course). And yesterday some pumpkin scones. We certainly have some eating to do.
When the kids come home from school the house is filled with noise and bustling. Yesterday Lydia and Katie finished their homework before dinner as asked. After dinner Lydia asked if she could watch a movie since she was done with homework. I replied that she didn't need to be watching movies and she exclaimed, "well what am i supposed to do!" I smiled and laughed. After several options we decided on finger painting. Katie decided to just watch but here are some results.
After Lydia goes to bed, accompanied by one of us rotating older kids, we usual spend some time sitting around the table reading, doing work of some sort, or talking. Katie didn't want a picture of her face because she was "in a towel" so this was all I could get.

I hope this cheers you a bit Mom, I know you hate being so far!

stories

Being in Guatemala with my family for the holidays ahs been such a blessing. I was not expecting to get to be with them and I ended up being albe to see both my sister and my brother-in-law in Denver as well as the family in Guatemala with both the older boys down here! Traveling down here was quite a mess as we flew stand-by. But even in that was a hidden blessing. Two days were able to be spent with my cousins in Dallas as my brothers and I waited for a flight into Guate. So many unexpected and wonderful visits!
I have been amazed at how much my siblings have grown, David into a little man, Katie into a lady, and Lydia is most definitely no longer a baby! When I last left her she was struggling with her letters and simple words, tonight I was happily surprise with the progress she has made. After dinner my family was sitting around the table working on our separate homeworks and I was helping Lydia. We first read together for the required 15 min (Barbie at the Fair was the book of choice) and she was excellent! After completing that as well as her math homework it was time for me to do my Spanish homework. (I am taking Spanish classes for the week in Antigua.) My assignment was to write a story in Spanish and Lyders decided to write a story of her own! It is quite a lovely story, that she thought up all herself, complete with a title and illustrations. Here are some photos I took of my little princess.