Boys wrestling in the snow

Sweet Caroline sleeping in my arms

I took this picture while Caroline was asleep in my lap this morning. She was holding onto my hand and I just had to share the moment with the family.

Sweet Caroline is resting in my arms.

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Snow Day Fun

The schools are closed today, so the kids had another day of fun. They played NERF guns and went sledding. Here are some pictures. One is sideways, I know... My apologies, but I cannot figure out how to flip the thing right side up for the life of me.

Haley by the front window

The boys attacking Haley's indoor "fort" with snowballs

Earlier today, the kids played with NERF dart shooters.

The sunglasses were required equipment due to one too many darts to the face...

But they didn't argue too much because they felt pretty cool sporting the shades.

The terrible trio. Look out bad guys.

Dylan strikes a pose, and Daniel does the same.

Snowy Sunday

The kids and I had a wonderful time outside today. When we attempted this same activity yesterday it was way the heck too cold to really enjoy the snow unless we all had snowpants. The kids sure do, but I don't... And my legs and rear were practically numb by the time I convinced them to come back inside! But today it's not too cold out there, there's lots of fluffy snow, and of course they again had plenty of energy to burn off.

I used to love playing in the snow when I was a kid. Winter outdoor activities are some of my favorite memories. And not just sledding, either. I loved quietly sitting under the big pine tree in my parent's front yard and listening to the birds jump around from branch to branch. I remember cross-country skiing down to the elementary school and breaking off gigantic icicles off the gutters to lick like popsicles. I loved building snow forts and tossing a few snowballs around.

Today, my kids focused on sledding while I was outside with them. But when Haley and I came in to warm up and check on Caroline, Dylan and Daniel stayed out. Through the big front window I watched them wrestle each other like a pair of puppies, build a snowball fort to chuck snowballs at invisible attackers, and run around with absolutely no direction... kind of like the not-so-proverbial-around-here chickens with their heads chopped off. Eww... That was too gross. Sorry. Anyway, they literally ran around to point of exhaustion. When they came in, they actually decided on their own to lay down in their room and do some school-style workbooks from Nana.

They're quietly talking back and forth during a self-inflicted rest time in the top bunk of their room, but as I type I can hear Haley shushing them in her bossy little way. She can be like a mother hen sometimes, so disapproving of them. She's standing on the floor looking way up to them and saying, "Be quiet, I said, guys... Guys, I said be quiet... Guys! BE---QUI---ET! And guys, give the book to me... Give that book to me, guys." She cracks me up. They're not even being a tiny bit loud. And she's bascially trying to make them be silent. She's in their room, on their turf, and she still thinks she's the boss. It would be different if they were "bugging" her in her own room. But as it stands right now, she can bark at them all she wants and she's not going to get a lick of back-up from me. And she's getting zero response from them. But she just keeps at it. It sure is funny to listen to them completely tune her out. No comments directed at her, no change in volume level or activity... They are just completely ignoring her silliness. I love it. :)

Here's the pictures from today. Hope everyone is staying warm and dry. Wish I could share a mug of our hot chocolate with each one of you!

Mr. J's Bagels & Deli

Haley and Sweet Caroline and I all got a little hungry today after taking care of some errands in Harrisonburg. We stopped at a local bagel place called Mr.J's. It's one of Haley's favorite places to eat out. She loves the cream cheese they pile high on the bagels so much that she scoops that stuff into her mouth by the handful and eats the bagel later. Yuck... It could make me gag thinking about it. But here are some pictures from our early lunch.

say "Cheese!"

one scoop of cheese coming right up...

and then she gulps it down... sick.

here's a haley-cam shot of me eating my bagel...

and drinking our root beer. cheers!

Haley and Ranger

This morning I snapped a few pictures of Haley wearing my boots and walking Ranger around on his leash. She said he loves playing with her. Check it out:

Daniel's "pah-WOB-lum"

Daniel is home sick today, and we've had some funny conversations because the girls have entertained themselves for the most part.

This morning while Haley was playing and Caroline was sleeping Daniel got quiet for a moment. Then he says to me,

"Mama, did you know we got a pah-WOB-lum in this family???"

I thought maybe he meant some crazy creature he had dreamed up or something. He's got the best imagination I've ever seen. So I asked him what a pah-WOB-lum looks like. He said,

"A pahwoblum looks like this: One person gets sick, but when they get better, another one gets sick! And then when THEY get better, another one gets sick! You know what, Mama??? Our pah-WOB-lum is that this family keeps getting sick one person at a time!"

True, very true. That is definitely a pahwoblum.