too cold!

yesterday afternoon, as i was waiting for the bus to bring madelyn home, the school district cancelled school for today. madelyn skipped all the way into the house after i shared the good news. we had a feeling that it might be coming this week since the wind chills were below zero. and the kids and i had big plans. the house was clean, we were well stocked on groceries and there were lots of christmas gifts to still be explored. staying home was not a problem at all. the only bummer was that today was going to manning's first ever swimming lesson. oh well. next week.

the kids all let me sleep until 8am - which was a very rare (like never) and wonderful occurrence. i had told them that i would make them anything they wanted for breakfast. they came up with "muffins on a pancake." so i baked two dozen banana chocolate chip muffins and a triple batch or oat bran chocolate chip pancakes to feed the masses. they told me it was like having an edible plate (although i still insisted on a real plate under their pancake plates). 

then we got out several art and science kits and got to work.

madelyn's crystal growing set is pretty involved and she will have to wait a week to see if we have been successful. she was very excited about the safety glasses and wore them most of the day.

madelyn made this play dough 'honeycomb' but the really impressive part is the "honey bear" above it that she made without any reference. it has been at least a year, and more likely longer, since we have had a honey bear in the house.

we had three hot meals, fresh cookies and baked apples for dessert too. a very satisfying day at home. not to mention that it was a cloudless, sunny day outside. but will they have school tomorrow? love.

frozen at school

back to school with head to toe frozen apparel. love.

more board games

today, we broke out connect 4 for the first time - it was a hit!

sunny zoo day

it wasn't terribly warm, but it was beautifully sunny and we went to the zoo! madelyn hasn't been in a very long time and was really looking forward to it. it wasn't very busy but there were a lot more people than i had expected. we had a wonderful time and stayed a little longer than we normally do - maybe three hours.

the male lion was pacing back and forth right in front of the glass and then went to the back of the exhibit to roar for a little bit before heading up next to the female. it was pretty cool to see him so active and roaring! normally, he is just sleeping.

trying to get in a few sit-ups

he was doing this funny little power walk up the hill and grinning like crazy.

we all enjoyed our time in the sunshine but were high tailing it out of there as the temperature started dropping with the setting sun. love these little kiddos! love.

"christmas #3"

we ran errands in the morning and then stopped by home to eat some lunch before going out for an afternoon outside. boxes from big pop and grandma just happened to arrive moments after we arrived home. a quick call to them found them at home and just hours from leaving for gainesville. we found the perfect window for celebrating christmas with them! the kids were pretty excited to not have to wait another week before opening their presents too...

so great to be able to facetime the gift opening with big pop and grandma (and cousin jude who was still visiting them and came in to watch). it was like christmas all over again and the kids named it "christmas #3" (thanksgiving 'christmas' with papa and nana, actual christmas with our family and now a virtual 'christmas' with big pop and grandma).

surprisingly, i was able to tear them away from their new gifts for a quick lunch and back into the car. love.

pairing up

the kids paired off for bedtime tonight - another luxury of the break from school. love.

we made it - happy 2015!

much to our surprise, the kids made it all the way to midnight! i think we may have started a new tradition too - taking down all of the christmas decorations while we stay up. it was so nice to wake up in the new year and have everything clean and put away. actually, it was a little like having been robbed because everything was so bare and empty. but a perfect "fresh start" to the year.

the kids just played and then watched a daniel tiger dvd for the last hour. we were trying to see the ball drop but the hosts and musical guests are too inappropriate for the kids so we were trying to time it just right and missed it! but it was on youtube within seconds and we got to watch it anyway before going to bed. the kids were not impressed. the were a little concerned about all of the paper flying around - where did it come from? who would clean it up? why would you throw paper? they just didn't quite get why it was special or fun. and i was having a difficult time trying to explain it too.

happy new year, everyone! praying for a great one! love.