The boy

Obviously since I have the 2 kids, I can't really do a whole post devoted to one and not do one about the other. This post could easily be subtitled trouble or the end of life as I knew it. At some point in my early days with 2 kids, maybe even while pregnant I distinctly remember predicting that the boy would be trouble. And he has lived up to every expectation I had and probably even surpassed it all! The boy is trouble, if it is quiet I know to look for him, he is into something he shouldn't be! If there is something I have told him not to do he is doing it. He is testing my patience and my sanity. Gwen spends much of the day saying "is Nate in Time Out now?" Sadly, Time outs do nothing to deter him. I need to come up with a better system for him. Although part of the reason time outs don't work is because Gwen will often sit next to him in time out and talk to him. He loves boxes and putting stuff on his head. If he is cranky you just have to gently bonk him on the head with a book and he will laugh and laugh and laugh! He loves it. He still has the baby infectious giggle and I love it.
He is very smart, which is why he is so much trouble, he is naturally curious. He picks things up quickly, he is putting puzzles back together correctly, he can count to 13 and sing his ABCs. And he is busting out 4 word sentences, maybe more. His language is often very clear. The other day he drew a Z (a complete fluke, but still amazing!). Today we were working outside and the kids were "helping" more pictures of that later. Nate picks up the sander tries to help, sees that it isn't working walks up to the extension cord, where Eric had unplugged it and tries to plug it in. Seriously, should he know how to do that? Should he be able to watch us do stuff and figure out how to do it out 1.5? He is now the age where we can put him in this outfit. Which Gwen wore before, but I am too lazy to find the picture of her in it for comparison, maybe later! He LOVES to read still, if you sit down he will find a book and ask you to "READ IT, PEAS"
He loves the camera and will come all up into your face if he sees you pull it out, he wants to be right there, which makes for a lot of up close pictures.
He is developing quite the temper, failing on the ground or hitting or throwing. He gets frustrated easily and watch out if he does. It is not pleasant at all! I haven't figured out how to redirect his anger. I know I need to figure it out, but I also know it is a phase a terrible phase that hopefully only last 3-6 months at a time.
I have done a slide show devoted to Nate, because I realize I have a lot of random pictures of him from the last couple months, you'll notice lots of snow pictures!

Egg hunt!

This weekend we went to an Egg hunt at a local Church. We had a good time. They had 2 areas for the kids one in the playground area for the 3 and under crowd (basically every foot or so and in plain sight) and one for the older kids. I think over 1000 eggs were buried. I dressed the kids up in their Easter clothes and took some pictures. Gwen was rather difficult as you can see, I just wanted I picture of her in her dress and she really didn't want to get her picture taken! Nate was more interested in playing on the playground until we showed him the eggs and then he got the idea. They also had hot dogs and other lunch items for afterwards. It was a little chilly but the day warmed up nicely. Oh, enjoy the slide show!

The kid

By now you know I have the 2 kids. The one a mini me the other, a mini Eric? I'm not sure if he is or not, I just know he is a mini-trouble maker. UGH! But Gwen excuse me Briar Rose makes my life a challenge in different ways, I think it can be VERY difficult to parent yourself. I would have thought it was easier but there are so many of my personality faults in her that I would like to help her not have. And well, she doesn't really see it that way. Sure she is cute and sweet and just plain helpful, but I struggle with her on many things. I have yet to figure out how to get her to help me with certain things I want to do, like clean up her room or try new things. This week we had a new development, I actually got her to try something new and she was so excited after she tried it. I felt so proud of both of us! Last year I took Gwen out on her bike and she fell down the hill. It was terrible, and until this week whenever the road went down or up she would get off her bike and ride it. This week I told her she should try going down the little hill of our driveway, she refused, I persisted, it took about 5 minutes of coaxing and she FINALLY decided to try it, with me standing next to her of course and now, she rides down the hill by herself and even all the way up to our front door and around the car. But to show you what I mean I took a video, because I am so proud and although she is not going as fast as she had been you can see the idea.

Bike 1 from Melanie Ubil on Vimeo.

I still have to figure out how to motivate her, but maybe we are getting there. Here's another video, more of the same, but really why watch 1 video when you can watch 2!

Bike down from Melanie Ubil on Vimeo.

In other news Gwen has again decided to not wear diapers at bed time. I am trying to encourage her to go more often during the day and trying to explain to her that she is going to need to get up in the middle of the night and go. I don't know how to deal with this exactly, am I supposed to wake her up in the middle of the night to get her to pee? Will she start doing that on her own if I start waking her up, or is this another train Mommy to do it type thing? I am really at a loss here, but I would like her to be out of diapers completely, I KNOW she can do it I just have to figure out a way to help her. UGH! I guess I should start doing some more research on this and that will help me figure it out.
I also took the kids to a new park yesterday and it was hilarious, Gwen climbs to the top of the big steps to a really windy slide and yells "HOLY CRAP"! I had no idea what to do, but we had just gotten to the park and there was 1 other guy there with his kid and I was kind embarrassed because we had just gotten there and that was the first thing she said, not once but twice! But still it was kind of funny and I was super glad that my language was cleared up enough that she didn't yell something worse because there was a time when I said way worse phrases than "holy crap"! Let's just say Eric had a good laugh over that story!

Chess

A couple weekends ago the Godfather was able to come out and visit us. We all had a good time, I think. Gwen was so excited about his visit she could hardly stand herself. Fortunately for part of the weekend I remember to actually bring the camera and use it! GO ME! Here is a slide show of us while we were at the UNC Botanical Garden

The kids really enjoyed running around and the life sized Chess, we had never been to that part of the garden before. Nothing was blooming yet, but we enjoyed walking around.
That night we took the Godfather to the Mall, Eric's favorite place to take people.

The kids love the Mall play area so they are always more than happy to show people around there. I think everyone had a good time and hope to see him again soon!

My kid is napping

and other news. That is both kids are napping, this is momentous, Gwen does not nap, but decided to lay down next to me and nap. She hasn't napped in forever and I certainly don't want her to sleep for very long, but I guess this means if we could find a Ben & Jerry's we could go for a free scoop after dinner? I told Gwen we could do something after I finished some stuff up I needed to do. The question is how long to let her nap, I want her to wake up naturally, but I don't want her to be cranky or this to spoil bedtime! Which frankly it already has because it is 2:30!

Gwen is a very talkative, imaginative child. She will wander around talking to herself constantly with or without Nate around. Last week she set this scene up, invited Nate and told me they were going on a safari!

As you notice, Nate making good use of his time, read in the back seat. Gwen also brought along some teddies and whatnot, I don't know what all they did. I think she is touring around here, Nate has left the car to venture out on his own.

It is quite humorous listening to her, she talks about so much, I don't know what all and I just let her sometimes listening and not commenting, sometimes listening and questioning/conversing with her to encourage her imagination. Yesterday we rode a "horse" (pillows off the couch that were laid on the floor) to a pink castle that was all the same shade of pink inside and out. The fun never ends!
Last weekend the kids decided to help Eric, I got the camera.

"HELP, HELP"

Gwen started the helping, but when Nate caught wind, he had to climb up there and help also, not to be left out!

If you look closely you can see our bathroom color. I don't know if you are interested in that, but don't you think that is a lovely shade of blue? Eric picked it out, but then was not pleased when he saw it on, he thinks it is to bright, I think it is lovely.

I really don't know what I am going to do now, Gwen is still sleeping! I am sure there is something in this house I want to do without prying hands around, but don't know what that is, I am really taken off guard by this!

DRAGON!!!

For some reason, riding on some one's back around here has been called "dragon" I don't know why, I will have to ask the husband. But the kids love it, if you get on your hands and knees around here beware, someone (of the child persuasion) will likely yell "DRAGON" and run for you, here Gwen and Nate demonstrate...
Apparently this didn't work out so well, Nate I think might weigh almost the same as Gwen, challenging to lift him, plus Nate gets distracted...

So they tried again...

Well, they kept trying but it didn't really work out, Gwen's dress kept falling down...

Ok, I guess it is Nate's turn!

I am beginning to wonder if Nate has allergies, like me, his nose has been running for 3 weeks now, I took him to the Dr on Friday and she said that it seems likely he has had cold after cold and that you don't often see seasonal allergies in kids so young. We located the humidifier and I think that is helping Nate sleep better. I also am currently having allergy problems. I can't hardly breathe out of my nose and could probably use a box of tissues in 1 day. So sad for me. In other news sold my first thing off Craig's list, hoping that I can find someone to buy my couch now that the chair transaction went so well! Then our garage would be a lot cleaner and easier to walk through. I hope that it sells soon!

Spring is here

I am becoming more and more aware of the weather and seasons because I am getting ready to start a garden! I am so excited, I have researched when the last frost is and was surprised to find out it is in late April! Gwen and I went ahead and started some veggies in the house, so we are ready to go. I hope to have germination next week. I also put down some grass fertilizer/weed control down yesterday so we can keep more grass than weeds. Eric thinks I am crazy, but I think it is better spend a couple bucks and prevent the weeds and then to let them take over the yard and have to replant the whole thing. I guess it is a personal issue and since I stay at home with the kids I just did it, I had a coupon and the stuff was on sale! WOHOO! Go me! And then, it rained not long after I put the stuff down, sure I know that I won't always be so lucky, but it is very exciting when things work out. I mentioned previously that I put flowers around the kids house and they are all blooming...how cute is this? I had some left over so I put them in front of our house, I didn't realize the blooms were so small, which is perfect behind the kids house, but they look like petite tulips and irises. I also thought I would give some updates on the kids. One of the best things about 2 kids at this age is they like to be together, sure it doesn't always work out and they will fight, but those 5 minutes where I can run around the house accomplishing something while they have fun, priceless! Here you can see how high Nate gets in his crib, he is about the same height as Gwen in this picture and she is about a full head taller than him. Let's just say if I could get a little trampoline for that boy he would be SO happy!

Nate is hiding in this picture, see how his eyes are closed, he is likely yelling "SEE ME, SEE ME?" This is one of the most hilarious phases of toddlerhood, when they totally think by closing their eyes you can't see them, so funny!

Last weekend it was so nice, I started conditioning my garden area, you see we are going to leave a dirt patch for the kids still, they love it so. It was so nice and warm we hitched up the bike trailer and took the kids on a bike ride, we rode down the tobacco trail and then to a park off the trail, when we came home we gave the kids drumsticks, you can see how Nate decided to hold his, that boy!

Nate is really a pistol these days, he is full of trouble, he has started to get very upset when you tell him no, he'll wander around hitting stuff, you better stand out of his way. He now walks up to Gwen and wails her for no reason and he also goes looking for trouble. The nice thing about him being the second I know this is just a stage. He is also very talkative, his speech has become a little garbled where we don't know what he is saying, but for the most part he can be clearly understood and is using 3 word sentences. I just have to figure out what to do with his temper!

Gwen, now she is coming into a good stage, she is becoming a little less shy and a little more vocal about things. We had a friend visiting last weekend for a little while and I thought she wasn't going to let us talk (we haven't seen each other in 10-15yrs, I wanted to talk to him too!) She is genuinely a sweet girl and she seems to have compassion for others. She definitely has her own opinions and makes them known and she has started to dress herself. I put all her clothes where she can get to them, well except for this dress, but when she asked for it, I couldn't help but pull it down for her.

She even let me put in a bow like Minnie Mouse. Here she is ready to go!

Nate was feeling a little left out, here he is sporting some jewelry he picked up from our room (nothing is sacred with this boy around!)

Gwen has also started to draw people, with bodies! So cute. I am very excited about her crossing this next developmental milestone, I am not sure why, but I am.
Well, I guess that is all for today, the godfather is coming and today is the day I clean bathrooms, I must get it done! Have a great weekend!

The beginning

I was going to go to bed, but thought I should document this now. Today was the day that Gwen went to met her preschool teachers and a couple of her, dare I say it, classmates! I have been a little nervous about this, it is just an unknown how she is going to react. She ALWAYS put up such a fight when we do things, but yet I think she really wants to go, wants to be pushed to go, I don't know if I have the energy to deal with this personality trait. Anyhoo, I had secured the neighbor for Nate babysitting duty, sadly I was a little frazzled with Gwen's acting like she was going to cry, I forgot to tell Susan half the stuff I meant to tell her. But, on to Gwen. I thought I should document this day for the future and I tried to snap a picture, this is what I got. If this picture could talk, you would hear Gwen saying (well squealing) "no Mommy, no pictures". I took the picture anyway and it might be one of the cutest, don't you think? It was funny though, one minute Gwen would say, "Mommy I want you to drive me to school right now" and then I would explain that Susan wasn't here yet and we couldn't leave Nate alone. And then Susan got here and she totally didn't want to go started almost to cry. We got to the school and since I had met the teacher she let me walk down with Gwen to the classroom, Gwen got to the classroom and looked at the play house and I think may have completely forgotten about me. She started to put purple baby down so I asked her if she wanted me to take it she said yes, I also took the sunglasses. Spoke to the teacher for a minute, and left. No tears, no nothing! WOW! I am praying it is always this easy, but I know it won't be. I sat outside on a bench filling out another info sheet and doing other stuff I needed to do. I might actually be caught up in the paperwork department! I met 2 other parents who both already had kids in the school and you'd think they were paid to talk about how great the school is. We went to pick up our kids and I guess all the kids did well, the little boy chatted away (he's the youngest of 4) and it took a little longer for the 2 girls to warm up, but they did start chattering away.
When we were trying to leave all the kids wanted to stay. The teacher said something about the name tags and Gwen asked if we could put it on the refrigerator, I said sure. So she did, when we got home, see
Then, as we were walking past a table she grabbed this, the scrapbooker in me was proud (Jamie I know you are proud!)

We have only gotten out bits and pieces from her about her day. We've fussed over her and asked and told her how proud we are. This is what we know, she didn't have to potty, she got 2! SNACKS! (this is very exciting to her, obviously) of goldfish and graham crackers. They played some games something about a banana and maybe a ball. I don't know, I think it has been too long already and I might have to update this with what else they did for when I finally go back for the scrapbooking. And in case you were curious, Gwen has been telling us that she "is going to keep growing".

New things

When we decided to take the leap and move and the hubby would go back to school. The first months where tough, we expected that, we knew they would be. But, you can never really prepare yourself, can you. We also know if we could get through to this time we would be sitting easier and we are. I just had no idea that this would mean I would gain SO much weight. UGH! But, as the stress is alleviating itself some, so has the weight started to come off. Now we have a little more money we finally got the one thing I have had on the todo list for awhile! Do you know what this box means? Yes, a toy for the kids! (I seriously have no idea why Nate needs to wear the helmet, but he loves to wear it constantly saying "buckle, buckle" and then has to hold the thing up because it is too big for his head!) Ok, not a toy an over the counter microwave! WE LOVE IT! It has added counter space for me, see that counter space there, by the fridge, totally taken up by the previous microwave...
YAY! Can I tell you how fabulous it is to be married to someone who can make this happen, so quickly? (even when he had to run to the store and pick up stuff to put in an outlet!) I need LOTS of counter top space, I love to cook and I kept running out of space, keeping things out of Nate's hands and allowing Gwen to help was getting to be a challenge (plus Nate could reach up and turn on the microwave so that safety hazard, removed!) I'll wager it will still be a challenge to keep stuff out of Nate's hands, but it might be easier, I hope, even if it isn't love the extra space!
In other news, both kids have colds, I was thinking Nate was starting to get better this weekend and then the cough started, not a bad cough really, but this morning he sounded very much like he has mucous in the lungs. He seems fine now, but let's just say both kids could probably use about 3 more hours of sleep than they are currently getting, of course they are both rather stubborn, so that doesn't help. I am hoping to take them out to hang with kids again soon, but not real sure how long colds are contagious.
As I think I might have mentioned last week, Gwen got into the preschool we applied for. We are pretty excited (well, I am!) that she will be going to preschool next year, as long as we get the financial aide. We found out that this year, unlike previous years the kids are asked to come in for a mini-preschool day with their teachers and 3 other students. I am a little nervous about this and called the teacher to explain to her that this is going to be a complete unknown to us how Gwen will react. My neighbor (that I cat-sit for) is kind enough to come over and stay with Nate while he is hopefully napping, since it is during his nap time! I like to only disrupt one kids schedule at a time, if possible! I know that Gwen will love school, it is just getting her used to it, a big change for her and a big change for us, a change for the better though, I hope!
I have also started digging in the yard for my new garden, the hubby thinks I'm nuts, but I was bored, and thought maybe I could start conditioning the dirt for the plants I will hopefully be planting sometime soon. I think April-ish is the time to do that around here, I have my seeds and a little greenhouse for the seeds that should start inside. It is a very exciting time indeed, I've never had a garden and have always wanted to try and grow my own food. I think I will be doing some more research about my plants and their soil conditions I would like to have success in my first real vegetable garden, we'll see how it goes.

Tuesday Tidbits*

• I just got the call from the preschool, Gwen has been accepted! I have just finished the paperwork for the financial aide forms!
• Federal tax returns come back very quickly, we have already sent in all tax forms and received our refund! The state of MD is the same, still waiting on NC...(a sigh of relief was probably just heard in several households that know our current living situation!)
• The weekend was lovely hear, 60s, a lot of time was spent outside and our kids were exhausted
• We had our last music "class" Monday, we are all sad because our neighbors who were hosting the class are moving to a new neighborhood and they will be sorely missed!
• Our washer is making a terrible noise and I'd like to take it apart and try to fix it, but am nervous about that since my alone time is so limited with the 2 little ones at home
• I have begun spending most evenings away from home, at the gym and Mom's group activities, I have lost 5lbs so far, but will not be able to continue track the weight loss since Nate broke the scale, this time beyond repair I am afraid to say.
• The bulbs that I planted after we moved in are starting to come up, seems spring is on its way here.
• I have moved Gwen's clothes off the hangers into a dresser in their room that I had been using for clothes that were still too big, Gwen for a while has been taking them out and putting them on, so now we go out in public with a child dressed in the most unusual outfits, which is a trial for me, but hopefully the ability to chose for herself will allow her to feel some more independence. I just hope I can last through this mismatch stage...
• I am quite addicted to the exclamation mark, I think I use it too much, but I feel when I am typing things out it is far preferable to use the exclamation point to the caps.

*Idea taken from Two Princesses and a Pirate...thanks Beth!

Valentine's Day

I intended to come on here and post about the cookies and the decorating on Valentine's day, but well, I was a little distratcted, so I am putting it out here today. We had been cooped up in the house for a while and it made me in the mood to bake. I thought why not invite over my new friend over and have the girls decorate cookies. So Wed Gwen and I made cookies the cookies, she actually helped me make and cut out the cookies. Then Fri my friend came over with her daughter and the girls decorated cookies. Her daughter is about 2.5 but the girls play well together and get along, so we like getting them together. I did NOT let Nate decorate the cookies, I learned from Christmas, he's not much interested in the whole decorating, he's all about the eating!

So as you can see from the slide show, Gwen just got down to business and started decorating (my Dad would be so proud well except for the amount of sprinkles!), it was going a little slow so I put a little icing on just a couple of Gwen's but really all in all the girls had fun. I orignially gave Nate a undecorated cookie, but he is too smart and demanded some icing and as you saw from the picture he was pleased to have icing on there even if it did make him look like he had lipstick on!
Eric seemed to enjoy the cookies, it didn't make very many, I wasn't pleased with how hard the cookies got, but apparently no one minded that but me! Hope everyone had a great V'day, we did!

Random

I have not had much opportunity to write on here. I have been super busy, well, maybe not super busy, but it seems to me that I have a lot of things pulling at me during my "free time", I have been working on Eric's quilt, and going to the gym. Lately though my thoughts are on the tragedy in Hsv and reading everything that is written about it. I used to work on the same floor as one of the professors that was killed and spoke to her many times. Several of my good friends worked with her. She was a super hard worker and gave me a plant that sadly didn't make it through our many moves. Randomly early this year I was speaking with our neighbor and we talked about the same plant and how I wanted to get more of it. It is surreal to know someone who was killed in such a manner and well, Maria was such a sweet person, very driven and sometimes difficult to work for, but she always wanted the people she worked with to be the best they could and that can often cause challenges when you in that situation.
On to happier things, I think. My Mother always says that one thing about my kids, they are never lacking in imagination. I don't let Gwen watch a lot of TV-Sesame Street while Nate is napping, but Eric likes to let her watch movies occasionally, so she has now seen many Disney movies. When people used to ask her name she would tell them "Belle" all the time, but she'd say "it is ok if we still want to call her Gwen", that kid! She has recently moved onto Briar Rose and Ariel. Although come to think of it, she doesn't call herself Ariel, she calls herself the mermaid and she goes to the sunken ship (in our bedroom by the closet, where she brings "treasures"). What is funny about it is when she is Ariel she puts both of her legs on the one side of the pants and hops or crawls around the house. She will do this all day! I had some pictures of it on the old computer, but I lost them :( I have some I recently took, but I don't like them, actually, I do like them, but I feel they are showing too much skin for the internets...so for now you will just have to live with the image in your head.
Nate is still quite the character, his words are very clear. He is speaking 2-3 word phrases, maybe even sentences. He is quite smart I think. I find myself qualifying his intelligence when we are in public. I don't want people to feel bad because Nate is so smart. I don't know if that makes people feel better when I say things like "he has an older sister and that makes a difference". I don't know that it does though, certainly he wants to keep up with Gwen and they spend an awful lot of time together so she teaches him a lot of words. He is also quite humorous right now because his favorite animal is "a duck". So hilarious, anytime we sing a song about animals and ask him what animal he'll ALWAYS without fail say "a duck!" This has been going on for at least a month. Have I metioned yet he can sing his ABCs and count to 10?
We are definitely at fun stage with both kids. I have started to let Nate walk more and hold hands, previously he would lean real far forward when you tried to hold his hand and then try to get out of your grip. Recently he has started to calm down and hold my hand and then also hold hands with Gwen, I so wish I could get a picture of the 3 of us walking around holding hands I feel like it is so cute and it warms my heart! Although sometimes just to be funny when Gwen and I are holding his hand he'll go down on his knees and then we will all laugh. Stay tuned for pictures from V'day cookie decorating, hopefully I will get to that soon!
Oh and if you were paying attention to one of the last slideshows with the snow, it may have looked like Nate was going to be run over by the Jeep, he was not in fact run over by the Jeep or was the Jeep even on, just a product of the "fade", I sadly don't watch the slideshows after I make them!

An overdue update

Hello, how's it been going? You good, I'm great, thanks for asking. Things have been rather different around here. I haven't had my laptop for a week or so, the back hinge broke, fortunately we have the accidental warranty on it, so I got the email today, they decided to replace it instead of fix it! WOHOO! The process of getting the actual computer was quite INVOLVED! I am telling you, it took 2 hours, should it have taken that long? I think not. But the kids behaved remarkably well, as did Eric! It ended up being an upgrade and we had to pay some money, and we repurchased the extended warranty, but it was way less than buying me a new laptop even when we included the warranty! YAY! I think that laptop was about to die anyway, and well, now I hopefully won't have to worry about that for a while! I have also been going to the gym with my new friend. Man am I glad I met her, the gym membership is also probably the best money we ever spent. It is so great for me to get out of the house in the evening meet with my friend (most nights) and get some exercise. I get some much needed girl time and I am so energized and happier. We are going to try a Zumba class which I suspect is going to be hilarious, us 2 old farts and a bunch of college girls is what I am picturing! I think we are going to be in the back giggling, but we'll see!
So, thought you would like to see what else has been going on around here. A major case of the cabin fever. We haven't seen much of people you know people we could talk to, or really been spending much time outside in the elements, it has been rainy and today I was hopeful until I stepped outside and felt the frigid air. UGH! I am hoping for better days to come, I've heard the spring is lovely. Of course if I was in MD I would be under 3+ ft of snow. But I don't think that would be that bad for us, with the Jeep and the walking distance to grocery store we probably would have been able to get out and at least we could have played in the snow.
I digressed and didn't get to the actual pictures, so I'll try again. While I was getting ready to take the kids to the grocery store this is what I found:

Yes, that is my son using the chair as a slide. Would you say he is really into sliding right now? We went to the play area at the mall the other day and he was going down that slide like a pro...it is rather step and he has been avoiding it for a little while, and yesterday he went in, slid, ran back around and would go again, this was at least 5 minutes, maybe more, and if you know 20mon olds, this is a long time! One of the other Mothers even commented to me about how he seemed to be enjoying himself and how her 17month old wouldn't go near it.

Gwen and Nate have been playing really well together, Nate appears to be getting used to the fact that Gwen wants hugs and today when he got up from his nap he let her give him a hug. This is a big step for us, Nate doesn't really like Gwen to touch him. I think she has been rather pushy and pully with him, he's not fond of that at all.

Can I tell you now nice this new computer is, dude all the keys work! (some of them would require more work to get them to type)

Well, going to bed now, more later.

Snow day

Well for once the meteorologists got it right, it snowed last night and we appeared to have gotten 5in or so of snow, "soft" snow, so we couldn't do any snowman building or snow fighting, but we did keep the kids out in the snow entirely too long. I hope that they do not have any of the frostbite and lose function of anything, I would hate for them to have loss of function in a toe or something. I have compiled a slideshow of pictures from the day.

You may wonder why I have been doing so many slideshows, I am running low on space for pictures, so slideshow are the answer, for now!
Also I'd like to send my love and prayers to some family today. Love to you all!