Talking to Gramma

While I was taking this picture of Willow's artwork, Owen started saying, "Phone? Phone?" I told him that I was using it right then. Then he said, "Gramma?" I asked, "Did you want to call Gramma?" He got the biggest smile on his face, so we gave Gramma a call. So for 18 minutes I imagine Gramma was grinning ear-to-ear while Owen answered "no" to every question she asked. Eventually he put the phone in the stroller while he pushed it around the playroom. Willow got a minute or so with Gramma but Owen was pretty sure it was HIS call to Gramma. Here's a video of a few minutes of the call.

Willow's Mid-year progress report

It looks like Willow is right on track with where she should be!

Willow doesn't seem to choose painting in school much. I was surprised when she came back with this picture today:

The best, though, was when Chris complemented her on her rainbow she replied, "It's not a rainbow, it's a color swamp."  Umm....ok....

Reading

I'm not sure exactly where this nursery rhyme book came from, but it's one of my favorite books we have. I remember reading out of it regularly to Willow when she was little (and she still enjoys it now). I remember when she got old enough and would say the last word of each line. Owen enjoys hearing the nursery rhymes now too. 

The other night Chris and I were cleaning up after dinner and when I went to check on Willow and Owen, I found them both "reading." (warning: long video) The pictures below are a couple of the rhymes Willow is saying. I could listen to them read all day!!

Zoo and Disney Live

We enjoyed mid-60s weather today by heading to the zoo then having a picnic in the park. It was a great day to be outside!

Willow and I enjoyed seeing a Disney Live performance based on the shows "Jack and the Neverland Pirates" and "Sofia the First." Willow hadn't seen either show until last night, but she really enjoyed the performance. I think she now has two new favorite shows!

We were surprised when Cinderella made an appearance!

We weren't expecting Peter Pan either!

Part monkey

Willow's First Movie in the Theater!!

Willow has been opposed to antagonists in movies since she was little. It's been hard to find movies without parts that are scary for her. You would think that Rudolph, Cinderella, and Frosty would be safe, but until recently she would even ask me to skip past the parts in Cinderella with Lucifer the cat. When we moved into our house this fall, we were sad to leave some friends from Kim & Chad's neighborhood that Willow had enjoyed playing with in the culdisac daily. They mentioned the idea of having her over for a Movie Night but my first thought was of fear of what normal kids' movie they would show that would absolutely terrify her. We started doing a Family Movie Night on Friday nights shortly after we moved and would rent a DVD from the public library. I thought Willow would enjoy watching some of the princess movies since she knew all of their names but really didn't know anything about their story. We started with Little Mermaid because I remember it being one of my favorites as a child. Wow! Nothing would've prepared us for the rollercoaster ride of emotions that watching that would entail!! She truly sided with Ariel throughout the movie and literally screamed at King Triton when he shattered all of Ariel's human treasures. We watched the whole movie in about 45 minutes (no scenes with the eels/Ursula were viewed) but in the end she said that she liked it (we were exhausted!!). She did really well with Lion King over Christmas break and, more recently, with Aladdin. She's learned about the Disney movie "Frozen" through a friend at school and could tell me the basics: "There are two sisters, Elsa and Anna. One girl has one braid and the other has two braids. One girl has magical powers and the other doesn't." I'd heard good things from other moms online and asked trusted Morgan for the low-down on whether Willow could handle it =) She warned us about a scary preview and a very brief encounter with a snow-monster-type character so I thought we'd be pretty safe. Willow was more than ecstatic to find out that Chris and I were taking her because Nana and Grandpa offered to stay home with Owen. 1:00 couldn't come soon enough! She did a GREAT job and really enjoyed the theater experience AND the movie. Of course she had a million questions after she processed the whole movie on the drive home, and now she wants to "play Frozen" all the time. I know she can't wait to see her friend at school on Monday so she can tell her she finally saw it!

For scrapbook purposes I thought it would be fun to remember the price of a matinee in 2014. Nana and Grandpa let us use their coupon for a free small popcorn, otherwise that would've been $6.25. I'm curious what the price will be when Willow looks back at this as an adult!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I saw a fun idea on Pinterest (again) where you write down 14 things you love about your children, then put one on their door the first 14 days of February. We did it for both kids this year. Owen was oblivious to it's meaning but would put the hearts back up that fell down. Willow would easily find her "new" one each morning and ask what it said. We hope they felt loved by this small act.

Winter Wonderland

We never fully believe the weather forecast around here. There was a predicted 8-12" of snow to be arriving beginning Wednesday afternoon, so schools let out early. The snow did start falling during naptime, so when the kids woke up there was a dusting. We went out after dinner and enjoyed playing in about 6" of snow. Chris (and Owen) cleared the sidewalk and driveway (to soon be shown-up by the neighbor who came out with his snowblower), Willow brushed off the cars, and we enjoyed making paths in the street.

This morning we woke up to find 10" when we went outside around 10:00. Note the differences between these backyard pictures and the ones further down in this post. 

Cozy Coupe...undrivable today.

 Note to self: Put sleds away in the garage before the next snow storm comes! There are two sleds out there somewhere. I found our blue sled, but the snow wasn't good for sledding or packing.

Small trampoline

Table & Chairs

T-ball stand

10:00 snowfall accumulation

 Owen's been in a bit of a funk the last couple days. He's been congested but much grouchier than normal. Maybe it's his molars coming in?! He stayed out with us for about 20 minutes. It was true "work" for him to walk so it was hard for him to really play and enjoy it. The last time we saw a considerable amount of snow was in 2010 when Willow was knee-deep in it too. It definitely doesn't happen often around here!

Willow, on the other hand, really enjoyed walking all over!

and laying in the snow....

Owen seeks safety (and a break!) on the chair:

There wasn't much of a "slide" on the slide.

Wheelbarrow

 Up to his knees!

Help Mama!!

Toy lawnmower

Over it

Below are post-naptime pictures from around 3:30:

We shoveled this sidewalk about 5 times. By the time you finished, you'd turn around and have another inch that had fallen!

The neighbor's car and birdbath (they didn't do multiple shovels/clearings like we did)

No mail today!

Neighbors up the hill trying to dig their way out

This is, by far, my favorite snow picture. It's hilarious to compare to the one from 10:00, which we thought was funny at the time.

Really nowhere to slide now

Mini-trampoline

Even our footprints from the morning were filled in

 Our snowfall accumulation as of 3:30pm: 18"

There's no safe haven on the chair now, Buddy!

There used to be wheelbarrow handles there at 10:00

The t-ball stand...yep, there somewhere...

Watching Daddy make a snowman

The toy lawnmower is to the right of the house...see it??

Past knee-deep on Willow!

Good job Daddy!

Snowman hug

The sun came out for the first time at 5:00pm:

Our indoor time was spent making sugar cookie dough for Valentine's cookies and chocolate-dipped treats for the kids' friends at school. Clearly there will be no Valentine's Day parties tomorrow, so we'll do our best to save them for Monday.

Oh, and in the middle of all of this, our furnace decided to kick the bucket Wednesday morning (7 hours before the snow started). Thanks to a ton of space heaters, we've been able to keep the house between 60-63 degrees (warmer in the kids' rooms). Monday's repair can't come soon enough!