So here are some of the fun moments from the first half of January. Here is the parking lot that Alex parks in after we got back. It's pretty much what the City of Pullman looks like. Everything is buried in snow.
The day after we got back, we had SO much cleaning and organizing to do! There was a huge pile in the living room of stuff I had unpacked from San Diego, but it included garbage, dirty clothes, clean clothes, souvenirs, and pretty much everything else :). In addition, we all had new Christmas gifts from before we left and from Boise, and all the other stuff from our Boise trip. Basically, our house was a war zone and I was losing. We just took it slow and got it done over the span of a couple days. I was super happy that the kids were entertained by their new things, and that Hunter had a fairly happy couple days. He is a super sweet, wonderful baby who happens to be unpredictable about his good and bad days.
Alex had a game to work in Spokane, which meant he didn't get home until midnight the night after we got back. By about 7 the house was all a little ragged. Lots of tears over chores, unhappiness about dinner, just regular kid stuff. So when Kenzie came into the room wearing this and asking for her bath, I about died. I love this girl and her creative spirit :)
Alex texted me this picture of the temperature when he left Spokane that evening...I don't think January got above 20 degrees very often, but this was the lowest that I saw. A fun and interesting first winter here!
The next day the kids and I had a fun 'table time' while Hunter was asleep. I love how excited they get over simple art supplies, and watching them concentrate is the best. Carter with his tongue out all the time, and Kenzie's little frown that they get every time.
This girl is loving and excelling at Kindergarten. She lights up my life and challenges me every day. I was eager to comply when she said 'Mom, I'm really happy, can you take my picture?'
We had another snow day later in the week! The kids have spent a lot of snow days inside, just because it's hard for me to go out with Hunter and Makenzie needing help, and the days are short so Alex doesn't usually get home before dark. This morning I bit the bullet and said yes to playing outside. 30 minutes later, everyone had gone to the bathroom/had a new diaper, and everyone had a hat, gloves, snow pants, a coat, and snow boots. So we headed out. I was just glad the snow hadn't stopped!
First item on the snow play bucket list: snow angels with HUGE flakes falling on your face :)
This is literally 3 minutes after we went outside. It was snowing SO fast that Kenzie, Hunter and I only lasted about 15 minutes before we each had 1/2 an inch of snow on our heads. We headed in to the front window and watched the bigger kids play for a while.
And last but not least, post-snow cuddling and mess cleanup
I love watching our Christmas Card collection grow each year!
This was such a special moment for me. It was snowing this morning, and O had a late start, so we were all hanging out playing games in the living room. Suddenly Carter got up to watch the snow, and before I know it, they were all just standing their, watching the snow fall. I grabbed my phone and while I was pulling up the camera I heard them talking. O said 'I could watch this all day', to which Carter replied 'this is so awesome! I see a huge one' and Makenzie turned around to make sure I was watching this amazing sight. When she saw me taking pictures she said 'Mom, no phone. Miss it!'
This would have been cool in December, with the first couple times that it snowed. By this point I was sick of the snow. I wanted to let the kids play and run outside. I wanted to stop thinking about shoveling the driveway. I even had had my fill of snow ice cream, which is unheard of for me. For them to sit at the window, still in awe of snow was just super fun to watch.
And then I got to go outside and work on this mess of a driveway. I like to think that next year will be better. We will be better on top of it, and I will go out in the morning to shovel before anyone drives on it. We will see if that actually works out :)
That particular morning, I left Hunter in Carter's charge. I understand that that is a risky proposition, but I didn't have a lot of choice. I ran inside every 5 minutes or so just to check on them, but everyone seemed happy. When I came back in after, Carter said that Hunter smelled funny, and when I picked him up, I figured out why. It was an impressive diaper for sure :)
That earned Hunter a bath all by himself, which is a treat in this house. We tend to do baths two-by-two, so he really enjoyed the whole process. When he was clean, I got him dressed up in this super fashionable outfit that his Grover cousins got for him for Christmas :) He loved his reflection as much as I did
On the 10th of January, I finally gave up on the scraggly random-curl style that Kenzie had since she and Carter played Hair salon in December. We went to Great Clips, and I'm realizing now that the hairstylist REALLY believed me when I said we do a side part :). But her new style is really cute, and hides the super short ones much better than before.
Every morning when Olivia is at school and Hunter is sleeping, I try to pull out some sort of activity for the two middle kids. Sometimes it's just playdoh or coloring books, but occasionally I get my act together and pull out something new and fun. This morning I did a color sorting activity for Kenz, and she totally loved it. Hopefully I remember this and put in the effort more often!
Carter has been working hard at preschool, and was REALLY excited when Olivia declared this Kindergarten project 'too easy' for her, so he could use it. I was totally impressed at his ability to sound out the -at words and use the pictures! It's still crazy that he will be in Kindergarten in the fall, but I know he will do great. This boy is full of surprises!
The Pullman Library has a little puppet theater that the kids absolutely love. They refuse to put a show on for me, and stop every time I pull out my camera, but I did manage to take this picture last time we went to the library. Hunter also totally loves the library. He loves that he can sit in the middle and all of the kid activites are around him, so the kids just run around and give him the impression that he is the center of the universe :).
Makenzie is becoming increasingly interested in underwear...I'm not at all interested in her having underwear and potty training until the spring when I can send the older kids outside while I sit with her for hours in the bathroom, so for now when she asks I let her put underwear on over whatever get-up she is currently in. I'm aware that this is horrible parenting and I should embrace her interest, but I am ignoring it.
She also is the resident princess in the house. She doesn't seem interested in dress up at all, but is totally into accessorizing and makeup. Especially makeup, She probably has 100 layers of chapstick on at all times.
Another thing we aren't quite ready to start is piano lessons for Carter. He has learned a few songs by color, and will definitely be ready for more in the fall, but I feel like at this point I need to space out my time commitments by season, and 2 kids taking piano is a fall event for sure :)
This last picture is just to remember the grossest reward I ever gave myself :). I saw these birthday cake waffles (in the cereal section, so not frozen) at Walmart and decided that they would taste amazing. Alex would tell you that this shows a distinct lack of judgment, but it's where I was at that day. Some days I make it through just fine, but others send me into a strange delirium where I just need to be rewarded for anything I actually accomplish. So when I got home from grocery shopping (with 3 kiddos including one in the car seat taking up the entire grocery cart), got the groceries put away and cleaned the living room before we started the lunch/preschool/naptime rush at 11:30, I knew I deserved this reward. I didn't actually eat it until after I got all the kids down for a nap, and then I took this picture to prove to Alex that I deserved this disgustingly sweet and fatty treat. I ate about half before I saved it for after school snack and busted out a couple bites of raspberry sorbet instead.
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