Incredibly Beautiful Snow Day

Labeling a snow day as perfect is saying something.  But we truly had a perfect snow day this past spring.  It happened on a day when we had just finished saying we thought we weren't going to see any good snow this year and then bam...a totally unexpected, amazing snow day.  The kids started the day out at school.  We had a "chance" of snow in the forecast but it wasn't supposed to do much.  Joel and I were up at the school in the morning for a meeting that had been set already as the snow was starting.  Em's teacher saw us and suggested we take the kids out as more parents would likely be coming up to do the same soon.  We did and then just a few hours later school was officially closed.

It started snowing in the morning and then didn't stop...all...day...long.  ALL DAY it snowed.  Beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky.  Adding to the white ground below.  You could watch them falling on your face and catch them on your glove.  I had black gloves and you could literally see the intricate pattern of each tiny snowflake.  Evidence of God's divine design in my palm.  His little work of art for me to enjoy.  We played in it for hours.  The next day it was still there waiting for us to take a walk in.  The snow drifts were so deep you could sit down in them like a couch. 

Such a perfect day.  Really, it was one of those days that you know are a pure gift and you'll remember for a lifetime.  And this picture sums up how we felt about the day to a t:

Great Wolf Lodge

We went to Great Wolf Lodge as a family to celebrate Emily and Jonathan's birthdays this year.  We had such a blast too!  It worked out great as we were going to let the kids play hookie from school Monday, but they ended up having a snow day as our whole area was covered in ice!  The indoor water park was fun and we went on tons of slides.  Our favorite was dubbed the "toilet slide" as you went down a drop into a huge bowl and swirled around a bunch until being spit out to the pool below.  The room we stayed in was fun too.  It had a bunk bed area for the kids that looked like a camp tent.  Such a great time together!

Father Daughter Dinner and Dance

Emily and Joel went to our church's annual father daughter dinner and dance this past spring.  It was a very swanky affair.  The food was yummy and presented beautifully.  Emily doesn't make her daddy get on the dance floor as much as her sister, but they still had plenty to do.  There were a few fun photo booths and conversation starter cards and a really nice view of the night sky.  They had a great time and Emily is already looking forward to the next year's dance. 

Easter 2015

We spent this past Easter with our fabulous friends, the Fatzingers.  We had a blast having silly string and nerf gun wars, dying and hunting Easter eggs, and just spending time together.  Here are some photos from our weekend together.

Silly string fun!

 

Friends :-)

 

Epic post Nerf gun war shot.

 

Dying eggs with Mrs. Joy

 

All set out and ready for Easter the next morning. 

 

Excited faces ready to hunt eggs!

 

There are tons of deer walking through the neighborhood all the time.  They are protected there so they aren't afraid of people.  Here they all came out because they thought we had food for them. 

First Day 2015

This is a big year in our house.  Emily starts middle school & Katherine goes to Kindergarten.  Jonathan is in 3rd grade.  This will be the first year all of the kids are in school all week.  This is the first year in my 8 years as a stay-at-home mom that I won't have one of my littles with me during the day.  It's kinda strange and definitely bittersweet.  But, it also opens up a bunch of possibilities for me...so it should be interesting.

We got them all off to school pretty easy this morning.  Seeing Katherine in her backpack, lunchbox in hand walking toward the school made Joel and I both choke back some tears.  She was very excited and went right to coloring after we said goodbye.  Jonathan has been looking forward to school again ever since meet the teacher night last week.  He really likes his teacher and he's excited to learn and read and see his friends again.  Then we went to drop miss Em at her new school.  She found a friend and got to walk in with her which helped ease this mom's mind.  She too was very excited...a little nervous about having to find all her classes alone, but excited mainly.

So in a few hours we'll see how they all did at pick up time!

Daddy Daughter 2015

Joel and Katherine went to the 2015 Daddy Daughter dance this past February.  Katherine kept Joel on his feel the entire time.  She raced to the dance floor as soon as they got there and didn't want to leave until the party got shut down. 

This year she was one of the winners who got to ride in the Hummer limo.  Joel had to convince her to go because...she didn't want to leave the dance floor.  She did go and enjoyed it, but as soon as it was over ran, literally ran, back to the dance floor!

Puddle Lover

Katherine loves, loves, loves to jump in puddles.  It is one of her greatest joys in life at the moment.  I love that we were given a pair of hand-me-down rain boots back when Emily was little.  I packed them away when she outgrew them knowing then that Miss Kat was on the way.  When I pulled them back out of the "shoes to grow into" box this past fall I had no idea how much joy they would bring to her 5 year old soul.

We have had SO MUCH rain this spring.  Seriously...more than I ever remember getting in years past.  This has only provided more opportunities for awesome puddle jumping.  It makes my soul happy watching her enjoy this simple thing so much. 

She's a jewel and I'm so thankful for getting to take a walk with her this morning to hunt for puddles.  It is not lost on me that this is one of the last times she and I will take these walks, just the 2 of us.  She'll be joining her brother and sister at school next year and these sweet days will be behind me.  My heart is full today having been able to share these moments with her.  I hope you enjoy the pictures I snapped to capture it.

Robots

I let the kids draw on our french doors with dry erase markers.  They come off easy and it's like a built in white board for them.  Recently Jonathan took to drawing robots.  I was particularly fond of them and thought they were very creative so I thought I'd share.

Tea Party

Nana won certificates and treated the girls to a tea party complete with cupcakes and dress-up fun.  The girls liked getting all dolled up and even got their make up done.  Joel and Jonathan went to a local coffee shop for some treats of their own while the girls were busy.  It was a nice treat on a cold winter Saturday.  Thanks again, Nana!

Awesome Day at the Zoo

We went to the zoo this past Saturday for 4 hours.  We didn't intend to stay so long, but we were having such a great time we ended up closing down the zoo for the day.  There were hardly any people there and the animals were out and active as a whole as we haven't experienced before.  In Joel's own words it was possibly the best trip to the zoo we've ever had as a family.

We got to look eye-to-eye with an orangutang with only a panel of glass between us.  He mimicked some of our expressions and stuck his lip out at us playfully.  The lion was out and prowling.  We got to see him roar too.  It's always so impressive the massive volume that comes out with such seeming ease.  We fed parakeets by hand and saw kangaroos napping in the sun right under us.  We sat and watched the otters swimming around like corkscrews in the water.  Something that I never tire of watching (I'd seriously love to be able to swim like an otter - it just looks like a blast!)  We also saw an 8 week old calf being bottle fed and then Joel, Jonathan & I got to let it use our fingers as a pacifier (the girls didn't want to experience baby cow slobber on their hands).  We finished the day going through the amphibian house and seeing many cool things up close including a light blue caterpillar - never seen that before!

We literally saw the entire zoo and had a blast doing so.  It was a great afternoon and we all agreed it was a special gift.     

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.  Joel took them all so unfortunately he's not in any of them.