Let it Snow!!!

We finally got SNOW!!!!!  I hope it's not the end of it, but I have a feeling we won't get anymore.  At least they got to wear their new boots one time.  So much for being prepared this year.

Elizabeth and Caleb went out in the morning while the big kids were at school.  I find it interesting that the first thing Caleb did was throw snow balls and the first thing Elizabeth did was make a snow angel.  It's a boy/girl thing no matter what you do - nature vs nurture wins out here.

Caleb mostly wanted to shovel the driveway.  I hope this interest lasts for a long time.

Everyone went out after school.

And of course we had to have hot chocolate... twice.

Lydia's Valentine Box

Lydia was the only one who had to make a box this year.  She was determined to make a crocodile (and if Lydia is determined, you might as well give up because she won't).  I found a cute and easy one on Pintrest.  Luckily she loved it.  Well, I put it off till the very last minute... the night before Valentine's.  And then it snowed that day and Lydia wanted to play in the snow even more than make a Valentine box.  That's saying a lot because Lydia always has an art project going on.  So she went out to play in the snow and while she was gone, Michael wanted to surprise her by making her box for her.  Yes, I know it probably wasn't the best idea to let big brother do her "homework".  But Michael was so excited and so nice that I couldn't tell him no.  And besides, that meant I didn't have to help!  So yeah, we're "that family" and I'm ok with that.  Michael did an awesome job.  I bribed the kids and told them if they took a shower fast and were all ready for bed that Michael had a surprise for them.  And they were sure surprised, especially Lydia:

We took a picture of her with it before Michael left for school.  He leaves at 0-dark-hundred so that's why they both look sleepy.  I don't know who was more excited about it - Lydia or Michael.

And some more pics to show the details:

Ah, my Lydia... he has such feist!  I guess that's not a word, but it works for Lydia.  This isn't a posed pic, it's totally Lydia being herself.  I love it!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Katie's a teenager!  13 years old!  It's next to impossible to get a good picture of Katie if she knows I'm trying.  So here's a series of pictures taken a few weeks ago that she didn't really know I was taking because she was too busy having fun.  I think they show the true Katie.

We aren't doing big parties again this year.  Instead, the kids get to pick whatever they want to do as a family.  Katie doesn't like to go out much so she decided she wanted to have pizza and chocolate cake on a sheet in the living room while watching Celine Dion.  And she said she wanted "really chocolate cake" so it has extra frosting.  Michael the Pyro helped light candles.

Happy Birthday Katie!!

While the cat's away...

The mice will play!  So this is what happens when I go out.  I went to Anna's strings concert and left the other kids home.  I found this picture on my camera.  Maybe I don't want to know what goes on when I'm not home.  

"Mommy, will you play with me?"

I hear the phrase "Mommy will you play with me?" about 50 times a day.  Caleb is bored when the kids go to school.  He seems to think I need to be his constant playmate.  This post is mostly for me to remember the fun little moments of being a mom of a toddler (preschooler I guess?  3 year old - I'll go with that.)  I've been making a bigger effort to play with him.  That's maybe one of the reasons my blog is so sparse lately... or maybe it's just because I'm lazy and spend too much time on the computer... or maybe it's because I have 7 kids and am constantly running them all over.  Anyway, on this day we got out the puzzle box.  I'm sooooo tired of playing cars that I could just die... or at least fall asleep (and often do) if I have to play them anymore.  ("Hi, I'm Lightning McQueen.  I'm red.  Do you want to be my friend?  Oh you're Mater.  You have a tow cable... zzzzzz").  We had fun with puzzles and I absolutely loved seeing get excited when he got a piece right.  His cute little brown eyes would light up and he laughed every time.  We finished this Cookie Monster puzzle and were discussing it a bit.

Caleb noticed that Cookie Monster was eating with chopsticks.  See, they match mom!

Caleb was recently introduced to chopsticks.  You could see the wheels in his brain turning, his eyes got wide and he exclaimed, "Cookie Monster is eating with CHOPSTICKS!  WE have CHOP STICKS!"  And off he ran to get Dad's Darth Maul light saber chopsticks.  Shhh, don't tell Dad!  I decided we needed to  have a snack of Oreos eaten with chopsticks too.  

It's harder than it looks.  First, try to poke the Oreo.

Then try to squeeze the Oreo between the 2 chopsticks.

Finally, just give up and put the whole cookie in your mouth!

 

Puzzles and cookies - a great way to play when you're sick of playing cars!  (And mom gets an Oreo reward too!)

Nathan's birthday party

Only 3 months late.  Nathan wanted to go see a symphony for his birthday.  We searched and searched for a show that wasn't sold out.  I guess that's a good sign that the KC Symphony is so popular - being sold out means we live in a place with lots of people who appreciate good music.  But that means I should have planned for his birthday party a little earlier.  We finally got tickets and Nathan and Blake went to see Mahler's ?? (forgot which number) Symphony.  He loved it.  Then he chose Adam's Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple Cheesecake for his birthday cake... a favorite of mine and Nathan's.  (Good choice Nathan!)