February Fun: first snow day and Valentines head start

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

Cabin Fever Crazies

This is what we have been up to in this snow-filled week:

1. Potty Training

Unfortunately, this picture turned out blurry. Thankfully I captured this potty dance with the video camera too. Friday afternoon when I went to get Miss Priss up from her nap, she had taken off her diaper because it was wet and then proceeded to wet the bed. That sent me into motion. I had been putting of potty training for awhile, trying to let things level out around our house with all of the changes. This incident was the push I'd been needing, and I went into fast motion. I ran out to Books-A-Million and bought Toilet Training in Less than a Day. Published in 1974, it is a tried and true method and was recommended by many friends. I sped-read that and put it with the info I had read from Potty Training in 3 Days or Less.

Saturday was the day! Both methods strongly suggest practice and rewards, so we woke up, put on her big girl panties and tshirt, made up a potty dance, pumped her full of juice and waited... for 3 and a half hours... It was a battle of the wills, but finally when she couldn't handle it any more, she ran to her potty, said, "I need some privacy," shut the door, and peed in her potty! Patrick and I looked at each other, dropped our jaws, and mouthed, "Seriously? Who knew?"

She has had a couple of accidents [a few at my parents... she'd be on her way and go before she got there... too much football excitement!], but we have been accident free since Tuesday afternoon. Church and school will be a test, but she is doing great and is so proud of herself! We are still using pullups at night, but she's woken up dry the last 3 mornings. Mommy is POOPED!

2. Finding her thumb.

Just like her daddy. :)

3. Starting Children's Worship at church.

She loved it and has been singing the songs all week.

4. Donning new bonnets at church

5. Cheering on Auburn in the National Championship [even Patrick] and loving every minute of it! All we do is win...

Loving my littlest champion!

6. Playing in the snow

It was beautiful, and we had fun, but I am ready to get out of the house for sure!

This is what we have been up to in this snow-filled week:

1. Potty Training

Unfortunately, this picture turned out blurry. Thankfully I captured this potty dance with the video camera too. Friday afternoon when I went to get Miss Priss up from her nap, she had taken off her diaper because it was wet and then proceeded to wet the bed. That sent me into motion. I had been putting of potty training for awhile, trying to let things level out around our house with all of the changes. This incident was the push I'd been needing, and I went into fast motion. I ran out to Books-A-Million and bought Toilet Training in Less than a Day. Published in 1974, it is a tried and true method and was recommended by many friends. I sped-read that and put it with the info I had read from Potty Training in 3 Days or Less.

Saturday was the day! Both methods strongly suggest practice and rewards, so we woke up, put on her big girl panties and tshirt, made up a potty dance, pumped her full of juice and waited... for 3 and a half hours... It was a battle of the wills, but finally when she couldn't handle it any more, she ran to her potty, said, "I need some privacy," shut the door, and peed in her potty! Patrick and I looked at each other, dropped our jaws, and mouthed, "Seriously? Who knew?"

She has had a couple of accidents [a few at my parents... she'd be on her way and go before she got there... too much football excitement!], but we have been accident free since Tuesday afternoon. Church and school will be a test, but she is doing great and is so proud of herself! We are still using pullups at night, but she's woken up dry the last 3 mornings. Mommy is POOPED!

2. Finding her thumb.

Just like her daddy. :)

3. Starting Children's Worship at church.

She loved it and has been singing the songs all week.

4. Donning new bonnets at church

5. Cheering on Auburn in the National Championship [even Patrick] and loving every minute of it! All we do is win...

Loving my littlest champion!

6. Playing in the snow

It was beautiful, and we had fun, but I am ready to get out of the house for sure!

Favorite moment of the snow day...

Addison has been calling the snow "milk" (bee-uwk) all day. She runs to the door, points both fingers in the air, and yells "milk!" Hilarious.
This concerned look on her face transpired as she was anxiously awaiting Swiper's attempt at swiping Dora's cake for the 3 Kings Feast. :) I could eat her up!

Addison has been calling the snow "milk" (bee-uwk) all day. She runs to the door, points both fingers in the air, and yells "milk!" Hilarious.
This concerned look on her face transpired as she was anxiously awaiting Swiper's attempt at swiping Dora's cake for the 3 Kings Feast. :) I could eat her up!

We did our dance...

and it worked! Pajamas inside out, snow angels on the ground, and we're getting our 1st snow day. Sure the snow is hypothetical still at this point, but even if it doesn't make it our way, I'm sure my little person and I will find something fun to do:

and it worked! Pajamas inside out, snow angels on the ground, and we're getting our 1st snow day. Sure the snow is hypothetical still at this point, but even if it doesn't make it our way, I'm sure my little person and I will find something fun to do: