Shelves

Before Christmas, hubby got the bright idea to put up some shelves for Kaitlyn.  We hoped this would help her clean off her dresser, since she is such a pack rat and all.  We happened to have these shelves hanging around from our first house in Ft. Stewart oh....  8 years ago.  They were originally just stained, but I painted them to match the other white trim in the girls room.  I let the kids help of course.

And then we just kinda eyeballed it.  We put the things up on the top shelf that she would touch the least, and then put a few other things that she could reach a little lower.  Then she cleaned off most of the rest of her dresser.

And daddy was happy because she didn't have as much junk hanging out, and Kaitlyn felt special, so all was well.

Did I ever show you the finished product on the bookshelf?  Here is the beginning.  And here is the middle.  I may or may not have promised a fully loaded picture, and I just don't think I ever got around to it.  So here it is, full of books and mementos we have accumulated over the years.  Not exactly organized, but, eh...  who's counting ;)

Snowpocalypse 2014: Day 2

Because it was so cold, the snow never melted, and the ice stuck around, so the kids got a second full day off school.  Imagine!  Us in the south, with 2 full days off for snow!

She looks kinda like Ralphie's little brother.  Not as "stay puffed" as she could have been, but still well decked out.

They were just as excited the second day as they were the first.

And Kaitlyn got to go out the whole time.  Yes, this time I let her wear 2 pairs of jeans, and she had no problem coming up to me and saying "See?  I can still move!"  Oh well.  You win some.  You loose some.

Kari was happy to go outside too. I told her the snow might have sorta melted, and might be better for making snowballs....  

There wasn't a ton left.  Lots and lots of footprints.

But it definitely made better snowballs the second day.

There was still plenty of ice to be eaten.

And eaten.

Right Kels?

The area they had touched the least was over by the road.  I let them go out there and see what they could do.  There really wasn't enough to make a snowman, and unfortunately it wasn't packing THAT well.

But there was enough to make their noses cold, and their fingers frozen.

By lunch time it was almost gone.

And by the next morning, there wasn't any left.

And the next week we hit 70*....  Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?!?!

Snowpocalypse 2014: The End

Inside.  Outside.  Inside.  Outside.  Yay for snow!  Not.

I'll admit that I don't have tons of experience with snow, but this snow didn't seem to be good for much.  We couldn't pack it, so snowmen and snowballs were out.  And just being outside in the cold...  Eh.  Not so much fun.  The kids eventually found something to do by breaking ice off the trees and eating it.

Some of it was quite pretty!

I was able to convince Kari to make a snow angel.

And of course, Dylan has to do what his sister does.

But he succumbed to the cold eventually too.  Being a kid is so hard sometimes!

I give brownie points to the dude though.  He was ingenious enough to find a good way to heat them up.  He would lay by the heating grate by the door.  It was one of the times my heater had to work hard to keep the inside warm.

Kelsey would pick up the snow, and hold it for a while, then throw it in the air.  Each child finds fun in their own way I guess :)

Lots of ice.

Even Kelsey got in on the ice eating.

She decided Dylan had a pretty good idea, and followed his example.  Poor little tears on her cheek :)

So what happened was: Kaitlyn, while she doesn't listen to me, will listen to her daddy.  Inexplicably, if I say "wear this shirt", she will say no!  But daddy says the exact same thing "wear this shirt" and she says... OK.   What.  The.  Heck!  I don't think I can express how much this bugs me.  So, after the other kids had been playing the snow for an hour or so, I called hubby (who remember, is down in sunny, warm, FL) and ask for his help.  Its not like snow is a regular thing around here.  I didn't want her to miss this opportunity.  I wanted her to play in the snow.  But I didn't want to back down.  So he talks to her on the phone, and literally, this was their conversation "Kaitlyn, don't you want to go outside and play in the snow?  Yes Daddy.  Then just put on a pair of leggings and go play!  Ok Daddy."  What.  The.  Heck!!!

So, although it was late, she did get to go out and play in the snow.

And she was happy.  And mommy was completely bamboozled by what to do with a stubborn 6 year old, that she is sure will one day come back and bite her in the butt when said 6 yr old turns 13, or 16, or 20...

And the day ended with a mess.

But lets be real here...  What day doesn't?

Snowpocalypse 2014: The Middle

So, after the children shoveled breakfast down their throats, we got them dressed to go outside.  They were super excited to be the first to put footprints in the snow.

Doesn't she look like she is about to have the best time of her life?

Mom!  Look!  Its snow!

Kari, having been skiing recently, was perhaps the best prepared and the least impressed.

"Why don't you have any pictures of Kaitlyn?" you ask?  See, what happened was:  Kaitlyn and I don't always see eye to eye.  I guess we are both stubborn, and sometimes that comes to a head.  Since we live in Alabama, we aren't exactly well prepared for snow.  So I made the children wear a pair of leggings under their pants so they would be both warm and dry.  Kaitlyn and I have long since had disagreements over her outfits (which is why we pick them out the night before school), so I did my best to give her choices and laid out 5 pairs of leggings, and told her she could wear ANY pair of pants on the outside she wanted.  She wanted to wear two pairs of jeans.  I didn't think this would allow for ease of movement, so I said, "No Kaitlyn.  Pick one of these 5 pairs of leggings."  Well, it kept going, and in the end, I guess I got power hungry.  I said "Pick one of these 5 pairs of leggings, or don't play in the snow."  Guess what the stubborn little girl did?!?!  She sat inside while her siblings played!!! 

And played.  And played.

Suddenly, about 15 minutes in, Kelsey started crying.  One minute she was playing in the snow, the next she was crying her eyes out.  I guess she finally felt the cold, particularly in her hands.

Unfortunately, it didn't get significantly better when she went inside and thawed out...

And this is the way it was.  Outside for 15 minutes, inside for 15 minutes.  It is a good thing I wasn't concerned about having a clean house or anything....

Snowpocalypse 2014: The Beginning

The first time the winter storms came through at the end of January, we were super excited, if ill prepared.  I dropped the kids off at school and ran to the store to grab a few of the essentials to make sure we could get through the next few days.  Hubby, ironically, was out of town in FL, where the weather was sunny and almost 40* warmer.  Our school system called a half day, which I was totally ok with.  Some of the local others cancelled the whole day, which seemed like a waste since the rain/sleet wasn't set to come in until 2-3pm in the afternoon.  So the kids came home and anxiously awaited the arrival of snow.  Well, they waited...  

... and waited....

... and waited....

... and waited.  We got rain/sleet/ice for several hours.  By the way, would someone explain to me, why if the weather is cold enough (and it was), and we were getting precipitation of some sort (and we were), why it wasn't snow from the get go?  Thank you.

Finally, around dinner time, the bigger flakes started to fall.

And fall they did.  Pretty much all night long.

Until we woke up the following morning to this!  Weather.com says we amassed about 3.5 inches, which is a decent haul for us southern folks!

I got this picture of the pretty white-ness before it was marred with footprints and snowmen...  

Epic Battle

Waaaaaaaay back at Christmas time,  a great battle ensued, between the hunter and the cute one.

The hunter devised a great defense...

And at one point it looked like the cute one was finished!

But she gathered her strength, and came back stronger than before.

A great battle continued until the hunter threw up the white flag.  The cute one was merciless and victorious!

Ain't it great to be a toddler?