The girls and I met our friends Michelle, Bela, and Baby Maya this afternoon. The girls played in the children's play structure at the mall while the mommies chatted. After the kids were good and sweaty {they ran and played like kids that have been cooped up for 2 weeks!!} we moved to Starbucks for a treat.

{Of course, Merilyn would not stand still for a picture.}

From there, the girls and I met our friend Liz for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. {One of Ali's favorite's because she can get a cheese pizza without the sauce!} After dinner we headed to Macy's to spend our gift cards, and then to Barnes & Noble for some book time. It was a full afternoon/evening! It was so nice to be able to have mobility and catch up with friends.

The girls & I were going a bit stir crazy yesterday, so we decided to load up in the Honda {Trav still had the Pathfinder} to met Mom & Casey at Sunshine for pizza. It turned out to be no big deal to drive - other than our driveway - & it was so nice to get out & drive.

Today is a wet & dreary day, so we're laying low... staying in our pj's & doing a lot of reading. The only "big plans" we have is to watch a movie & make popcorn. It's interesting... now that I have my car back & I can get out... I'm content to snuggle in with the girls.

Here Comes the Rain!

It's hard to believe that we went from Arctic temperatures and snow to rain so quickly. It was pretty stormy last night... it was rainy and very windy. {As you can see from the deck chair.}

Today the girls have been very busy playing with their new toys. Anything that wasn't opened yesterday was definitely taken out of the box today! They've been so busy playing that they have been getting along pretty well. {Which is somewhat amazing considering we've been together 24/7 for two weeks!} I can always tell when Ali has gotten bored with her activity, though. It usually sounds like Merilyn squawking, yelling, or crying.



The girls have been having a ball with their maze of tunnels & tents. It cracks me up how static-filled their hair gets and how it doesn't bother them one bit!!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we were able to get out thanks to our 4-wheel drive & a husband who gets a complete thrill driving in this kind of weather. I think our daughters will follow their daddy's footsteps... as we headed down our street {with a bit of sliding} I hear, "Yea! We made it!" from the back seat. I turned around & saw both girls with huge smiles & their arms up like they were on a roller coaster!

We celebrated Greg's birthday lunch at Stanford's. Trav & I shared an interesting dessert... a "bag of doughnuts". They were hot - fresh out of the oven with cinnamon & sugar. It came with a side of chocolate for dipping. They were a lot like little elephant ears & completely yummy!

We spent Christmas Eve with Trav's mom & cousin. It was a very low-key evening with great food & family. Jamie, Kurt, & Kelly gave the girls some great jingle bells. They proceeded to sing the song "Jingle Bells" with Meri keeping the beat! {Travis thinks she'll be in a band some day... he couldn't believe how great her rhythm was!}

Later we went over to my mom's for the night. Ali put out cookies for Santa & carrots for the reindeer, and it was at this point I realized that I forgot our camera at Jamie & Kurt's. Argh!! Fortunately, I come from a family of picture-taker-scrapbookers, so my mom had a camera charged & ready to go. We put the girls to bed {after chasing, running, & playing with cousin Kelly} & fell asleep immediately... even as excited as they were!

Christmas Day was whirlwind of great things. The girls were so excited to see all that Santa had left! Ali was eager to open one present after the next, while Meri would open one & want to play for awhile before moving on. Casey & her family came for a delicious brunch, more presents, & stockings. After every gift had been opened & the tattered remains of Christmas paper had been gathered up, it was time to check out the new toys, movies, & books. The cousins played all day with the new toys! Almost everything was opened and tested. After naps & more movies, we settled in for another fabulous meal. {Thank goodness for stretchy pants!} The day was great, but the best gift was being together with my family.

Snow!

These were a couple of photos from a week ago. Since then we've had more snow, freezing rain, and more snow. This shows what we woke up to today:


Of course, the only thing on TV is "Storm Watch" and "Arctic Blast" news. There are camera shots from every road and freeway... so we can see that it's still snowing and driving is difficult. Imagine that!

I'm definitely going to be sorry when it's time to go back to school... for many reasons... one of which is I've already started my bad habit of staying up way too late every night!! But, it's the only true quiet time I have! I've finally pulled out pictures from our California trip a couple of years ago. {It's never too late, right?} If I keep this up, maybe I'll finally get caught up!

Here is one of the photos from the trip. The girls are so little! It's amazing how time flies. Notice we're wearing shorts and look warm? {Or really hot and sweaty!} It's a little strange to be working on summer pictures while listening to continuous Christmas music and watching snow pile up outside.

Last night the snow turned into freezing rain. We're lucky we got out to play in the snow when we did, because everything is now covered in ice. It took Trav quite awhile to get the car free this afternoon!

More Snow!

School was cancelled all week for us! Yahoo! We were able to get out and about on Trav's days off, and actually, it didn't seem that bad. In fact, I met my mom for lunch yesterday and it was just wet. However, today was another story! It hasn't stopped snowing since early this morning! The girls and I got out and played for a bit and found that the snow was very deep in places. Our neighbor let us borrow his sled and the girls got in for a ride. They loved it!! {It was quite a work out for me!} Merilyn was very upset to have to come back in... even if her cheeks were pink, her nose was running, and she was coated in snow! Of course, we ended our adventure with hot chocolate, so we were able to bribe Meri to come in with marshmallows.

Arctic Blast 2008

I think I heard Casey say that the storm we're having is being called Arctic Blast 2008 by the news media. I love that they always come up with a name for the snow... and they give it its own dramatic ad and everything!
Uncle Greg is somewhat of a weather savant. He's like a Magic 8 ball {without the shaking}. Ask him a weather-related question, and he'll sniff the air and give his answer. {And, he's usually right!} Yesterday I asked if all the hype was true, and if I was going to have school on Monday. He put on his coat and hat, went outside, and came back in with a prediction. "Definitely snow on Sunday, no school on Monday - and possibly no school on Tuesday." I tend to be a snow skeptic... but I'm so glad I was wrong!

We woke up this morning to find that it had snowed! In fact, it was still snowing... the flakes were fat and fluffy and coming down in a mad flurry. Meri says you can see it better if you look like this out the window:



The girls bundled up in their finest winter clothes {pajamas, coats, and rain boots. Ali actually wore my boots!} and ran out in the yard to play in the snow. Meri wasn't sure about it at first, but then she got the hang of it and tried to keep up with big sister.

They loved being out in the snow, but it got cold very quickly! They didn't last very long. {It may have had something to do with the fact that they were in their pajamas.} We all came in to get warm by the fire and drink hot chocolate. It was a good day.

When Will I Learn?

That it's nearly impossible to take pictures of Merilyn? I have to be so quick to get her looking at the camera... not to mention with her eyes open, keeping objects out of her face, and maybe a smile?

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Can you hear Bing Crosby in your head? I can picture my Grandpa Bernie standing by his old slide-top stereo singing & whistling along with Bing on "White Christmas."

We have been getting ready for the holidays around here. Alison is very excited about each & every Christmas decoration that I bring out! She was ready to decorate the tree moments after Trav had the tree up. Their Christmas dresses arrived in the mail, most of our decorations are out, I've started making cookies & cards, & Ali has plans to take her list to Santa. All I need now is for my vacation to start!

Civil War

On Saturday we spent the afternoon & evening at my mom's watching the {pathetic} Civil War game. It was great to be together with lots of food {again!} because the game itself was less than spectacular. We were taking bets on how big the spread would be at half-time and the end of the game... we were all way off! It was a big ole' bummer of a game, but it was fun just hanging out together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent our Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law's. It was a nice, low-key evening with family and lots of food. {Of course!}

Performers

Our girls are the happiest when they have an audience. They love to sing, and dance, and sing...



They love the High School Musical soundtrack. We listen to it all the time. This is a version of "We're All in This Together." {I think.}

Happy Halloween!

We had everyone over for pizza and trick-or-treating, so all of the cousins could go out together. It has become a fun tradition! This year the littlest two did a great job of keeping up with the big sisters, although Meri was really dragging by the last few houses. We kept giving her the choice to go back to the house to see Grandma, but she was adamant about staying with us: "I walking!" When the little girls said "Trick-or-Treat!" Meri would pipe up (a few seconds behind them) "Yook at me! I a chicken!" It was a very nice night... not too cold and no rain! And the best part? Ali's costume held up through the night!

A New Adventure

Alison decided that she would like to be Belle for Halloween... but not the Belle at the end of the movie in the yellow ball gown. (You know, the one that the Disney store sells?) Nope. She wants to be the Belle at the beginning of the movie where she walks through town with a basket full of books. While I applauded my daughter for making this "intellectual" choice, I groaned inside as I wondered how in the heck this was going to happen!? Thank goodness for my mom... she coached me as I sewed a Belle costume! Ali gave us very specific directions as to how to make it... and although you can't look too closely at the stitches... I was pretty dang proud of myself.

Pumpkin Patch

It was another perfect fall day! Kristen, Bridget and I took the kids out to Fir Point Farms for the afternoon. They had a ball! The highlight of our trip was the journey through the "dark, dark maze". It was quite an adventure trying to keep track of six kids while stumbling through a pitch-black maze. The kids took turns holding the flashlight (which was sometimes helpful) and the moms tooks turns frantically calling for their kids. At one point I didn't really care if we went back out through the entrance... I just wanted out!! It was a joyous moment when we saw the light of the exit. We were covered in dust and hay, but completely thrilled to be out of there!