Diggin' for Gold

It is so hard to get videos of the girls lately because they want to 'see' what is on the camera when I am filming. I tried to get them dancing with Dan while doing the dishes a few days ago - one of their favorite things to do. I got a little of Hannah dancing and Aly...well, you'll see:

    

Yes, that is our child...gross! At least she is passionate about it!!

Snow Day with Daddy

Daddy had another snow day on Wednesday...Mommy didn't.  So what do you do with Daddy all day when Mommy is not around???

Read.

Laugh.

Con Daddy into taking us to the mall and buying us something at the Disney store, play on the jungle germ and send Mommy ridiculously cute pictures at school to make her jealous.

Looks like it was a pretty successful day!

Who is this a picture of??

Flashback: It might look like Alyssa, but it is me from 1984.  My mom found this picture and showed it to me the other day.  I was a little younger than Aly is now, but the look and expression is JUST like her!!  Here is the full picture of me with my dad.  Check out his awesome feather hair...

When my mom showed it to Aly she exclaimed "Hey!  That looks like me!" And when she asked Hannah who it was she said, "It's Ah-yee!"  Tonight, she showed it to Dan and Emily's Boy friend, Kevin.  Kevin's reaction was classic.  He said, "Holy sh*t!  That's weird!!!"  

I guess there is now denying she is mine...in fact, she is a mini-me!  No wonder she is so beautiful! ;) 

A {family} Valentine's Date

I am a sucker for romance, but I am not really into Valentine's Day as a 'romantic holiday'.  I think our anniversary is more special and, to be honest, I would rather Dan surprise me with roses on a random day because he wanted to (and when the prices aren't hiked up 250%), rather than being held hostage by a flying man wearing a diaper ;) Hint, hint.  

So we decided to take our girls out on a date instead.  Besides, everyone knows Daddy is their Valentine...not mine!!  So we went out to dinner and let Aly pick what we did after that.  Guess what?  She wanted to go to the mall — typical girl.  Specifically, Polaris with the   'Jungle Germ'...another one of my least favorite places.  Whoever thought of indoor mall playgrounds clearly did not have children!  It sounds like a great concept, but it is a wellness  nightmare.  I feel like I can actually SEE and HEAR the germs and there are always kids that are much taller than Jungle Jack's hand swinging from the tree branches, running around knocking the little ones over.  I used to be one of those moms that said 'my children will never do that'...yeah, that is a battle I am not going to fight.  Luckily, the girls loose interest pretty quickly so it is never a long stay.

After slathering them in hand sanitizer, we went to the Disney store.  You can't walk in there with two little girls fascinated by princesses and not leave with something.  They each got to pick out a play set of Disney characters to use in their dollhouse as their Valentine's gift.  It took them so long to decide, you would think they were choosing husbands!  After going back and forth several times, Aly eventually ended up with Beauty and the Beast and Hannah got Aladdin.  

It was a fun night!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Cooking with GG

Sounds like the title to a new cooking show!  Once we dug out of the snow today, we had a cookie cooking date with my Grandma...or GG to the girls.  We made cake batter cookies and heart-shaped cupcakes.  Delicious!  They both loved helping!  Aly was a little more helpful than Hannah, but I think you will be able to tell that from the pictures...  

P.S.  The aprons they are wearing were HANDMADE for them by GG for Christmas!!  I have a matching one too!!

When life gives you snow...

make ice cream!! The entire mid-west has been blanketed with a little an enormous amount of snow this week. We have gotten at least 12-24 inches in about 3 days! Thankfully, due to the inclement weather, I have been lucky enough to have two snow days! 'Gotta love being a teacher!! Dan only got one today, because Columbus Public was in serious denial yesterday :( Anyway, we have been snowed in. This morning we decided to do something with the snow...turn it into a frosty treat. It was a lot of fun making it and it tasted horrible delicious! I know what made it so bad this time so we can change that, but it is all about making it together that counts!!

Snow Ice Cream

AllRecipes.com

1 gallon of snow*

1 cup Milk

1 cup Sugar**

1 cup Vanilla Extract

*Clean of course!! It was almost up to my knees when I went out to get it!

**I hear Splenda is better because it dissolves...that was why ours wasn't so good.

Then, just mix all ingredients and enjoy!!

This is when the snow first started on Tuesday. I think the driveway has been shoveled 7 or 8 times already...and needs it again.

Look at how hard the snow is coming down!!!

I love to have snow days from school, but Spring can come anytime now....

A Favorite Pastime

I watched Alyssa eat a bowl of Fruity Cheerios a few days ago. No reason...she was sitting at the island counter without a care in the world, but for some reason, it got my attention. Isn't it funny how something so mundane can be a total joy for parents?!?!

I don't really have a lot of my own 'hobbies'. I like to scrapbook (which doesn't really happen) and, obviously, blog. But that is one of my favorite things to do. I could just sit and watch my girls for hours - without them knowing. Dancing, reading a book, play a game, talking to each other (or their stuffed animals)...it doesn't matter, I love it all. I am sure I am not the only parent who has perfected the art of peeking around corners to spy on their little ones.

The best part though, is the split second when your eyes meet and they suddenly realize you have been watching them. {sigh} All you can do is smile...I wish I could bottle that feeling.

Priceless.

Daddy Who?

**This is what happens when I leave the blog open to edit on the computer when I go to take a shower! ;)  He is a great Daddy!**

This maybe the question the girls ask someday when they read these blogs. This may be my one and only blog, but I wanted to do it. Someday the girls will read these and know what we thought about and did with them so I wanted to make sure they knew what I thought from time to time. It won't be much because Jenn is much much better at this than I am. I don't have an amazing story or anything too great to write, but I just want to tell everyone how blessed and lucky I am. I have THE LIFE that everyone could dream of. My girls are so beautiful and funny and cute. They melt my heart everyday, especially when I get home and they run to me screaming "daddy", or "daeeee" as Hannah says. They are always saying I love you and are kissing me. We love to laugh and play games together. They teach me sooooo much about the love and patience of God. I love them so much. And in case you didn't know Jenn is the most amazing wife, mom and teacher. She can do it all (including fix things and build things around the house when I don't). She is so patient with me and the girls and can do everything. Jenn is one of the most selfless people I know. The girls and I are so blessed to have a mom and wife that loves us more than she loves herself. Ok, well there it is: my blog moment. I will try to do a few more posts here and there, but if not there is one thing I hope my girls can learn and understand quicker and deeper than I have: that is the love and grace of Jesus. That will hopefully be their main pursuit in life. Ok, done with Daddy's 'book'. I love you girls...all 3 of you!

-Daddy

Anyone Need Some Snow??

Guess the ground hog was right again...

It has been snowing since yesterday morning...and when I say snow, I mean Blizzard!! I don't know that I have ever seen it snow so hard for so long. We got around 24 inches the year Hannah was born, but this is coming down harder! Dan has shoveled the driveway three times in the last 12 hours, and it needs done again!! Plus there are no signs of stopping. Guess the new fence we were supposed to have installed in 7 -10 days is going to be delayed...

Of course it didn't start until after school started yesterday, so we didn't have a day off. And even though most districts in the Columbus area dismissed early, Gahanna did not. We are far too committed to our students' education to let them leave 90 minutes early and miss a valuable nugget of knowledge (while I am being sarcastic, I do love my district...and we are pretty darn good ;) And, you know that it will stop Monday morning, just in time for them to plow and salt the streets for safe travel to school ;(

Last night we went out to play! I took Hannah for a ride on the sled, but it didn't last long because it was soooooo windy. She was getting pelted with enormous snowflakes and it wasn't worth it to her. Aly, the little snow bunny, didn't care. Her and Dan built another snowman. The snow rolled up so easily...from the side, it looked like we were rolling up a sleeping bag. It literally came off the ground in layers! While I tend to side with Hannah when it comes to snow, I have to admit, this storm has been really beautiful! There is something comfy and cozy about being snowed in with your family.

That doesn't change my feelings about winter though. Now, can we please have a little bit of sun????

Seriously Confused

This morning Aly told my mom that it felt like she had something up her nose (this is the first time she had mentioned this - you will understand why this is important in a minute). My mom checked, but didn't see anything. A few minutes later she went upstairs to get clothes for Hannah and when she came down there was a tissue with a Dora band-aid crumpled up in it...covered in snot!!! She asked she the band-aid came from and Aly told her IT WAS IN HER NOSE! What?!?!?!?! To make matters worse, she hasn't had a Dora band-aid for at least a week...

Aly continues to stick with her story. She won't elaborate at all. We have no idea what the situation is, or was, all we know is we are all completely confused.

One of my LEAST favorite places:

Urgent Care. I have a feeling that the Children's Close to Home is going to be our Home Away from Home with Hannah. I had to take her there tonight for the second time in 9 months (last summer when she got her stitches)...the same doctor even took care of us! This time though, it was just an ear infection...thankfully! I didn't want to have to sit there, but I didn't really have a choice since all the appointments with the pediatrician were booked for the night and I have parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. I hate going into places like that! I feel like every germ in the place singles us out to infest. And, can someone tell me why they put those stupid bead-on-a-wire toys in doctors' offices...do they not know how many germy hands touch them?!?!?!?! Poor Hannah...she was eyeballing them, but I kept telling her no. I didn't want to take home anymore sickness than we came in with...I will let you know how that goes in a few days. After only one and a half short hours in germ land, Hannah is on the mend.

Queen of the Boards

Aly's new favorite things thing: board games. She got Don't Wake Daddy, Clue Jr., The Ladybug Game, Princess Memory and The Ooh la la tea party game. We play them at least once a day. She gets the concept of 'winning', but not quite 'competition'. She has given me advice on how to play so I can win too. With Clue, we play on 'teams' because she is really to young for it, but she loves to talk smack. She is so fun to play with and it has been a great way to help her recognize number and reinforce her counting. Not to mention, she wins...a lot!