Thoughts on snow, kids, and clever parenting...

Yesterday we woke up to our first true snow storm of the season. Snow was falling pretty hard and heavy most of the day. Out in my neck of the woods we usually get less snow than the big cities that flank us, but for whatever reason, that was not the case this time. While my mom (just south of us) raked in a good 8 inches, my MIL (just north) got MAYBE two inches if that. Now us? We got somewhere near 15 inches. Possibly more. (!!!) And of course, I took some pictures of my neighborhood all covered in white:







Poor baby Jesus- he is under there somewhere!



Even my swing- sitting against the house, on my covered porch got a few inches!



Much thanks goes out to my WONDERFUL Neighbor(s) who helped UNSTUCK me last night. Joe was sick with the flu, and had stayed home from a family party. As I arrived home with the girls at almost 11:00 pm, I found myself stuck in my own DRIVEWAY! It took me and Mindy a good 20 minutes to move my car 6 feet! Wow- talk about some deep snow. I wish they would plow the alleys (a majority of our neighborhood has their garage doors in the alley...)!

Lilia has been all sorts of cute this year as we prepare for Christmas. She was absolutely convinced that snow meant Christmas morning. She has been begging me since yesterday to let her open her presents. She is still in dance, and she LOVES it. She practices everyday, and is getting very good at certain parts of dance... other parts, not so much. I can't seem to get her to loosen up while in position one. The teacher told the kids that they have to hold their hands like they are holding a beach ball. This is Lil in position one:



Lacey has recently hit the ever popular stage of stripping down to naked any chance she gets. It has been all sorts of fun keeping her in clothes. As cute as it is to watch her wander the house in naught but a diaper, it is also frustrating to try and catch my Popsicle child and re-dress her. Especially difficult is pajamas. I used to go check on her after she falls asleep to find her wearing only a diaper and shivering. Which meant waking her up to re-dress her. She has learned to open snaps, zippers, and remove pants. The only thing truly safe on her is a t-shirt. So THIS is how I solved the problem!





That's right! I slap a t-shirt over her jammies now, and sure enough she stays in them all night long! YAY!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Be safe, and warm, and happy, and well.