Throwback Thursday....

Please excuse my blogging absence......I think I'm suffering from a slight case of seasonal depression.  I have no motivation to do much of anything.  These cold temperatures and the extreme amount of snow that we have received has got pretty much everyone in a slight funk!

Really nothing much new to report around here.  It's still cold, more snow is on the way, and we are all definitely ready for warmer temperatures.  I just read an article that said our snowfall since December 1st is 41.9 inches (UGH!!!).  It seems just as soon as I get the driveway cleaned off, more snow is in the forecast.  Maybe I should just quit shoveling it??  :-)

So needless to say we've been doing a lot of indoor activities.  If anyone has any ideas for crafts or games to play inside....I'm all ears!  I'm quickly running out of things to keep my girls entertained.

Anyway, we have turned part of our office in to a craft area for the girls.  It has all their crayons, markers, paper, coloring books,  stickers etc.  Up on a higher shelf is all of their paints, play dough, scissors and other items that require more supervision.  I was looking for something I could use to organize all their paint bottles.  I was searching for a container or tub to help me better manage their craft area. Terry suggested the pink bowl.  The pink bowl works perfectly to hold all the paint bottles, but I'm not sure that I won't cry every time I pull it off the shelf.  Somethings just hold too many memories.

Ice Festival.....

 

 

Last Saturday, January 11th we took the girls to the local ice festival in our town.  Ironically, we spent the entire week hiding out from snow and ice and then on Saturday we went in search of it.

 

I had no idea what to expect when I read the details of the event, but in all honesty we were just looking for anything to do that would get us out of the house.

 

The girls had a blast seeing all the ice sculptures.  They are still talking about it.  I got to admit, most of the sculptures were fairly impressive.

 

 

Our local library's logo....

 

One of Addison's favs...

 

Alexis' fav...

 

Since I totally spaced bringing their hats, these plastic firefighter helmets came in handy.  The strap on them helped secure the hoods from their coats.

 

 

Terry's favorite...

 

The town of Fishers logo...

 

The girls were really fascinated by watching the man actually carve the ice.  It was very interesting to watch. 

 

I think this one was my fav...

 

My photos do not do these sculptures justice!  They were beyond amazing!  Can't wait to see how this event evolves next year!!!

Snowed in...

As with most of the mid-west we receive a substantial amount of snow about a week ago....Sunday, January 5th, 2014 to be exact.  Our final number topped out around 16 inches leaving us with the Christmas break that wouldn't end!!!  Due to a travel emergency issued by our town,  I was afforded off work on Monday, but had to make the insane drive in the remainder of the week.  The girls and Daddy were stuck at home all week since school was cancelled.  I can honestly say I never remember such cold temperatures.  I believe out high temperature on Monday topped out at -15, with wind chills around -40.    BRRRR!!!

 

Luckily our pantry was fairly well stocked prior to the storm because when I went to the grocery store Saturday morning the meat case looked like this....

Although, it wouldn't have mattered much.....The girls are going through a phase where all they want to eat is PB & J sandwiches.  Or Dino sandwiches as they like to call them.....

 

Alexis did suggest that Daddy cook dinner using the stove outside (the BBQ grill)....She was actually making a joke when she said it.  She thought it was hilarious!  I also thought she was rather funny...Terry didn't appreciate her humor.  :-)  Obviously there was no way to get to the grill.

 

 

 

On Monday we spent a lot of time doing snow related activities.....We threw boiling water outside to make instant snow (just like 80% of the rest of the world did), we blew bubbles out the front door to watch them freeze, we froze colored water in balloons to make snow gems in the yard and last but not least we made SNOW ICE CREAM!!!!  Love this!  I only hate that I have no photos to document our fun.  The snow ice cream was definitely a hit.  The girls loved it and Terry was thoroughly impressed as he had never heard of it.

 

The rest of the week we drew lots of pictures.....

 

 

 

Alexis drew this photo of her and I swinging outside at the park.  When I asked her what the upside down people were all about she looked at me like I was an idiot and responded with "those are our shadows" in her best condescending tone, suggesting I should have known.

 

 

The girls spent hours playing on their Leap Frog computers....  Addison was constantly laying under Terry's legs.

 

And many hours in our pj's, watching videos via the internet.

 

 

 

It was hard to explain to the girls that it was way too cold to go outside and play in the snow.  The girls didn't quite understand the concept of frost bite.  Alexis told Grandma on the phone that Mommy wouldn't let her play in the snow because if she was outside for too long her fingers would pop off. 

Pre-School Play Date....

On New Years Day we had a play date with the twins in the girls pre-school class. 

The girls haven't stopped talking about Audrey and Victoria since.  Can't wait to do it again!!  It was fun for me as well to spend some time with a fellow mommy of two, four and a half year olds.  As it turns out there is only 3 days difference in age between my girls and hers.

I'm back to playing catch up again.  Had a brief issue with not being able to upload photos to my blog and didn't have the time to dedicate to figuring it out.  Hopefully, I'm back now and will be able to get caught up soon!!!

Christmas at the Zoo..

 

The Saturday after Christmas (12-28-13) the weather was phenomenal!  Well, phenomenal for December anyway.  With temperature in the mid 50's we decided to take the girls to the zoo to see the lights.  They were so excited!!

 

We had planned on going to see the lights specifically, but  the kiddos also wanted to see some of the animals.  We arrived shortly after 4:00pm.  All the animals we were able to view were super active.  It was fun watching the bears play and the seals swim around.  They were all definitely more active than on our summer trips to the zoo!

 

It was barely daylight when we arrived so the lights we hardly visible.  The girls were begging to ride the merry-go-round so we obliged.

 

 

It's always funny to listen to them plot their strategy when deciding which animal they want to ride.

 

After walking around and seeing some animals for a little over an hour the girls were saying they were hungry.  So we stopped for a quick dinner.  I had packed brown bag dinners for us to take with us, in lieu of spending $50+ on dinner.

 

 

 

 

By the time we had finished eating and a quick walk through the dolphin arena, it was almost dark outside. 

 

 

The girls loved all the lights shaped like animals.

 

Waiting to ride the train.....The line was super long, well long for two little four year olds.  I think we waited close to twenty five minutes to ride the train through the zoo. 

 

Luckily they were both is super good moods and we had a ton of fun just standing in line waiting.  I know that sounds really strange but we were all laughing and having a great time.

 

Me and my girlies!!

 

 

Terry and the girlies!!!

 

Best group we got of the evening...Not great, but still better than the others!

 

 

Flamingo Addison

 

Parakeet Alexis

 

Every time we go to the zoo, the girls love sticking their faces into these bird heads.  Cracks me up every single time!!!

 

****

 

 

After riding the train we realized that we still had two punches left on our pre-paid ride card that expired 12-31-13.  So, we let the girls ride the merry-go-round one more time. 

 

 

 

It really was one of those perfect family days that I didn't want to end. 

 

 

 

Christmas Day 2013....

I hate that I didn't take more photos this year.  It was kind of difficult to direct both girls as to what presents to open first and try and keep things slightly under control, as well as take photos at the same time. 

This has been my favorite Christmas yet.  I love that the girls were completely obsessed with everything and love the magic of the holiday.

Here are the few photos I did take:

 

The girls are still carrying these stuffed dolls around everywhere. 

 

Addison had requested orange wrapping paper (her favorite color).  Or she was convinced that Santa would wrap her presents in orange paper anyway.   I decided to forgo orange paper and used orange curling ribbon instead.  You can really tell in these photos.

 

Love these two!  Decided to go casual in their jammies all day!!

 

They were so excited about their new bath cloths.

 

 

An attempt at a family shot.

 

 

My cheese balls.  The only wore those headbands for an hour.  Addison threw hers at me and said she didn't want horns anymore. 

 

Scratching lotto tickets is a big tradition in Terry's family.  Everyone receives lottery tickets in their stocking.  This is the first year the girls really took much interest.  Addison was the most interested.

 

 

 

Alexis was more interested in cleaning up the mess.  That cow picks up crumbs and she was using it to pick up the lottery scratchings.

 

 

Again, I'm so bummed I didn't get more photos but making memories and watching the girls enjoy the holidays will forever be part of my heart.  I totally dread the days when they get too old to still believe!!