Blizzard Pictures

Digging out...what a job.

This morning we tried to start shoveling out. It might have taken us all day. Thankfully, our neighbor's brother in law came by with his tractor and helped shovel A LOT of snow out of our driveway. And that same neighbor loaned us his snow blower for the sidewalks. I think we got most of it done in a few hours.

As if freeing ourselves from the house wasn't a big enough job for today, the carbon monoxide alarm went off this morning. Something was going on with the hot water heater. We think the issue might have been snow blocking the vent outside. Mark's working on fixing it now, since we can't get a plumber here to fix it today. There's a lot of soot built up inside that needs to be cleaned out. I'd like to take a hot shower, but I'm just thankful for electricity.

Here are some pictures from this morning:

Gracie making a snow angel...

The snow drifts were so high Ella could climb up them right onto the top of the car...

She thought it was very important to clean all the snow off Great-Grandma's car...

Gracie trying to get into the shed...

Gracie taking a break...

Lots and lots of snow...

A wonderful sight to see...

Christmas Blizzard 2009

We're still in the midst of a blizzard. The power was out from about 9:30 or 10 am until about 1:30 or 2 pm. Really, I don't have the skills required to survive without electricity. I would like to openly admit that I am not a pioneer woman. Thankfully, the power came back on before we had to try to cook on top of the kerosene heater.

It took a little bit of time to explain to the girls why the lights wouldn't come on when they flipped the switch, and why they couldn't watch their new DVDs, and why they couldn't play with the new Wii.

They had gotten some new games, puzzles, and crafts, and those came in handy.

The power came back on (thanks in part to our friend, Dan, who is a lineman, thank you, Dan!) and we could finish cooking the roast that was half-done in the crock pot, warm the house back up, run the dishwasher, and do a load of laundry.

We spent most of tonight on the Wii. I have NEVER been a fan of video games, but I have to say that this thing is pretty cool. Gracie and Ella played Dora and Barbie, and the adults are currently having a bowling tournament. Really quite a sight. We even had to move the coffee table they're so into it.

Mark is calling himself a semi-pro now...get your boots on.

Definitely a Christmas to remember.

Pajamas and messy hair...

Grandpa Art, Gracie, Ella, Grandma Sandy, and Great-grandma Arlotte...

Little Ella showing off her Mickey Mouse wrapping paper...

Gracie's happy face thanks to her new doll clothes...

Gracie posing in her "rock star boots" from Grandma Genie and Uncle Daniel...

Ella lovin' on the doll she got from Grandma Genie and Uncle Daniel...

According to Gracie, the flash on the camera was bothering her eyes, thus her face in this picture...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve is almost here and we're in the midst of the calm before the storm. We've had about 4 inches of snow, but plenty more is on the way this afternoon through Saturday (with a projected total of 14-20"). And the wind's picking up too. Instead of heading to Yankton for our Christmas Eve church service, we're planning to stay home. Reports are that it could get pretty bad pretty fast.

Right now Gracie is out on a short walk with her Grandma and Grandpa, you know, to burn off some of that Christmas/there's a storm a-brewin' energy. My kids aren't my kids when their Grandma is here, *insert crazy woman scream here*.

Mark spent the morning shoveling the snow we got last night, and he plans to do so every few hours, you know, so he doesn't have 15 or 20" to shovel when this storm finally clears out.

Ella is napping. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. I'm thinking we'll unwrap gifts when she wakes up. And spend the rest of Christmas Blizzard 2009 trying to get toys out of their boxes and figuring out new electronics.

Gracie just came in red and cold and wet and is telling us about the mountain of snow she just climbed. Thank you man in the snow plow (as I was typing that, I was thinking of the man in the yellow hat, LOL).

I am saying lots of prayers that as the weather deteriorates, the power stays on. We did buy a kerosene heater just in case. Yes, we remembered the kerosene! Actually, the husband of someone Mark works with was in Yankton, and he purchased it and dropped it off to us last night. Although we'd be plenty warm if the power went out, I'd rather not have to load the contents of my freezer and refrigerator into Rubbermaid containers and coolers and haul them outside. That's all I'm sayin'.

A game of Candy Land has just begun...

We wish you all a very blessed Christmas!

Gracie Speaks

In the van last week...

Gracie: "How do you spell lights?"

I start to spell lights but get interrupted...

Gracie: "No, lights."

Me: "Yeah, Gracie, LI..."

I get interrupted again.

Gracie: "No, like, Gracie likes."

Me: "Oh! Likes! "

I spell the word for her.

My friend, Emily, and I go back to our conversation and get interrupted again...

Gracie: "How do you spell peanut butter balls?"

LOL. She was writing Gracie likes peanut butter balls in her diary.

Yeah, me too, Gracie. Me too.

Today I heard her telling Ella, "Red means the spirit of God, pink means God loves the little children, and purple means that God is always with you, okay?"

I have no idea where this came from except maybe VBS when the kids used different colored beads to represent different things in one of their craft projects?

Gracie's Preschool Christmas Concert 2009

Gracie and Ella before the concert...

Can't sit still...

Gracie's preschool class sang Hear His Bells, A Little Snowman, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

Today I'm upset that I have to eliminate another pair of maternity pants from my wardrobe because they no longer fit. Mark wanted to know how it is that you can outgrow maternity pants that are made to grow with you??? That's easy. Gain weight in areas other than your belly, that's how. I can't talk about it anymore, it's too depressing.

Today we decided to take Gracie out for a special family birthday lunch....

Mom: "Gracie, where do you want to go for your special birthday lunch?"

Gracie: "What's that place where you pump the gas?"

Mom: "Huh?"

Gracie: "What's the place you go to pump the gas?"

Mom: "You mean A-1 (our local gas station)?"

Gracie: "Yeah, A-1."

Mom: "You want to go to A-1 for your special birthday lunch?"

Gracie: "Yeah!"

Mom: "Why?"

Gracie: "Cause I want cheese balls."

Well there you go. Did you know cheese balls constitute a special birthday lunch? Me neither.

Tonight our 5 year old has her preschool Christmas operetta. In between curling her hair and trying go convince her to wear the dress I pick out, I'll try to remember to throw my camera in my bag so I can post pictures tomorrow.

I need to digest that my 5 year old will go off to kindergarten in 8 months, she'll have spelling tests and school lunches and an opinion about everything...actually, she was born with that last one.

What I'm saying is that my baby isn't a baby anymore, and that makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

While Gracie is growing up, Ella is too. The terrible twos have kicked into gear full force around here lately. There has been lots of screaming, kicking and fit-throwing. We've been working on potty training. She has good days and bad days, but at least she's making steps in the right direction. Potty training with her is three steps forward, two steps back.

And one last thing on my mind today, toy packaging. Who on Earth comes up with the packaging for toys? Why does it have to take so long to actually get into a toy, and why does it have to produce so much trash?

Happy 5th Birthday Gracie Girl!

We celebrated Gracie's upcoming 5th birthday on Friday with our families while we had them all here for Thanksgiving...

Tonight, we celebrated with some of her friends...

A very happy, happy birthday to you Gracie girl! We love you!

So Much To Be Thankful For

First things first, Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have hearts full of joy and gratitude today.

It's been a quiet day at home for us, but we have been busy preparing for tomorrow. Tomorrow both my side and Mark's side will be here. It will be a big group, and probably loud too :)

The weather has gotten cooler and the space heater has come in handy. Especially for warming naked buns. I can't say for sure why Ella's clothes are off, but she got cold while watching Dora. What's one to do...

If you're wondering why her hand is on her buns, it's not 'cause she was digging for buried treasure, it's 'cause she kept getting too close and burning her cheeks. Good to see she left her socks on...

Here are two of our greatest blessings on Thanksgiving eve, caught in a rare moment of sisterly love.

In other news, Gracie gave Ella a hair cut the other day. Yep, it's pretty cute. She has officially lost her scissor privileges. She can have them back when she has graduated from beauty school.

Up A Tree...

Gracie asked today if she could climb a tree in our front yard. I told her she could because I knew I had a full supply of band-aids in the house. She used her bike to hoist herself up onto the lowest branch. She also used it to get back down!

I think we need a close up of that face...

Yep, that's Gracie. Surprisingly, this little activity didn't require even one band-aid.

Painting Marathon

The results of two long days of painting...

The baby's room...

an accent wall in our bedroom...

and Miss Ella's room and closet...