Wednesday, February 26, 2014

February Fun

Our toddler has been OBSESSED with playing dress-up each and every single day. She usually either wears a ballet leotard or a princess dress. And, on top of that, she changes her clothes multiple times a day. On this day, she wanted to wear wear her "tutu" and mommy's tall boots. 


Ella had a make-up dance class last Thursday evening, added since she missed one practice due the snow storm we had a few weeks ago. She dressed herself for dance that evening with no help from me and I think she did a pretty good job.


Ella has been sneaking my phone during the day and taking photos of everything. Typically I will get 20-40 photos of her feet, the sofa, a toy...but sometimes I find the rare gem, like this one of Nicholas. 



Both Nicholas and I were sick with a virus a couple weeks ago so I made my first batch of homemade chicken noodle soup. It was delicious and just the thing to help me feel better through my coughing and stuffiness. 


This little munchkin is quite the hair twirler and I had to cut a few inches off her hair a few weeks back when she managed to twirl a knot so gnarly, there was no way to get it out other than cutting it out. She's been sporting a bob, which I think is pretty cute on her. 



Making the random marker tower for her older brother to knock over. She knows him so well. 


Nicholas has been using his Tobii eye gaze system quite frequently to play games and do educational lessons. It's been awesome watching our boy bloom and gain independence. We even played each other tic-tac-toe today, and Nicholas won-twice! 


I am so pleased that my daffodils and tulips made it through the deep freeze we had earlier this month. I planted them in mid-January so I didn't know if the bulbs had taken root yet, but they are now blooming and making our yard look less dreary with their bright colors. 


I did some pruning and trimming of plants this past weekend and was also happily surprised to see that this plant was blooming as well. It's a sure sign that spring going to be here before we know it!


 A few nights ago I made Ella's favorite dinner, spaghetti & meatballs, and our girl ate to her heart's content. 








Afterward, a bath was much needed, so here is our little girl sporting the "Medusa" look with her curly, wet hair. 



 A few nights ago Nicholas and I got some serious snuggling time in when we cuddled in bed and read numerous books together. Ella joined us after awhile and we finished our reading session with some educational iPad apps. 



It's moments like those that I treasure about motherhood. The joyful, quiet, cuddly peacefulness that I get to share with my children. I take such pleasure in the simplicity of reading aloud to my children. We all adore it. 

St. Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, Nicholas, Ella & I made cards for Jeff and my parents. The kids loved decorating the cards and adding stickers and handwritten notes on the inside of each. 


I spent the day with these two loves and didn't even get to see my hubby on this saint feast day all about love, because shortly before he arrived home from work I left to lead the confirmation retreat for over 20 youth up at a retreat house about an hour away from home. 


These are a few of the photos that I took at the retreat center during the weekend. It's absolutely gorgeous there!











 When I came home from the retreat on Sunday afternoon, Jeff surprised me with lots of chocolate heart shaped candy, which was very sweet of him. 

It was a nice Valentine weekend!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Winter White Out

 On Thursday the snow started. It was just a dusting at first but by 2:00 p.m. it looked like...


 this! I thought that was a lot for where we live, because we rarely have much snow. But no, it has been snowing steady for three days now, with a few hours break from the constant snow on Friday morning.


 Ella braved the cold and wind to go grocery shopping with her daddy on Thursday evening. 


View from Ella's bedroom window Thursday afternoon. 


The snow was gorgeous Friday morning, pristine and untouched. Plus the sun peeked out for a couple of hours too and the wind died down. It was serene. 


 Front yard


Backyard. The wind blew the snow all over our patio covering our patio furniture, plants, and grill. 




Luckily, Nicholas had two sets of hand-me-down snow bibs in size 4t which fit the kiddos perfectly. Well, Nicholas' were a bit tight since he's actually wearing a 5t, but they worked to keep him warm. Ella was quite pleased.


Jeff came home early from work on Friday afternoon to beat the second storm that rolled in and the children were super excited to get bundled up and go outside to play with him. 






















They had a blast making snow angels, building a snow mountain, and making snowballs. 



This morning Ella spotted little birdy footprints all over the patio. I hope the birds can find enough food. It might be time to get some birdseed and make feeder crafts for homeschool this week. 


Today the storm started again around 10:00 a.m. and it's been snowing and blowing all afternoon. I would guess we have 2-3 inches of new snow on top of the 3-4 that had accumulated since Thursday.



 I made my family a hearty breakfast to give them fuel for playing in the snow. I attempted my first-ever batch of pancakes made from scratch and they turned out perfect! 

All of my weekend classes have been canceled so we are spending time cuddling by the fire, watching family movies, and bundling up to play in the snow! We ventured out later in the afternoon and Jeff and Ella found the perfect sledding hill near our house and used Jeff's childhood sled to go up and down the hill a few times.


I love our Winter Wonderland!