Snow Days

This year we've had FOUR snow days.  And, of the four, there may have been ONE that was warranted.  The others have been more due to scared administrators who don't want to get sued by ridiculous parents than actual inclement weather conditions.  Yes, that's my soapbox for the day.  But, we've made the best of our times!

Actually, the pictures below are from a Sunday snow-day.  It started snowing and blowing pretty crazy-like while right when church started.  As a result, we just had sacrament meeting and then went home!  (It was kind of awesome, actually.)  But, this was also Daylight Savings day--Spring Forward!  There was extra daylight and, hence, the kiddos needed to burn some energy.  And, what better way to burn energy than to shovel (and play in) the snow?!

Emily "helped" a bit...

But, Daddy handled most of the shoveling.

Christian and Emily gave up the work and opted for play.

Juliana wanted to go out too.

Sadly, she had to settle for longingly gazing out of the window.

She did have fun waving though :-)

Kari, on the other hand, was content to hang out and watch Minnie Mouse in her bathing suit, skirt, homemade necklace and pink Hello Kitty socks.

And, even though the snow and wind stopped and the streets were clear, they still cancelled school the next day...just to be safe.  Ugh.

Sledding!!!

The first big snow of the season was awesome.  Not only did they cancel school, but it landed on the day before Christmas break (giving the kids an early start to vacation), AND Cubby had the day off!  (This, of course, is the real reason why it was awesome.)  It was pretty cold, but we got all bundled up and joined our friends up at the school for some sledding!  (Cubby had been out shoveling in the a.m, so he elected to stay home with Juliana while I got to take the big kids up!)

It was so.much.fun!  It had been a few years since I'd been sledding (either been preggers or nursing a small baby) and so I'd kind of forgotten how much fun racing down a hill can be!  It was also Kari's first time sledding and she loved it too!

 Emily also had a great time!

 Of course, once you get to the bottom of the hill, you have to make the trek back up to the top!

 Three little girls, piled on a sled!

 And, here they are at the bottom!  (Christian and Henry are also just beyond them.  Those boys were fast and fearless!)

 Ready to brave it herself!

 And here are those crazy boys!  Ready for more!

Afterward, we were all pretty frozen and so we all just piled into Mandi's van for the short ride home down the hill.  It was like a clown car!

Such a fun time!  Hopefully it'll "warm up" enough for us all to go out again soon!

Snow Dayz

So, finally, in February, it decided to snow! (After last week of 70 degree weather it was a bit of a shock!) Here are some picture from Saturday morning. The kids wasted no time getting outside--Cubby and Christian were out shoveling by 8:30; Emily went out shortly thereafter. Kari went out twice...for 5 mins at a time b/c she didn't like the snow falling in her face! Our friends came over to join in the fun of igloo building and everyone played outside until 11:45! They were DRENCHED (the snow was very wet)! But, after the power came back on (it went out around 9:30 and came back on around 11-ish), everyone got to enjoy some "warm cocoa."

Cubby took the big kids out sledding Sunday morning (church doesn't start until 2 and so that gave them plenty of time to be outside!). Kari wasn't feeling well (drainage from her stuffy nose upset her tummy the night before) and so she and I laid low on Sunday.

Apparently, we may be getting "Round 2" of the snow later this week. As long as it's gone by the end of March, right??

Ice Skating 101

On New Year's Day, Grandma Karen, Harvey and Uncle Kyle took Emily ice skating for the first time! She was all decked out and ready for adventure! Emily did great! The skating rink has these little walker-type things that beginning skaters can push around--much nicer than having to hold onto the sides the whole time! She is very excited to go again! Go, Emily!

It's SNOWWWWW Fun!

Emily and Christian have been enjoying the snow!

A "little" blizzard didn't deter them from going outside and helping Daddy shovel the driveway! (Actually, he shovelled and they played, but hey, they were good company, right?)

Yesterday, was so nice outside! The sun was shining and after lunch it was the perfect time to play outside. (It totally wore them out and they both ended up taking good naps--a rarity for Emily these days!)

If you look closely, you can see our versions of the trail markers that you see while hiking down in Moab and the like. I can't get down and bend over to help roll out a snowman these days, so this seemed to be the best substitute :-).

We were really hoping for some more sun today (Saturday) so Cubby could take the kiddos sledding, but it wasn't meant to be. Maybe Santa will bring us another sunny day when Daddy's at home so they can go! My belly is just huge and my snow gear (jacket included!) doesn't zip anymore! ***Maybe we'll have little Miss Kari before the year is out??? (Wishful thinking on my part!) I'll be sure to take some belly shots in the next week or two and you can let me know what day you think she'll arrive....