Two more snow days!

Day 1: Suiting up for another snow day!  Seeing as we average about 2 snow days a year here, Lu is wearing Moo's snowsuit from last year and daddy's socks for mittens. Moo is wearing pajama pants under his regular pants, rain boots to keep the water out, and mommy's mittens (because they stay on and don't let snow in). Mommy is wearing Daddy's socks on her hands. (Day 2 she wears regular gloves).

Comfy wagon

Moo builds a snow fort

His first hot chocolate

A happy customer. (He actually took a long nap after this sweet beverage!)

Day 2: Trying to teach these city dwellers about sledding. I guess I thought my children were smaller than they are when I tried to cram them both into a laundry basket. Lu was not thrilled.

Perfectly content to ride solo. And Moo enjoyed traipsing around making footprints, stomping through drifts, and swimming (yes swimming) in that fluffy stuff. Lu had her photo taken by 2 strangers during our journey around the park. I guess they don't see too many bunnies riding in laundry baskets around here.

Giving sis a little tug.

Playing the sleep game. Does he care that his pants are soaked and it's bitter cold? Nope.

Taking a moment to touch this funky stuff. And Moo gets more sleep time..."Mom, take a picture of me sleepin'!"

Having a moment

Too cute. Micah has been practicing 'gentle touch' on little sis' head. She likes to play the same game...not often as gentle as he is...as she likes to pull our hair out for fun. But how precious are these kiddos? I love 'em to pieces!

The think method

Perhaps some of you remember a childhood favorite of mine: The Music Man. Dr. Harold Hill taught the whole town to play instruments in a marching band using the think method. We tried using the think method today a little differently...figuring if we thought about snow men enough, we might be able to think some snow into existence.

First...we glued colored snowflakes on a snowman as big as Moo.

Then we baked snow men cookies...(Mom only burned 12).

Then Moo ate the snowmen.

Party Hats & Milestones

Another day at home with Mom led to more creativity with pipe cleaners and pom poms. Thanks Grandma Jane! The kids even sat in the chair together for a few moments with their smileys on. Lulu shifted from army crawling to crab (?) crawling last week....(belly up). She's getting quite proficient much to Moo's dismay. She is also cruising along furniture...mostly her crib, bathtub, and couches. Moo is talking up a storm...telling stories and having made-up conversations with sleep-dog and Chuggers from Chuggington.

Here are some winsome conversations and notable quotables from this month:

Are we going to go in the el-va-vator? Let's go in the el-va-vator Mom!

Will we all eat togever? Will we go to the park togever?

Me: Look Moo, it's snowing outside!
Moo: ooh! Is it falling on the street? (yes) and on the trees? (yes) and on the cars? (yes) and on the houses? (yes) is it white? (yes) can we build a snowman? (yes!)

Waking up from nap, with a mega-hug attached, "Mom, I love you."  Two seconds later, reaching out toward the wall, "And I love the wall"....a minute later "Sleep-dog, I love you soooooooo much." (On the affection scale, this puts me somewhere between sleep-dog and the wall.)

Look Mom - take a picture of sleep dog!!

Sleep dog in flight!

A sweet moment.

Making Daddy's birthday special

We shooed Dad out the door at 9 in the morning so I could "quick" bake a cake, cool it, put frosting on it, hop in a taxi with two kids and a chinese food box-turned-cake transporter, and surprise Dad at the office by 12. Some other friends arrived a bit later for pizza and cake....two of Daddy's favorite things.

Micah enjoyed driving cars in the mud while the adults talked inside.

When Dad got home, he found a life-size version of himself with 33 things we love about him.

And of course, party hats...Mom and Moo are butterflies and Dad and Lu are just wearing party hats.

Moo was upset that sleep-dog wasn't in the "nice" picture.

Singin' in the Rain

Moo enjoys a rainy day. And we don't make it to the store. Back home to change clothes and try again later.

If you're looking for Lu...

you might find her practicing her mad skills in one of these favorite spots. Standing & climbing.

Sand box

What better way to get the dishes done than to give them both sandboxes! Moo gets couscous and Lu gets lentils. I'm proud to say that neither child tried to eat their sand. I'm also proud that I got this photo before the sand was all over the kitchen floor. Lu thought the best part was dumping the bowl and swimming in it.

Morning Snow

Rick shoo-ed me out the door this morning for some early snow shots before it all melted. Here are two of my favorites: snow on a palm tree! and bright red berries in front of our house.

Snow Day!

We were all stoked to go outside this morning and give our hand at a big snow man. Alas, it was a bit too powdery for 3-year old patience.

It was however quite perfect for snow angels.

Keeping watch from her warm sleigh.

Who's having the most fun here anyway?

Looking at Dad's HUGE snow angel.

And our cute snow bunny angel.

Who had a bit of trouble being mobile in her bunny suit.

Thanks for a beautiful snow day in our new park. We feel so blessed to be in our new home with this park across the street. And even more excited when the leaves fall and the snows come and we get to experience the seasons in this oasis in the midst of our big city.