I'm dreaming of a white...Valentine's Day

Dear Andrew & Abby,

Today was our second day of being snowed in together. We got about 15 inches of snow altogether, and some of the drifts were several feet high. Here is a picture of the front of our house. The drift by the front door is almost four feet tall!

We were outside for a while playing a little and shoveling. Here's Abby helping Daddy with the driveway (she's using a broom to sweep it up):


And here is Andrew on the biggest "King Tower":


He said all the really tall ones were his King Towers, and the smaller ones were for Abby. You two had fun tromping through all the snow, but it was pretty hard to walk. We tried to make more snow angels, but it was so deep that it was really hard to get back up after we made the angels, so they didn't turn out very well. I thought you would want to build a snowman or dig tunnels in all the snow, but I think you both were just too cold. It was only about 20 degrees at the warmest today.

Since it's Valentine's Day, Mommy even helped Daddy shovel. I thought it was only fair to help since he shoveled so much yesterday. Here is what Mommy shoveled:

Isn't it pretty! Can you see the big wall of snow next to the sidewalk? Wow, that is a LOT of snow! Here's what Daddy did:

The whole driveway!! I helped a little on the side, and I did some of the front sidewalk, but Daddy really did most of the work. He's very strong. He used the big shovel. I didn't like the big shovel because it got pretty heavy with all of that snow and Mommy is not nearly as strong as Daddy. I used your shovel. Unfortunately, your shovel didn't quite make it:

Notice the handle is gone, and the corner of the shovel is broken off. It's all for the best, though, because you two fought a lot over who got to use the shovel. This way, neither one of you really wants to use the broken shovel. We'll get you two new snow shovels, though, just as soon as they are back in stock in any store any where. Since I think this snow is going to be around for a while, and we're supposed to get a little more on Friday, you may have to wait a while.

I hope you both had a nice Valentine's Day being snowed in with Mommy & Daddy. We didn't do too much that was exciting, but it was a nice family day. I was a little sad that you didn't want to make mini-pizzas in Andrew's Real Meal Oven or build cushion forts with me (Mommy & Abby's nap didn't help with our planning much, though). But I'm sure there will be other times for fun. It was pretty nice to have some down time, too. Abby even sat on my lap to watch a Signing Time video.

When you two are happy and playing together or cuddling with me, those are about the best times on Earth. I try hard to remember that when you're fighting with each other or fighting me at bedtime. But even then, I love you oodles and bunches. You are my little Sparky Joe and Sweetness, and I am the Mommy who loves you.

Happy Valentine's Day

love,

Mommy

Snowed in!

Dear Andrew & Abby,

Today, we all stayed home, even Daddy. Snowed in. School cancelled, roads declared unsafe to drive. We woke up this morning to at least six inches of snow, more snow and ice coming down, and wind gusts up to 30 mph, which made for lots of blowing and drifting. It has snowed all day. As of 10:30pm, the snow is STILL coming down. In a few spots, we can see grass because the wind blows the snow away. In others, where the wind has blown the snow to, we have drifts of three feet or more. Daddy has shoveled the driveway and sidewalk twice:

He had to take a break after that:

Looking at it now, you can't tell he shoveled twice. There are at least six inches in the driveway, and more than that in the road - the plows have stopped running for the night.

Here's the view from the front door earlier today after Daddy shoveled for the second time:

And here it is now:

Poor Daddy!

Here is a view from our back door at about 6pm:

I would show you a picture of it now, but all you can see in every picture I take are the falling snowflakes. Lots and lots of falling blowing snow...

Though you both love to help Daddy shovel, you weren't out long today. That wind was pretty fierce. Here's what you two did today while Daddy shoveled:

Don't be fooled by this picture. This moment lasted about 4 minutes. There has been a lot of yelling and wrestling. And some playing. Moments of brilliant sibling love, intermingled with ferocious screaming matches. It's been a pretty cooped up day.

Our county has declared a Snow Emergency, schools are closed, and the day care will be closed tomorrow. So it looks like we'll be home tomorrow, too. Daddy's work has said they will open at 11am, so I think he's going to try to make it in then, and it will be just the three of us. Mommy is going to have to put on her creative thinking cap to come up with some ideas to keep you two busy and to wear you out. Bedtime tonight was rough because you were all wound up - too much energy! We'll have to work on fixing that for tomorrow...

love,

Mommy

A shiner and an angel

Dear Andrew and Abby,

If I told you that one of you came home from school yesterday with a black eye and the other was obsessed with making snow angels in our first really big snow of the year, who would you guess was who? Well, my little pumpkins, surely your mommy has taught you better than to stereotypically fit a boy into the violent bruiser role and a girl into a sensitive nature-lover?!

Abby is the lucky winner of the shiner. Fortunately, there was no fighting involved in obtaining the black eye. Just a loss of balance on a step stool and some building blocks. Still, it's a beauty. And right before I tried to take your Valentine's pictures! Mommy pays the price of procrastination once again! Here's Abby and her eye, 24 hours after the incident:



So that leaves Andrew and his snow angel. We have had a pretty mild winter here in central Indiana. Until last week, we hadn't seen too many days below freezing, and only one brief and small dump of snow. But nonetheless, Andrew has been telling me for a month or two that he needs snow pants so he can make snow angels when it snows. I really didn't intend to buy any this winter since we're so far in to the season, it's been so mild, and it's highly unlikely that a pair of snow pants that fit Andrew this year will still fit him next year. It seemed like a good way to waste some money. However, last weekend when Grandma Dottie was here, we did a little shopping at the Children's Place and found a pair of snow pants for cheap, so I bought them, if only to make Andrew happy. And he was. And then it SNOWED!!! We got six inches of snow today. I knew that Andrew would immediately be heading to those pants so he could finally make his snow angel. In fact, he made several. I managed to get a picture of one (notice the awesome snow pants keeping his legs dry and warm!):


Both of you had a fabulous time playing in all the beautiful snow. And to you, playing is helping Daddy shovel our driveway, a neighbor's driveway, and the sidewalks in front of our house. You two are good, good kids. Here's Abby with her turn at the shovel receiving pointers from Daddy:

I love that you are such unique people with such defined personalities, but you get along so well. I hope that never changes. But we could live without the black eyes.

Love,

Mommy

At least it wasn't a frog

Dear Andrew & Abby,

Here's a new one. Yesterday, when I picked you up from day care, I noticed that Andrew's coat was wet in the corner by one pocket. I asked why and got the standard "I dunno" answer I love so much. So I grabbed it, trying to figure out how wet it was and I felt something a little crunchy and squishy in the pocket. And what do you think I discovered inside the pocket? Go on, guess! Well, when I pulled it out and asked Andrew what it was (not in the gee-i'm-confused-and-curious-as-to-what-i'm-holding way but more in the surely-i'm-not-holding-what-i-think-i-am kind of way), he said "It's a crystal." Sweet Boy, I love you, but that was not a crystal. It was a chunk of melting ice and snow. In your pocket. Inside. Melting. Honestly, when I first pulled it out, I thought one of the other kids must have put it there as a joke. Surely my almost-eight-year-old son knows what ice is! And what happens when you put ice in a pocket and then take that pocket indoors where the heat is! I was completely at a loss...

"Andrew, did you know this was ice?"
"I dunno."
"Where did you get it?"
"Outside."
"Where outside?"
"On the ground."
"Was it cold?"
"Yeah."
"Was it wet?"
"No. I swear! What?!"

Sigh.

And I have another new one. As I type this, Abby is sleeping in her "gib girl" bed IN UNDERWEAR. That's right. No Pull-Up. This will be our second attempt. The first try was Tuesday night when she was wearing her new Cinderella undies ("nunies") and didn't want to change before bed. I should explain: As of right now, Abby has been daytime potty trained since last fall. For the last several weeks, there have been no accidents during naps, either. But bedtime is a different story. She hasn't been able to make it through the night dry yet. So she wears Pull-Ups to bed. Until Tuesday. We were nervous, but we went with it. I put on the mattress liner, laid out another set of sheets, made Abby go potty ONE MORE TIME before bed, and expected a rough night. At about 3:30 am, I was awaken by a little whisper next to my bed, "I want a Pull-Up." Abby had had enough. She was still dry (DRY!!), but I think the anxiety was causing her not to sleep. So I put a Pull-Up on her and tucked her back in. In the morning, she was STILL DRY! And the angels sang and the sun shone...

Well, let's just say I was pretty excited. I was envisioning an end of the Pull-Up Era. So I went to the day care and bragged on my genius child. And so that day of course there was a little accident at nap time. Oops. It happens. It really isn't a big deal. It was just yet another reminder that Mommy knows diddly squat and should really learn to just sit back and wait. It will happen. Abby is not going to leave for college with a pack of Pull-Ups. Of course not, they don't make them that big. We'll have to move up to Depends. Hah! Just kidding!!

So anyway, here we are again. Abby chose to sleep in nunies again tonight. She was up to potty three times before she fell asleep. We'll see how the night goes. I have no expectations. And besides, as Steve oh-so kindly pointed out to me, I might actually be sad once the Pull-Ups are gone. It will be the end of the Pull-Up Era, yes, but that is also the end of the Baby Era. We'll be in to Little Girl territory. Wow.

Pretty soon, Andrew will start showing you where all the good crystals are for your pockets. You two are going to wear raincoats every day.

Love,
Mommy