M & M's Taste Test 2021

We capped our Valentine's celebration with an M & M's taste test.  I snagged 12 different varieties for us to try and rank.  We didn't do a blind taste test since it was going to be pretty obvious for most of them.

 

The kids were very interested in the spread and it was hard to keep them away.

We all tasted at the same time and created our own rankings with sheets I printed up.  I used colored post-its to make them easy to move around.  I also used the colors to put them in three different categories.

Purple - Nuts

Blue - Chocolate

Pink - Filled and flavored

We went around and tried to guess each persons favorite and least favorite varieties.  There were a lot of surprises and we all learned a bit about our preferences.

I averaged the rankings to create a final, definitive ranking of flavors.

I love that we came across these taste tests during the pandemic.  I look forward to more and am already planning a diet root beer one!

Valentine's Fondue

One tradition we did not have to give up this year was our annual Valentine's fondue.  We've started gathering in person with my parents again, so they came over to join us along with my nephew.  We've talked about getting a second pot for a while and this year was a good excuse to do it so we could separate ones for each household. 

Esme helped Nana make one while I made the other.  We enjoyed our standard dippers; bread, meatballs, tots, and brocolli.

Red velvet cupcakes for dessert and the kids got some gift cards and M&Ms from grandpa and nana.

Up Next: M&Ms Taste Test 2021

Friendship Parties

Before I get to the kids' friendship day parties at school, I will share a couple other school pictures.  Esme has been doing great with speech the last couple months.  She gets to have her sessions in person now, which is exciting.  I can hear the progress she is making and am so proud of her.  They also had football day the Friday before the Super Bowl and she was matching with one of her teachers.

Friendship Day parties looked a bit different this year.  I normally get a little more creative with what the kids hand out, but I ran out of time this year.  Esme needed to bring hers to school at least 2 days before so they could quarantine in the room.  Both kids have been enjoying the sticky hands party favors, so I just wrote on the plastic pack and she wrote her name on the back.  She was trying very hard to keep all the letters on the hand itself.

Parker's class still had a party, but didn't exchange anything.  They got a bag of special treats from the teachers and made art as a gift for parents or other special adults.

They nailed the pose of him blowing the hearts/kisses.  I love it so much and replaced our winter decor with this awesome art.

Up Next: Valentine's Fondue

Pretzeldent's Day 2021

 My favorite non-holiday holiday has arrived once again!  Pretzeldent's Day wen virtual this year, but was still an afternoon full of fun.  I decided to make a last minute shirt and love how it turned out, even the "A" that looks like a butt.

I made my own little pretzel platter with garlic dill mayo, honey mustard, and taco cheese dip.

Our ever exhilarate host, Brianne, did an amazing job with games and activities.  Facilitating distance learning off and on for the last year has giver her some unstoppable Zoom skills. 

We played "Quoted/Misquoted" where we guessed if the recited quote was correct.

Next was "Where's the President."  We had to find president's photoshopped in to other pictures.  Can you find them?

The last game was Family Feud.  We broke in to two teams, one of Brianne's family and one of her friends.  The friends team, The Vice-Presidents, swept all the rounds and won big money!

I also made a new version of the Pretzeldent's Day song since we have a new president and a global pandemic.

I can't wait to get my Pretzeldent's Day prizes in the mail!  Thanks for another epic event!

Ice Skating and More Sledding

We made sure to get out to the park this last weekend before the rigid weather comes to stay for a while.  We don't really have much to complain about since it's been a mild winter up until now.  We got some hand-me-down training skates for Esme, so we tried those out.  They were a little big, but it's a nice way to test out a new activity.  She lasted about 3 minutes before asking to be done.  We will definitely try it again.  The rink is right next to the sledding hill, so it's easy to do both.

The kids are really getting in to sledding as well.  Esme loves the saucer style sled, but Parker seems to prefer the standard sled.

Esme has a big crash near the end of this video, but she was fine, just a bit startled.  We will need to hang up the skates and sleds for a while now.