Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

The girls are in love with this song. They listen and sing it constantly. Leia drops out and starts doing somersaults...
           

Christmas Programs and Christmas

Adia had her school Christmas program just before winter break started. They sang lots of interesting Christmas/Hanukkah songs. Their theme was holiday celebrations from around the world. They sang in several different languages even and kids played instruments. Adia surprised us by playing the xylophone. The girls insisted on wearing their Christmas dresses to the performance so I made sure to get pictures of them beforehand.


That Saturday was Gramma and Papa's Christmas party. The girls had fun running around, playing with trains and eating way too much junk food. And then it was Christmas. DiDi stayed over Christmas Eve. We open presents Christmas Eve and Santa presents on Christmas morning. Adia and Mira were completely happy with their presents, but Leia was a grump about everything. She's going through a bit of a rough patch and it's been trying.

Christmas morning brought happy faces thanks to Santa and then we went out to breakfast before heading over the Gramma and Papa's house.


And then we were off to Gramma and Papa's house for more presents and Christmas dinner. The girls were excited to see Unky Eck and Auntie Colie too. Adia got a bigger bike that's pink and purple. She's so excited to be able to ride a bike again.


We also celebrated DiDi's birthday. I made her an apple pie the night before.


DiDi spent the night with us and on her actual birthday, she took all 3 kiddos home with her. Mira and Leia came home last night, but she took Adia back with her. Adia gets to have some quiet game playing time while the twins and I have been vegging. The critters were more than happy to have some of their kids home. Naia's been following me all over, mewing and acting weird. I think she misses Adia. They're close buddies.

Snow Days

I don't remember ever having 4 snow days in a row or even 4 snow days in one school year. Adia just had a 6 day weekend because of the snow. Between the 7in of snow that wouldn't melt and the below zero temperatures followed by the threat of freezing rain, it just wasn't safe to have school in session. The girls enjoyed the first couple days, but by Tuesday, they were all ready to have school again.

In order to stay busy during all those snow days, we did some cooking. The first day we made and decorated gingerbread cookies. Then I made brownies. We also made snow ice cream. Mira and Adia really liked the snow ice cream. Leia didn't care for it at all.


We did get to have some sledding play dates with friends. We went to the park nearby with Mr. S.


The next day, since school was again cancelled, we visited G, E and A. However, our plans were delayed when the girls loaded up in the van, but the van refused to start. Luckily we were able to get a jump from a friend and after the sledding play date we got a new battery. :( Yeah, not what I wanted to spent $100 on this month.

Leia had been sniffly for a few days at that point, but I figured she just had another cold. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and then slept for 3 more hours. She woke up after dinner and was burning up. She looked miserable, complained of a sore throat and didn't want to eat. Just before bed I asked her if she wanted tylenol for her fever and she agreed to take some, but also wanted a puke bucket. Just seconds after she swallowed the meds, they all came right back up. It was terrible. She slept pretty well, but I knew she'd be missing school the next day if it wasn't cancelled. She woke up feeling much better, so I was a little relieved when school was cancelled too.

When we didn't get a "school is cancelled" text on Friday, Adia was overjoyed. She couldn't get ready for school fast enough. While most of our side streets, driveways and sidewalks were still slick and slushy, the weather was definitely warming up.


Daddy took the girls to Gramma and Papa's house on Saturday while DiDi and I went to Portland to see my childhood best friend. We haven't seen each other in nearly 15 years. It's definitely been way too long, but I'm so glad we were able to go. We got back long after the girls were asleep, but they got some DiDi time on Sunday.


Sunday was much warmer than it had been in days. So warm that the girls were running around outside without coats and weren't complaining about being cold. DiDi and I, with help from our neighbor, chiseled all the ice off our driveway. Our driveway doesn't get a whole lot of sun so it was a sheet of ice. Mira actually slid and fell on it early in the day.


So now it's back to hopefully more normal, seasonal weather.

Oh Christmas Tree

We happened to luck out and get our tree right before the big snowfall. I couldn't even imagine trying to get a tree after that point. The roads were so slick and the weather freezing cold. It was still pretty cold at the tree farm and since we went after school, we didn't have a whole lot of daylight left. We froze. Mira was being super grumpy so she didn't end up in many pictures. Leia ended up being carried by Unky Eck because she was freezing cold and tired.


When we got home, the tree wouldn't fit in our tree stand. Papa had to take it out back and chop off a section of it. Then it was time to decorate it. I'd like to say that the girls are getting better about it, but they still fought over who put what on the tree. They ended up going to bed late, which wasn't the best thing when they were already exhausted.


Daddy had the next day off so we ran a bunch of errands. We bounced from place to place and I'm glad we did since the weather was so terrible the next day.

Let it Snow...

Can we be done with snow now? I've discovered I don't mind snow if it's around for a little bit, we can play in it, don't need to go anywhere and then it melts. End of story. That, however, did not happen to us this time. Starting December 1st, it was predicted we'd get snow on Friday. It was supposed to be 1-3", a nice dusting to play with and perfect timing since Adia already had no school that day. We woke up on Friday to about an inch. I wasn't too impressed. The girls were desperate to play in it so they did. I figured it would be gone in a few hours. Oh... I was so incredibly wrong.


It soon started snowing again around 10am and it. Didn't. Stop. It snowed all day long, from big flakes to miniscule ones, but it was constant. When we went back outside around 2pm, we had 5in and it was still snowing.

    By the time we went to bed, there was almost 7 inches of snow on the ground.
The next morning, when Daddy came home from work, we took the girls on a forced march in the snow. I can officially say, Leia does not like snow. Maybe if she was completely bundled in thick waterproof snow clothes, she'd feel differently, but we don't own that kind of stuff.


Sadly, I have no snowman to show you. The snow is too cold and powdery to make one. Speaking of cold, we have yet to get above freezing. The snow is still with is and Adia's school is already cancelled on Monday. I wouldn't be surprised if Tuesday also gets cancelled. We aren't supposed to thaw until Wednesday and driving is dangerous out there.

November

Looking back at November, it looks like we didn't do very much. Honestly, it was one of those months where I blinked and it was December. I mostly remember everyone being sick (fevers, puking, lots of coughing and recovering from bronchitis for Daddy) and Adia played her first basketball game.

The month started with Adia's best friend's birthday party. The twins bowled too. Mira lost interest (hello getting sick), but Adia and Leia liked it.


The twins and I had quite a few days just the three of us. They still get confused by Adia being in school all day, but they enjoy picking her up because they get to hang out with Mr. S. He's in the same class with Adia this year.


We also discovered that the twins like tea. They're really their daddy's daughters.


Then came basketball. We had basketball practice twice a week and games on the weekend. Adia loves basketball and it's a good thing since she's a kick butt shooter. We just need to work on dribbling (which she's gotten so much better at) and defense. She's just not aggressive enough with kids she doesn't know. She did make a basket in one of the games she played. So proud of her.


And then the sick returned. Adia ran a fever all weekend and was wiped out. Coughing, sore throat, exhaustion. I felt so bad for her.


And in true Adia fashion, she was running full tilt on recess and smacked directly into a classmate. She had to find one of the biggest boys in her class who's built like a brick. I got a call just before pick up that Adia was in the office and had had an accident at recess. Her forehead was bleeding and they weren't having much luck getting it to stop. I picked her up and debated taking her for stitches. Luckily, after she was all cleaned up, we discovered it was more of a scrape than a gash/cut. Stitches wouldn't do any good. I bandaged her up and said a little prayer that she was ok and so were her glasses. I don't think her eye doctor would have appreciated replacing 2 pairs of glasses in 2 months. My little tough cookie bounced right back and was ready for basketball practice that night (along with team pictures). I predict she'll have a scar from it, but that's because she's really bad about picking scabs. Otherwise, it's completely healed already.


To add insult to injury, it was just a couple days before Thanksgiving! Adia was in charge of the pumpkin pies. She did an awesome job.


Thanksgiving morning brought the Turkey Stuffer 5K. I'm not sure what I was thinking. It was freezing cold, way too early and I'm completely out of shape. Adia, however, has been running around like a maniac thanks to basketball so she had more than enough energy. I spent most of the 5K chasing her. On the plus side, we finished in 48min. That's a record for us, but for the next 2 days, I could barely move or walk.


When we got back home, Adia curled up with Papa. She was exhausted and still recovering from the sick.


Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. Somehow everything ended up being ready about the same time. We all ate too much and the girls were so very happy to have their GiGi and Unky Eck with them this year. The next day we went and saw Frozen. The girls loved it. I have the songs stuck in my head and it was enjoyable, but I like Tangled more.