Oh, Winter...

Seriously?  For one, this is too much snow.  I mean, I love snow, and MiniM.E. is pretty into sledding this year, but bring on spring.  I could use some playground weather.  Or at least puddle jumping...

It's snowing now AGAIN.  And we're in for a foot or so... exciting to watch, but not so exciting when it means being stuck inside with your antsy toddler.

And secondly, give my kid a break!  She gets over the flu, has a week of feeling good and you give her the stomach bug....

At least we had a good few days of fun in the middle.  And she's finally returning to her normal self after a rough day of throwing up last weekend.

We tried out open gymnastics at the YMCA at the beginning of the week:

And went sledding with friends yesterday:

We made a bunch of Valentine's Crafts while Molly wasn't feeling well, but I am not cut out to be a craft blogger and as much as I thought I would photograph the materials, process and finished products, I have nothing to show for the time we spent.  Oh well... we had a good time!

Happy Early Valentine's Day!!

SNOW!!!!

It's been a long time since we've had snow on Christmas.  Over the past week we've gotten almost a foot and a half.  (It's supposed to rain here tomorrow and Sunday, so maybe Saratoga won't have a white Christmas, but we're hoping some of the snow sticks in NH!)

MiniM.E. has been asking to go sledding since September so she was especially excited about all the snow.

She has her very own snow shovel and surprisingly made a path all the way from the front door to here:

She also really enjoys pulling the sled.  (More than riding it?  Possibly.)

Our first downhill sledding of the year was Sunday after the big storm. We went to Saratoga State Park to the smallest of hills, perfect for nervous toddlers that "don't want to go really fast".

all geared up

eating snow

Then yesterday we took advantage of the fresh layer of powder that fell Tuesday and went sledding at H. and her mom's house.

snow angel!

trying to get three kids to sit together, nearly impossible.

with smiles!!!

Hoping to get out once more today before the rain melts it or turns it into an icy mess.  And looking forward to lots more snow and sledding for the rest of the winter.

First Kiss

We made it to NH Monday evening and it was nice to be in a germ-free house and just relax.  We were visiting my mom and my sister (my dad was on a business trip) and also my friend from high school, C. and her son, H.  We hadn't seen them since Christmas, and even then we only saw them for a few minutes, so we were all really looking forward to spending some time together.

Our week started out with sledding on Tuesday.  Except that it was warm out and the snow was really heavy so it was less sledding and more sticking, which MiniM.E. was NOT a fan of.  It might not have helped that she didn't have a nap.  No problem though because we chose to sled at a school playground, so there were other things for the kids to do.  Like swing.

Then we went home for a snack.

Things didn't seem to be going so well for the kids,

but they soon got over the sharing issue and made up with some hugs.

And then THIS happened!!!

first kiss!

Which is totally cute now, but will not be cute when they're twelve.

We might have encouraged it a little... because how cute is this?

oops! missed a little!

After H. went home MiniM.E. had a blast in the bath with some new bath toys.

tee-hee! baby bum!

love this smile...

and this face... 

The Biggest Snowstorm In 50 Years and Painting

Friday was supposed to be the biggest snowstorm in 50 years.  I wasn't impressed.  We got 6 or so inches.  In all fairness, we had zero snow to start, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.  Still, it was nice for it to be white again and MiniM.E. had a chance to play out in the snow.

She's still afraid to walk in the snow, but she actually took a few steps!

We rode around in the sled a bit, but her favorite thing to do outside is to swing, even in the middle of the winter.

We did manage to make use of the snow sledding with our friends on Sunday

Other than the disappointing snowstorm, MiniM.E. has started making artwork.  About time!! I've been waiting for her to be old enough for this for about 15 months...

We started with crayons.  We tried finger painting, but failed.  We found success in poster paints on finger paint paper.  I thought we could use the poster paints like finger paints, but somebody doesn't like to get messy.

Seriously, there could be tiny fleck of paint on her finger and she drops whatever she's doing and insists that "finger dirty" and she "need koshkosh (washcloth)".

So we found some fun painting implements- spoons!

Now we've graduated to painting with spoons AND a silicone basting brush.  Who knows what we'll find to paint with next time!

She's making some decent progress!

And just for good measure, a naked baby photo!