Snow Days--hopefully the last!!

Just when we thought we had turned a corner, and the calendar flipped over to March...and I think we were all hopeful that winter was behind us...BAM!  We got hit with a snowstorm.  OF COURSE WE DID.

On Thursday, March 5th Jake had his 2nd school cancellation of the year (the first was due to frigid temps back in February), and Liam stayed home with us too.  We did what I'm assuming most people do on snow days....we stayed in our PJs and decorated for Easter and made Easter crafts.

The rest of the day consisted of Legos, puzzles, games, coloring, and movies.  Pretty much the perfect snow day.

Can't stop, won't stop....building puzzles. 

That weekend we headed outside for what was (most likely---hopefully) the last run on the luge for the season.

Decided to test out the slo-mo option on my phone when taking video that day, here is the result:

 And the next day, to officially round out winter, Brian took the boys skiing.  We've had some fun times in the snow (times that even I was able to pull myself together and have fun with little whining!) but I am so ready for spring at this point.  Peace out, winter!!

Christmas Break - The We Left the House Sometimes Edition

Better late than never, yes?  Lest you think that I did nothing but sit around in my pajamas and eat Christmas cookies all break, I present to you.....the few times we left the house!!  Hooray! 

On Saturday after Christmas, the beautiful weather continued and we ended up going skiing.  Yes, you saw that right..."we".  As in, me too.  Actually, me AND Nana!  Nana ended up being a ski hustler, she told me she hadn't been in over 15 years and assured me that she would be at my level.  First run of the day?  She's swooshing down the mountain like she does it every day!  Hustled by my own mother in law!! :)

Here is a lovely shot of me, looking about as clumsy as I feel coming down the slope.

But seriously, the weather was perfect that day, and the boys had a blast of course!  I was completely drained by the end of the day, and well into the next day... Sunday was a blur, I was pretty much useless.

The week after Christmas, I decided that I needed to get back on track with some type of workout.  The number of times I exercised since the first week of December added up to zero.  That week was when my total body fusion class I take at work ended, and then I spent the remainder of the month walking to the closet to get cookies and called it a workout.  I had signed up for that class again and would start the first week of January after going back to work, so I knew that if  I didn't do something over the break, it would be absurdly painful to start that class back up.  So I popped in the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred 3 times the week after Christmas and tried to not die or swear at the TV.

 You know, they say you can learn a lot about yourself when you work out....kind of get lost in your own mind and really focus on YOU.  I found that I did learn something that week....I learned that if I mute the TV so I don't hear Jillian's voice yelling at me to keep going and replace it with a blaring Britney Spears playlist on my phone instead, I am much, much happier.  Namaste.

I'd like to think that maybe Brit was even cheering me on....

For new years eve, we headed over to the neighbors house, they host a small get together every year (super convenient for us, since we just have to walk across the street!)  We came home around 11, got the boys to bed, then I declared that I was going to bed, too.  Brian gave me a hard time since it was almost 11:20 by then and couldn't believe that I'd just give up on seeing midnight at that point.  Ugh.  FINE.  So I drag myself downstairs (just in time to see Taylor Swift perform, so at least there was that!)  Then, I look over after her performance to find this....

 OHHHHHHHHH.....maybe going to bed wasn't such a crazy idea, huh??  Then I promptly passed out myself during the commercial that aired around 11:55pm.  We woke up on the couch in a state of confusion at 12:30, mumbled a "happy new year" and stumbled up to bed.  #wildandcrazy

On New Years day, we met a few friends and their kids at the bowling alley, which is always a good time!

And that, my friends, pretty much summed up our Christmas break.  As always, it went too fast, but we had fun while it lasted!!

Christmas Break 2014 Recap - The Lazy Edition

I still can't figure out why 2 weeks goes by so quickly!!  Christmas break ended up being a nice balance of spending time with friends and family, enjoying all of our new stuff, and being completely and totally lazy.  I definitely spent more time in PJs or sweatpants than I did in real clothes over the course of the 2 week break, and I consider that to be the sign of a good vacation.

The day after Christmas (Friday), the boys spent a huge chunk of time in the morning enjoying their new toys, and I spent a huge chunk of time in this position:

Oh yes.  Those are new slippers. New PJs. New blanket that is like a little slice of heaven covering your body.  Those are my kids in the distant background, playing and not fighting.  That's coffee in my hand.  Basically, this is a picture of pure, mama bliss, my friends.  Soak.it.up.

 

The boys loved checking out all of their new toys, and it was even warm enough to test out roller blades and roller skates in the driveway that afternoon! In pajamas...obviously.

On Monday, Nana and PopPop headed home and the kids were stuck with just me once again :) I went from knowing nothing about Beyblades (one of the most coveted items on Jake's Santa wish list) to being an expert by the end of the day.  #boymama

We enjoyed some new Wii games, including Ninja Turtles (which I don't really understand how to play, but Jake loves it) and Toy Story Mania (which the whole family loves):

Jake taught me how to play chess....maybe "tried" to teach me is a better way of putting it.

 

we played a lot of Go Fish:

We read some books....

Watched some movies:

Popcorn and a movie at 10am?  Sure, why not?  it's Christmas break!

The kids spent a lot of time breaking in their new markers and colored pencils:

Gracie did a whole lot of this:

And of course, there was lots of time for snuggles:

My new mug from Anthropologie!!  Thanks, mom!

Liam often asks to "hold hands in the house" <3 comment-3--="">

One night, the kids begged and begged to have a sleepover in Liam's room.  We figured it's break, why not let them try?  They LOVED it.  And actually did it a few more times over break :)

Jake the bed hog

That's it for part 1...you can probably see why I titled this recap the lazy edition.  I promise, we really did leave the house over break.  Not much, but we did.  Until next time, Happy New Year!