How we're passing the time...waiting for the snow to melt

So, plenty of time in the house these days...and here's how we're passing the time!

Pete, our 7 year old Lab has been coming in for evening visits! Abigail loves it, Hannah is equal parts thrilled and terrified.
Pete loves me! He's a big softie but since he weighs about 80 lbs, most people don't believe me.

A dance marathon with crimped hair, wooohooo!

And of course, we spent several winter Sundays cheering on our Colts! What a Super season it was! So sad to see them lose in the big game but we had a ball cheering them on. For all of the playoff games and the Super Bowl, our friends The Browns came over to watch with us. Krista and Abigail have been friends since Abigail was about 3 months old and Krista was almost two. They are such good buddies! In the picture above they're snackin' it up during the Super Bowl.

Not pictured but also fun:

Abigail wore all of her clothes backward one day and informed me that it was 'backwards day.'

Hannah has gotten better and better at using the potty, plus she now has some teeny little bangs after her first mini haircut. Don't get excited, she was sitting on the bathroom counter and I trimmed them.

Our church group made Valentines for shut ins, that was at another family's house on the first bad night of snow. Thank goodness another family followed the girls and I home (Andy was at work) because the driving conditions were the worst I've ever faced, by far. The party was fun, though!

Play toys; pick them up. Play toys; pick them up...actually I'm getting a little tired of this one!

The long winter is surely almost over, but we're keeping busy even when it's too cold to play outside. Though there's been plenty of that, too!

Greetings from the Great White North!

Since my brother and sister live in the south (South Carolina and Mississippi), this time of the year I start to turn pretty green with envy of their mild winters. They've had some pretty cold days down there this year but somehow I'd still take their winter months over ours any day! I keep telling Andy we need to move to Arizona or something...I hate being cold. And I don't just throw that hate word around. It's cold. We have a LOT of snow on the ground and most of it just isn't going anywhere. To be more specific, we've gotten 31 inches of snow in Shelby County in an eleven day time period. Temperatures lately have been around 10 degrees below normal so it's pretty tough on the little ones who really want to play in the snow.
So Southerners, here's what you're missing!

Has anyone seen 'A Christmas Story?' Just wondering if you see the resemblance between Hannah and the main character.

My husband, hot doggin' in the snow drifts in our front yard! I wanted to ride along but hey, someone has to watch the kids. A few weeks ago we rode the four wheeler through the snow to a party with our church group. SO COLD but also, so much FUN!!

Here's a shot from last night when we went driving around because Andy wanted to check out the county road conditions. We are so, so thankful to have 4 wheel drive! I worked from home a day here and there but many days, I had to have 4x4 just to make it out of our driveway and up our road, which both drifted badly overnight. Then, the more major roads were much better.

And what do they do with all that snow? Actually, we're starting to wonder. The weather forecast is calling for 8 more inches Sunday or Monday. God give us strength to make it through another week of Andy working nights and getting little sleep! He's exhausted, the girls and I miss him and I've gotten pretty familiar with how it feels to be a single parent. It stinks! I like to think it's almost over but then I remember that when Hannah was born (March 4) there was a big ice storm that year. We're trying to be patient, we know spring will come soon!

Snow, snow, snow snow

If you didn't catch it, that was a White Christmas reference.

Each Valentine’s Day, Kristi likes to bake goodies for her co-workers and neighbors. This year, Polk’s birthday gift to her came in handy. While Bruce sent Kristi a heart-shaped mold to make turnovers, which Kristi filled with apples and cinnamon, it became a full-fledged baking partay with pink cupcake batter, heart-shaped cupcake molds and an icing spatula courtesy of Polk. While Kristi worked on the turnovers, I used my culinary excellence to make the cupcake batter. Clara, Abby, Ben, Hannah, eat your “heart” out.

Friday, the “snow-mageddon” or “snow-pocalypse” reached the South when 1-3 inches fell everywhere from Athens to Anderson. While you Louisvillians and Hoosiers are ready to scream for spring, us Southerners welcomed it with open arms. They even postponed basketball games around Anderson before the snow created a layer on the grass! (The downer was that because they rescheduled the Hanna-Westside game for Saturday afternoon, I missed Kristi’s black tie work dinner at The Aquarium in Atlanta, the Celebration of Support. Bummer.)

The best part about the snow? It was gone in just more than a day, and by Sunday, I took got a car wash. Only in the South you can have school called off for snow, and 48 hours later question whether you need a coat to go outside. This weekend is calling for the low 50s!

















Another birthday present, a wine t-shirt from Laura, says "How Merlot can you go." Oh my. (I apologize I couldn't get this one to rotate.)

Clara's First Basketball Game

Clara is playing basketball this year for the first time! The Church of God in Charleston has coordinated an Upwards program to make good use of their new family life center and we are excited to participate. Andy is coaching and has four players on his team, Clara included. She's the only girl in her age group, although there are lots of girls in the older divisions. Their first game was on Saturday morning and Clara did really well! I didn't know what to expect because, even though we've played some at our church, she hasn't been at this for very long. But, she hung in there with all those boys!

~Pause~

There are things that little kids do and say that we know they'll outgrow someday. And that's good, they have to grow up. It's not like you really want your fifteen year old saying something like "Momma, I wanna hold you." Abigail used to say that. I loved it! The sweet little 'isms' they come up with are just pieces of time that I want to pause and keep, to go back to later. I need a pause button, to replay these moments in a few years. You know, like when they're teenagers and we're telling them that skirt is too short or they can't go out with that friend. It would be nice to be able to swirl back through time to a precious toddler who was late talking, but who cares? Because once she talked you treasured every. single. word. And she looks up at you with her pigtails and her deep, deep eyes and says, "Momma, I wanna hold you." That would be perfect.

And then there's the one who was very early talking. And so, so funny in her constant efforts to be as big as her sister. The way she inserts syllables that aren't there. Like "Momma, I wanna brush-a my teeth" or "I shut-a da door." With her coat on she smiles and looks up, saying "I ready!!" with such triumph in her voice at 6:30am on a workday. Neither of the grownups are as ready as she is but we head out the door anyway. Some days I just treasure our morning car rides. Big sister singing boisterously, some of the words are right and some are totally wrong but she is blissfully unaware. Little sister yelling "Mommy, I love it! This song!" as she rocks back and forth in her carseat. I am so sick of Carrie Underwood (thank you, Aunt Susanna) but they love it and I will never tire of watching them sing and dance along.

Sometimes they're funny and they don't even mean to be. The words get jumbled but we know exactly what they're saying. I really couldn't begin to type Hannah's pronunciation of '4 wheeler' but boy is she excited when she says it! Abigail told me one Sunday morning that she looked "so castic!" And while we were getting ready I paused to say "What?!?" Normally, I try to let the conversation flow and then I can tell what the mystery word was. But "so castic" just puzzled me. She explained; it's a word I say to her and it means really good. We got it: fantastic. Great! So, with a big hug I told her she really did look fantastic. She said it after me, understood it. But really, I sort of don't want the funny little kid pronunciations to fade yet.

Our family is big on nicknames. Andy and I and our siblings have all had a few. It's fun and silly and half the time they don't make any sense so the story behind a nickname sounds a little half-baked. But we enjoy them. Since Hannah was little, maybe six months or so, Andy and his dad have affectionately called her "The Patso." A softened version of "Fatso" because she is so, definitely, not a fatso. It's funny and a little bit dumb and people who don't know us might assume it was derogatory or that we were making fun of her. But it's so funny! They don't say it quite as much as they used to and her other nickname, Cupcake, has gradually been used more and more. Hannah Kay Cupcake. Just has a ring to it, you know? So, the other night I said "Hannah Kay, are you my Cupcake?" Totally expecting the smile and hug I normally get. What did she say? "No Mommy, I da Patso!" Big grin from Hannah, lots of giggles erupted from Abigail. I thought Andy would wet his pants, he was laughing so hard!

That was a moment I would definitely have paused, if I could!

Dialogue in the Dark and Ikea

Last weekend, we started Kristi’s birthday week (the big 2-9) with a family get-together at Bruce and Carole’s.
Bruce made chicken wings (of course), scallops, fondue, Italian wedding soup, and of course, homemade cheesecake with berries on top.
(That morning, we celebrated Cate’s 2nd birthday at her house with the rest of the family, and Brian and Sam’s close friends.)
Sunday, we finally crossed off something Kristi had wanted to do for nearly a year. We visited Dialogue in the Dark and Ikea.
Dialogue in the Dark is an exhibit to better understand what it’s like to be blind or visually impaired.
Each group walks through complete darkness, and is led by a blind or visually impaired tour guide. The tour goes through a park, grocery store, on a boat, and in a restaurant. Of course, all of my other senses were magnified. We all had walking poles that blind people use, and the tour guide reiterated several times that they would be our “best bud.” She was right. Margaret, our guide, led by asking us to “follow my voice” until we got where we needed to be. Everyone kept bumping into each other, but the most difficult part of it was going up and down stairs, and around corners.
One of the guys in our group mentioned that he kept seeing flashes of light, and Margaret said that was natural because our brains were looking for light.
In the park, we could feel mulch and grass. In the grocery store, we could feel pears, baskets, the freezer, and heard cash registers ringing. The boat rocked back and forth, and the breeze blew as we traveled “to the islands.” The restaurant included a bar, and we all sat in a booth.
Margaret said everything in her house talks to her, from the microwave to the computer. Kristi, of course, asked how she knew her clothes matched. She said she has a system with safety pins and beads. One bead means a red shirt, two beads mean a green shirt. In her pantry, she put buttons on green beans, and paper clips, I think, on corn. She has a gas stove because she can monitor the temperature better than electric.
It was pretty interesting. Some of it was what you’d expect, other things didn’t seem as difficult as you’d think. Margaret said getting around town isn’t that bad if you go to the same places.
Next we went to Ikea and picked up a few things. I got some cheap batteries, wooden hangers, and a pan to cook chicken wings, starting this Sunday for the Super Bowl. Ikea also has really cheap food and drinks. We got a soft drink and a cinnamon bun for $1.50. I know!