Still snowing . . . .

Wow. I remember blogging once about how I felt like my kids get cheated out of a REAL winter like I had growing up in Western PA. I guess I'll have to eat my words today. Holy shnikey. Here's what we're doing to keep busy:

First order of the day was to head outside to survey the situation and clear a proper potty spot for my favorite four-footed picky pooper. The snow was beyond belief and it was so quiet except for trees literally groaning under the weight of the snow. Dave had shoveled at 6:00, 8:00, 10:00, and midnight last night. . .but it was hardly obvious this morning when I trudged out there at 8am. We had 17 1/2" in the lowest part of the yard by then.



The boys and I got to work on some mad science projects:



Following a tip I got last winter from a bloggy friend who has tons of cool sanity-preserving craft activities at http://www.pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/
the boys spray painted the snow. We broke small chunks off of old water color paint pellets, dissolved them in water in squirt bottles, and off they went.






And of course we celebrated Marley's big 3rd birthday with presents and rice krispy treats. She was supposed to have a Princess Brunch tomorrow morning with 4 friends and their mommies, but it looks like Dave & the boys will be donning the pink crowns and enjoying some yummy parfaits and strawberry muffins instead!






I feel the need to brag on my boys a little bit here re: the dollhouse. About a month ago, I found this awesome Loving Family dollhouse on craigslist. Marley has played with similar sets at school and at friends' houses, so I knew she would love it. I talked to the boys and explained that if we wanted to buy this dollhouse and accessories for Marley at the toy store, the cost would be $150 or more for everything, but if we bought an "already-loved" set from craigslist, we could get it all for $40. My thrifty little boys were like, "Well, duh" and off we went to pick up the used set. We kept it hidden until a few nights ago when we cleaned every piece and wrapped it all up for her while she was sleeping. She was so surprised and happy with her dollhouse, and I think the boys got a nice lesson in shiny and new vs. a good deal!

Last photo of the afternoon is of the white board where I'm keeping track of earned/used screen time for the boys. See if you notice anything suspicious. . .