Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

Wow!  It all started last Thursday when it began sleeting mid-morning.  The schools had cancelled before it even started because they knew how bad it was predicted to be.  After ice, and almost a foot of snow on top of that, we ended up having Daddy home for 6 straight days!!!  We loved it now, but will miss him in June, when he's still in school....  These are some memories we made on this snowy week at home:

Thursday night, when the snow had just begun, the kids were all ready to go out (even though we only had a few inches at this point)!

Callie checking it out...

First step in the snow!

"What is this I'm standing in??"

As soon as Caeden was out, he had to throw 

his first snow ball of the season!

Clearing off the fire pit

Callie just observing Caeden...

And...faceplant!

She was outside for about 15 minutes and fell down over & over!

The funny thing was she loved it!  Each time

she would stand up just smiling!

If we tried to pick her up and carry her,

she'd get mad!  She wanted to walk by herself,

even if it meant falling multiple times. 

Friday we started off the morning by making these snowman ornaments, out of marshmallows!  Both kids loved this!  Then it was more playtime in the snow!  And we finished off the day by playing lots of Caeden's board games!

Caeden working hard on his ornament!

Even Callie was able to push the marshmallows into the hole! 

This was our snow when it was about 6 inches deep.

It continued to snow until we had 10-11 inches!

 

Sledding down our driveway!

First time!

Huge icicle hanging from our roof

After awhile, Callie was happy just 

watching from her car!

Family picture!

Cleaning off Daddy's car

After all that snow, we were exhausted

and needed some snuggle time!

Saturday we stayed inside and took it easy.  Just played, cleaned house, etc.  But we did have friends over for dinner that night!  That was fun for us to see some other people and for Caeden to have some friends to play with!

We were going to try to go to church on Sunday, but after our friends who came over for dinner said the roads were really bad and they shouldn't have come over, we decided to stay home Sunday morning.  Mommy did some crafts that she had been meaning to do for awhile, we played some more games, and ate lots of food!  That afternoon, Caeden & Daddy went sledding with some friends - and then they all came back for pizza and a night at home with friends!

Caeden with his buddies!

Monday was another day at home!  Daddy went up to his school to work for most of the day.  But Ella and her mommy came over to play, so that was fun!  We ate lunch together, and Caeden got to see his greatly-missed friend!  That night was our annual Polar Express Night!  We read the book, put on our PJs, made some hot cocoa, and watched the movie!

Today is Tuesday and (we think) our last snow day!   The snow was less powdery by this point, so we decided to go out and see if we could finally build a snowman!

Callie trying to help!

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The finished product!

For some reason, Caeden didn't want him to have eyes!

Long post!  But this has been such a fun 6 days together and we absolutely loved it!  I know lots of people were going stir-crazy at home!  But since I'm home with my kids every day, it wasn't any different than the usual!  I just got to have my husband home too!  Which made it even better!!  Oh, how I love snow days!

Deck the Halls...

Decorating our house for Christmas is a lot harder than it was a few years ago.  With a 1 year old and 4 year old, we definitely said the words, "no!" and "Don't touch!" more than we ever have.  We also ended up with a few broken things! :(  But we tried to take lots of deep breaths, and do as much decorating as we could during naptime and after bedtime!  And of course, we still had fun!  Here are some pictures from our tree-decorating!!

Caeden helping put the tree together...

and Callie watching!

Daddy let Callie "help" some!

In awe...

Mommy & Caeden putting ornaments on the tree!

Callie putting on her first ornament!

And Daddy helping Caeden!

Yes, we ended up with lots of ornaments about 3 feet up, in the very front, all bunched together!  But that just meant a bunch of extra-fun (re)decorating for mommy & daddy after bedtime!  Since our ornaments consist of Reid & I's ornaments from when we were kids....and now Caeden & Callie's ornaments from the past few years....they think they're toys.  Most of them seem to light up, move, or make noise.  So it's definitely been a challenge keeping their little hands off the tree.  And like I said, we've already broken a few (or maybe several).  But we're getting better, and I think we're finally feeling safe with having two little ones in the same room as our Christmas tree!  Oh how we love Christmas time!!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas!

We made our annual trip to Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO to see Santa Claus last weekend.  We have made this trip every Christmas for the past 19 years - I was in 6th grade when we started this tradition!  And now we're doing it with our kiddos - so fun!

We left early that morning, and when we got there there was a 1.5 hour wait.  So we got our "passes" and then walked around, playing games and looking at the animals.

Caeden shooting a bow & arrow at the ducks!

And Callie contentedly watching...

(After this, she fell asleep in my arms for about an hour....

so that's why the next few pictures are just of Caeden).

Riding a moose on the carousel!

Standing in the big tree!

And with the bears!

After Callie woke up,

we had to take a few pictures with our sweet girl!

Nana & Callie

My entire family with Santa Claus

(my parents, my siblings, and my siblings families). 

Caeden & Callie with Santa

(Callie is on the verge of tears!)

And our family picture with Santa!

Although this drive is getting harder now that we all have kids, we absolutely love this tradition and the kids have so much fun!  So thankful my parents started this tradition 19 years ago!