Weekend Snow

It finally snowed. A lot. The forecasters kept backing off their predictions, probably since they have been embarrassed by how wrong they have been each storm so far this year. But everyone agreed it was going to snow, and I was pretty confident that this was going to be our storm for the year. Thankfully the kids and I had no plans, and Bryan's volunteer event all the way in Rockville was cancelled, so we had a low key family weekend of snowy fun.

I have a pinched nerve in my neck (yup, it is about as much fun as you can imagine) so am taking a running/weights rest so this was the first Saturday in months I missed my 7 am run with friends. Instead, Noelle woke up and announced we should go to breakfast. We never do this, everyone agreed it sounded like a great start to the day, so off we went for our only journey of the weekend. We even let the kids get hot cocoa to go with their pancakes and sausage!

As we left breakfast the flurries started. I have convinced my children that you can't play in the snow until it actually stops snowing. I'm not sure how long that will last, but since it was cold and snowing heavily most of Saturday, I was happy they were on board with that information. So we vacuumed, we did puzzles, we watched HGTV, hid and found the snipe, and read. It was a lovely Saturday!

The snow slowed down around dinner time and Kellen and I journeyed outside to check the measurements. Noelle's not so accurate snowman stick from pre-K put the snow at about 10 inches. Kellen decided to take a dive despite not having any snow clothes or even gloves on. Oops!

Since the ice was about to start, Bryan took this opportunity to do shoveling and salting. He was out for over an hour even if he did have access to our neighbors snow blower. Apparently when your driveway is an insane hill that actually isn't that helpful. Here is the snow when he was done. Official measurement was about 9 inches. And yes, we have a new path. And new front porch. And some new landscaping. Post/pictures coming soon after some planting but we love it!

The ice overnight led to some very slick roads and paths so it was a day off of church for us. We started the morning instead with homemade pancakes. The kids each had specific color demands.

 
After breakfast it was time for more shoveling and play time in the snow. It was actually pretty warm on Sunday, getting in to the 40's so it was my kind of snowy fun. Maddie alternated between loving running in the snow and sinking in it so hung with us about 20 minutes. Kellen and I made it about 75 minutes, and Noelle and Bryan stayed out as she played with the bigger kids up the street over 2 hours. Bryan did lots of car shoveling and clearing the drains, earning points with the neighbors. I do love how snow brings neighbors together!

The kids were disappointed that our last snow was super powdery and not good for snowman making. So we were pretty psyched to build this awesome snowman!

We also did some sledding. I am amazed at how tiny Kellen still looks in his sledding pictures. I swear this was from this week and not when he was 18 months!

The kids also wanted to throw snowballs. Mostly at me. Thankfully their aim is pretty poor!

And yes, we sled into the street. Of course we check for cars first but I promise it is safer than going in to the tree line behind our house. My mom has me terrified of trees and sleds with a story (she likely made up) about a friend who died after hitting a tree sledding when they were growing up. No trees near us when we sled!

After our snowy morning fun we went inside and had hot cocoa and rest time. After naps no one asked to go back outside and play in the snow more. Yes! Noelle and Kellen did want to paint the snow, one of their favorite snow day activities. They were hard at work on their masterpieces.

We also made cookies and soft pretzels. For some reason I can't not bake on snow days. And we had some cauliflower chowder and grilled cheese. Yum!

So this snow storm was pretty much my ideal if it has to snow. We didn't have to be anywhere. Bryan was home. We didn't lose power and could bake/eat yummy things. And the day we played in it, it wasn't even that cold. Score. But that is probably because I didn't have to do any shoveling this time, pinched nerve and all! Bryan continues to show me house listings in Florida by the hour...

WInter Odds and Ends

Since I am playing blog catch up, here are some other winter happenings in late January and early February.

First, a few friends and I had dinner to catch up in late January. We all made a honey inspired dish or brought a drink and it was wonderful chatting with some of the moms I have known the longest. Hoping we can do it again soon. And dinner was super yummy - impressive girls! My three favorite courses were:

The appetizer including figs with cheese and honey - that is pretty much the way to my heart!

Goat cheese, beets, and candied pecans are a close second :)

And dessert was amazing - panna cotta with champagne and an after dinner cordial. 

In early February, Noelle had her 100th day of school. This is something I have no recollection of from growing up but let me tell you it is a big deal in 2015. The kids talked about it for weeks. They did a count up for months. They got their collections of 100 items together, I was asked as room mom to organize a special 100th day snack, and the kids had a day long celebration of all things 100. And then they had 101st day - themed to all things Dalmatians so I was pretty much on board with it, especially since Noelle owned a sweater that was perfect for the day already!

And on President's day I had a dentist appointment for both my cuties. This was Kellen's first official full appointment where he had the works done. He had his teeth checked previously and had experienced the chair and the fun, but this time they did the whole nine yards and despite being skeptical when we arrived (it was like 4 degrees outside) he did great. And Noelle was an amazing patient as always. Both kids have great teeth and Noelle has one very loose tooth. Pretty sure the tooth fairy will be making her first visit before long!

This girl loves the doctor and dentist, which is good since we visit at least one every 8 weeks :)

Puppy came to help Kellen be brave.

So that pretty much catches you up to our weekend snow storm. Post coming soon I promise!

Valentine Visit

Grandma came to visit for Valentine's weekend. Of course 20 minutes after she arrived Thursday the 12th, we went to get Kellen and found my little man with a temperature that had developed over the final hour at daycare that day to go with his cough. That is about right for Grandma Hayhoe's visits. His fever finally broke about 2 am Sunday morning so he was stuck in the house. We still enjoyed the visit and had a fun Valentine's celebration with the family.

Noelle had a little class party on Friday. It was cute but rushed since it was a half day.

Then she did many art projects with hearts at home the rest of the weekend. And the kids read a ton with Grandma and then discovered their Snipe Christmas gift which is actually an adorable and fun hide and seek type game that is perfect for the kids to enjoy indoors.


Saturday I went for a lovely morning run and then came home to Bryan finishing up the sausage and homemade pink waffles that he and Noelle had worked on. Perfect way to put the calories back on!


At nap time, Noelle and I took grandma to the B&O. They had a cute little tea going on with china and cake and we had a lovely time playing and showing Grandma the trains. Then we came home and made dinner and carrot cake at home with the boys as it started flurrying! It was a lovely, low key day which was wonderful.

 

 

 

Thanks for another great visit Grandma. Sorry we always get you sick!

The Cold Does Bother Us Anyways

The Saxton's are ready to move to Florida. Like tomorrow. That seems unlikely, but the temperatures this winter have been killing us. We really haven't gotten all that much snow - well, until this week and the weekend storm that went from 2-4 inches to about 10 or so. But temperatures have been in the negatives and the wind has made things even worse. And when we all open our BGE bills this month I am pretty sure some CPR or something may need to be performed.

On the 31st of January I ran my coldest ever "race" with my running group with a wind chill temperature of 2 degrees. I am a wuss so this was saying a lot about my dedication to the cause. And it did make me run fast so I could get back inside as I cracked 24 minutes for the5K! The first weekend in February was actually a little thaw from the cold though, and we all said a little prayer of thanks. In fact, that Sunday especially was in the high 40's and the kids and I enjoyed the weather and the sunshine before the frigid winter temperatures returned just two days later. Here we are enjoying the sun.

It was a short lived arctic thaw but it gave us the push we needed to not go attack that groundhog after he predicted another long winter. In fact when Noelle asked me if the groundhog has ever predicted an early spring since I have been alive I had to admit that I couldn't really ever remember that happening. How is that possibly the case?

So we'll keep bundling up and hope that our pipes don't freeze and eagerly await spring! Of course as I was getting this post together, we got nine inches of snow. Sorry friends!

ClimbZone

Yes I am super behind in blogging. Work is more insane than ever before for this early in the year between the addition of my extra California based site for the summer and all the extra hiring that comes with it and my space class that continues til spring break. And Bryan is at work all the time like always. So I'll be blogging less often. Savor the entries when you get them!

The last Sunday in January, Bryan and Noelle checked out the newly opened ClimbZone. This place sounds/looks amazing. They have about 70 themed walls for kids and adults to climb and a special automatic system to get easily down after you make the climb. Noelle is strong. Bryan climbed weekly in college (and apparently his form is amazing - he had a stalker at ClimbZone who told him so). This seemed like a match made in heaven. Even though ClimbZone is open to smaller kids and Kellen is pretty darn strong in his own right, we decided to make this a daddy daughter date and sent the two of them for their three hour adventure together. Noelle had an amazing time. Bryan came home with some aching hands from the ropes but he also thought the place was pretty cool. Noelle made it to the top of quite a few walls. Bryan made it to the top of all but one. I am so proud of them both and am glad they had the opportunity to go to this place together. And I'm excited for all of us to go sometime when Kellen is a little older.

Here are some pictures of my little monkey: