Snow Princesses

 Kari had her friend, Sophia, over one afternoon and it was so warm we went outside and played!

Snow Day

Ah, the excitement of the Snow Day!  The night before, there are rumors of the approaching snow.  There is the elusive possibility of a day off of school.  You wait.  Sometimes, you get the call before you go to bed.  Other times, you wake up and your mom says, "School is cancelled!"  (In your mind, she's just as excited about this as you are too.)  Then, it's time for cartoons in pajamas, lounging all morning, and, if the weather cooperates, playing in the snow all afternoon!

 And....this is how Britta does snow days.  (Sure wish I could do the same!!!)

 Kari sure enjoys having her older sister and brother at home...but she also enjoys staying warm and cozy inside!

Juliana just loves to play (inside or out)!  She was so darn funny and completely absorbed in her play.


Snow days (for Mom) are nice in that I don't have to rush the big kids out the door in the morning and we can all just take it easy.  And, as long as I can keep the peace between everyone, the day is a lot of fun :-).

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.

Funny Weather

On Saturday morning, the kids did this...

On Sunday afternoon, they did this...

Let the crazy weather begin!

A Blessing in Disguise

So, it turns out that me not being induced this week has become a blessing in disguise. On Tuesday night, my "cold" got significantly worse and the pressure behind my eyes, cheeks and jaw told me what the doctor confirmed Wednesday morning; that yes, I had a major sinus infection. Hurray for antibiotics!--I'm now on the mend and doing much better.

The other reason that still being pregnant has turned out to be a good thing is that we are in the midst of another blizzard! Well, it's not so much the snow amounts this time. It's the wind and the sub-zero temperatures that have caused schools to shut down from Wednesday through tomorrow (Friday). I am not exagerating when I say that it is FREEZING outside.

The kids have done amazingly well thus far and have only started to climb the walls in the late afternoon (nothing TOO new there). My mom came over and played yesterday morning so I could rest while the meds kicked in a bit and then we've done some other fun stuff too. (Pictured above are the kiddos prepping for baby-duty; it was pretty cute.) We've also painted and done a LOT of puzzling. So, not having to go anywhere, especially while sick, has been nice. Although, I will personally wring anyone's neck who cancels school next week!!!

I'm still hoping I'll go into labor before next Thursday, but, if I don't, I now realize that there must be a reason! Happy snow day tomorrow....

Welcome to Syracuse!

Happy New Year! These last couple of weeks, Nebraska has gotten quite a bit of snow. Apparently, this is what Syracuse, New York, looks like ALL WINTER LONG. (And the winters are rather long up there!) Cubby says that he would shovel out the driveway after school everyday and they'd get fresh snow dumped on them all of the time. He is used to all of this and manages very well.

Now, here in Eastern Nebraska, we have winter. Sometimes there is snow, and it is cold. And, don't get me wrong, I like snow--it's really beautiful. Skiing is my most favorite thing to do in the whole world. But, I do hope we will soon be out of the single digits temperature-wise. It's just too cold. (Plus, the heater on our van is only working intermitetly; not exactly the way I need it to work while trying to navigate through the winter wonderland with 2 small children and soon-to-be baby!)

But, enough whining. Here are a couple of shots that I took of Cubby and the kids last week...before we dropped to sub-zero temps. As long as we can get some more sunny, above 20 degrees days, I say let it snow! Otherwise, can spring come early....please??

Emily's Wish....Granted!

Emily has been working all month on going to bed "like a big girl" (no whining, no coming out after going to bed). Today, she got to celebrate her achievement! We let her eat breakfast AND lunch while she watched cartoons, they went and ran around the gym at the Y, my mom and I took her shopping during naptime, and she got to pick out something from the dollar spot at Target. But, those things weren't even the "big" reward....

Earlier in the week she asked Cubby, "Daddy, can we look out the window and see the snow?" Cubby told her that it was still fall and that we'd see the snow when it was wintertime. Well, she must've known something that we didn't because when we woke up this morning, it was a winter wonderland! The kids were sooooo excited and could hardly wait until they got their snowsuits on and could get outside. They had a blast running around and even jumping on the trampoline! Thankfully, this is Nebraska and so the weather changes frequently and the snow is almost gone. I'm sure it'll be 75 degrees by next weekend. In any case, Emily told us that she was sure God sent the snow just for her...and the other kids to play in too :-).