The little things

Sometimes it's the little things that remind me of how lucky we are. Before Audrey was born, we (meaning Boppa) installed new cabinets in our kitchen. We left a space under part of the new countertop with just enough room for two stools. We envisioned Ellie and hopefully a sibling eating there together. Today they did just that. Now that Audrey is old enough, they enjoyed their afternoon snack of homemade cinnamon rolls that they helped make in that very spot. Enought to warm a mama's heart!

Pouty

Ellie has taken lately to pouting when she is mad or gets into trouble. This morning she was doing something that we asked her not to do (more than once). When Lori calmly asked her to stop, she went into the kitchen to pout. This is what we found.....

Audrey took it upon herself to get rid of Ellie's bad mood....

We can't wait for life with two teenage girls!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hugs and kisses from our two Valentines!

Snowpocalypse!

As you've all seen in the news (if you're not in the middle of it yourself), we have been slammed by snow this week! Over the weekend we got about 12 inches and then during the last 36 hours we were hit by somewhere between 18 and 24 inches. It is crazy but absolutely beautiful. The girls have enjoyed watching it fall from the warmth of our living room with a fire in the fireplace. Lori went to work for a few hours yesterday while I stayed home with the girls and today we have a delayed opening until noon. We are thankful for the chance to have the sidewalks and roads cleared and traveled before we journey out with the girls!

Our front door on Wednesday morning (with two pajama clad girls watching the snow)

The sidewalk leading to our house on Wednesday morning

The tree in our front yard on Wednesday afternoon

Having a one-sided snowball fight with the girls through the front door :-)

A large branch on the tree in our front yard cracked Wednesday evening due to the weight of the snow. The end of the branch was (and still is) hanging down to the sidewalk. We had to dig a little walkway around it in the snow because the sidewalk is completely blocked.

Shoveling our front steps again Wednesday night!

The view from our front door on Wednesday night.

Our front yard Wednesday night

One last picture of our front steps before bedtime!

Bowling

Ellie and Audrey went to a bumper bowling party last weekend and had a blast! The party was for the newly turned 4 year old son of one of my dearest friends. Ellie loved bowling and Audrey enjoyed just watching and playing around on the (completely clean I'm sure) floor. After lunch and birthday cake, the kids got tokens for the arcade games. You'll see in the last pictures which game was a hit with the kids!

Karate Kid

Na na na na

Audrey loves to sing and we've been trying to capture it on video for months. Like most kids, she clams up the second she sees the camera. Today though she was singing in the car and I was able to film it from the front seat without her noticing. This is her favorite song to sing and we have heard it multiple times a day for the past 3 months! A complete lryic starts at second 11....

Maybe someday I'll capture her singing "Doddy No No No", also known as Frosty the Snowman.

Dress Up

For curious minds, Ellie is wearing a hippie Halloween costume with a pink tutu and Fancy Nancy sunglasses. Audrey is wearing her normal clothes with a Fancy Nancy tutu and sunglasses. The dress up box is another great idea for a cold day inside!

Gingerbread House

Mimi got all the needed supplies for gingerbread houses at Christmas, but we got so busy that they didn't get made. We're at Mimi and Boppa's house for the weekend so Ellie made one this afternoon. Another very fun winter indoor activity!

Audrey was not such a fan of the marshmallow chimney!

Ellie's finished house, complete with front door, chimney, and holly bushes.

Audrey decorated some gingerbread cookies with rice milk icing (surprisingly not so bad!). Eventually she figured out that she could just eat the icing with the spoon.

Winter fun at home

The past few weeks have been very cold by our regional standards and we've been spending more time than usual at home. It has been a challenge coming up with ways to entertain the girls for hours on end inside! Today I resorted to letting them play in the bath for an hour before lunch! Here are some of our other activities....

Audrey and Ellie laying on the couch watching The Sound of Music on Lori's laptop.

They love the two-side easel from Grandpa. Audrey uses the chalk side while Ellie uses the dry erase side. Audrey is of course strictly forbidden from using the dry erase markers!

Ellie playing games on the Sesame Street web site. She feels so grown up being sllowed to use the computer!

Hope you're staying warm wherever you are!