Snow sledding and Valentine's Day

 Maggie finally decided she wanted to play outside with the boys.

It took me about 15 minutes to bundle her up, but she went out there and did some sledding with dad and LOVED it!  She even went down by herself one time...

All ready to play

 The "track" Brian made for sledding

 On their way

 So much fun!

She only stayed out there for about 20 minutes, but had a great time.

I think she'll definitely be out there again for the next snow fall.

And typical Midwest weather...its supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow...and now we all know why we are sick with runny noses and coughs...

But, today was Valentine's Day, and it was a lovely day.

The kids were off school so Memaw watched them for us.

We went out to dinner (all 5 of us) to On The Border and had a great dinner.

Brian and the kids got Memaw and I some flowers, and I also got some homemade chocolate covered strawberries.  They were DELICIOUS!

 The kids got a couple treats from us, but only 2, because they each brought home candy from Valentine's Day parties at school.  Too much sugar in our house is never a good idea!

My yummy strawberries!

I am so blessed to have a lot of Valentine's in my life.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!

A couple of snow days

We did end up getting almost a foot of snow here in Parkville.

The kids were off school for 3 days (2 for the snowfall and 1 because of crazy cold temperatures - like -10 degrees without windchills).  

We spent our time hanging out and catching up on some movies.

We also made some chocolate chip cookies (which were totally gone after 2.5 days)

 The kids LOVE helping these days

 We spent A LOT of time in the bounce house - and the kids got really creative on using it - like pretending to sleep in it.  I got called in for the important duty of making sure the blanket totally covered their feet.

Colin and Brian spent a lot of time outside clearing the driveway and making ramps to sled over.  I'm still not sure who was having more fun out there, I think Brian had a blast making their snow trails...

Maggie refused to go outside, and I don't really blame her, it was COLD!

 This was after a few hours of snow, but we still had at least that much more coming the next 1/2 day.

 The best pic I could get of my boys through our front door (where I was standing inside, staying warm)

 Each day Colin would come in with super red cheeks - we started slapping on Vaseline, which helped immensely!

 He opted to take off the face warmer so that he could eat some snow.

That kid!

 Brian has gotten some good use out of the snow blower I got him for Christmas.  

I think the meteorologists are calling for a pretty cold and snowy February, so we'd better keep it handy!

While the boys were outside, Maggie and I were perfecting the bounce house - jump and slide!

Please excuse the chocolate chip cookie face

 She's started picking out her outfits lately... I think she might have a slightly crazy fashion sense!

The kids are back to school tomorrow and I am a few days behind on my comp exams...

But, we had some great days at home and we're ready to get back on schedule (just in time for the weekend!)  :)

Rain boots and snow boots

Maggie has been pretty excited to wear these rain boots lately.  They are about 2 sizes too big, but she loves them.  We got them from a family friend who's little girl is a year older than Maggie.

Anyway, she wore them to the grocery store the other day and an older gentleman commented on how pretty they were, so now I'm certain they will be a hit around our house for a while.

 My crazy girl, showing off her rain boots

 So cute!

My little twinkies.

Oh, and we are all home today because of anticipated snow fall.

We are supposed to get around 8-10 inches throughout the day.  I am so glad to work for a place that values their employees and patients enough to not put them in danger driving around in inclement weather.

I'm sure I'll have some fun snow pictures to post soon, but until then, we will be baking cookies and watching some movies.