snow days (or really, ICE days)

An EIGHT-year-old Mercedes on her birthday, with her brothers.

We've had record snowfalls and now it has all turned to ice.  No work for Brent today.  No school for Mercedes.  In anticipation, I did our Thanksgiving meal shopping yesterday.  Brent is excited to spend today experimenting with Cheesecake.  

He doesn't want to make just a regular New York Cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  No - it has to have LAYERS.  Of course, neither one of us has ever made a cheesecake before.  So it's good that he has time to practice.  We'll see if it turns out to be a "Neapolitan" or a chocolate-pumpkin cheesecake.  He has lots of ideas and no use for recipes.  He wants to create an original.  My poor husband who thrives on being challenged is feeling stuck, I think.  Seven more months until residency.  He feels like he's just been "hanging out" for the past two years, professionally speaking.  So he's looking for ways to challenge himself at home.  Now that the yard is done (at least until spring), he's focusing on cooking.  

Mercedes is EIGHT!  She was VERY brave on friday and got her ears pierced, something she's wanted for a long time.  She only suffered a short stint of "piercer's remorse" on friday night, crying: "I don't feel beautiful any more!!!"  I think that she was just tired and in a bit of pain.  She woke on Saturday excited to stare at her ears in the mirror and show her best friend Megan her new jewelry.  On Saturday night Mercedes went on a special "birthday date" with daddy.  She wore a dress and a bit of make up and had her hair curled.  And then they went to her choice of restaurant:  The Olive Garden.  After dinner she and daddy did a bit of Christmas shopping.  Finally, we celebrated as a family on Sunday with pumpkin waffles with green whipped cream for breakfast and brownies and ice cream for dessert.  Did you know that if you put candles in hot brownies, the candles will melt from the BOTToM up?  They do.  So we have a pan of brownies filled with wax.  Cooper's primary teacher heard more about Mercedes' birthday than she could have hoped to - he was very excited about his sister's birthday.

That's all for now.