Boo!

At the dinner tale this evening Brie started playing peek-a-boo with us. Her timing was a little off in the beginning but she got the hang of it. It was the cutest thing!

We really need to purchase a sled

It was bright and sunny and snowy this morning. Church service was canceled so I made some cinnamon rolls. They were delicious!

Shortly after consuming cinnamon rolls, we all headed outside to enjoy the snow. I guess Brie wanted to ride a bike. It wasn't working too well.
Amanda was looking for the perfect chunk of ice to eat.
Here's our winter wonderland of a street. It was deserted. I had no issues just letting the kids run around in the street.
I wish I would have caught this sooner. Brie took her bike up Eunice's driveway a little bit and was sliding down backward. She wanted to run with the big girls :)
I showed Ava how to put ice through the cracks in the drain. They like throwing leaves and rocks down there too.
We finally made it to Eunice's house and Justin brought the shovel. Kinda slow, we really need to buy a sled.
Ava attempted the shovel and it didn't work very well for her either .
Then Justin tried his feet. That worked but maybe not the safest bet.
Since the feet and shovel didn't work Justin decided it would be fun to throw Ava down the hill (I have that on video). She seemed to go down fairly well...
So he threw himself down next.
I then looked down to find Brie sliding herself down the driveway and why not, everyone else is doing it. Just a big icy slide. She came up with this all on her own and I have it on video no need to worry.
We then decided it was high time to find some black diamond runs. It just so happens there was one just up the street. The rest of the neighborhood had the same idea. I went for a couple runs on a borrowed sled. Once with Ava and once with Brie (on the video as well).
As we were climbing the treacherous black diamond run, Amanda got hungry and picked herself a snack.
After the running of the black diamond hill we were headed home. There was a smaller hill so we decided to give it a go. Amanda gave it a go on her rear end. Didn't work so well.
They we got the borrowed sled and Ava went down with Brie,
Amanda and Ava went down together! Yes, you read that right, Amanda went down! Remember yesterday when Justin took her down kicking and screaming? Well she did it and she loved it and I have it on video.
When we got back to Eunice's house Amanda went down on her own like a pro, on a borrowed sled. I swear we really will get our own.
Finally, the much anticipated video is here. At the end of the video you will see Brie throwing snow and yelling. It was really funny because I was watching the others sledding and she walked away. a couple minutes later I heard her yelling so I turned to see what was going on. And this was what she was doing. Just picked up and did it herself. If she can't sled she'll make her own fun. What a smart cookie, maybe just a bored cookie.

Snow Round 2

Before lunch we headed outside once again for some fun in the snow! I dressed Brie a little smarter this time. Her gloves were wet so I did two layers of socks. I also found a pair of really big shoes for her so she didn't have to wear crocs. It seemed to work out pretty well. We lasted much longer this time.

Ava was able to build a little snowman. It's pretty darn cute!
Ava's got the lid to the dog food do that must mean it is time for sledding!
The stay puffed marshmallow man made an appearance.
Here we go!!
This time our neighbor Tyler joined us. He had a real sled which he kindly let us borrow. It was way more fun that the dog food lid.
Ava headed down the hill backward. It's tough to steer these things!
Justin can't resist a good sledding opportunity.
The girls were getting into it as well. They love messing around in the snow. Lola's got a chunk of Gina's neck in her teeth. Ouch!
Gina is about to get a piece of Lola now!
Brie even took a ride down the hill..um driveway..with Justin. She liked it this time. You can see the smile on her face just a little bit.
Justin then took Lola down the hill, she was less than impressed. Do you see what I mean about Justin not being able to pass up a sledding opportunity? At this point our some other neighbors joined us. That's Dalton and Austen.

He even took Amanda. Dragged Amanda is the correct term. She was screaming the whole way down. You can see her feet dragging in front of the sled. Oh well. At least Justin tried.
Before dinner we went out for a third time and had the most fun of all I think. We went down that driveway so many times! It was particularly icy that time so the run was FAST. Tyler joined us again as well. It was so fast that we were sliding all the way across the street! In light of this development Justin proceeded to build a ramp so we didn't have to have an abrupt stop at the curb. Ava was the only one to make it over the ramp. the rest of us would just get halfway then slide back down. Totally fun though!

Even Tyler's mom joined us for the fun. She's from Canada she knows how to deal with snow :)

Snow-cream

Have you ever made snow-cream? Well if you haven't you really should. We decided to give it a try this morning. It was as simple as 1 cup of milk 1/2 cup sugar and some vanilla with, you guessed it, snow. Here we are getting the indoor ingredients ready.

We found the cleanest newest snow in the deck so Amanda scooped as I stirred. Brie was there for moral support.
It took quite a bit of snow actually.
I lost count after a while.
Amanda was faithful though. She wouldn't stop until we got it right!
Finally it was finished! It was quite tasty! Ava was a little too cold to eat hers.
Brie LOVED it.
I mean LOVED it. She later finished this entire bowl all by herself!
This is what I am having for dessert tonight! There is a whole bowl full in the freezer!

Snow Round 1

We woke up to about 4 inches of snow the morning. The girls could not wait to get outside! they had breakfast and had their "snow clothes" (I use that term very lightly) on very quickly. We were outside by 7:45! Gina took a running start out the door. She LOVES the snow! On a side note I really need to get the shutter on my camera fixed.

I am standing in the front yard. My feet have disappeared! We haven't had this much snow in forever.
Ava graciously offering Brie a bite of her snow chunk.
Amanda likes the snow! They took a little bit to get away from the dry garage. I ended up carrying Brie down the driveway. She didn't like when there was snow on her feet.
Off and running!
Amanda found a nice looking chunk of snow. Good work kiddo!
Is this art or did my gloves get in the way? You decide. I am going with art.
Happy Brie eating sow from her gloves.
About 5 minutes later, sad Brie getting really cold. We went in shortly after this.
Having steep driveways is awesome for sledding. I took the lid from a container in the garage and used it as a sled. Ava LOVED it! I couldn't get Amanda to go down though. Brie went down but she wasn't all that thrilled. I think she was just really cold and wary of the snow.

When we came in from the snow the girls stripped all their "snow clothes" off and put on shorts, short sleeve shirts, and skirts. I think they forgot there was snow on the ground outside.

It's Snowing.

Do you remember yesterday's post where I said I almost had to remove my jacket while I was outside? Well, that is not the case any longer. There is snow on the ground this evening and we're getting more. What a weird world we live in. Be prepare for the onslaught of snow pictures...

A beautiful sunny day

First of All Brie wanted to apologize for the smudge on the camera lens that made the following pictures look bad, "Sorry."

It was such a gorgeous day outside, there was no way I was staying inside. I almost had to take off my jacket! The girls were riding their bikes like crazy. It's a good thing because those girls need to burn off some serious steam. They both discovered how awesome it is to have a slanted driveway. These girls found the need for speed (next thing you know they'll be flying F-14's with a wingman named Ice).
Amanda was a quick little booger! I wish she would get rid of those blasted training wheels, she has no idea what she's missing. She can totally do it too.
Ava couldn't get going fast enough. She was able to ride up the driveway as well which is much more fun than pushing a bike up the driveway. Oh and this is Ms. Eunice's house. Her driveway is steeper than ours.
Amanda really wanted me to take pictures of all of her runs down the driveway. You could tell she was proud of herself.
Hi Brie! Pretty soon you'll be headed down those driveways with your sisters. Worry not, you'll reach your pedals soon!
Watch the girls in action! It's pretty cool (albeit smudgy)!