If you can't beat it - enjoy it!

We're all starting to take bets on how long we'll be "snowed in".... I'll be shocked if everything gets back to normal before Thursday at the earliest. And I must say that I'm a true Atlanta girl when it comes to all this snow fun... ok, 2 days - we're good. Let's move on! :^)

But since all that is out of my hands - let's just get into the winter spirit and ENJOY! Today we decided to head across the street to attack the hill that is in our neighbors front yard. But on the way over, I couldn't help but demonstrate how icy our driveway is....

Megan and I had a great time on the hill across the street.

Tom was able to take advantage of a little time at lunch to come on out and join in the fun. Megan was so excited to have Daddy to sled with! That's the drawback of working from home - he didn't get snowdays off from work.

Nicole woke up from her nap a bit early (way too early) so we suited her up and she came out to join us.

She seemed to be ok in the little sled.... as long as we were moving.

Tom ended up taking the little munchkin back inside and we were finally able to make our snowman - or as Megan says, "our snow gurl". We realized that if you broke through the layer of ice, the snow underneath was great packing snow (yesterday it was just powder).

Megan was very proud of our snow gurl.

The Snow of Jan 10, 2010

Well - this was one for the record books.... a HUGE January snowfall in Atlanta. We made sure we partook of all the fun it had in store for us. The pictures are not in the correct order - but you'll see how busy we were today. We found out that we have a great sledding hill in our backyard. Our yard is mostly flat, but we have 1 little hill... and it rocks!Megan loved it and got some serious speed going. So much so that mommy even wiped out (to avoid a huge bush in the face - at least that's my story).Megan took that as an opportunity for a "snow tackle." One of the highlights of being "snowed in" is that we asked Natalie to come be snowed in with us. So she came over last night to stay during this frosty freeze and to have lots of fun in the snow and of course, brought Shadow (her dog/our adopted dog) with her.

We tried to build a snowman... but we spent s0 much time sledding that by the time we got out to build our HUGE snowman.... there was a sheet of ice (which is now over 1/2 inch thick) on top of the snow and it was impossible to roll a snowball. So we settled for a little guy....

One of the funniest things was having Megan ask Natalie to help her make a snowball....

so that she could throw it at her....

We made snow angels....

Nicole came out for a little while this morning but it was a little too cold and hard to get around so she spent most of her snowday, inside. But she tried to cheer on all the activities.

I never really thought about the fact that Tom would still have to work today (since he works from home and we had no power outages), so it was a real treat for Megan that Natalie was here. Megan and Natalie got to stay outside when I had to come inside with Nicole. And, having Natalie with us was a REAL advantage for Megan because....

Natalie created her own tow rope to get back up the sledding hill (thanks Shadow for letting us use your leash)....

And that was "luxury"....

Compared to what Mommy says...

"You can do it Baby... you take the sled down, and you bring it up!"

We even hooked up a tow for Nicole.....

Nicole thought enough was enough! Her shoes kept coming off, her mittens wouldn't stay on, and her hat was in her eyes..... what's a girl to do?

But even with baby grumpies.... the fun must go on!

Even Shadow was excited to join in the sledding action!

Shadow was always right there to make sure Megan was having fun and staying safe.

Nicole opted for the safety for her new wagon over the sled.

I hope all our friends and GA family had fun on your snow day - and stay safe tomorrow. Unlike most GA snows, this one doesn't look to melt off in a day. So, we'll be out sledding tomorrow I'm sure, since it'll be all ice! Hopefully our neighbor boys will be home soon (they are snowed in downtown) because Megan is really wanting some sledding buddies (we miss you guys Mandy - get home safely!)

And Tony and Dawn - THANK YOU for finding us sleds last year. Who knew that a few weeks into winter we'd already have used them for 2 GA snowfalls. They ROCK!

Funny Stories to Remember

Every once in awhile funny things happen and I think - I need to write that down.... So I'm emptying my memory bank of a couple of really funny (or significant) things that have happened recently...

For the first time ever Nicole "prefered" someone over me..... WOW! 1/4/11..... I was putting Nicole to bed and she was so agitated and finally reared back, looked at me and yelled (repeatedly) "Dada Dada!" So there you go Daddy..... you got yourself a little Daddy's girl. Sure enough I gave her over to her Dad (she was beside herself at this point) and she settled down in seconds and went right to sleep. Melted my heart!

Megan... oh my goodness, she'll be giving me a run for my money for a long time to come! Yesterday she was not into dinner.... after eating a few bites she decided she'd rather just be hungry than eat with us. I'm NOT a short order cook so she eats what we eat, or she just doesn't eat. Well, I'd already planned on making smoothies later for dessert and since they are all fruit, I let her partake of one. She was sitting at the table drinking her smoothie and started asking for the a banana. I gave her my usual response of "no, if you'd eaten dinner you wouldn't be hungry. I bet your smoothie will fill your tummy up, etc..." A minute later she was behind me (I was washing out our new super blender) and I heard her looking at something on the counter. I turned around to see her grab our BIG tupperware container of Christmas cookies and start running with it. Seriously, she was running to her room with it like I didn't know she had it. I'm yelling to stop (with a threat or two attached) and made her take it back to the kitchen. I asked, "Megan what were you going to do with that?" (duh) and her 3 year old response, "I don't know?" Oh mygoodness!

Did I mention I'm still finding little piles of baby powder all over the house. Megan somehow got ahold of a container and it's all over the house in little "snowpiles." great.

This has been a week of laughter, nap/room time challenges, frustration to tears, and funny memories. Nicole is a cute little toddler who's working on 4 new teeth. I think the first of the 4 might even get through this weekend. And Megan is.... well she's a hoot.

Megan's First Snowmobile Ride

Oh yeah.... you go to the land of SNOW and what could be better than hitching a ride on a snowmobile? First she had to get all suited up! Then She hit the trail with Tony....

We were all afraid it might be too cold or too loud for her - but she just wanted to keep going!

When they got back I asked how it went and I got thumbs up from everyone!

Thanks Uncle Tony for a great new experience!!!!!

More MN fun

While at Grandma and Papa's - Megan got a lot building time in...Nicole got a lot of walking practice in.... (every picture was fuzzy because she's in motion)We Blaisdell girls got snuggle time in!And Megan watched her FIRST Disney movie.

For Christmas, Megan got the DVD of Cinderella and she's been dying to watch it so we took it with us. I know it might be hard to believe that she's a few months from turning 4 and this was her first full length movie... and lets just say we didn't watch all of it. She is has such a sensitive spirit that most movies (ok, all of them) have villians and some proble to overcome and they just are too much for Megan to handle. But last summer she FINALLY could sit through the book of Cinderella so we thought, perhaps she was ready to watch it with us. Well - she definitely can't watch it alone. The cat chasing the mice terrify her (Lucifer (the cat) is too scary for her). The mean step mother has some moments that are too heavy for her... but she LOVES the ball! Thank goodness you can fastforward DVDs. My sweet girl is definitely the one who cries if a character cries and shouts for joy when they shout for joy... but she's also the one who runs and hides in the closet when they get scared. So we'll stick to our good ole Mickey Mouse clubhouse (even Pete and the giant scare her) and Max and Ruby for awhile.

But MOST "normal" cartoons don't cause major problems...

When we were in MN, Megan got a horrible cold and one day she just learned what it meant to be a couch potato. Thankfully Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn have a little kid recliner.. she was in heaven!

Megan got a special treat from Uncle Tony while she was there (that deserves it's own post - but here's a taste of the preparations....)Auntie Dawn got lots of hugs and kisses!!!!Nicole not only started practicing her walking skills - she also showed us that she's going to be our climber. Uh oh....And Auntie Dawn got plenty of lessons on hair styling from Megan.

It was a great trip and we miss you all!

Minnesota 2010

I know that our MN family has been wondering when, oh when I'd finally post some pictures of our trip to MN..... Sorry sorry it's taken so long. Life's been a bit hectic and to be honest.... I finally found my camera.

Anyway - here are a few photos of our trip (many more to come, after a good nights sleep).

Uncle Dan got lovin from both girls - Nicole was a little more challenging because she was starting to try out some of her walking skills so she was a little girl on the go!And of course, we had to take Nicole out for her first MN winter snow!!!!!Nicole seemed to like it....

Nicole let us know when she was done and wanted to go inside to warm up. We had a great visit and this is just the beginning of the trip. I'll try to get some more photos up soon.

And on a current note... we are definitely in "toddlerhood"... Today Nicole spent more time walking (ok, at least it was 50/50) than crawling. She's so cute and so proud of herself. She will walk, bend over and pick something up, smile, turn around, walk back and clap for herself. It's super sweet. Now that I've found my camera, maybe I can get a picture of it! :^)

2010 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Hard to believe 2010 has ended.... We've been out of pocket this last week of the year - celebrating Christmas with Tom's family in Minnesota. It was a great trip full of love, hugs, laughter, and snow! Megan had her first snowmobile ride (thanks Tony) and Nicole had her first sled ride (Thanks Papa). It was also Nicole's first trip on an airplane and Megan's first airplane ride were she was "a big girl with her own seat". The girls did geat with flying - the trip up both of them had a rough time with their ears - but Nicole also had a double ear infection. On the way home we made sure Megan was smacking away at a wad of gum and Nicole was sucking down a smoothie.

But the biggest news is that to end the year - Nicole started walking! She's still a new walker and half way across the room she'll stop and get down and crawl - but she's gaining confidence and loves to try to walk (and climb) and is sooooo proud of herself.

Once I've had time to sleep a bit, I'll get some pictures up (blogger is not making picture uploading easy and I don't have time to fight with it right now). But since it is the first of the year, I wanted to go back and revisit my goals/to-do list for 2010. So - this is for me.... feel free to stop reading. :^)

2010 "Intentionality"...
1. Be a Deut 6 mom (to impress onmy children the Word of the Lord) - (grade)A - You know, I know that this is an ongoing goal that will be vital my entire life. But I do feel that God's honored my desire to guide my girls and we are in a good place and on a good path... a never ending and always chaning path - but it's a good one.

2. Be intentional in my marriage - D - yeah.... I would put myself on probation here (it's not an F because the heart was there). Don't get me wrong - Tom and I have a strong marriage - but my hopes of having our monthlly date nights and "keeping in touch with US - without the kids" - that just didn't happen this year. Now that said - it'll be on my goal list for 2011 and it'll be much easier! This year, little Nicole threw a huge wrench (actually the entire contents of home depot) into this plan. Because of a variety of circumstances I ended up nursing her until she was year and a few weeks. This baby wouldn't take a bottle, wouldn't drink formula, wouldn't take milk... it's been a bit crazy and when you have to be home for every feeding - it leaves little time for a date night. BUT, now that she's good to go without me... date night here we come!

3. cooking (4-5 days a week) - C+ -Ok, perhaps 4-5 days didn't happen... but I am happy to say that we did have a lot more home cooked meals. The issue I mentioned above affected this area as well... But the cooking co-op I have going with my neighbor has been a HUGE inspiration to get me cooking - and cooking new fun meals. I'm looking forward to adding more smoothies and such into our diet in the coming year.

4. Frugal living (couponing, budgeting, etc) - C- -Um...... Let's just say that starting tomorrow we are writing down all we spend so that we can actually really track what we spend and have some accountablity for purchases. We so use our credit cards for everything (hey, our frequent flyer miles got us to MN for Christmas) but that makes it too easy to buy silly things that we don't need.

5. Simplify life and stuff - B -We definitely got started on this one - but we have a long way to go. I'm just wondering why so many kid toys have so many tiny parts? I have a love/hate relationship with Polly Pocket type toys. But I have to say - as Nicole outgrows it... it's GONE! That is such a sense of freedom!

6. Schedule for the girls - B -This went Ok..... Megan and I have enjoyed our "mommy school" and "mommy game time" and all those things we get to do as Nicole naps. But then Nicole went and started to drop her nap... so we will be revisiting this. Once again, this is one of those fluid things and forever will be.

7. Keeping in touch with my crafty side - B- -Something for ME! I'm not sure how to rate myself on this one but I'm giving myself a B- because I think I've done more than I give myself credit for. I have lots of things on my "want to do list" and have some materials all ready to go... but I still need to get some other areas going first before I can give this a real priority position.

8. Cleaning - C- - and that's only because I can't bring myself to give me a D or F... which is probably what I deserve. I'm struggling to get Megan into a routine of cleaning up after herself and Nicole can destroy a room in seconds. I just can't keep up and do anything else on my list (which is why the whole simplify thing is really important to me right now). I have to be honest that this is my least favorite subject because it's the one that has me beat.

9. Get fit - D - I have lots of GREAT excuses... mostly dealing with Nicole. And they are real and solid -but the bottom line is that we have a brand new treadmill in the basement and I've yet to get on it other that to verify that it was set up and worked. UGH! Losing that naptime (for both girls) is killing me!

10 My own spiritual walk - I'm not going to give a grade on this one - Here's what I know from this year..... The Lord is patient, the Lord is loving, the Lord directs, comforts, blesses, instructs, humbles, and gives us seasons of life. To think that I have to achieve something is ridiculous - God is good and without Him guiding my every step of parenting, marriage, and every other aspect of life - I'd be lost and in dispair. Ipray that I will always strive to know Him better, to love Him more, and to sit at the feet of the Lord most High and soak his Word in. I pray that it will always be transforming, strengthing, even convicting and that I will always realize my dire need for His wisdom, presence, and direction in my life.

Well there you go - 2010 goals - the journey continues on into 2011. I am looking forward to taking some time to think on and pray about my focus and goals for this new year - I'm sure many of them will be very similar to last years

Happy New Year!!!!