December/Christmas 2017

Confession:  I'm writing this in February of 2018 and will be post-dating it.  I wanted to jot some memories of the holidays down but between the time that has passed and the congested head I'm battling from my current state of sickness, I don't have it in me to do much.  So here is a fly-by overview of the month and its festivities, mostly in picture form.  

Pre-Christmas Snow:

For the first time that I can ever recall, we got a pre-Christmas snow right here in Georgia.  It caused us to cancel all plans for the weekend and sent our holiday spirits soaring.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't get enough of the view of the Christmas lights under the blanket of white.  The kids had a wonderful time playing in it the next morning, but didn't last long without waterproof gear and gloves.  

Other pre-Christmas highlights:

Our church partnered with Path Project (the 2017 Timber Trek beneficiary) to put on a Christmas party at a local mobile home community.  Our small group went to serve, and the kiddos of the group did a fantastic job taking lead on the craft table!

Packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child

Packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child

Our first annual holiday movie marathon and family room camp out

Visit with Santa 2017

Visit with Santa 2017

The kids' letters to Santa 2017

Audrey's and Luke's class parties.  Audrey's was a storybook theme with a book at each station and an activity/craft to go along with it.  Luke's was a gingerbread man theme.  Both of them were a big success and the kids had so much fun.

And then came more celebrating!  Six celebrations in six consecutive days.  We were tired by the time it was all said and done, but it was a lot of fun and thank the Lord we were all healthy and well!

Christmas Celebration #1:  Our friends the Taylors at our house

We had the Taylors over for lunch and exchanged gifts.  The kids had a blast like they always do and the adults sat around and caught up about everything under the sun.  They left all too soon and we said what we always say..."I wish they lived closer and we got to do that more often."  

Christmas Celebration #2:  David's mom's side of the family at his aunt's house

The biggest highlight of this celebration was getting to meet two week old Baby Carter, David's cousin's newest addition.  The kids were absolutely enamored.  I was too, even after he projectile pooped on David's aunt and I caught some stray friendly fire.  We had a great time eating, laughing, and cooing over Carter.  

Christmas Celebration #3:  David's parents at their house

After church on Christmas Eve morning, we went to David's parents' house and celebrated Christmas with them.  The kids had a blast hunting for the Christmas pickle in the tree, opening their new air hockey table, and working on football plays in Luke's new GT football uniform.  Audrey got a new camera and loved posing everyone with their gifts.  They also loved giving their grandparents these shirts.  After lunch, a round of air hockey, and an indoor snowball fight, we headed home to get ready for Santa.

Christmas Celebration #4:  Us at our house

We spent most of the day lazily opening gifts and sorting through the loot that Santa left.  In my never-ending quest to pull together a special Christmas gluten-free breakfast, I made crepes.  Everyone loved them...except Audrey wasn't too keen.  The kids got such a kick out giving each other the gifts they'd chosen, which was very cool to watch.  Luke also put his new bug vacuum to work right away and found three specimen to suck up and show us.  (We're still looking for the gnat.)  David loved his Boston puzzle and new puzzle mat and everyone in the family somehow ended up with new slippers this year.  We played all the new games Santa brought - Battleship, Sorry, and Life - and worked on Audrey's new lightbox and Luke's new Train My Dino.

In the early evening, my brother and niece came over and we ate a nice dinner in the dining room and let the kids visit and play until bedtime.  It was a fantastic Christmas Day full of sweet memories.

Christmas Celebration #5:  My mom and brothers at our house

The next morning my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews joined David, the kids, and me along with my other brother and niece at our house to continue celebrating.  We tried to keep the food simple and just had hot cheese dip, fruit, chips, a Chick-fil-A nugget tray, and Christmas cookies (I also attempted crockpot hot chocolate that was WAY too rich and no one liked...) We wanted to focus on the time together outside of the kitchen.  The kids did great patiently taking turns opening their gifts.  One of my favorite parts was watching everyone unwrap the custom frame I had made for them with a favorite quote of my late grandfather's:

We sent my mom and middle brother and his family on their way and let the other cousins play outside in the warm sunshine before heating up a feast of leftovers and watching the Trolls Holiday Special.

Christmas Celebration #6:  My dad and stepmom at their house

Our sixth and final celebration was at my dad and stepmom's house with my brothers and their families again.  We had a delicious brunch, took pictures, and let the kids check out my dad's Polar Express train set before diving into the presents.  Everyone spoiled their dog Sophie and Audrey and Luke jammed out with Grandpa to "Little St. Nick"...a shared favorite.  We hit the road in the early afternoon, but not before the kids got a lesson on the right way to crack walnuts by a real wood fire.  

It was a wonderful December full of so many awesome events, parties, and traditions continued.  Even after all the Christmas celebrating, the partying continued with my birthday and New Year's Eve.

I celebrated my birthday with a good run and a Chick-fil-A biscuit.  Later we did some shopping and ate dinner at Provino's at about 4:45pm, as one does when one reaches a certain age.  It was a wild and crazy night, for sure.

The next day, we closed out the year with our friends the Kirkleys as we rang in 2018 with London at 7pm and were in bed by 9pm.  Early to bed and early to rise, as they say...

Here's to another happy and healthy December in the books.  

Many wishes for a wonderful 2018!

Snow Day #1 of ? 2017

Around this time last week we began to hear rumors about snow making its way to our fine southern state.  Within days the rumor had grown and milk and bread were flying off the grocery store shelves.  (Side note:  Why are people always flabbergasted by the purchase of these items?  They are staples that expire quickly and stores don't stock as much of them as they do fruits, meats, and other perishables.  I'm perplexed by their perplexity of the phenomenon.)  

Anyway, back on track:  The governor declared a state of emergency before the first flake even fell, likely to avoid a horrendous repeat of what happened in 2014.  (If you don't recall or live under a rock, we got a decent amount of snow and ice that began falling mid-morning. Everyone left work and schools let out at the same time and then they all got on unsalted roads, stranding motorists and crippling metro Atlanta for days afterward.) Meteorologists were quoting up to 5-6" in some areas for this one and we were told to be prepared to be stuck indoors for 2-3 days. 

Schools dismissed two hours early just in case and the governor asked everyone to be off the roads by 4pm.  We stocked up and hunkered ourselves down only to awake Saturday morning to a thin sheet of ice with a dusting of maybe 1/2" of snow on top.  Boo and sigh. The weather people had gotten it wrong, the government overreacted, and our Northern friends laughed at us once again. (GIT over y'allsselves.  Really.)

Oh well, the kids had fun regardless.  We went sledding on our tiny hill in our backyard (first with slip n' slide floats and then I busted out cookie sheets, which were way more fun).  We drank hot chocolate, cut paper snowflakes out of coffee filters, did a science experiment, and watched a movie while snacking on popcorn and m&ms.  Even if we didn't get a lot of snow, we still had a great snow day!

By Sunday, everything was fine and we went to church as usual.  I told the kids not to worry. It was January and there was still a good chance we'd see inclement weather again...maybe even enough to make a snowball fight possible.  And until then, it's going to be 70 degrees here by Friday, so how 'bout them apples, Yankees?

My snow bunnies in the...snow?

P.S.  If you haven't seen this video of the SNL skit of "Buford Calloway on the Atlanta Snowstorm", I highly recommend it:  http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-buford-calloway/n45830?snl=1

February 2014 Recap

I already posted about the biggest and most important event of our February, Luke's 2nd Birthday and Party, but there were other happenings going on too of course.

The first week, we had a surprise visit from my niece Annelise who was in town with my SIL for a few days and came over with my Mom.  The girls loved playing together and Luke held his own as best he could.  Audrey also had her rescheduled Toastie Toes (Pajama) Day at school that week since the first one was cancelled due to the snowy weather we had in January.  She loved wearing her pink flannel nightgown and slippers and they got to "roast" marshmallows and watch a movie.  

And, lest we think we were finished with the snow days, week two of the month had a different plan.  The snow starting falling around noon on Tuesday and Audrey's school was cancelled that Wednesday and Friday.  David worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday.  And by "worked from home", I mean actually worked.  For some people that's code for a day off, but not my dedicated hubby.  He did take it a little easier on Thursday and we were able to enjoy some family time outside in the snow in between conference calls.  It's nice that he gets to avoid the commute, but for the most part, him working from home holds no benefit because of the added headache of me trying to keep the kids away from him and quiet.  I tried to be creative this go-round with our snow day activities.  We did science experiments, had a pretend trip to the beach in our living room, made s'mores and snow cream, and watched a movie or two.  I even brought over a neighborhood teenager that keeps the kids during our small group to entertain them for a few hours one morning so we didn't go completely insane.  Still, come Friday, we were out the door and at Chick-fil-A....with the rest of the county.    

The end of that snowy week was Valentine's Day.  It was very low-key this year.  We had a neighbor/friend of Audrey's over that morning for a play date and then took a meal to a friend that afternoon.  That evening, we ate a fancy dinner of hot dogs and gave the kids a small gift plus...drumroll, please...tickets to the circus!  We went the next day to the Big Apple circus, which is small and not as showy as the Ringling Bros, but also not as expensive and are known for their better treatment of animals.  The kids enjoyed watching the acrobats, the juggling, and the horses and their tricks the best.  There were clowns (yuck) and a tightrope walker as well.  It was a fun family night out complete with a stop at Cici's Pizza on the way home.  Life doesn't get much better for a four year old and a two year old than the circus and pizza.  For that matter, it was pretty grand night for us too...minus the clowns.

It was also prime consignment sale month.  I dropped off my load, which was much smaller than usual since I just did the previous year's season for both kids and not every spring/summer thing they've worn since birth.  I shopped the seller's presale and found a ton of cute, cheap outfits for both of them for the warmer weather.  (Please oh please oh please come soon and stay, warm weather!)

The other big news of the month was that we started leading a couples' small group for our church on Sunday afternoons.  We're studying the book Home Run that our pastor Kevin Myers co-authored with John Maxwell.  It's been an interesting experience for us, but a good one.  We've never lead together like this, nor have we opened up our home to 14 complete strangers and their children (who stay in the basement with two teenagers we hire to watch them each week)!  It's been a big commitment for us - the weekends fly by faster than they usually do - but as with most things you do in serving the church, it's been a cool blessing too.  

What else this month?  Let's see....Audrey had Donuts with Dad which she was more excited about than Christmas (no, really.)  There weren't a whole bunch of home improvement projects in February.  I did drive nearly an hour each way to get a bunch of pictures printed from Wolf Camera to update some frames, but other than that, it was low-key DIY-wise.  Of course there was a ton of party planning, prep, cleaning, decorating etc. that ate up most of the month.  I have no doubt we'll make up for our lack of projects as the weather warms up.  

I'm still running a lot and am scheduled to do my third half marathon at the end of March. I think I'm going to cut back after that because the time requirement and toll on my body are both wearing thin, but I guess time will tell.   

The kids are doing very well, other than Luke having an ear infection before his birthday and both of them having a nasty cough earlier in the month.  It all gets a little fuzzy with the lack of sleep.  

Luke's vocabulary, sentence structure, and ability to reason have all sky rocketed in the past couple of months.  My absolute hands-down favorite thing he does/says lately is when he gets on to Audrey.  I know it's terrible of me, but he's had to listen to her nag him for two years.  Now he can give a little back and often does: "NO, Audrey. Dat's RUDE" or "NO, Audrey.  You no do dat.  Go time out."  She gets so stinkin' mad.  I have to turn my face away and snicker before intervening.  

He still loves tools and "fixing/hammering" things.  Of course, as most boys his age, cars and balls are also still at the top of his list.  He loves the show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (aka "Tiger Hood") as well as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Elmo stuff.  We try to limit viewing time, but if we're out for lunch and then driving home after 12:30 or sitting in carpool line, you'd better believe the DVD player is on to keep him awake.  Anything to avoid a missed nap!

He sings a lot and is getting good at remember lyrics.  His attention span is getting a little longer, too, so he'll actually sit through a book or two.  I'm really trying to do better about reading to him more.  We've started going to story time at the library at least every other week which he really enjoys.  He sticks close to me and doesn't participate in the songs a whole lot, but he'll run right up to get his activity (bean bag, bubbles, etc.) for the short time and his hand stamped at the end.  

Audrey is reading like a champ and devours books.  She is also spelling pretty well (there goes that parenting secret code).  I've noticed her humor taking a real leap lately.  She still makes silly, nonsense jokes and phrases, but she's really understanding and making a lot of puns.  She's also fine-tuning her sarcasm and Mama couldn't be more proud.  

A few times lately she hasn't been thrilled about going to school, which makes me a little sad.  I know it can't always be 100% enjoyable, but I had hoped she wouldn't start feeling that way until at least second grade!  I think one of her little friends whom she adored has started making friends with some other girls in the class and isn't as close and kind to Audrey as she once was.  It was heartbreaking the first time Audrey brought it up and we had a long talk about it.  The other little girl isn't being mean or ugly, I don't think.  She's just expanding her circle of friends.  I am trying to convince Audrey to do the same and encourage her to make new buddies, but that child is more of a creature of habit than even I am.  She would eat yogurt and Honeynut Cheerios for breakfast, a turkey sandwich, pretzels, and strawberries for lunch, cheese and crackers for snack, and one of three things for dinner every day for the rest of her life if I let her!  Hopefully she'll learn to branch out in the area of friendships, but as she put it, it'll have to be with the girls because "most boys in my class are quite rude and talk potty talk...even at lunch.  I am not pleased with them."  Don't let her fool you though.  That girl can hold her own in bathroom jokes and thinks any type of gas is hilarious.  We're raising a real lady.  

The two of them together still alternate between best friends and worst enemies.  The sibling bickering can get fierce around here and it's sometimes a race just to see who can yell louder.  (I usually win.)  Still, they are sweet as sweet can be about 60% of the time, which gets me through the other 40%.  Audrey is such a helper and even when Luke begins exerting his independence, as he does quite frequently these days, most of the time she has learned to step back and try to calmly talk him through something while respecting his space.  They are quite the dynamo duo when they go off on an adventure together and will sometimes play for periods of up to 15 minutes together peacefully.  Small steps of sheer bliss!

So that was our February and our latest happenings.  Things change frequently, though, so check back soon!

In the meantime, here are some photo album links in the gallery for you to catch up on:

January 2014

Luke's 2nd Birthday & Party

February 2014

Happy March and many wishes for an early Spring! 

January 2014 Recap

January was a lot of fun for us.  We managed to get quite a bit of play time in through various activities and outings, which was a nice change after the hectic pace of the holidays.

On the first Saturday of the month, the four of us drove up to the Children's Museum INK and spent the morning there playing with the kids at all of the different exhibits.  They have little rooms set up as different real-life places and the kids can role play being a dentist at a dentist office, a waiter at a 50s diner, a beautician at a salon, a doctor at a hospital, a judge or lawyer in a courtroom, a shopper at a grocery store, etc.  They also have an indoor playground area, an old police car, and a huge old firetruck to climb all around.  It's a blast for them!  We packed our lunch and ate there before hitting the road.  It was a nice way to spend a Saturday doing something different as a family.

The next week Audrey started back to school, but before sending her we had a Mommy-Daughter date to conclude her winter break.  We went to the dentist (okay, that part wasn't as fun for me at least), then to lunch, and then I gave her a choice between painting pottery or getting a new stuffed animal at Build-a-Bear.  It took her .02 seconds to decide on Build-a-Bear and she ecstatically put together a new bunny she named Cutie Pie.

The following weekend we took a road trip to Lexington, South Carolina to visit our friends the Taylors who moved there about six months ago.  It was such a blast hanging out for two days and the kids enjoyed playing together nonstop.  Everyone got along very, very well and the only issue was Audrey having second thoughts about spending the night in the girls' room.  At 3am. When we were on the other end of the house and couldn't hear her. So, that meant waking poor Mrs. Kara who then had to come wake us. (It's not like she doesn't already have to get up to feed a baby.  What's one more time?)  David and Brian snuck away for a quick golf game on Sunday morning, which thrilled them to death.  We ate delicious food, played games, and talked nonstop about big issues, little topics, and everything in between.  Both Kara and I teared up when it was time to go on Sunday after lunch.  We miss them terribly and are looking forward to our next marathon catch-up session!

Of course we got some work done this month, too.  It can't all be fun and games (at least to this Type-A.)  We finally painted the guest room and worked hard cleaning out three closets in the basement.  We threw out 5-6 bags of trash and took a huge load to Goodwill.  I began consigning the kids' summer clothes from last year.  I also went through mine and David's old memorabilia, trashed stuff that neither of us had a clue about, and reorganized what was left.  We got a new roof put on, a new TV for the basement, a new TV table, and several other accessories/pieces of decor for the basement, which all required hanging/putting out/arranging.

The last weekend of the month, I got to cash in my Christmas gift.  I wrote about it in a previous TT post, but I'll give a brief overview again:  On Saturday the 25th, after the roofers woke us up bright and early putting on our new roof, David and I dropped the kids off at his parents' and drove downtown for the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K.  We went straight to the expo at the Georgia World Congress Center to get our race bibs then back to the hotel for naps and not naps.  ;)  We took a walk around Piedmont Park then through downtown before changing and going out to a delicious dinner at a local Italian spot called Pasta da Pulcinella.  We were in bed by 8:00 and after turning down a $17 in-room movie option, we snuggled and watched Modern Family reruns until turning out the lights around 9:30.  That next morning, we bundled up and drove as close as we could to Turner field and found a deck.  (Reminder:  Next time pay the stupid $10 for a parking pass in a lot there!)  We walked about 3/4 mile to the start line and jumped around in our corral trying to stay warm. I think it was about 25 degrees and David had the beginnings of a cold.  Nonetheless, we rocked it and crossed the finish line.  Maybe not super fast, but we did it.  They had our chocolate bowl "goodie bags" (fondue with various dipping foods plus hot chocolate) waiting for us after the race.  We walked back to the car, showered, and got ready to go get the kids.  It was a wonderful, much-needed break!

The next week we had a snow and ice storm hit that crippled the city.  The problem was that instead of happening overnight, it began mid-morning.  Then everyone decided to leave work early and dismiss school early and DOT workers couldn't do anything to help the frozen roads because millions of cars were on them.  People were stuck in their cars for 6 plus hours and kids in several counties had to spend the night in schools.  It made national news, mostly as the butt of Northerner's jokes.  I made my feelings clear on that in an earlier post, so I'll choose to point out that we were incredibly blessed to be safe and together and that it was awesome to hear of all the ways people, restaurants, stores, etc. came together to help one another out.  I'm proud to be a Georgia Peach, even if it means we don't handle snow well!  We of course played outdoors in it (Audrey loved it, Luke kind of just tolerated it).  We made a snowman, we made snow angels, we had a snowball fight, we "sledded" in our laundry basket, and we tramped through the gorgeous and scenic woods.  Then, when we couldn't stand the cold anymore, we did play dough and bubble baths and movies indoors.  It was just enough to get it out of our system.

Hmmm...what else this month?  I got new glasses, David went to Ohio for business for two days, we had two great play dates with our friends the Eries, and I had a lovely girls' night out dinner with a friend that lasted 3.5 hours.  It's been a wonderful month, but we are still very much dying for routine.  Even in routine in a single area would be nice!  For instance, Audrey started back to school on the 8th, then had MLK day off then missed a day for snow.  Kind of a big deal when you only go to school three days a week anyway!  Several of my runs got cancelled or had to be done indoors on a treadmill (YUCK) due to the weather.  David traveled, the kids fought colds, etc. etc. etc.  Maybe by the end of my February update we'll be able to report some normalcy.  Nonetheless, the amount of fun stuff we got to do and the few important projects we tackled balanced out the unpredictability pretty well.

We hope your new year started off well, too!  Enjoy the pics:    January Picture Gallery

Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse/Hothlanta 2011

It all started last Wednesday when I first heard about the potential of snow flurries.  Like most native Atlantans, I didn't get too excited.  I figured we'd be lucky to see a couple of flakes, especially since we'd just had a white Christmas.  As the week wore on, however, the forecast looked more promising (or scarier, depending on your take).  By Saturday morning, every meteorologist in the city was forecasting 3-6 inches of snow starting late Sunday night with snow and sleet continuing on Monday.  I knew what had to be done and set my sights on the critical matter at hand: obtaining milk, bread, toilet paper, and junk food.

I stocked up on enough food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for 3-4 days.  I made sure Audrey had healthy snacks and David and I had "we're-stuck-inside-and-snow-day-calories-don't-count" snacks.  We spent Saturday evening at church and most of the day Sunday out and about in order to preempt cabin fever as much as possible.  We closed the stores down and then came home, ate dinner, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, around 9:30pm, we looked out and saw the most snow falling from the sky that our southern eyes had ever seen.  By 10:30pm, there was at least two inches on the ground.  I was downright giddy.  We stayed up and watched it, then David went to bed but I was too excited to sleep.  We were going to get to keep him home the next day and make a real snowman!  I sat in the playroom and looked out the front window, watching it fall and reading my book until I finally climbed into bed around 12:30am.

On Monday, we (okay, I) rushed downstairs and opened the back door to see the gorgeous piles of pure, white, fluffy snow.  I got out a ruler and measured the amount on a table on our back deck - 6 inches!  I took some pictures, we ate breakfast, and then Audrey and I played inside while David worked from home (stupid integrity).  He finally took a break and we suited up and went outside.  Audrey was less than impressed, just like with the last snow we'd had a few weeks ago.  She didn't want to walk in it, and had to be held while David and I threw together a small snowman.  Before we went inside, David tried to sled down the hill in the backyard using a cardboard box.  Audrey burst into tears, assuming he'd either lost his mind or been seriously injured.  We went in, warmed up, and built a fort out of blankets.  We spent the rest of the day playing in it, and then napping, eating, and playing some more.  

On Tuesday, David's office was unofficially closed again and we were determined to make the most of the rare snow.  We put on our layers and dragged the laundry basket outside to pull Audrey around in.  As soon as we put her in it, she said "All done! All done!" and began to cry.  We stayed out a little longer, walking around and showing her all of the pretty sights.  Both David and I made multiple attempts at sledding down the hill again using a storage container lid, a cardboard box, the laundry basket, and a door mat.  The door mat worked best, but even that was pretty pitiful.  We went inside to thaw out, feeling like snow day failures.  I couldn't sit around and be unproductive for another day, so I set about cleaning out and organizing a closet and two junk drawers.  When Audrey went down for her nap and David worked, I began planning her second birthday party (yes, it is five months away, but I needed a creative outlet!)  When she got up, we played, cooked a big "brinner"(breakfast for dinner), and ate.  After dinner, I made brownies and then we went on a stuffed animal safari with flashlights.  When we'd recovered all of her bears, lambs, and the camel (from David's Israel trip), Audrey had a brownie (her first taste of chocolate) and milk before heading to bed.  It was an awesome, fun, semi-productive day.

My alarm clock went off Wednesday morning and I heard the DJ say "today's commute in was far worse than Monday's or Tuesday's."  Great.  David had already decided to give it a while before making the call about going to work, so we got Audrey up, ate breakfast, and I put together some "fun" educational games (look for details on Imperfect Perfectionist later) while David worked.  At 10am I finally caved and let Audrey watch some Little Einsteins for a minute.  I was proud of myself for not resorting to television before, but  enough was enough.  I needed 20 minutes of peace.  Around 11:30, Audrey and I walked into the office and asked David what he'd decided.  He said his big afternoon meeting had been cancelled and that most of the people at work he'd talked to said they'd wished they hadn't come in because the roads were still so rough.  He'd seen several neighbors attempt and fail going up the big hill outside of our house, so it was official:  Day #3 of staying indoors.  I must not have hidden my reaction well because he asked why I wasn't happier about it.  I tried to explain that his not getting out meant that Audrey and I weren't going to get out.  In addition to that, it's hard to keep Audrey away from him and quiet while he's trying to work!  But, alas, we fixed leftovers for lunch, played games, and read books.  When AJ went down for her nap, David went outside to scrape off the driveway.  I caught up with some phone calls and then realized that I could no longer hear the sound of the shovel.  Worried that he had busted his tail, I went out to check on him and found him with a dozen other neighbors working on the huge hill leading out of our neighborhood.  When he came in almost an hour and a half later, he explained that people just kept coming out and joining the group.  At first they were attempting to clear the whole road until David pointed out that they could probably just focus on one half.  They agreed that was a good idea and finally made some progress.  That's my genius husband for you.  Of course he also admitted to me that he wasn't sure it was going to do any good because they were just breaking up large chunks of ice into smaller pieces that would melt and then refreeze, but he was trying to be a good neighbor.  Audrey woke up, and we played, ate dinner, and watched Wheel of Fortune until her bath time.  When she went to bed, David did some work and I read for a little while before we gave in and scarfed some brownies while watching tv.  We are going to weigh 400 pounds before this is all over.

So that brings us to today:  Day #4 of Snowmageddon 2011.  David decided he was making a break for it and left for work around 9am.  He got there safely and said the worst roads by far were the ones in and around our neighborhood.  Since he took my car, that meant another day indoors for us girls.  I decided I needed to clean out the refrigerator and spent two hours doing so, removing and scrubbing every shelf and drawer.  Of course, it took that long because everything takes that long when you're simultaneously entertaining a toddler.  I pulled out one of the big produce drawers, washed it, filled it with water, and let AJ play and splash her bath toys around.  The amusement wore off quickly, and the remaining mess was part of the two hours it took to complete the job.  I fed her a snack, let her watch another tv show (gasp), and started cleaning the downstairs.  It didn't really need it, but I needed to do it.  We had a dance party, a crawling race, and practiced jumping for a solid five minutes.  All attempts at exercising/wearing out an 18 month old usually just result in making the adult feel tired and old and today was no exception.  I took a shower, fed her lunch, and worked on cleaning some more before putting her down for a nap.  The first hour of her nap was spent cleaning, the second catching up with a friend and blogging.  David got home just as she was waking up and we - are you ready for this? - WENT OUT. That's right, we escaped.  We broke free.  We busted the joint.  As I mentioned on Facebook, I hadn't been that excited since....well, since seeing snow fall on Sunday night.  Funny how that works, huh?  Anyway, we went to the store and got back before dark with a car full of replenishments, including coke and bread for the single lady who lives next door.  (I'm proud to be married to a man who thought to go ask her and I had to brag on him.)  She was so excited to make grilled cheese sandwiches.  I imagine she's been jonesing for a Coke for days, poor thing.  David parked at the bottom of the driveway and ferried up the bags while I fixed AJ's dinner amidst her hysterical cries for the "yellow one" (the lemon juice bottle from the fridge).  David, who was still outside at the bottom of the driveway thought something was horribly wrong as her wails filled the cul-de-sac.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're headed into the terrible twos a little early.  After her fit was over, we sat down and ate dinner, played, did laundry, put AJ to bed, and are now getting ready to go to bed ourselves and dream about a warm beach.

It's been a good week and, jokes aside, it hasn't been TOO terrible being stuck indoors.  Anything is better than the Valentine's Day from Hades last year (David was on the other side of the world for 2+ weeks, Audrey and I were snowed in and sick, and she wouldn't nap.  I remember sitting on the bathroom floor bawling while begging God for patience and endurance.  He heard and provided, because she's still alive.)  After that snowed-in experience, this week seemed like a breeze!  We had to cancel a few play dates and plans, but we got to spend a lot of time together in a safe, warm house. I hope you and your families enjoyed it and have stayed safe and warm!

To wrap up, here is a Snowmageddon-related Thankful Thursday list:

1.  Safety and good health!

2.  That David is not paid hourly, and that he works for a company that values their employees' safety and integrity to allow them to call in when they need to and not penalize them for it.

3.  Our heat and power remaining on and steadfast.  I can't imagine dealing with this week if we'd had outages!

4.  Chocolate.  Because sometimes banging your head against a wall isn't an option.  I'll also add hot chocolate (and marshmallows) to this item, because I've consumed my fair share the last four days.

5.  The Toddler's Busy Book that my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas.  We've pulled quite a few tricks out of it this week.

6.  Moments that will be sweet, funny memories down the road:  all of us curled up in our tent fort, Audrey crying because she thought David fell when he was sledding down the hill, brownies and stuffed animal safaris, dance parties and crawl races.

7.  Productivity!  I got some things accomplished that I've been putting off doing (cleaning out a closet) and some that I'll be grateful I got a head start on later (AJ's birthday party).

8.  Saving money.  Short of two large grocery trips and utilities, we haven't spent a cent in almost five days.  We've probably saved $75 worth of gas, eating out, and impulse shopping this week!

9.  Rock salt.  And the fact that I'm OCD enough to have restocked it so soon after using it up at Christmas.  It was completely sold out at the grocery store tonight!

10.  The beautiful scenery of snow that God gave us, even if we're anxious to view it from a different location.

Tomorrow is a new day, with a high temp expected to be in the mid-forties.  Look out world (a.k.a. Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby or Target), Audrey and I are coming!