Seven Simple Snowday Survival Steps

Yes, we got hit with the Blizzard of 2011. Or Snowpocolypse (according to facebook). However you want to look at it, we got dumped with about 12" of snow earlier this week. Around us, some people got a little more, some less. We measured about a foot at our house. It was seriously dumping snow about an inch an hour. Yup. We were snowbound. We hibernated at our house for a couple days. Kids were outta school. Thankfully Jer works from home, so he didn't even have to leave the house. My mom called the day we got all the snow, and asked if Jer was working that day (because a lot of people and businesses were closing due to the weather). I told her that he was indeed working. His commute to work is walking down the stairs to the basement, so unless he fell down the stairs, he would still be working :-)


So the kids went to school Monday this week, then proceeded to have Tues, Wed and Thurs off because of the snow. Yes, this was snow day 5, 6, and 7 for our district. So, to all those other going-insane-must-send-kids-back-to-school-before-I-lose-my-mind mommies out there........here are a few of my snowday survival tips....

Tip #1: Throw em' outside. :-) A little fresh air and excersize is good for kids. And while they’re out there, have them shovel the sidewalks. It’s not child labor if you pay them in hot chocolate. ;-)

Tip #2: Bake something. I love those prepackaged cookies, chocolate chip and candy - yum. And so easy, lol. Or if your really brave, you can break out the Easy Bake Oven your daughter got for Christmas that you have been too scared to try until now.

Tip #3: Play 50 games of Trouble.....until your brain won't stop popping and you get callusses on your hand from the popper.

Tip #4: Practice sight words with your kindergartner or writing the alphabet with your preschooler....this will help you remember why you never want to homeschool. :-)

Tip #5: Make hot chocolate so the kids can complain it’s too hot, eat the marshmallows, then leave their still-full cups in a sticky mess on the table.

Tip #6: Snap a ton of pictures and/or take video of the day so you can look back and remember all the fun you had. A wise woman once told me "these are the best days of your life" :-)

Tip #7: Cancel all appointments and plans for the rest of the week because it will take you that long to clean up all the messes the kids will make while home for their snow day.

Have Fun!

(oh, and kids finally go back to school tomorrow!! wooohooo! yes teachers, I am praying for you daily! ) :-)

my top 21

So, our beloved weather men and women are calling for dreaded freezing drizzle/rain off and on today, and like a foot of snow tomorrow. yay. let me hold back my excitement. I tell you what, of all the months in the year, January is at the bottom of my list. I despise you, January. The cold. The rain. The snow. The coats. yuk. (not to mention both my Grandma and my Grandpa passed away in a January) However, to get to all the beautiful, blissful months such as May :) we must endure January first. But YAY! Today is the last day of January! (although I'm not sure February will be much better - - weather wise) Anyyyyywhooooo.........onto some funner (and cuter) stuff ;-)

Yesterday was my baby girls 9 month birthday!!! (sniff sniff) I know......where has the time gone? seriously! So, I took her on Friday while the kiddos were in school to get some adorable 9 month pics taken. Here are my faves :-) Tell me which your favorite?

Numero Uno....

Numoero Dos.....much the same:)

Numero Tres....

I absolutely love her look in this one - cute cute :)

Um......number four below :)

....and five

Six......

I could just smooch on those cheeks all day! oh wait.....i do...... :)

and seven...

lol....the flower looks as big as her head!

number 8

and number 9

Number 10 below....

she did so good and was hamming it up......smiling away for the photographer :)

what number was I on??? oh right....number 11

and 12

Number 13....

look at those toofies!!!

number 14...

i love the close ups........they show off my girls big brown eyes :)

and drool :)

number 15...

number 16....

some of my faves....the naked valentine shots :)

number 17...

Number 18......

she was checkin out the beads. We had a hard time getting her pic taken....there was so many distracting props in these! plus she thought the beads tasted really yummy :)

number 19...

number 20....(hang in there - almost done)

and lastly, number 21.

Ok......those are my faves! (yeah, I know, 21 is a lot........but I had like 60 to choose from - so I narrowed it down some!) What are your top faves?

Baby it's cold outside.....

Me! Me! Pick me! I have no clue how many total inches of snow we've gotten so far this winter, but with the snow drifts and blowing, we have about a 3-4 foot snow mountain in part of our driveway. sheesh. It's crazy. But the snow is not even the bad part. The worst part about all of this is the FREEZING COLD!!! The high today is suppose to be a whopping 1 degree! But the wind chill for the next few days is like -15 to -20. Gimme a break! I thought I moved AWAY from Michigan and back to Kansas City. This brings me back to my Michigan-living days!

Took the kiddos out yesterday, we were all getting a case of cabin fever. I took them over to Paradise Park and let them play for a couple hours. It was nice while we were in there playing, but man, I thought I was going to freeze my tushi off going in and out of the car!

So, we've been staying home a lot, playing games, watching movies, hanging out and taking some "boredom pictures" :-)

Despite the negative temps outside, Lilly found her bathing suit tucked away in a drawer, and had to put it on, while I'm walking around the house in layers and fuzzy socks and my scarf!





Hope wherever you're at, your staying warm!