Snow Day Numero 4

Let there be snow! "Snow Day" number four rolled around today and we actually had snow. Hooray!! We woke up this morning to a beautiful sight--there was a winter wonderland right outside our windows.

After getting all bundled up, the boys decided to take Miss Sadie for a walk around the block. This dog loves snow...loves to run in it, stick her nose in it and eat it, too. Loves her some snow.

This boy loves him some snow, but the cleaning bug runs deep. For a few moments he honestly struggled with whether to go play in the snow...

or just stay near the front porch and sweep it!


His daddy convinced him that sweeping snow was kind of lame, so off they went for their walk!

Eating My Words

My mom always said that there is nothing that can make you eat your words more than your children. Let's see if that's true for me....

I always said, "I will never take a baby to a wedding." Hmmm...looks like Jackson attended his first one at a mere 3 months of age, and for that matter, Lila went to one when she was 6 months old. Moving on...

"My child will never sleep in the same bed as me." Oops! That has happened more than a time or two. In fact, just last night Jared and I shared our bed with Jackson for the majority of the night. He got half of it and we got the other half.

But perhaps my biggest proclamation yet was, "I will never drive a minivan! NEVER." And what do you see here, friends? Yes, that would be me in the driver's seat of a Honda Odyssey. For those of you who have not yet been in the market for a larger car, the Odyssey is a minivan, no two ways around it. Looks like I just ate some more of my words.

You were right, mom, you were right.

Icy Week

While it has been absolutely frigid outside these past two days, we have been hanging out quite a bit indoors. Jackson has been really good--I know he's probably verging on stir crazy today--and we've all enjoyed having Jared home from work. I don't think he's ever had two snow days in a row! Here's a little touch of what we've been up to...

Lila recently discovered stairs! Her big brother has been great about staying right behind her while she tackles this new task. He's there "just in case" she falls, is what he tells me.

After all that stair climbing, J decided it was time for some drawing. His daddy printed out pictures of a plane and car and then drew them on his dry-erase board. Pretty good, I think!

While our day had a few tears (no nap will do that to a 10 month old),

it also had lots of smiles. Look how happy sweet girl is to be playing in her new "house" that she got from Gigi and Boom for Christmas. A snow day seemed like the perfect time to work on a project, so Jackson and I put it together for her yesterday.

This afternoon Jared simply could not take being inside anymore, so he decided to try his hand at breaking the ice on our driveway. As soon as Jackson saw him out there he insisted that I get him all bundled up so that he, too, could shovel some ice and snow!

The kid loves to work! I figure a few minutes in 20 degree weather won't kill him. Afterall, he does have on a long sleeve shirt, fleece, hooded jacket, sweatpants, jeans, toboggan and gloves!

Lady Gaga

9 months old and already has suitors!

Yesterday Miss Lila had a visit from a younger boy--Sawyer Rachavong!

Both of them were actually awake this time and had so much fun playing together.

At first they played coy and just made eyes at each other from across the room...

then they moved in a little closer...

and that's when Lila started patting Sawyer like he was a cat! She would pat him on the head and he would just grin. Then she got a little too excited and grabbed a whole handful of hair...

which is when he decided to make his escape! I think she came on a little too strong. Afterall, it was only their third date! I've got some work to do. We will focus on flirting without inflicting bodily harm! Let's hope Sawyer asks her out for another date so that I can see if my training has worked.

A January morning

What a way to start the day. After a trip to Lowes with his dad, Jackson raked a few leaves (you know the kid loves him some yard work)...

Maddie kicked a few more his way (don't think yard work is really her thing)...

and then the girls did a little swinging. A ride in the big swing...now that's more my style.

Happy Weekend! We're soaking up all the rays we can get!

TGIF

I confess, I love Fridays. I really don't know why, especially since I don't go to work anymore, but there's just something about Friday afternoon that makes me smile. Since it was a little too chilly for the kids to play outside today, we found fun indoor activities that they enjoyed.

It's amazing how watercolor painting can get these two monkeys to sit still for a very long time!

They were hard at work creating some Handy Manny Masterpieces!

While the big kids were busy painting, this little girl was busy practicing how to stand on her own.

"Look, mom!"

She can stand on her own for about 2 seconds and then falls forward with a big ol' grin on her face.

Apparantly standing by herself is much more fun than holding hands with her mama and brother.

So glad that sweet girl decided to quickly turn that frown upside down:)

Happy Friday, everyone!

On the move

Today we got back into our normal routine. Since it was MLK day, Jackson didn't have school. I gotta admit, it was nice not having to rush around like a crazy lady all morning all for the sake of getting him to school on time. I have no idea what I'll do when he starts Kindergarten and has to be there earlier! We picked up the house (well, as much as can be done with three kids under 4!), did some laundry (the two older ones even helped move clothes from the washer to the dryer), and then got ready to roll to the grocery store. As we were getting ready to leave Jackson asked if he could wear his toolbelt. Even though I did not understand the reasoning behind this (I mean, is he really going to be doing construction work at Walmart?) I agreed to it.

What's a little toolbelt, really? Well, not only did the big guy put on his Handy Manny toolbelt, he stocked his jeans full of all the other supplies he owns. This kid had a saw, screw driver and one other tool in his right pocket. Then he had about 8 large nails from his workbench shoved into his left one. His pliers and hammer were attached to his toolbelt, and he also hung some other toy that makes noise to it. What a look!

Although Lila did not wear anything particularly goofy today, she did decide to go ahead and start crawling everywhere!

This girl is on the go now!

Watch out, big bro! She's gonna be all over your toys:)