Snow Day

Just got back in from shovelling the driveway - we actually got snow when a snowstorm was predicted!  Since the last snowstorm was a bit of a joke, we didn't expect anything this time either.  In fact, by 5:30 this morning there still hadn't been a flake and all thoughts of "snow day" were gone.  But lo and behold, a phone call came at 7:00 informing me of the cancellation of school, so I could start a phone chain for one of the bus routes.  Not that a snow day really means anything different for me here at home - Mike was already long gone to school, and I wasn't really planning to go out and do anything anyways.  I bundled the kids up and took them outside to "help" me shovel the driveway and get a little bit of fresh air.  Nate wasn't terribly cooperative staying all wrapped up on the front porch in his carseat, but the driveway got cleared and we had fun.  When the snow covers up all the dirty piles at the side of the road and blankets the yard in white, it makes the long days of winter somewhat more bearable.  Not that I'm not looking forward to spring!!

Toy Repair Day

Every once in a while, I have to spread out the broken toys that have accumulated, pull out my magic fix-it tools, and put the broken back together again.  Today's the day!  Now to find the book tape...

Counter Update

The blog counter doesn't count my visits, but I still managed to capture this:

At the same time, the other counter I have had the following display:

And now the counter has gone up yet again:

Whoo hoo!! Almost there!

Just noticed the number my blog counter is at this morning - two more visits, and I'll roll over 20,000 hits!  Wow!  I know that's nothing compared to people who blog a little more "professionally", but for a little home-grown family-story blog just over 5 years old and only really attracting the interest of close friends and family, I don't think that's too shabby!  Will you be the 20,000th visitor?  Leave your comment!

What's in a Name

 After much coaching and no holding-of-the-crayon 

by Mom, Peter wrote the following:  

(red crayon = Peter

blue crayon = Mom's later clarification of what the letters are)

It's a start! 

Photo Update

 Nate loves his baths and kicking like crazy

Who's that handsome guy in the mirror? 

 Nate and his Mommy

 What do you mean we're not having Kraft Dinner for lunch??!

 The brothers hanging out together

 Digging in the snow outside

 The next bunch of photos are from Mom VD from Family Day weekend

Lost in a world of Mighty Machines

 Dig, scoop, lift!

Licking the windows (washed the day before, sigh...)

 Smush!!

 This kid is so stinkin' cute

 What a sweet smile! 

 Attacking Daddy with the foam swords = way too much fun

Most-Used Words

I had a little fun this afternoon making these images of the most-used words from my blog at this website which I found a link to on Shirley's blog (thanks Shirley!!).  Interestingly, the five most posted words were "Peter", "Aaron", "time", "cookies", and "little".  I'm not sure what to think about that - especially the "cookies" part, haha.  I didn't think I posted that much about cookies? 

Death of a Snowman

Time for a Car Wash

It's that time of year when it's hard to keep the vehicles clean.  Salt spray, snow and ice, and the occasional thaw ensures that a layer of dirt and grime coats the van and car.  This morning when I was packing the kids up on our way to a playdate, Peter and Aaron were busy running their fingers through the dirt and drawing lines on the side of the van.  A little bit gross to have such grimy hands, but I was a little appalled when Peter, before I could stop him, licked the "sugar" off his finger.  Yuck!  I guess it's time for a car wash!   

Some More Pics

My three little guys.  Hard to get a great picture of all three 

but at least you can see all of their faces!  

I absolutely LOVE this picture.  I think it's hilarious!  

Peter clomping around in his Daddy's boots

 Aaron has a turn.  You've got a little growing to do, my boy!

 Haircut time!  It's amazing how different Peter and Aaron's hair is. 

 One episode of Mighty Machines later, two little boys have haircuts. 

 For some reason, I don't have many pictures of my 

littlest kiddo to post.  What a cutie!

The Amazing and Unsuccessful Sugar Cookies Odyssey

Day 1 of the Sugar Cookies.  The kids are having a super-grumpy day, so I think we can cheer up the mood a bit by making sugar cookies before lunch.  I make the dough ready, and by the time it cools in the fridge and is ready to be rolled, Aaron is begging me to put him to bed, and Peter is crying uncontrollably.  Neither of them have a bite for lunch, and they both go down for a nap.  Peter ends up developing a high fever -103.5F- and is feeling absolutely miserable.  After a visit to the walk-in clinic and being Tylenol'd up, he finally gets some sleep after he falls asleep with Daddy in his bed around midnight.
Day 2.  Peter seems to be feeling better, although he is still pretty tired.  Aaron is a little testy and also a little tired, but he never ends up with the short-lived fever that Peter had the day before.  Time to pull out the dough and give it another try.  I try to roll it out, and it's so hard that the tablecloth is slipping all over the place.  By the time I get it to the point that I think it might be flat enough, the boys are busy smushing the cookie cutters into the dough and are having fun making mangled shapes.  I start directing their cookie-cutting efforts, and we end up cutting out about 20 cookies.  Hmmm, I think.  The recipe said it made 40 cookies.  Either my cookies are not flat enough, or my cookie cutters are really big.  I decide my cookie cutters must be really big, because I'm not re-rolling all that dough.  Besides, Aaron probably has snuck 2 or 3 cookies' worth of dough into his mouth while I'm not looking.  Time to throw them in the oven.  I throw them in the oven, set the timer for 12 mintues, and go off to check the Internet for decorating ideas.  After 6 minutes, I discover that you should decorate them before putting them in the oven.  Obviously I have not made these cookies before.  I run to the oven, remove the cookies, and let them cool while preparing some egg yolk paint for the boys to decorate with.  Painting the cookies is a job better suited for Peter than Aaron, although they both have fun for a while.

 

Aaron mangles some cookies, as his "painting" technique involves 

shoving the brush into the cookies over and over again.  

When I try to show him how to paint, he has a breakdown.  

A soother seems to temporarily remedy the problem.  

Aaron happily continues to paint mangle cookies    

 

 Peter takes his job very seriously. 

Now that they have been decorated, I put them in the oven again.  The boys watch the progress carefully.  As they have already been half-baked, I'm not sure how long they should re-bake.  I take them out after another 10 minutes.  5 minutes later I decide they are not yet done.  I put them back in the oven for another 7 minutes.  I take them out again.  They still do not look entirely right.  I decide that they must just need to be cooled all the way down before they look like they should.  Not like I know what they should really look like, as I haven't made them before. 

 The final product.  Can't say I'm too thrilled about their appearance, taste, 

or texture.  I guess I'll have to give this another shot someday!

Winter

For days before, we were watching the weather radar and tracking the enormous winter storm coming up from the south.  We were warned of the impending blizzard and probable power outages, and were told to stay off the roads as the driving conditions would be perilous.  The snow was supposed to start coming after supper on Tuesday and turn into a treacherous blizzard overnight and all day Wednesday.  They cancelled school for Wednesday on Tuesday morning in anticipation of the whopper storm on its way.  Everything seemed to grind to a halt in the silence before the storm.

Here is the "Before" picture I took Tuesday around 5:00 p.m. 

Aaaaaand here is the "After" picture I took on Wednesday mid-morning.  

Hmmm.  I was kind of looking forward to getting a big dumping of snow!   

 Mike took advantage of the snow to build an igloo with for the boys fun. 

 Aaron crawling inside the igloo.  It was a pretty good size!  

He could stand up inside it.

 Mike took Peter for a walk at Port Dalhousie to check out the shoreline.  

A little bit treacherous, but beautiful as well!

 Looking out down the ice-covered pier

 

 Peter checking out all the ducks and pigeons

 Quack!