Closet Make-Over

Chris got a little help with the painting.
Wesley loved paiting!

Here is the new closet. It is ready for little boy clothes, toys, puzzles, and games. It also has room for quests to hang up their clothes on the right side.

Thank God for Preschool Teachers

At the preschool, parents can bring in special snacks for birthday celebrations. I asked Lydia if she wanted cupcakes or doughnuts. She said, "Doughnuts" which made things easier for me. If she had said cupcakes I would have made them from scratch but since she said doughnuts, I just had Chris go out and buy them that morning.

Lydia had her three year old well visit that morning and while at the appointment I realized I forgot to bring candles. There was no time to stop and get them and make it to the preschool at snack time.

Lydia's preschool teacher had a number 3 candle ready for Lydia. Thank God someone was prepared for a birthday celebration.
She is getting good at blowing out candles.

Here is Lydia with her teacher.

Her assistant teacher was on vacation for two weeks but the substitute seemed excellent also. I have been so pleased with the teachers at the preschool.

Lydia's teacher gave her a gift and said it was from the school. Of course, Lydia and Wesley were thrilled to add an ostrich to their animal collection.

Our Little Girl Is a Proud Three Year Old

I think decorating the bedroom door will be a lasting tradition in our family. Lydia was excited to see the decorations the morning of her birthday. She had been talking about the decorations for Wesley's birthday and I think she would have been disappointed if we didn't do it. I got the idea from my former boss in Rockville; she always decorated her kids' rooms. When her kids got older and returned home for a visit, she decorated their rooms and gave them flowers. We had a laid back day. The kids had swim lessons then we went out to lunch and spent the rest of the day at home. That night Lydia blew out all of her candles with one breath. She keeps talking about how she is now a three year old.

I love how Wesley and Lydia love each other.

They were both happy that she got a Little People tent camping set. This year she unwrapped her presents by herself unlike last year.

They were most excited about the sock puppets.

Looking at the pictures of Lydia opening her presents I realize that we didn't clean her face after dinner. Opps.

Oh, how I love this sweet (and spunky) little girl.

Whine Time Birthday Party

We have not yet done big parties for our kids' birthdays. Lydia was all excited about people singing "Happy Birthday" to her so we had a party with our Whine Time friends.
She was very proud of herself after she blew out the three candles on her cupcake.

Here is a picture of four of the seven kids.

Lydia did not finish her cupcake but Wesley ate all of his. I made these cupcakes.

The kids had a great time playing. Lydia likes to pretend she is a "scoober" driver. She is usually very articulate but I love the way she says "scoober".

Still to come - party at home with the family and party at school.

Car Conversation

Lydia asked, “How do you know Wesley is really a boy?”

Before I could answer, Wesley said, “Because I don’t have long hair. I don’t wear dresses. And I don’t wear hair bows.“

Pancake Breakfast

Saturday was the annual MOPS Valentine's Pancake Breakfast. Chris Cakes of Maryland catered the event. The pancakes and sausages were delicious!
It was fun to watch people try to catch pancakes.

It was fun to see friends and their families.

We didn't have crafts this year because our order never arrived due the two snow storms that occurred during the week before the breakfast. It seemed to work out just fine not having the crafts.

Thanks Chris Cakes of Maryland for a great breakfast!

His First Card

Wesley made us a card at Cubbies on Sunday. One of his teachers did the outside.
He wrote the inside. Other than writing his name and practicing writing individual letters, this is the first time he has really tried to write something.

We think he was copying someone else's card when he wrote "FAY".

We are rather proud of him and his card so we scanned it.

Happy Valentine's Day

This morning the kids opened their Valentine's.

They had a special treat for breakfast (mainly because Chris and I didn't buy them anything and I wanted to do something special for them). Wesley said that we should have cinnamon rolls on every holiday. Maybe we will. I like making the homemade cinnamon rolls.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pretzel Making Fun

I really like Sweet Pea Chef's recipes. One day this week she posted some snow day ideas. After a week of snow days, I needed some new ideas.

I remember when she first posted her pretzel recipe a year ago. I looked it over and thought, "No, I can't."

This past fall I joined some friends in an online baking club. I have enjoyed baking (and eating) the breads. So, when I saw Sweet Pea Chef's pretzel recipe again I thought, "Let's try it!"

Wesley was happy to shape the pretzels.
I asked Chris to take some photos for me, but he ignored my instructions to "really zoom in so you don't get the messy kitchen." So, now you can see how messy my kitchen often is.
Lydia wasn't interested in helping but Wesley enjoyed it.

I think the pretzels turned out well. They are delicious and the kids enjoyed having a pretzel for breakfast this morning.

Praying the Power Stays On This Time

As the snow comes down faster and the winds pick up, we are praying we don't lose power.


The power went out last Saturday night a little after 9:00. Chris and I were watching Julie & Julia and one of the kids needed something so I went up to check on why they weren't sleeping. While I was in their room, the lights flickered and then went off. Wesley was confused about this and kept asking how snow on the power lines would make them break or how trees could fall onto the lines.


Chris and I put extra blankets on the kids and we went to bed also. A little after 5:30 AM, we heard everything power up. The printer went through its warm up and test printing. For once, that was a glorious sound. I fell on my face and praised God that the electricity was back on.

There was a strange beeping alarm coming from the kitchen. It was the temperature alarm on our refrigerator; the freezer temperature was up to 19 degrees. The thermostat in the dining room said it was 58 degrees. Burr! The heat came on and ran for a couple of hours straight.


Chris and I got up since we had been sleeping for eight hours. Also, we were thrilled to have hot coffee without having to set up the camping stove in the driveway. We resumed watching the movie until Lydia got up around 7:20. We finished the movie during nap time.

We are so thankful it was only off for a little over eight hours and that we could all sleep in warm beds. It would have been harder during the day.

We are praying it stays on through this current storm. We also pray it stays on for everyone else in the area.


On Sunday Chris started shoveling again and shoveled for three and a half hours. We are grateful for our short driveway. Wesley stayed outside with him the entire time.

At some point he will have to go out there and start shoveling again.

More Sledding Fun

Guess who had never been sledding before today? I will give you a hint. He grew up in South Carolina where there are no hills even if it did snow. Notice he has on ski pants and sneakers. It is time to get some snowboots.



My turn.


Wesley liked going down by himself. We were afraid to let Lydia go down by herself.

We were proud of Wesley for getting the sled back up the hill.
Guess what the forecast is? Another 10 to 20 inches starting tomorrow! Wesley actually prayed at lunch today that "spring would come quickly." That was before all the sledding fun today. I totally agree with his prayer.

First Time Sledding

My parents bought a sled for the kids and shipped via FedEx so we would have it for the weekend. As soon as it started snowing on Friday Wesley started asking to go sledding. Two and a half hours later we headed out the door. I felt a little foolish because the snow wasn't sticking to the sidewalks or roads yet and I had to carry the sled.

We first tried sledding down a very small hill. The kids loved their first time sledding!
Lydia quickly tired of sledding and wanted to go home.

We convinced her to stay out a little longer and we tried a bigger a hill. Thankfully Wesley was fine after this stop and ready to do it again.

Yesterday, Wesley sledded down our street while Chris shoveled snow. Wesley played with the sled for a long time.

Breakfast Bread for the Big Dig Out

Before the big dig out started this morning, we had some homemade cinnamon raisin walnut bread. You can read about the bread here. We also finished watching the Wizard of Oz before Chris and Wesley headed out to the driveway. Chris came back in a little while later and asked, "Can you tell me when I have been out here an hour?" He is wise to break it up and the snow is still coming down.
The plow came down our street multiply times last night but the road is still covered in snow. When Wesley came in a minute ago for hot chocolate, Chris said he didn't feel like he was making much progress. He has been out there 45 minutes and he hasn't made much progress.
The plow just came by again and I can see the black top for now. One of our neighbors is cleaning off his Jeep Wrangler. He is one of those good Samaritans who drive the nurses and doctors to the hospital.

Flash Back Friday - Hardwood Floors

At the beginning of September we got rid of the carpet in the living room, dining room, on one set of stairs, and in the upstairs hallway. The wood had get used to our house for a few days.

After the installation, the clean up begin. There was a lot of dust.

Here is the new and improved dinning room. Yes, my table always looks like that or worse. The floors look so much better. Why would someone put light colored carpet in a dining room? The worst part was the high traffic area that we walk across a hundred times a day from the living room to the kitchen or to go upstairs to the bedrooms. We could no longer get the carpet in that area clean.

The living room.

The stairs.

The upstairs hallway. The hardwood floors are a huge improvement over the old carpet. I do have to swiffer them twice a week but that is easier and faster than vacuuming.

Zinnias

Today when Wesley met me at the door of his classroom, he held out some paper flowers and said, "Zinnias!"

His teacher said, "We are coloring all the Z things I can think of this week." Each week the class focuses on a different letter. I think they are doing the letters in an order that progresses from easiest to write to hardest to write. This week the kids are learning to write the letter Z and talking about words that start with the letter Z.

A couple of weeks ago was the S week and the teacher brought in s'mores. Wesley said they were already made and the kids just enjoyed eating them. During the T week the class made homemade tootsie rolls. Wesley wanted to put his zinnias in a vase and put them on the table for dinner. He colored them and cut them out and the teacher attached them to the stems.

I love Wesley's teacher and her assistant. Chris and I feel like Wesley is more than ready for kindergarten now.