Snowy Saturday

We woke up on Saturday to 6 inches of snow, and although we lazed around for the first half of the day, we were excited to get out into the snow after naptime.  After bundling up two little boys, plus ourselves, headed out into the bright snow.


Not pictured are the five minutes we spent yelling at the dog to come back after he charged headlong out of the door, knocking Jack over in the process.  It was like you could almost hear his three brain cells screaming "MUST EAT SNOW. MUST EAT SNOW!'


We failed to consider the fact that Jack would be big enough to sled this year, but hopefully we can pick up a sled for him before the snow all melts away.




 Luke was a little overwhelmed by the bright sun reflecting off the snow, bit after a few minutes he was all smiles again. 

Jack had a blast using his squirt bottle to turn the snow blue (this was a big hit with the neighbor kids too!).

 All we did was add a few drops of food coloring to a bottle of water, but I have heard that you can also use Kool-aide mix in place of food coloring.

 Jack and Daddy set out together to shovel the sidewalk...which was really cute.  I had to laugh as Jack made Matt switch shovels with him several times until he finally settled on the green one.


We live in a townhouse community, so the majority of the plowing is done by a gang of dudes on four-wheelers rigged up with a plow in front.  All the guys really needed to shovel was out front walkway and our itty bitty little porch.


(Luke and I headed inside to warm up, and then I did end up taking Jack in midway through shoveling...it was SO cold out, I started doing the worried momma thing and brought him in for Chocolate Milk.)

After some guidance from Daddy, Jack got the hang of sliding his shovel under the snow.

 Matt and I also realized that in a few years we will have a little 'shoveling team'.  What can I say, we have big dreams for these guys. BIG DREAMS! I mean, there is no shortage of tasks they can do...snow shoveling, leaf raking, car washing...Matt and I will have to string up a hammock to kick back and supervise. 

They are so excited to hear that, can't you just see the anticipation all over their rosy little cheeks?!

IF

If you give a girl a baby...

...she's going to take pictures of his dear tiny hiney and post them on her blog. 

It's a statistical fact. 

On a lighter note...

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers, they mean a lot to Matt and I.  Matt mentioned how scary it is that so many of you can relate to the same circumstances, and he is right.  I'm so sorry that so many of you can relate firsthand.

But onto a lighter note, I don't typically post videos, but this one cracks me up.  This was taken just a few hours before my water broke...if you watch til the end you will see my pregnant self waddle into the shot.  This is what happens when a two year old decides to use an excersaucer.




I guess those weight limits are for real?! Who would have guessed?

Turn of Events

I've been a little absent in the last week or so, as you have probably noticed, and the truth is I have just been so distracted.  A couple of weeks ago we were hit with the news that the district that Matt teaches in has to make some serious budget cuts, and the language program was one of the proposed cuts.  Well, the school board met, and at that point, they decided that the language program would stay. 

We breathed a sigh of relief.

Fast forward to last Thursday, when there was another meeting.  Long story short...we are pretty sure that my husband will not have a job next year.  They are cutting the entire middle school language program. 

How are we feeling about this? Well - scared.  Kinda angry. A little bit lost.  We are grateful for the fact that he still has seven months of employment, during which he can hopefully find a new position, but again scared, because so far the only open position we have found is in Maryland.  In a way I feel like things were finally settled down and now they are all up in the air again. 

But here is what I KNOW. God has always met our needs.  Always.  This is not the hardest thing we have ever faced together...if we got through all that crap with the house, we can get through this.  I have a husband who provides for his family, he is a blessing in so many ways.

Kind of a sucky turn of events though.  I could go into the additional news that Matt was in an accident that totaled his car last week as well, but really...do we need any more bad news?  I'm just happy he is fine, cars are replaceable, Matt is not.

Jack in a Box

As the weather turns colder and we have to be inside more and more, its easy for Jack to get really bored, really fast.  Do you know what happens when a toddler gets bored? Bad things my friends, BAD THINGS.  From marker on the wall, to Froot Loops in the laptop...boredom breeds misbehavior in toddlers. 

Fortunately, toddlers are also easily entertained...especially when you think creatively and do something new for them.  I thought I would show you a few of the things we like to do to switch up our routines and keep Jack entertained...and therefore out of trouble!

We get diapers delivered to our house every two months...and Jack loves to have a little clubhouse made out of the box.  I cut windows into the sides, give him his crayons or markers, and away he goes. 

Another activity he loves are his 'experiments'. I give him a couple of bowls, some plastic measuring spoons, a small amount of water, and one other thing for him to mix and play with on the floor. 

On this day he had tiny little animal sponges ($1 at Five Below), but in the past I have given him dried pasta, or even just another empty bowl to transfer all the water to with the spoon.  We do this one on the kitchen floor for easy clean-up. 

This one was our Monday activity.  A FORT! I remember the fun of rigging up a sheet and spending hours playing in it, and I was glad to see that Jack seemed to have just as much fun.  He read books in there for quite a while, and then later he took his toys in and I could hear him talking to the characters. 

Can you tell he is into Thomas right now? 

So...those are three of the things we do to keep havin' fun around here.  The bonus for these activities would be that they are things that I can do with him, and also things that he can do alone - which is good for times I need to do something else like cook dinner or nurse Luke. 

I would absolutely love to hear what activities you do with your little ones to keep them having fun and out of trouble! If you have posted about the fun things you do at home, please link it, or just tell me in the comments!