Snow Day

Yesterday and today we had our first snow days of the year. As you can see from the pictures, we got a lot of ice. It was very nasty out this morning. Everything was a solid sheet of ice and then we got about 4 more inches of snow on top of the 4 we got yesterday. It was so bad today that even Dan got to stay home (usually he has to go in no matter what)! We waited for it to finally stop snowing and then we headed out for some fun. We made it over to the school to sled for a little bit, and the girls tried to pile up the snow in the front yard to make a fort. Unfortunately, it was not the right kind of snow for a snowman. Maybe next time!

A shot down our street.

Olivia and Emma on the sled together.

Here comes the black and blue snowman--I mean Daddy!

A Trip to the Museum

Last Friday the girls had a day off of school for teacher inservice, so I took the day off and we took a field trip to the Museum Center with our friends Carson and Sophie for the day. We learned about bats, and even saw some real bats (that was Emma's favorite part). She wasn't overly thrilled about going through the cave, but eventually made it through-clinging to my leg the whole time. Grace had a great time doing a scavenger hunt that she learned about at the Trading Post. Olivia was the "master builder" in the block area, helping build our bridge and even built several chairs for everyone to sit on. Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Everyone is very proud after we all finally got the bridge built.

Creating fossils.
The girls in front of the Mastadon in the Ice Age room.

Grace being attacked by the croc in the Trading Post.

Reflections

Back in October both Grace and Olivia wrote an essay for the PTA Reflection contest. The theme this year was "WOW", which I thought was pretty hard, but they both wrote nice pieces. Grace wrote about how "Wow was her trip with her Papa to the Michigan State-Ohio State football game", and Olivia wrote about how "Wow was her trip to Hilton Head Island with her family." I went to the PTA meeting last night and took all 3 girls with me and they played across the hall during the meeting. I found out during the meeting that Olivia's piece moved onto the next level!!! Way to go Olivia!!! When we got in the car after the meeting I told the girls I had some exciting news (this is the best part) -I told them that Olivia's piece had moved onto the next level, and Grace said, "Wow, Olivia, that's great!" She was so excited for her, but didn't once seem upset that her piece didn't move on. I guess she is maturing. I'm so proud of both of my girls!

Christmas with the Brining's

The day after Christmas we drove up to Michigan to celebrate with my family. Even though we packed all our snow gear, all the snow was gone by the time we arrived. It was snowing the morning we left, so no sledding this year. We did have lots of funs playing with Audrey and Lilly and playing games, like Pictionary Man. I don't think I have ever seen Dan laugh so hard in all his life. It was a real hoot! Steph also shopped at a local thrift shop so we could all have an "ugly sweater" for our Christmas celebration, hence the lovely sweaters in all the pictures. It was a really fun idea. Thanks, Steph! We visited great grandparents, ate great food, and enjoyed spending time together. Thanks mom and dad for a great trip!!

Can you tell mom was excited about the Wii Fit we all got her?

Audrey adorned in her beautiful "ugly" sweater.

Grace with her American Girl bed. I swear the Brining's and the Hamilton's should have bought stock in American Girl!!!

Christmas Day

Here are some of my favorite pictutes from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We went to church Christmas Eve and then came home and ate some snacks before daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". I love how Emma has her head on Dan's shoulder. I wonder what she was thinking. She was so excited when she came downstairs on Christmas morning. The first thing she said was, "Let's go see if Santa ate all the cookies we left him!" We spent Christmas Day watching a movie and playing games before we had our traditional fondue dinner. It was a great day, and I think each year gets better as the girls get older. I just love it when I see them enjoying the traditions that we have begun in our family.

This is the hardest part of Christmas morning-pausing so mom can get a picture of my girls on the stairway before we open gifts.

Grace and her American Girl doll Nellie.


Grace and her Ipod Nano. (She is getting so grown up.)

Emma got matching PJ's for her and her baby doll. I don't know who was more excited, her or Grace.

Olivia and her karaoke machine. She got a pink guitar from Big Mom. You should see the shows she can put on!!!!

Emma opening her Bitty Baby highchair. She loves to play with her babies!

Grace and Emma with the game Grace got for Emma.

Olivia and Emma with the blanket Olivia MADE for Emma. Olivia was very excited about this gift. She came up with the idea, picked out the material, and tied it all by herself. After Emma opened it, Olivia looked at me and whispered, "I just knew she would love it." It was just too cute!!!

Christmas with Big Mom

Dan's mom came to visit a couple of days before Christmas to celebrate with our family. I had to work, but Dan had fun taking everyone shopping and we all had fun making Christmas cookies and just spending time together.