More Snow

We got another round of snow this weekend. It began Thursday afternoon with freezing rain/sleet, and then changed over to snow...giving the kids another day off of school on Friday. We were so thankful to sit in our warm home and watch the beautiful scene unfold outside. SO, SO thankful we didn't lose power. Remembering one year ago this weekend that we had lots of ice, which resulted in power loss for several days.

After staying in all day yesterday, today was a great day to play in the snow. Sledding, snowball fights, building a snowman, and then hot chocolate...good times.

Where...

did January go??!! Can't believe we're already near the end of the month, and I missed a lot of blogging days (bad, bad blogger). It seems I've been playing catch-up...so the trend continues...

The girls made fudge one snowy afternoon. They had to honor traditions and lick the bowl clean. :-)

Max loved wearing the cook's hat (from fudge making day). He paired it so stylishly with some flower leis (that big sis Emily wore to a Hawaiian birthday party).

And then some shades...

Allyson's class did a study on immigration. The entire 6th grade did a re-enactment about Ellis Island, and each student was an immigrant. Allyson portrayed an 18-year-old young woman named Pirkko from Finland (a young mother and seamstress).

In other school news, all 3 girls made the honor roll at their respective schools. We are so proud of them! They continue to do well in extra-curricular activities as well.

Max continues to adjust well. He has moved up to his big boy room/bed full time (even for naps!). We started potty training, but quickly stopped as I realized he can't even pull his pants up/down by himself. :-( We will work on those skills some more and then start again when we're both ready. Max's speech continues to amaze me. He talks just as well (if not better) as other kids his age (& he's only heard English for 7 months!). I think the most amazing part is that he always uses words in their correct context, and with the right feeling behind them. (note to self: kids are always listening to what we do/say, and they repeat those things! lol).

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting the parents of our dear friend Chun. Randy met Chun in Shenzhen China during a business trip. A few years later, Chun moved to the US to work. She is now married and expecting her first child, so her parents came to help with the new baby. We look forward to getting to know them better in the next few months.

Keeping Busy

The snow/ice on our roads resulted in our schools being closed ALL week! We were off 2 weeks for the Christmas holiday break, so the kiddos got 3 weeks off total. Not a lot of excitement happening around here, but I did get a few pictures this week:

This is an old bridge in Cotter, AR. We drove over to pick up my mother-in-law and stopped to take a pic of this bridge.

When the kids get quiet, I have to go and find them (to see what they're up to!). This is how I found Allyson and Claire one evening. They had pulled out some scrapbooks and were looking at pictures of themselves as babies. Sooooo sweet!

Max is really into playing with little matchbox cars. He likes to line the cars up, bumper to bumper and show them to me. This day was different though. When Max said, "Mommy, I line up" I was surprised to see the cars spaced out in an arch shape...so of course I had to snap a pic.

Snow Fun!

We had about 3" of snow/ice when we woke up on Sunday morning. This resulted in school being canceled for two days (which made for an extra long holiday break). The kids didn't mind too much though...the snow was great entertainment.

This was Max's first time playing in the snow and he absolutely LOVED it!