February Fun - Valentines, snow days, and more

The girls were in heaven the week before last. They were out of school for what seemed like forever! Thursday we got hit with yet another snow storm (I feel like I say it every year, but this winter really has been brutal!). 

                      

This is so me!

This Texas girl is so not cut out for this weather! What's even worse, after weeks of 20 degree and below weather, 35 starts to actually feel warm! What is wrong with me?!? Anyways, not only did they get Thursday and Friday off...but Monday and Tuesday were vacation days already, so they wound up with a 6 day weekend. They were ecstatic...and it worked out well for David as well. He was actually in Connecticut that week for training, and because of the storm had Thursday off...and was already off on Friday, so he got a long weekend too...Monday also as it was President's Day. The only downside is that they've had so many snow days, I know they are gonna have to make them up at the end of the year. I absolutely hate how long into June they already go to school...so not used to that. In Texas, we were always out of school before Memorial Day...and up here they've gone as late as the 25th of June before. Ugh!!! This year they are supposed to get out on the 12th...but I know it'll be later than that with makeup days. Oh well...what can ya do?

This storm was pretty big...I'd say we got about 8-10 inches this time around. You should see the dog in the snow. For some reason she just goes psycho in the snow, she loves it so much. Unfortunately, something about the gloves on the kids hands, she attacks them and steals their gloves...lol...it's kinda funny to watch, but they hate it! She really is quite a crazy animal when there's snow on the ground...she runs and runs around them, steals their gloves, knocks them down...hahaha, she's so bad! She's not mean at all, she just can't handle her glee with the snow. Noramlly when I let her out, she hates being by herself. If someone isn't out there with her, she's by the door crying and barking to come back in...but if it's snowy, she'll stay out there alone for a long time! She has two runs that she does...one is what I call the greyhound...she runs in circles really fast looking just like a greyhound at the track. The other is the deer...she literally springs up and down around the yard like a crazy deer. I wish I had video of it!

The next day was Valentine's Day. I made heart (kinda...but the kids got a kick out of it) bacon and eggs for breakfast. Since David was home, I thought it would be fun to go to lunch and a movie. I gotta tell you, it is SO nice to be able to leave the kids home by themselves, now that Red One is older. She's pretty responsible...at least in that area ;) and although a bit bossy, is great with kids, especially the little ones. Anyways, I figured lunch would be a lot less crowded than dinner on Valentine's Day...we went to Longhorn Steakhouse...haven't been there in years! Our waitress was a bit slow at first...but we told her we were in a hurry to get to the movies, and she tried to help us out. The food was really good! Then we headed to the theater to watch Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. It only got a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes...but we enjoyed it! I mean, it's certainly not gonna win any Oscars...lol...but it was good, actiony, dumb (but not stupid) fun...good popcorn flick, except we were too stuffed to have any! hahaha...I actually thought it was better than I'd expected. I like Chris Pine (Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movies) and David's always been a fan of Kevin Costner. I don't care for Keira Knightley much, but she didn't really annoy me in this one, so it was all good. ;)

I'd told the girls they could make cookies while we were gone...and use candy melts to decorate them. It's kinda a tradition for Valentines Day. Sugar cookies aren't any of our favorites...but we always make heart ones on the 14th. I was disappointed to not see any when I came home. The mixer wasn't working, so Red One had tried to mix them by hand...and was having a hard time with them. She actually managed to doctor them up, throw them in the oven and they wound up being the best sugar cookies we'd had! Way to go girlie!

Speaking of the mixer not working, it's because our garbage disposal has a leak! Ugh! Which is tripping the GFI on the outlet...so thankfully my mixer is fine, but not my disposal! I gotta get another one and hopefully David can install it! I've read that it's not that hard, but plumbing stuff is always no fun!

Funny story, the next morning when I came down to make pancakes...because Saturday is pancake morning in our house, I went to grab a cookie...and they weren't there! Then I see the empty container on the floor. Apparently Buddy got them out, then spilled them, and then Freckles ate them all! and then spent the rest of the day barfing them up! To add insult to injury, it was Red One's turn for dog duty that week. She was so mad at the dog for eating all her cookies...and then having to clean them up! Bwahahahaha!!!

I have been wanting to paint the girls' room for ages! I finally bought the paint...got them to clear out the room (kinda, according to them...) and made that my project for Saturday. Ever since I saw this gorgeous teen room in one of Better Homes and Garden's magazine's, I've been longing to copy it for the girls' room. It was actually inspired by the Arizona Tea can...isn't that cool!

I LOVE this room!!! I seriously saw it about 6 years ago, and have been dreaming about it ever since!

Red Three and Buddy had been sharing a room, and Red 2 and 1 sharing the other. We decided to put all three girls in one room, and put Buddy and all the toys in the other slightly smaller room. Buddy and Three had been in the bigger room, mainly because it was painted with a Winnie the Pooh mural when we moved in...lol. But now, nobody likes Winnie the Pooh, so we figured we'd switch things up. It's a little tighter than I'd hoped, but it works. Bunk beds would make more sense, but they used to have them and hated them. When we moved here I got them their own beds. Now of course, they want bunk beds! Go figure! 

Of course, I forgot to get a before pic...so here's an I've already started pic...but you can get the idea of what it was like before. I'm leaving the tree, and Rachel will be modifying it into a cherry blossom tree later on.  

This was one of my worst painting days though! I actually managed to spill the paint not once, not twice, but three times! The first time totally wasn't my fault! The lady who mixed my paint didn't put the lid on the primer all the way, so when I set it down it fell over and spilled everywhere. But the other two were all me...lol. Somehow, when I was touching up edges and stuff, I had a little container for the paint, and while reaching up with one hand to paint, I tipped it ALL over myself! Wow...I was a little amazed at myself! lol I should have gotten David to get a pic of me with the paint all over myself...it would definitely amuse y'all!

The color actually came out exactly as I had envisioned! I'm pretty happy with it, and the girls love it! Of course, their room is a long way from done! Still need the bright pink accents...gonna do curtains and new bedspreads at some point...and I still need to touch up the trim. For some reason, the previous owners thought it was a great idea to paint a lot of the trim with the room color instead of leaving them white. They also decided to paint all the air vents as well...so annoying!

I've mentioned how David's getting back into paintball again. We used to play together when we were first married...until we had kids ;) He's been wanting to play for a while, but finally able to get into it more recently. Although, his GP was a bit concerned about it...lol...said he should talk to his oncologist about it. David said "but he'll just tell me no!" lol...but, he's really way healthy enough to play. He's totally getting the older two hooked. Anyways, he's been looking for an indoor place, as winter is not really the right time for outdoor paintball. Unfortunately, the only one he could find was in Providence, about two hours away. Anyways, he decided that heading there right when another storm was hitting was perfect timing. He actually sent me a text saying "this is stupid!" I texted him back "Then come home!" smh!

He made it there...and actually had a lot of fun...but then when he got home around 10pm or so, the snow had built up so much, not to mention all the ice, and he didn't hit the right angle into the driveway and managed to get the van stuck half out in the road. And then, he was gonna leave it there!!! No way! I did not want a ticket...and I knew the plows would be out there soon. He really got it stuck good...he almost tore off the side rail from the ice underneath it. I couldn't tease him too much about that...as I actually did completely tear off the left side rail a few winters ago, also on ice...lol! I used up so much ice melt trying to get it loose...digging for about an hour! Those tires were just a spinning...I was getting pretty discouraged! And the snow plows passed by a few times! Finally got it just enough to get it about 6 feet further before it snagged again....at least it wasn't protruding in the street anymore! It was such a pain!!! Gotta admit, I was not thinking happy thoughts! lol...Actually missed first church the next day because of it...thankfully it was a bit warmer, so the ice melted a bit and I was able to get it out and make it to second church, which was really good, because I was working in the nursery!

The kids were still out of school on Monday. David had a doctor follow up with his general practitioner and then was gonna run some paintball related errands ;) so Sarah, Kim and I thought it was a perfect time to get together, let the kids play outside and for us to visit. We were all getting a little stir crazy! Have y'all seen that adorable snow day video, done by the same family who did the Christmas PJ video? It's so perfect! 

Of course, I had nothing in the house to make anything cool to eat...but lots of ring pops from Valentine's clearance :P We sent all 9 kids outside...but that didn't last too long...lol...so we popped in a video for the kiddos. It was super nice to hang out and let some of the crazy out! 

They were so funny...a bunch of them all in a row, mesmerized!

Buddy is so funny...he recently found his Spiderman baseball hat and has been wearing it just about nonstop for the last couple weeks! He looks so cute with it on too...then again I may be biased ;) When Buddy and I went to the grocery store last week they had a display up front with strawberries and blueberries. He was super excited and said please so nicely, so we came home with a bunch of berries. I already had some lemons, so I found a blueberry, lemon muffin recipe. They were some of the best muffins ever! So moist, tender and flavorful! The main change I made was to add fresh lemon juice from one of the lemons and then milk to make a full cup, and some struesel on top...mmmm!!!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

The last time I took the older two to the dentist, they said the girls should see the orthodontist for a consultation. Red Two is actually missing an adult tooth...when they took an X-ray, there was a gap there. I didn't know that even happened. Having it missing can cause issues, like the baby tooth not wanting to fall out, spacing problems, etc. However, we don't have to worry about it right away. Red One has a bit of an overbite and some other possible issues that I totally don't understand. Anyways, they had Red One come back to get molds and whatever else done so they could come up with a plan and then let us decide whether or not we go forward with it. I wish I'd gotten some pics of all that...she looked pretty funny. I'm sure she's happy I didn't though!

This past week was a bit warmer, which had its own problems. In the daytime, the snow would start to melt...and then refreeze overnight. It was so slippery everywhere. Not only that, but all the stores were (probably still are) sold out of rock salt! I went to at least four stores trying to find some. It's a bit nerve wracking every time you have to step foot outside! 

I have some hilarious pics of Freckles. On this Saturday (pancake morning again, remember? only I was making waffles this time) I had to run to the store for some buttermilk and a couple odds and ends. I was literally gone 15 minutes. When I came home, Freckles had chewed up my slippers. I was pissed!!! I wear them ALL the time...it's how I stay warm. They were super cute, black sequin slippers. To make matters worse, the kids were right there in the same room and didn't even notice! Dadgum TV! Anyways, I yelled at her, and she put herself in timeout! She went by the mudroom door (which is where she sleeps or gets locked up when she's naughty. She sat down facing the door. Everytime she looked at me she started shivering and looked back at the door. She totally couldn't make eye contact with me...everytime she looked at me she started squinting and then blinking so hard. It was hilarious! I was still mad at her though. She totally knew she was naughty! 

 What a bad girl! lol