Snow Days are the Best Days

We received an early Christmas present last Friday--eight inches of snow! We were truly very fortunate, as our neighborhood was one of the few around that didn't lose power. We were able to enjoy the beautiful snow and stay warm at the same time.

When I saw how quickly the snow was falling, I placed a big bowl on the deck to collect snow for snow cream. It was the first time my girls had been able to have it. I think they liked it...

The next morning, Isabella was so excited when she woke up and saw that the snow was still here. She has been anxious to build a "Snow Queen" for weeks and is utterly enamored with Frosty the Snowman. So, after promising her we would go out and play later in the morning, we started the day by baking a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake for Christmas. Isabella and Sophia stood on stepstools to help me pour and to watch the mixer work its magic.

After the cake came out of the oven, Phillip and I dressed up the girls in their warmest clothes and took them outside to play. It was their first time playing in the snow.

After awhile, Sophia became cold and irritable, so Phillip took her inside.

She was much happier once she was warm and dry.


I stayed outside to play with Isabella. We set to work building our Snow Queen.


Here's another view of "Frostina." Isn't she lovely?

Later, I taught Isabella how to make snow angels. She surprised me by already understanding the concept, thanks to "Max and Ruby."


She had so much fun that day. She cried when it was time to go inside.



I made it up to her by promising that she could decorate the birthday cake for Jesus when she woke up from her nap. That did the trick; apparently, there's nothing like green icing and "spinkles" to lift a little girl's spirits.

Here's the finished product.

We arranged the candles like an Advent Wreath and talked about the significance of the five candles before we blew them out.

Aside from worrying about our parents who were without power (my parents for more than 60 hours, Phillip's parents for about 40), it was a really fun snow day. I just wish our parents had come over to enjoy the fun.

A Bumble Bee and an Angel Go Trick-or-Treating - All Week Long

Halloween has been and gone, and for my little girls, it was a week-long event.

I had a difficult time with costumes this year since I really wanted them to dress alike. If I had had my choice, I would have dressed them either as little pirates or as Southern Belles. (I am nothing if not random). Unfortunately, however, Isabella's preschool was having a candy parade with a theme: each costume had to either be one of God's creations or a person from the Bible. Since I thought I might have some difficulty passing Isabella off as King David or John the Baptist, I decided both my girls should be angels--how perfectly appropriate, right? Sure, we'll go with that.

Anyway, I bought two lovely angel costumes, but from the moment Isabella heard about it, she adamantly refused to even try it on. She wanted to be a "skerwee" (i.e., "scary") vampire. I was beginning to worry about the preschool requirement that costumes could be neither scary, nor gruesome, so I told her she could be an animal. I suggested she be a bumble bee. For some reason, this excited her more than a Max and Ruby marathon. I took her straight to Halloween Express, darted through the "skerwee" mechanical props in the entryway with my hands over her eyes, and marched her straight to the back where there was exactly one bumble bee costume left, and it just happened to be in her size. What do you know? A Halloween miracle. I looked longingly at the preschooler pirate and Southern Belle costumes and instead tried the bumble bee costume on my eldest child. She was beside herself with joy. She refused to take off the antennae the rest of the day and "buzzed, buzzed" everywhere she went. So, finally with two appropriate costumes, we readied ourselves for a very busy week.

On Monday, Isabella's dance class had a costume party. This was the first time she got to wear her costume. Don't all bees wear ballet slippers?

Another little girl in her class was also a bumble bee. Here is a picture of sweet little friends sharing a hug, a kiss and a costume. (Sophia was excited to see all of the little girls dressed up, too).

On Wednesday, I made jack o' lantern cookies for Isabella's class. This was more difficult that I expected. After burning one batch and letting black icing (yes, black icing) melt all over another batch, I had an acceptable number decorated, bagged and tied with orange ribbon. I wish I had made a picture with a phone other than my cell phone. (Sorry the quality is so bad; it's a picture of a picture).

Friday was the much anticipated Candy Parade. Sophia and I accompanied Isabella's class on their march through the church where parents and preschool staff were stationed at intervals handing out candy. Here is Isabella and her precious teacher, Mrs. Linda, just before the parade began. Isabella's little friend, Anna, was yet another bumble bee. Apparently, bees were big this year.

The next day was Halloween. Phillip and I took the girls to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then to mom and dad's house to show off their costumes. Mom had treat bags for each of the girls filled with everything from candy to princess wands to Hello Kitty socks. Here is my little angel, Sophia, with her sweet "Moostie."

A precious bumble bee and a perfect angel share some Halloween cookies.

My little Sophia loved her angel costume. I was so proud of her.

When we got home, I put the girls down for their naps and carved our jack o' lantern. Here's the end result after nearly two hours of work. Think Indiana Jones reaching for a diamond in a haunted mine--or something like that.

After their naps, I got the girls ready to go trick-or-treating. Here's my little bumble bee, green plastic jack o' lantern in hand, ready to get the show on the road.

Sophia is ready, too!

My little girls, loaded up in their wagon, and ready to go.

Grammy and Papaw came over to see the girls in their costumes and to give them candy before we left.

Daddy with his two not-so-"skerwee" girls at a neighbor's house.

On to the next house!

Double-fisted candy-eaters. Oh, right...like I could have kept them out of their goodies before we got home.

The rain started back a little while later, so we headed home. I made dinner and Phillip sat on the porch handing out candy. Even after we returned, we still had over 150 trick-or-treaters who came by in the rain.

My girls had such a fun week. In addition to all the Halloween fun, the girls got to meet their first baby cousin. My sister-in-law gave birth on the 28th to a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Avery. My girls were amazed by her, although Isabella thought the baby would already be a big girl like her and ready to play. I know they are going to be such good friends as they grow up. What an exciting week!

This is Why I Love Fall

Last weekend, Phillip and I decided to take the girls to Asheville for a day of fall fun.

Asheville is one of my favorite towns, and it is especially beautiful in October. We decided to first take a drive, do a little hiking, hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then spend the rest of the day playing in town. We set the GPS for Craggy Gardens, and followed the directions up a Forest Service road to the top of the mountain. While I typically am not fond of these types of roads, the drive was fairly easy and incredibly beautiful.

The girls fell asleep in the backseat on the way up the mountain, so Phillip and I were able to take our time and stop along the way to make pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Snow had already fallen on top of the mountain, which made the drive even more special. Unfortunately, when we got to Craggy Gardens, we discovered it had been closed due to bear activity, so we made our way onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, and enjoyed another beautiful ride. To reward the girls for behaving so well while in the car, we decided to treat them to some playtime at the park.

We let the girls play for about an hour before we loaded them up and took them to get ice cream at the Asheville Mall, which will henceforth be known to Isabella not as the Asheville Mall, but the "Ice Cream Store." Days like this are why I love fall so much.

Tiny Dancer

One of my longest-held dreams has finally been realized.

My little Isabella is finally taking dance lessons.

As much as I have always dreamed of my little girl taking ballet, I must admit that I initially had a few doubts as to whether or not she was ready. You see, I made the rookie mistake on the way to registration of telling her that she was going to get her foot measured for ballet and tap shoes. Since she had no idea what this actually meant, she assumed the worst and proceeded to do what three-year-olds do best: become negative. "No, mommy, I don't want to get my foot measured. No! I don't want Isabella's foot measured." She repeated her mantra for the next ten minutes, as though she truly believed some unspeakable horror was about to befall her feet.

However, when we walked in (or I should say I walked, she was dragged), she saw another little girl trying on shoes that to Isabella looked as though Cinderella herself had recently cast them aside. She immediately climbed up in a chair, ripped her tennis shoe off, and stuck her pale pink-painted toes into the face of a studio worker. While I paid her tuition, Isabella amused herself by trying on every shoe in the box. When she had exhausted the pile, she ran over to me and shouted, "Mommy, I got measured!" Oh, the joy on that little face.

Afterward, I took her into the studio and showed her where she would be learning how to "dance like a princess." With no hesitation whatsoever, she began to twirl around the room. With this bit of encouragement, I decided it was safe to indulge myself (and my wallet) in purchasing all of the dance accessories I could (I mean, "she could") want. I had more fun than I care to admit picking out leotards, tights, ballet skirts, a personalized dance bag, and even a ballet slipper key chain for her bag (yes, of course, she had to have one).

Her first day of class arrived, and unfortunately, her dance class falls on one of the days she attends preschool. What this means is that she must take a very condensed nap and I must wake her up a full hour before she is ready. And not only must I wake her, I must immediately wrangle tights, a leotard and ballet shoes on her. That first day, she was less than happy to cooperate. My memory is a little fuzzy, as I tried to erase the experience completely from my mind, but as I recall, she screamed something like, "I DON'T WANT TO WEAR THESE TIGHTS! I DON'T WANT TO WEAR THIS 'LEETARD!'" And, she proceeded to pull her shorts and tee-shirt out of the clothes hamper while attempting to rip off her tights.

(Obviously, she is not the happiest child when she first wakes up). So, I pulled out the big guns. I broke my rule about allowing her to watch the DVD player in the car while not on vacation. I have found that there is very little that an episode of "Max and Ruby" and a Hello Kitty thermos full of orange Gatorade won't fix.

We made it to the studio, clothes intact. Once there, she remembered that this was the place where princess shoes abound and little girls can twirl themselves into oblivion in front of full-length mirrors. She would hardly stand still long enough for me to tighten her tap shoes. She ran into the studio and after one short hour she had learned to "run like a ballerina," do the "First Position," and make really, really loud noises with her tap shoes. After class, she ran into the lobby with a stamp on one hand and a green lollipop in the other. On the way home, she told me repeatedly what a wonderful time she had. And for a super-frilly mommy like me, I couldn't have asked for more.