What's happening?

February proved to be another crazy month at the zoo. Last weekend we made a trip up North to hit up Frostbike and check out the new products for 2009. At our favorite area of the warehouse (Scratch and Dent), Taylor picked up another member for the fleet. This bike is pretty sweet and will deserve a post of its own in the near future.

Our little cupcake was introduced to Elmo recently. Beth picked up a little Elmo Chatters toy that talks when you shake him and bounce him around. At first he was SCARY...but nows, she likes him! What is it with kiddos and Elmo?

Beth rocked out some nice mitts with her knitting skills. In an effort to take some good pictures, the little Pixie grabbed one and offered it to her Dad. I particularly like Ein in the background, watching...glad she isn't going after one of HIS toys this time!
One of Beth's good friends is French Canadian. Around Thanksgiving last year we started talking about traditional recipes that she had with her family while growing up. This week she and Beth decided to try her Tourtiere recipe (meat pie....not Johnny Depp style everyone) and the classic homemade ketchup that is usually served with it. And dessert? Well...we had that too. It was a recipe her Aunt gave to her that is a cake and right before you serve it, you drizzle a sauce on top that is a combination of milk, butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar. It was sooo sweet!
Below is our Tourtiere (Beth used her recent pastry skills for the crust), Ketchup aux Fruits, a yummy little side salad.
Preparing the Tourtiere!
While most of our blog readers are not Canadian, or foreign for that matter...Beth still wants to know what are some of your family traditional meals?

Solo Night Ride

Went out on a night ride by myself last night. Had a good time but it would have been better with some one to talk to.

(Moon Coming Up)

Also found out that I did not make it into Leadville so that will change the type of riding I will be doing over the next few months.

Life going at warp speed

This weekend Taylor did BRR (Bike Ride to Rippey). This is a 24 mile bike ride from Perry to Rippey and back and is held (I think) always the first week in Feb. February in Iowa can still be brutal and can be pretty Brrrrr. It wasn't so Brrrrr this year as it has been in the past, so he and his friends decided to make a longer ride out of the event and got on the road to ride to Perry around 6:30 a.m. (the ride in Perry started around 10 so they got some good miles in---about 56---not to mention some PBR).

After getting in some good miles, Taylor got to try out his new compression socks. He has 2 pairs (one for race and one for recovery). The recovery socks seem to have done the trick because the next morning his legs felt great!

And how has our little cutie been?

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. Our little one developed her first cold (10 months before a cold---we hear that is great) and it has passed its way around and taken all of us out. We resisted going to the Dr. until a miserable night leading into Day 9 of cold (we were following the instructions in our health book from the Dr and watching for all of the right signs) had us take her in. Sure enough, it was good that we did. Little cupcake had her first ear infection. The Dr. said it looks as though she had just developed it and we caught it early on. She said that it is common for babies to get an ear infection towards the end of a cold. She is happy and has great energy still, so we think that she is doing well with the antibiotics.

In other news....she had her first steps with a little lawn mower toy the other night. It was ADORABLE! Maybe she will take her first steps on her own sooner than later? We did get a little footage with the video option on our digital camera. Beth thought she could live without a video camera, but as Cupcake starts to do more things, we want these memories forever :)

Stumbling around the net

Ok, so totally not my style, but since I know a few reader's of this blog dig Vintage Style, I am passing along this link to a Vintage Store on Ebay:

Gutter Fairy Vintage

A regular post to come soon....we PROMISE!

Super Bowl Poll

So every year, the teams change...the commercials change....but one thing is usually constant. The favorite Super Bowl foods. What is your staple for the Super Bowl?

Our house likes to do a yummy bean dip recipe from a family friend. That is always the staple, and then other things add to the mix.

Times of Remembrance

One of my best friends just lost an important friend in her life (who was also one of the best childhood friends of her boyfriend). Let us all remember the special people in our lives who bring us joy and those who we have lost along the way.

Stompin' good times

"Stop right where you are or the snowman gets it!" Well, not really because Beth is too compassionate when it comes to a snowman some small child slaved over. This cutie was found as we stomped all over one of our local golf courses and we couldn't resist a pic.

We are really enjoying our snowshoes. They are made by a Wisconsin company, Red Feather, who specializes in snowshoes.
Here is Tay, on his way up one of the hills at the golf course.
We stomped the golf course on Sunday and got in a couple of miles. On Saturday, we tried to take Pixie out. You can see her bundled up here. Not the most successful outdoor adventure with our sweetie. We need to try some different bundling techniques for our snowbunny as her cheeks got pretty cool.
Hope that everyone else is having a wonderful winter like we are!