Warm tubbies after a frolick in the snow!

Peter and Molly playing in the snow - Peter can't wait until Bob let's him go out and shovel the whole driveway himself - I take lots of pictures of this eagerness for future reference!
The heavens dropped about 10 inches of snow on CT yesterday and my kids could not have been happier. Peter woke up at 5 a.m. to check whether the snow had started yet and was absolutely overjoyed to find tons of snow already on the ground and a beleaguered mom and dad trying to figure out childcare for yet another day off. An hour later Peter was dressed and ready to start shoveling - his first of many trips out into the front yard to play and work with Daddy.


Molly is less in love with the snow but LOVES a nice mental health day, playing Barbie's and watching movies. She dressed in comfy clothes and made a few forays into the snow with her brother but for the most part it was jammies by 3 p.m. Bob did get both kids outside for a big snowball fight and snow angels.


Just another way that life has changed since Annie - rather then getting in on the action - which , surprisingly, I love to do during a good snowfall - I sat with Ann bundled in layers of blankets on the rocker on the porch. Annie is fighting a bit of a cold so taking her in the snow was not really an option today despite the kids begging and pleading to dabble her little toes in the snow! Instead Annie and I enjoyed together the sound of my beuatiful children's laughter echoed off piles of snow and our unusually silent street. Molly's giggles sounded like little bells in the wind and Peter kept yelling to Annie "Watch me, Annie, I'm making you a snow angel." Annie looked on in awe and with a distinct look of pleasure and confusion on her face.


Unlike most mom's who offer up a plate of homemade cookies and hot chocolate after a good romp in the snow (my homemade cookies are less desirable then most mom's) I offer up what my mom did......a filled to the top, crazy bubble tubby complete with Mommy sitting on the closed toilet lid listening to why snow days are the best thing ever! And after its all over and we are sitting down to dinner I am just in love with my rosy cheeked, sweet smelling babies who sleep for 12 hours staright thanks to the fresh air!

My niece Abby came over today and hung out with Annie and I. Abby is about a week or 2 away from becoming a big sister (Karla would kill me for implying that she could possibly be pregnant for another 2 weeks but her due date is March 6th!) So Abby is by far the most prepared sibling I have ever seen. Annie did her business in a big way and Abby jumped up and down cheering - "I love changing diapers, Yeah!" My kids, on the other hand, run in the opposite direction and yell about the smell for hours after the actual diaper change has occurred. Abby waited patiently for me to wipe up all the "gooey pooey" as she referred to it and then graciously helped me to put the new diaper on, never once commenting on anything other then how cute Annie was. An hour later we moved on to feeding time. Cereal and greenbeans for Annie today and Abby thought the whole process was hysterical. She helped me to feed Annie, thus the second picture of Annie dripping in greenbeans, cereal and applesauce. Abby would put a spoonful in Ann's mouth and then they both cracked up giggling like crazy! Abby begged me to take pictures all day - she thought that everything Annie did was adorable and kept yelling to me to come take a picture. This kid is almost as ready to be a big sister as Tyler is to be a big brother.

I walked into the gym to pick Tyler up from camp and he bounded over to me arms outstretched, yelling at the top of his lungs with a HUGE grin on his face. I put the carrier down, dropped to my knees and stretched out my arms...........................................and Tyler ran right over to Annie in the carrier and ignored me completely! Seriously ignored me - spent a minute with Annie, patted Abby on the head and went straight back to his kickball game. And yes, I was still trying to find a way to get up off the floor with my pride in tact when Tyler kicked the ball over and hit me in the head with it. I guess if that is the most attention I'm going to get then I'll have to take it!

Tyler spends endless amounts of time stroking Annie's hair. He is completely enamored with her and her crazy hair. I can't wait to see Abby and Tyler with their new sister. And I can't wait to get that tiny little newborn in my arms - I miss that phase already - it doesn't last long!

Sunday Mornings and Boston

KK is leaving for Paris today with her students so we gave her an appropriately chaotic send off in Boston with board games, potato chips, dress up and, naturally, a few cannoli's from the North End! Annie couldn't take her eyes off of her auntie - following her around the room whenever she wasn't holding her and even planting a big fat wet one on her mouth. KK is always a popular target for my kids first kisses - although her godson christened her mouth with spit up long before he christened it with a kiss!

So the big activity for the afternoon.............Peter and Molly giving us a fashion show from KK's closet. No seriously, they spent at least an hour trying on KK's clothes, shoes, jewelery and purses! As you can see - my son is quite the fashion afficionado - especially when it comes to high heels and accessories! Molly was more interested in trying out her Hannah Montana moves in front of the mirror while wearing KK's shirt.

We were in line at Modern Pastry at 9 p.m. last night and didn't leave Boston until 10:30. Bob and I settled into bed at 1 a.m. assuming that the kids would sleep late today and guess what............they did! Well, okay, Annie only slept an extra 15 minutes despite an extra bottle but we'll take what we can get at this point! We just finished relaxing in front of the fire reading the paper - translation - we tried to read a paragraph of each front page item while feeding Ann, fielding constant questions about why we want to read the boring paper, making 3 different breakfast items for each child and supervising our children's very independant play. (Indepedant play is that which takes place right at our feet rather then in the playroom busting at the seems with every toy imaginable because it is "too boring up there").

So my miniscule task for the day is to put all the kids in their matching and adorable St. Patty's Day shirts and try to take a picture before Annie falls, Peter hits Molly and Molly hurts Peter's feelings by making fun of his smile - Yes, We've done this before but we keep trying! I am going to appreciate the portraits Auntie Kate has of her 6 kids so much more the next time I see them - how the heck did she do it????