Sledding!

 

One of the highlights of our trip to Ohio was a walk to the sledding hill

just down the street from my sister's house.

 

Everybody had to take a turn

 

Even the littlest peep

 

A couple people got bored waiting for the sled to come back down the hill.

The one making snow angels

 

And the one holding the camera

 

And what's a trip to the park without swings?

 

 

Followed by some hot chocolate... with fruit? Yeah, fruit.

Icy wonderland

There was no school today. We celebrated with a happy snow day cake. Or should I say ice day cake.

 
I know it may be hard to tell on the steps

but everything was covered in a sheet of ice.

And what's worse, it started raining in the afternoon and just kept coming down.

School has already been cancelled for tomorrow.

Just hope the power wires hold out....

Week 3

Weighed in yesterday at 171.6, which is sort of a gain, but technically a loss...... if you remember the rude things my scale had to say last week. :op

For those of you adventureous enough to venture out tomorrow, could you bring me some Koolaid and diapers? Forgot to pick those up this morning at the grocery. Probably because the grocery was a MADHOUSE. I got a little flustered. I don't do crowds. Have I mentioned that?

Guess the kids will be drinking water and Tess will be potty trained by the time this storm of historical proportions passes through. Have already gotten the 2 hr delay call for school tomorrow. Pretty sure the kids will be spending the day with me. So much for catching up on some studying.....

It's snow fun!

   
It's hard to believe we were just wearing sweatshirts on 1-1-11. 

1-11-11 was spent in snowpants, hats, and gloves.

Even Buddy joined in the fun.

Waterproof gloves make all the difference. Of course, I had to take a break from the spending freeze to get them, but good winter gloves for four little peeps were hard to pass up when they went on sale.

The freeze hasn't been going all that great anyway. I knew I'd spend a little picking up dinner for the kids last week between orthodontist appointments and work. However, our Sonic dinner got a little expensive when my battery died in their parking lot.

My husband had to come save the day and bring me a new battery.

And he's been spending ever since......... but that's a whole nother post.

Since we're failing at the spending freeze, perhaps I'll do a little better working towards my weight loss goal.

I started the Special K challenge on Sunday. Let me just say, it is so easy to eat nothing but cereal. If only I didn't have to feed everyone else. :op
 

Okay, maybe I am simplyfying it a bit, there's a bit more on the plan than just cereal, but you know what I mean. I think any diet is fairly easy, as long as you don't have to feed anybody else food that's not on the plan.

I've been trying out J. Michaels new 6 week Ab video too. That first day about killed me. If you think it's just an ab workout, think again. I don't think I had a muscle that wasn't hurting the next day. I had to take a two day break between instead of just one. Today was my second try at it. I'll let you know how I feel tomorrow.

White Christmas

After a couple "warm" 40 degree days, the snow returned.

Welcome winter

The snow is coming down.

December in Ohio.

Winter wonders

It's a wonder he came home. After a month MIA, Chewie came home. The neighbors found him in their basement Friday night. Not sure where he was before then, but he's pretty scrawny, so my theory of him warming himself in front of someone's fireplace is shot.

It's a wonder that he came home right before this started. This is the first 8-10 inches from the weekend.

It's coming down again today.

It's a wonder how this girl has grown cuter. She'll be 18 months old tomorrow and has entered into that pre terrible 2 stage. She is a sneaky little thing.

We have a gate up in front of the kitty litter box which has always worked to keep the dog out. Unfortunately, since our baseboards are so tall we have to put the gate higher. Tess has figured out she is small enough to squeeze UNDER. 

It's not a sandbox honey.

She is a bit of a climber too. Still hasn't figured out she's probably tall enough to climb out of the crib, but she has mastered the dining room chairs and table. It's not unusual to find her sitting in the middle of the dining table. Oh, and the computer. Yet another fascination. She likes to climb up in the chair and push buttons. All of the buttons. One day she had the screen turned completely sideways.

She still eats like a little piggy and doesn't turn her nose up at anything. Thank goodness. Let's hope the antipickiness lasts. And she's still a snuggler. Doling out hugs and kisses like the little princess she is.

The week in review

I finished my first major paper for this quarter. Yay! Yes, I did wait until the last minute. It's due at midnight and I just finished a little bit ago. It only took me 4 hours. It's too hard to type with just my left hand so I had to take a break for breast feeding. But, it's done.
Tess has been busy rolling. Daddy tried to catch it on camera but this is a good as it gets.

And yes, the prince is asleep, on the back of the couch.

"Don't ask me where my sock went? Do I look like I know?"

Tatum thought it would be fun to dress up in her lion costume from ballet. Then she remembered it was freezing. Yep, cold, cold, cold this week.

It snowed early in the week and then dropped down to single digits. Then even further down into the negatives. Right now, it's a balmy 33 degrees. These pics are from Tuesday, way before it dropped down to 20 below zero, or whatever it was.