Stay at Home Day: The Perfect Snow 2014

The East coast has been pounded with snow storms the past few months, but here in Olympia we've seen very few snow flakes.  Except for one Saturday night it starting dumping.  It snowed and snowed all night long.  That Sunday morning, we woke to the most perfect snow.  I barely got a snack in the girls and we were trying to hunt down all our snow gear to head outside.

When we got outside, we quickly started working on a snowman.  We even had some neighbor friends come over to play in the snow too.

Brooke and Kaleb are little buddies and any chance they can get to hang out is the best day in the world in their eyes.   They had so much fun playing on the sled together.

Brooke only fell a couple of times.  Good thing she's close to the ground and has extra padding on today!

We soon realized all the neighborhood kids were at our neighborhood retention pond.  Don't worry, it's dry!  The hills are perfect for our little ones.  Seriously, check out the smiles on these kids' face!

Morgan quickly found her friends and ditched us to hang out with the big girls.  Guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Here's a picture of Brooke making a snow angel.  Our little friend Riley was supervising to make sure she did it correctly.

Some of the things that made this day so perfect.  1) It was on a Sunday; 2) Casey wasn't on shift; 3) The snow was fluffy and LOTS of it; 4) Pancakes tastes so much better when you've earned them; 5) We had absolutely no place to be except home; and 5) the snow was gone before my Monday morning commute.  Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have the snow stick around but all the stars aligned on our snow day to make it the most perfect day!

Happy New Year 2014

It was a rare New Year's Day in our house. Casey actually had the day off - woo hoo! I've been wanting to go to the painted plate in downtown Olympia for awhile now but wanted to wait until Brooke was a little older.  Since we all had the day off what fun would it be to go on New Year's Day? 

It was a good thing I made reservations they were busy! When we got there our table was all set up and ready to go. First, we needed to pick out a piece of pottery to work with. This was a little overwhelming for the girls. They wanted to do it all! I quickly decided I needed to keep it simple - we would ALL do a plate. 

Next, what type if design? They have so many ideas on the walls. The assortment of colors was amazing. So many options! 

Morgan decided on a peace sign pattern and Brooke went for a heart. The girls had so much fun. Brooke was a little crazy with all the excitement and it took some reeling in but we managed. 

Casey even got into it and decided on a seashell theme. I attempted to do some dots but they look more like clouds. 

I really enjoyed our family time together and will treasure the pieces we made forever.  My only suggestion would be to only let the kids do a piece. They needed a lot of assistance and it was difficult to complete my own piece. After all it's really their work that I will want to keep forever. 

Happy New Year!

Daddy's Princess

Ok, so this post is a little behind.  The time has really gotten away from me these past few weeks. 

Last month, Casey took Morgan to her very first father/daughter dance.

Morgan loves getting dressed up like a princess and tonight was certainly no exception.  We met one of her friends from school at the nail salon and we all got our nails done.  Next, we came home so we could do her hair.  She opted for a side pony with lots of curls.

Yes, considering the special occasion, I let her wear a little lipstick and blush.  She was a happy little girl.

She even wore a cute little corsage with ribbon that matched her dress!

Brooke wanted in on the action too, say "cheeeeeese!"

A few more pictures and they were on their way to dinner and the dance.

Morgan danced all night and came home on cloud 9.  Casey enjoyed his evening with his little princess and I have a feeling they'll be going again next year.

Snowmen and Sledding!!!

Sunday morning the girls and I woke up to snow on the ground.  Even though Brooke as seen snow before, you could see the excitement in her eyes as she looked out the window as if it was the first time.  She wanted to make sure everyone in the house saw what she saw.  She even bent over to Dora (the cat) and pointed outside and said "snow?"  to make sure Dora was as excited as she was.

Since daddy was working Saturday night and would be home at any moment the girls patiently waited for him so they could go outside and play.

Daddy finally got home after a very rough night on shift but was able to power through to get some snow time in with his girls.

First on Morgan's agenda.....
Yep, daddy better watch out!!!

Brooke wasn't as eager to jump right into the snow once she was up close.  She decided to stand on the sidelines and watch.

Next on the agenda - Build a Snowman.

After a little coaxing, Brooke decided she didn't want to be left out of the fun.

And they are finished.  Morgan was very proud of her snowman.

Even Brooke got to have her own little snowman.

Trying to get both girls to just stand and smile didn't happen.  Oh well, captures the moment, right?

And last on the agenda - Sledding.

Lucky for us, we live very close to our neighborhood retention pond.  This little hill is just the right size for our little snow bunnies so off we went.

See all the grass and dirt poking through?  There was just barely enough to sled on, but the girls were thrilled anyways.

I love seeing those rosy checks and runny nose on my girls, definitely a sign of good times in the snow.