>
It’s official. It is the snowiest February in Lansing in the history of time, or at least since they started keeping records. And its not even over! And the previous snowiest february was a leap year. Some one please call old man winter and tell him to start moving on.

Im taking predictions on when we will see the first crocuses (in bloom). As a matter of historical record for our yard:
2010: March 15
2009: March 23
2008: no records kept

>Here are all of the faces that made it into Bee’s project. She made 100 magnets from the pictures. Bee was really creative, deciding early on that animal and pumpkin faces counted, too! Thanks to those of you shared pictures!!

>

OK, i need to set up a slide show of the 100 faces Bee chose for her school project. But, for now, here is a snapshot of some of the faces. She printed them out (about 20/page), cut them up individually and glued them to magnets. So, now she has 100 silly face magnets!

>Below are two pictures of Brittanies. One of these dogs won Best in Breed at this year’s Westminster Dog Show. One of them is Cho Cho. Can you tell which is which?

>
We love you!!!!

>So, the 100th day of school is coming up and both girls have to bring in 100 things… Whoever thought of this idea, and why has it become so popular? After some consternation, Bee came up a great idea. She wants to bring in 100 pictures of silly faces from her extended family. Well, we have about 20 so far (thanks Mom!) … if you want to be part of the montage of silly faces, send them to us. We would LOVE to have them.

>In sunlight that is! We are up to 10hrs and 5 minutes of sunlight and gaining sun fast – close to 2.5 minutes a day! And, what is more, we are now closer (by a day or so) to the spring equinox. The “cross quarter day” was yesterday, Feb 4, which is based on the time at which the Earth reaches that point in its orbit which is exactly midway between its positions at the solstice and the subsequent equinox. I guess that is probably why Ground Hogs day is Feb 2. You all probably thought of that before. Me? it only took 42 years to figure that one out. I blame it on having a frozen brain each year at this time of the year.

>We decided we wanted to try to run about 2011 miles in 2011. That is the A goal, and actually more like the pie-in-the-sky goal. Let’s say that the B goal is 1600 miles (about what we ran last year) and the C goal is just to run for health and have fun. Well really the C goal is the A goal, too, as it is the most important. In any case, we wanted to make this kind of fun, so we mapped out where in the world 2011 miles would get us! Google maps suggests that we could run to: just past Las Vegas, NV, Spokane, WA, Alberta, Canada or Tampico, MX. Now, Las Vegas or Mexico seems nice and warm… but Spokane just seems like fun. Actually it is exactly 2010 miles from our home to Downriver Park in Spokane, so we will have to run a loop of the park if and when we make it. I think I’m going to add that we can add walking miles too, but for now, just running.

We will post our progress each month, and maybe celebrate some destinations along the way. Maybe we will make it. And maybe we won’t. But its going to be fun trying! If you want to track your mileage, if you are running, walking, biking, swimming or any combination thereof, a free on-line site that we really like is: Running Ahead. We keep our mileage there, and it provides monthly and weekly summaries, plus you can input daily information, like pace, distance, maps, and other notes. If you want to join us for some of the journey, we’d love to have you! Just track your mileage!

So, how far did we get in January? To East Dunes Highway in Portage, IN (185 miles). Nice place to be in a blizzard. haha.

>Where does Cho Cho end and the snow begin? The ground hogs blizzard was a blast! No school and a good 12-15″ of the white stuff. Not quite the “snowmagedon” forecasted, but fun nonetheless!

And a few bonus pictures. Frankie the snow girl, Bee sharing our groundhogs day blizzard heart shaped pancakes, our nature center covered in snow, and fun sliding off the deck in the backyard!

>Now that nearly a third of the nation is ensnared by the groundhogs storm (whether it be rain, ice, snow or a mix), its time to spice it up. Do you want to make cake balls? They are really hit of the east lansing elementary students! Bee learned how to make them in second grade and she brought the recipe home to us. So here goes.

First, you pick your favorite cake recipe and make a cake. We like a variation of the very simple Hershey’s especially dark cake recipe I posted below. For whatever it is worth, I only add 2/3 cup boiling hot water instead of 1 cup (sometimes a speck less, depends on consistency). It makes the cake a bit denser, which i like. I also sometimes replace 1/2 c. butter for the oil (I know, how wicked), and when i do, i cream the sugar and butter first, then add eggs and vanilla. Then alternate adding 1/2 c. of the mixed up dry ingredients with adding 1/4 c. milk until both are all added. (Oh usually i add a little more than 3/4 c. chocolate and reduce the flour appropriately). Then slowly add the hot water.

Then, once your cake is baked and cooled, you plop it into a bowl or big plate, and mush it up (with your hands – that is the fun part!) with your favorite frosting (see one recipe below). Once it is all good and mushed, you roll it into balls, and for fun you can roll them in sprinkles or powdered sugar for decoration!

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

ESPECIALLY DARK CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter, Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting. And our variation: If you want to be really sinful, add a cup of chocolate chips to the melted butter along with the cocoa and mix till melted.