Snow Days

I was doubtful we were ever going to get any measurable snow this year. But it finally came, and kept coming! As much as I don't look forward to the dressing and undressing and wet clothes everywhere and endless amounts of hot chocolate making and warm bath afterwards, I was really looking forward to some snow days.

 This poor boy was not adequately prepared with winter clothes. His snow pants were too short, his snow boots were too big and he didn't have good gloves.  Every time he went down the hill his boots would fall off and his snow pants would ride up.

 But he just loved to dig in the snow.

 And eat it - but not the boogers!

 Oma once again provided us with a great snow day box. This year we decorated cookies, rice crispy treats and cupcakes, among other fun crafts. I have to remind the girls to save some of the activities for other days. We shouldn't do everything in one day since we missed so many days in a row.

 Dallin's pure delight in eating his cupcake!

We also had the unfortunate luck of having frozen pipes. This was such a learning experience for all of us. We only had to go two days without water, but we learned how just unprepared we were for such an emergency. We had plenty of drinking water and enough to cook with. But washing dishes, flushing toilets, doing laundry or bathing were not possible. Poppy came to the rescue and was able to help us out. And David is going to love this "very flattering" picture of him.

 It turns out that the week before we had a lot of wind and one piece of siding had fallen off the house. We didn't get it put back on for a few days... that was all it took! The pipes were frozen right where that missing piece of siding was. We also had left our water hose connected, which I'm sure added to the mess. Many lessons were learned. And many holes were cut in the basement ceiling to help thaw those pipes...

 And NEVER in my life had I been so excited to wash the dishes!

And Dallin just loved the snow so much. He would want to go out more times then I cared to get him dressed up. So Carmen so lovingly did it for me this time. 

February Fun

After nearly 10 years of changing diapers - we are a diaper free home!! This boy is potty trained! His favorite part is flushing. It feels pretty freeing to not have to worry about diapers. But he's still not perfect and there are still accidents. But he's doing really super!

 One weekend David and I were particularly feeling like we needed a getaway. So we decided on a little "staycation".  We told the kids we were going to see a movie, but instead we pulled up to the local Doubletree hotel and told them to get out and grabs their bags out of the back. They were so surprised and loved the getaway too! David's company had a conference at the hotel for several days, and he was able to get a good deal on the large suit they have. We also arrived in our room to find all the leftover desserts from the conference!

Baker Butler's Jump Rope for Heart - I volunteered this year to help by being a rope turner. It was really a lot of fun! But turning ropes for 3 hours with loud blaring music and hundreds of kids was a bit exhausting. The school was able to raise over $15,000 for the American Heart Association. That's pretty impressive!

  David and I spent Valentine's Day at the best place on Earth; the Temple. And despite a snow storm with white out conditions while driving back into Charlottesville, we still made it to our dinner reservations at the Downtown Grill.

Another fun day at JUMP!

 Note to self: Do not wear jeans and a sweater, I was sweating like a hog after only a few minutes of jumping.  

Work out clothes would be the best option.

 Also, an hour of jumping is exhausting. These kids were worn out.