Tired of January Weather

Well clearly there is nothing worth watching on television- especially for small children. It's cold and muddy outside and we are all going a little crazy inside. We are finding entertainment with the clean laundry and the karaoke machine. And thank GOD for the playroom. Seriously, it really is nice to have the mess contained in one area and the kids can tear it up without an ounce of type A coming out of me.

Snow Day!

Pre School was canceled and the snow did fall! I think we got about 5 inches- a very big deal for us here in Raleigh. The kids in the neighborhood were in Heaven. Grace and Isaac went out 3 different times - the first being at 9:30 this morning and still a little cold for me. :-) Grace and Elizabeth start the morning by making snow angels.

It's never to cold or snowy to swing!

So peaceful- just wish our neighbors didn't have that ugly chain-linked fence!

Our neighbor Gina, the one with the 4 boys, bought this snow suit for her 13 year old when he was a baby. Her second oldest son was the only one to ever wear it so she was thrilled to share it with Isaac. Can anyone remember the movie 'The Christmas Story?'

Daddy drug the girls all over the neighborhood. Our cul-de-sac was the hotspot because of the hill. Isaac was still not sure about the sled thing.

But he was lovin' the trampoline!

I finally went out- and froze my rear off.

Sid got me a zoom lens for my camera for Christmas. Boy do I love it! This is Sid and Grace at the top of our hill.

Here they come...

They made it to the driveway- safe and sound.

After about an hour outside, the neighborhood came in for some hot chocolate. We had lots of kids in and out. Grace, Elizabeth and Lauren warmed up with a hot chocolate tea party.

And then they all went back out. The pink snow princesses had Daddy working hard.

I love this picture!

Pull Daddy! Pull! I think that Sid did one or two more pulls up the hill in our back yard and then everyone came in for a nap. After the nap everyone went back out until dark. The kids are now in bed and looking forward to tomorrow!

More Toys

Auntie Hill gave Grace and Isaac each a $25 gift card to Toys R Us. We went last Friday for our shopping spree. As expected Grace chose a baby carriage. The bed is detachable so she can sleep her baby anywhere. She loves the carriage and wants to take it everywhere. I cannot wait until she asks me to take it to the mall with us. Also as expected Isaac chose a vacuum. He chose the 'Dirt Devil' Power Vac. He can turn the vacuum on and off and knows how to move it back and forth like a real pro. It is still no substitute for the real mccoy- but he makes due. There was a Dyson for sale as well and it actually had suction power- but only through the detachable hose (only Dyson would even make a real working children's vacuum with a detachable hose). Anyway, fortunately Isaac is not a vacuum snob and went with the working man's appliance. Besides, detaching and reattaching the hose would have been a pain in the rear for me. Ironically Sid's first vacuum was a Dirt Devil. Unfortunately it didn't see a whole lot of action until I came into the picture, but looks like Isaac might actually be able to help around the house when he grows up. Novel.

Mother/Daughter Tea Party

On Saturday our church hosted a Mother/Daughter Tea. The little girls dressed up as princesses and of course they were in Heaven. We all had such a fun time. We started out in a beautifully decorated snowflake tea room. We had tea, lemonade, cakes and sandwiches. The little girls added lots of sugar lumps to their tea and ate mostly chocolate covered strawberries. After our tea Princess Belle stopped by to read a special story about princesses. The story told about how all little girls are princess b/c we are all daughters of Christ, who is King above all.It was very sweet. Then we headed to another room for some adorable crafts. The girls made bracelets and scarves and gingerbread houses. After the tea the daddies came to pick up the daughters. Most of us moms stayed to help with the tea party for the older girls or had older daughters who were attending the other tea. So four dads, 5 princess, and two little princes (one being Isaac) headed to Champps for lunch and football. Grace had a wonderful day...and so did I. Grace and her best friend RyRy- or should I say Cinderella and Snow White.

Cinderella and Belle (aka Haley) the special guest who read the story.

Grace enjoying the frosting on her cake.

Our table-


Haley is painting Cinderella's nails. What a treat.

These are Grace's 3 closest buddies- We couldn't believe they all chose to be a different princess. We have Ariel (Mikayla), Cinderella, Snow White (RyRy), and Sleeping Beauty (MaryBeth). Is this the sweetest thing you have ever seen?This is Grace's gingerbread house. She would have covered every square inch if we would have had more time.

Isaac's New Kicks

Seriously, are these not the most adorable little boy shoes that you have EVER seen? I literally searched the entire nation to find these shoes in a size 6. I got the last pair...really. And now I am going to take the kids bowling...b/c I will not have to rent shoes for Isaac. :-) For those who read the blog and desire to purchase their own child a pair of green bowling shoes the brand is 'See Kai Run.' I love their shoes. I also love Pedoodles and Pedipeds. Skip the Stride Rites...trust me.

Christmas and New Year with Nana

Nana came to visit for a long weekend. She brought lots of wonderful presents and it was fun to have a second Christmas. Isaac and Grace are beginning to think that Santa comes on Thursdays.

I am still not completely comfortable with Grace driving around her brother. They are so cute, though. One of these days Isaac will refuse to ride in the Barbie Pink Jeep- especially since Sid wants to get him his own jeep soon...possibly black or camouflage...whatever the opposite of pink is.