A Fun Mess

My sister-in-law, Linda, made some draft blockers for our doors because I couldn't find them anywhere in the stores. I bought some rice to fill them and had the bright idea that Arilyn and Addison would have fun filling them with me. They had fun, but didn't get much filling done! The girls had fun and that's all that matters. At least that's what I kept telling myself the 20 minutes it took me to clean up all the rice!

This was a few minutes after starting. They still had their cups in hand and not too much rice on the floor. 

And this is about 10 minutes later. Arilyn got bowls out and was dumping the rice in bowls. Addison started out pouring it in the bowl, then just dumped it on the floor!

They're trying to help clean up here.

I'm sure I'll find rice in the living room from now until summer! It was fun though!! And the door draft stoppers are working great!! Thanks Linda!

Snowman Fun

It warmed up a little the past few days--it was in the upper 30's, but that's a heat wave compared to what it's been! It made the snow perfect for building snowmen. The girls and I got bundled up and headed outside to make a snowman.

I got the snow ball started and planned to let Arilyn take over. She tried to push it, but it didn't go anywhere so she just sat there looking at it and waited for me to help!

Arilyn gladly took over putting the snowman's eyes, nose, and mouth on.

The finished product. We didn't have any regular carrots, so his nose is a baby carrot!

Arilyn decided that we had to make a snowdog so that the snowman would have someone to play with. It looks pretty silly, but cut me some slack- I've never made a snowdog before!

Addison's hat was so far down, she could barely see.

Addison would not leave the snowman's nose alone. She kept taking it out and putting it back in. She had a good time!

All of the sudden, Addison stopped and looked at the carrot and put it in her mouth! She actually took a bite of it. I guess I found a way to get her to eat her vegetables, because she won't touch them if they're on her plate!!

I put Arilyn to work! Although there wasn't much left to shovel. The last big snow we got our neighbor came over and used his snow blower on our drive. It was very nice and I sure appreciated it!

Happy Birthday Shawn!!

Today is Shawn's 33rd birthday! We celebrated yesterday because, unfortunately, he had to work today. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it? But we had a great time yesterday. Happy Birthday Shawn! I love you!

Arilyn and Addison were helping me make Shawn's cake.

Oops- dropped the fork!

And just when I think we're past the whole ear thing- we were done stirring with the fork and I needed to use the electric mixer. All I did was plug it in and when I looked at Arilyn her ears were covered! And here's the scary part- Addison's doing it too!! Not that she's scared, like Arilyn, but because she sees Arilyn doing it and immediately follows suit!

Arilyn insisted that we buy Daddy some balloons!

And here's why- they played with the balloons all day!

Which was torture for Ellie. She gets freaked out by balloons as you can see!

Finally- a cute smile from Arilyn!

Not so much from Addison! As soon as she sees the camera she says cheese!

Shawn has always been into photography, but wants to learn more, so I bought him a few books on specific things about photography. I think he liked them because he spent the rest of the night reading them.

Daddy and his girls.

As I was looking through the pictures deciding which to put on the blog, I passed over this picture the first time through because Addison looks goofy and Arilyn wasn't helping Shawn blow out the candles yet. But then I looked again and had to post it simply for the look on Graysen's face in the background! She is licking her chops like she's going to attack the whole cake! I laughed so hard when I noticed it that I had to share it!

This one was better- Arilyn looks like she's going to blow the candles off the cake!

And after the candles were blown out, Addison caught on!

One last note on the cake... most people who know me know that I am not a very accomplished cook. I was asking Shawn what he wanted me to make for his birthday- he loves lemon stuff, I don't, so I usually make something lemon on his birthday. We got this magazine and Shawn says- I want that! Are you kidding me?? The recipe made everything from scratch! So I cheated a little and bought Betty Crocker cake mix, but everything else I did by the recipe, and surprisingly it turned out really good. And it looked pretty good, too!

Follow up Post

Vanessa finally got all her pictures from the photographer at the wedding and Shawn's mom made an album for me. So I thought I'd share a few more pictures of Vanessa's day!

Arilyn getting her hair done. It's tiring to be a princess!

This is Denny walking Vanessa down the aisle. He's laughing because Vanessa had just kicked a pumpkin out of the way that had rolled into the aisle.

The happy couple- Vanessa and Ian

It was beautiful where they got married, but the sun fools you. It was cold!

Arilyn walking down the aisle with her flowers.

Addison was not photogenic at all that day and wouldn't hold still for anything!!

Arilyn did a little better holding still.

The girls on a little bridge.

Our family.

We let butterflies go after the wedding. At first Arilyn was really nervous to touch them or hold it.

This was the maid of honor's son. He showed Arilyn how to do it! For a few weeks after the wedding Arilyn kept saying that he was her boyfriend! It was funny!

Drowning in Pink

We didn't have any plans to go any where today, partly because it's 12 degrees outside, so I let Arilyn pick out clothes to wear for her and Addison. Can you guess what her favorite color is? Pink from head to toe! Which is so funny because when I was younger I wanted to have 4 boys! But God knows exactly what we need, because I couldn't imagine having anything but my 2 beautiful girls!

Arilyn was trying to figure out how to tie this Cabbage Patch Kid shoe.

Arilyn got a play bathtub for her dolls for Christmas and we were giving all the dolls a bath this morning. Arilyn said they needed a bath because they were 'stinky.' Addison decided she needed a bath, too and squeezed herself into the tub! Again- head to toe pink thanks to Arilyn! haha!

After Dinner (actually lunch) Entertainment

Addison was being very silly after lunch yesterday, so I decided to make a video of her doing all her animal sounds and a few others. She has learned a few signs as well, so I threw those in, too!

Addison's Bible Study

The girls were playing contently in the tv room and I went upstairs to collect the laundry. When I came back down, this is how I found Addison...

I had my Bible on the computer table- Addison, who gets into everything, pulled it off and started flipping through it. She loves looking at books and I'm glad the Bible seems to be no different!

In the beginning...

Now where is the book of Amos??

Snow Fun

We had yet another snow storm that gave us 6 more inches! And of course we had to go out and play in it. I bought the girls special thermal underwear from REI that Shawn wears when he's backpacking as his "base layer" to wick away moisture and keep him warmer--backpacking lingo. The girls loved them and stayed warm in the freezing temperatures!

Here they are in there thermax base layer!

Arilyn was hilarious- when we first put them on she said 'why am I putting my jammies on?' I said- they're not jammies, we're going to wear them outside. She says- 'Oh, ok. These are my outside jammies!' And that's what they will always be!

Arilyn loves going down the slide when there's snow on it. 

Addison was actually being still for once, but I think it was because she was so bundled she couldn't really move!

This is Addison trying to get up after she slipped on the snow. And yes, I'm a horrible mom-- I let her stay like this until Shawn took a few pictures. In my defense, she was smiling when I picked her up! She liked being upside down! Haha!

Arilyn is so happy playing outside, even though it was really about 28 degrees!

We walked back through our "swamp" that is frozen now, into the cemetery behind our house. There was a mound of snow from where they had plowed the road, so I got in on the fun and Arilyn and I were sliding down it. The snow had about a half inch of ice on it from freezing rain, so it made the perfect slide- no sled required!

Ellie was playing, too. Shawn dumped a bunch of snow on her. Graysen hates the cold and was inside the house!

Addison did this move without falling down- we were walking back to the house and she laid down on the snow! I guess she was done for the day!