Snow and Ice, Ice and Snow!

We have had a most interesting winter! It started with lots of cold temperatures in November, then snow and lots of ice in December. Then, snow and ice again in January! The kids have been out of school so many days this year that we are beginning to wonder if we'll still be in school in July! We missed Christmas programs, ballet programs, Christmas parties, pajama parties, and on and on! We even missed the 2nd and 3rd tries for some of these events! Funny! Needless to say, we have been out of routine and are finally getting back to normal! It has been a lot of fun, though. I've loved having Kiran and Ellery home!

We have not had great snowfall accumulations, but plenty of snow for play!




Excited about snow!

For snowy days, I've learned you get the cute pics fast because the smiles start to fade when the cold sets in!

Olivia's first time in the snow! (with an ear infection, so she headed back in quickly!)

One fun sled with Daddy and his girls!

Kiran on a mission! He loves sledding so much, and I think he would say his second favorite is snowball fights!

Ellery and Opal sled together and carry their sled back up together many times! So sweet!

Getting warm and waiting for hot chocolate with great friends!

Livvy checking out the sled on Day 2

Okay, I'll remember for next year! Even though it's fine to leave a few leaves at the end of the season and not notice too much on a regular day, if you want perfectly white snow people, you have to rake that one last batch! Still learning about living with lots of trees after 9 raking seasons!

Kiran makes the head!

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Ellery gets a snowball ready to throw at Daddy . . .

She sneaks up (she loves being sneaky in a cute way) . . .

And she got him!

So the smaller snowman was made by friends earlier in the day, and we saved the bigger for our family to make when Daddy got home. It was fun that the snow people had a friend! The bottom snow balls were still here as of today, but our rain tonight will get the last of them!

So in the end, the big snow guy became Snow Vader! And truly, the Force was with us! In the photo below, check out the perfect placement of snow falling! It looks exactly like Snow Vader is holding a light saber. Kiran was thrilled by this!

As we finished up the snow man building, Kiran and Ellery were back on the slope in the dark! Kiran was jumping on the sled with his knees and heading down the hill. Then, he would let Ellery take a turn and give her a push! Night sledding! How fun! I cannot say enough what a special surprise it has been since buying this house, that we have one of the best hills in town right out our door! It draws in friends from all over the neighborhood and is such a blessing to see families (including ours) having such a good time out our front window!

As part of our winter fun, we took the kids ice skating! Kiran and Ellery did great and had so much fun! Olivia took a nap with me from the sidelines, still working through her ear infection! We are thankful that she is feeling better now. She had a rough few weeks!

Ready to go!

Getting on skates

Just before we left the house, Ellery said, "I'll go get my ballerina clothes on!" She absolutely thought she would be dancing just like the figure skaters she'd seen on tv! So sweet! I think she figured out pretty quickly that more clothes on ice is a good thing!

Getting started

Now Kiran really takes off! Way to go!







Here are a few things we've done during all of our snow days!

Fun times with Christmas gifts - Ellery plays with her new stamp sets

Lego-building and more Lego-building - Kiran has continued to amaze us with his own Lego designs and with his ability to sit and build something by going step by step in the instruction booklets sent with the Legos!

Olivia plays with her new toys!

A couple of outings to Lowes will break up the time indoors!

The playdough we made! (One of the kids' absolute favorite things has been taking our couch cushions and building forts, etc. As you can see, our living room was a total disaster a few times, but it was fun and it passed the time!)

Making the playdough!

A fun night (that would have been a school night) walking to our friends' house where we had games for the grownups and a movie for the kids!

Loving all the fires Daddy made for us!

And now, for pictures from last years' January snow!

Olivia is 11 Months Old

We can't believe that Olivia will be a year old so soon! She is such a sweety! During our time in TX over Christmas, she really started pulling up and trying to cruise a little! It was fun to see her crawl change while there; she has always done more scooting at home with our hardwood floors. In TX on carpet, she sported the standard crawl for the first time, and as soon as we got back to hardwood, she went back to scooting. Must be more comfortable on the knees that way! Too cute!

Livvy has become quite the little reader in the past couple of weeks! She loves to pull books off the shelves and pick a few to look through. I've loved catching all of our kids "reading" for the first time at this age!

So, Livvy could do great advertisements for Crocs! She can spot a kid Croc or a Daddy Croc a mile away and go after it for chewing purposes, of course! It is hilarious! If the material in them is fine for baby chewing, they should definitely make a teether! Apparently, they are quite the pain reliever, and they make the best squeaking noise, too! By the way, we do remove them from her and don't let her actually chew on the bottoms of shoes! But, I couldn't resist one photo!

Livvy is doing excellent with finger foods, and she seems excited to share meals with us now! She will eat basically anything we give her! She is awesome at drinking from a regular cup which has been such a fun surprise! She also drinks from a sippy cup and just this week figured out straws.

Olivia Faith has always loved music. She will drum anytime on whatever is available when we say, "Boom botta boom botta boom botta bang!" Her eyes light up, and she gets a little beat going. She loves to play the guitar with Daddy, just like her big brother and sister!

Olivia is extremely active and moving everywhere now! She is especially busy trying to keep up with Kiran and Ellery, and she isn't ever far behind! Here, the big kids had made a hideout between our couch and chair in the living room. Was Livvy afraid to go in? No way! She crawled right in, stayed to play and look through photo albums, then was ready to crawl out for another adventure!

Here she is crawling into the hideout after big brother had invited her in! The big kids think it is so cool that Livvy will play with them now. Today, Ellery asked me, "Mom, will Livvy talk like you and me and Kiran and Daddy someday?" She has expanded her vocabulary from Ma-ma and Da-da to Bu-bu and Eh (a time or two) and "hi". She has also repeated several sounds like "ha" for "hot!" Livvy also uses a few signs. She can sign "eat, more, drink, and done."

Livvy loves to watch the clothes moving in the washer and dryer! The other day, she pulled right up to the washer and started pulling out the clothes I had just put in. She thought it was hilarious when I said, "BUSTED!"

Sweet Livvy has had an ear infection for a couple of weeks now. We've been through one antibiotic and started a new one today. Our doctor was very surprised today when she tried to use the otoscope to check Olivia, and Livvy was able to push it away. I wasn't surprised at all - we have seen lots of evidence that she is a strong girl! Now, we are all ready for that infection to go away so she will feel better!

It has been so fun to see Olivia's play develop recently. She does great at taking things out of a box and putting them back in. She has a toy that makes animal sounds if you push the picture of the animal. This morning, she was having trouble pushing the animal buttons (they actually are a little challenging), so she just got Jeff's finger and motioned for him to push the one she wanted. After that, she would just touch the animal and let him push each one for her. Pretty cool we thought. Olivia loves some of her new toys from Christmas and has had lots of fun exploring and learning about them. She has recently discovered the "upstairs!" Well, that is the kid space of our house, and she knows it! She will stand and bounce with her hands on the bottom step of the stairs if the big kids are up playing and she is down with us. She hasn't tried climbing yet, but we are watching closely! Her eyes just sparkle when I do carry her upstairs. It is as if she is in a wonderland! So many new things to discover! My favorite thing to see her play with is her dolls! She LOVES to "talk" to babies and has for some time. She looks into and touches their eyes so intently, and you can tell she is wanting them to interact with her!

Olivia still LOVES Rocky, our cat. (Actually, she loves ALL animals! Too cute) We are having to watch her like a hawk now when he is around. He loves her, too, and is super sweet with her. He comes up and wants her to pet him. But, you know, he's a cat, and she is a very excited little girl with strong pats and hair pulling!

Olivia is still just very laid back. She transitions so easily going from house to car and car to wherever as we take the big kids places. She is great at the store. She did amazing on the trip to TX! She will sit and play so quietly as I wash dishes or do a chore. She does love to snuggle, though, and she loves to rock, so that is really fun for us! Her way of loving is usually patting. She pats the big kids on their heads. It is super sweet! She also gives kisses!

We love you, Olivia Faith, and are so excited to continue watching you grow and learn and love!

Some of these pics are a little blurry. (I have been using my iPhone a ton because it's so convenient, but the truth is it just doesn't compare to my big camera!) The most important thing is that they capture the moment!