Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

It's Snow Day #6 since my blog post since last Tuesday.  The past week has been one of a kind, and culminated in what Luke kept referring to as a "big blizzard" last night.  Here's a recap of our week since my last "Snow Day Fun" post:

Snow Day #2- Wednesday, February 18:

The snow was still fun on Day 2, and there were a few glorious moments where the kids played outside independently and I was warm and cozy inside (and could keep an eye on them from a distance).  

This picture may help explain to our friends and family in the north as to why the entire state of North Carolina seems to shut down for a mere 2 inches of snow.  This is our nice neighbor, who "plowed" our street with his bobcat.  This is the only way that minor roads are cleared, as there just isn't the budget and equipment to do so otherwise.  So unless temperatures rise enough for the snow to significantly melt, we are out of school for days...

 Snow Day #3- Thursday, February 19:

Nope, still no school.  We played games.  We read books.  We played with every single toy in our house.  We even got out the paints and play-doh... (gasp!).  We all started to go a little stir crazy and finally ventured out of the house.  We drove less than a mile to Wendy's, where we got burgers and fries for lunch.  This happens once in a blue moon in our family, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and this outing may have been just as exciting to my kids as the actual snowfall earlier in the week. 

Snow Day #4- Friday, February 20:

The temperatures were bitterly cold, with wind chills below zero, so guess what?  No school!

Our friends from Roanoke drove to our house for a visit, and it was a welcome treat for all of us!  The moms got to have adult conversation, the kiddos played all afternoon, and it was a great day with our buddies: 

Luke and Ashton.

The 4 year-olds, Avery and Leah.

I texted Mark to ask if he minded that a boy was in his daughter's bed, and got no response... Leah later told me that she added Avery to the list of boys that she "might marry" some day.  Her list of potential suitors is growing!



After a weekend of warmer temperatures, life as normal resumed on Monday.  Parents chatted about how great it was to have school back in session, and we all breathed a sigh of relief that we could resume our regularly scheduled activities. 

And then, at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the phone rang.  "Guilford County Schools is CLOSED," a cheerful voice told me.  WHAT?!

Apparently, a "surprise storm" came through in the middle of the night that the meteorologists did not forecast.  It was a complete surprise to everyone, and we woke up to this: 

Snow Day #5- Tuesday, February 24:

It sure was pretty, but completely unexpected.  Mark's usual 12 minute morning commute took him over an hour, as major roads were literally at a standstill with no salt or plowing.  My neighbor and I developed a system where we texted each other whenever the kids (and dogs) were ready to go outside to play, so that all of them could sled and burn energy together...

I took the kids for a "hike" through the neighborhood and on our nature trail:

We threw sticks into the lake.  Luke asked me if he could have ice skates next Christmas.  I was too deep in my daydream of warm, summer days to properly respond.

Yesterday, there were reports that a big storm was headed our way.  The kids once again jumped for joy, and as I tucked Luke in last night, he whispered: 

"Mommy, I just prayed and asked God for 1-2 FEET of snow..."

Mommy wondered if she needed to say a prayer of her own for much, much, less in order to "cancel out" Luke's prayer request. 

As we slept, the snow fell.  This morning, we woke up to a Winter Wonderland.  Here's the same view of our back patio, but with much more snow as compared to Tuesday morning:

Snow Day #6- Thursday, February 26:

We made snowflake-shaped pancakes and some of us were positively delighted with yet another Snow Day!

This morning was actually quite fun, with everyone playing outside together and building snowmen:

Winnie and Bella help fetching the "arms" for our snowman.

It was a wet, heavy snow, and Daddy required lots of "help" to roll the snowman's body:

Master Builders at work.

Our (7-foot tall!) finished creation:

Hooray for Snow Day #6, and for spring being just around the corner?!

Snow Day Fun!

 

We had a snow day today, and boy, we were ready!  We I barely survived last winter in our tiny, temporary housing (when there were 11 snow days between mid-January and early March), and still have visions of Luke and Leah parading around the apartment complex parking lot with ice scrapers in hand, wearing their rain boots... 

 

This year, I bought snow boots for the first time for both kids, added winter gloves to their Christmas lists, and procured sleds for them... in early November.  The employees at the home improvement store had to open their first box of winter sleds for us at that time, and appeared flummoxed as to why I NEEDED sleds before leaves had fully fallen off the trees.  

 

But alas, all of the planning was worth it, because when the snow came last night, there were squeals of excitement and we ran outside immediately, donning proper snow attire and ready to go sledding!  We have had a blast today playing outside, and although there is less than 2 inches of accumulation, school is already closed again tomorrow!   Here is how we've been spending our snow day:

 

Shoveling: 

 I told Luke that I would pay him $1 if he shoveled the front walk from our driveway to our front door (which is a pretty sizeable distance and took him over 30 minutes).  He took me up on my offer, and it was money well spent!

Building a mini-snowman:

Leah with our neighbor, Preston.

 Playing with our neighbors:

Our cul-de-sac is the PERFECT place to play, and we can't decide if the kids or the doggies are having more fun! 

4 year olds: Brooks and Leah.

 

First graders:  Preston and Luke.

 

Furry girls:  Bella and Winnie.

 

The "Ladies" of Heron's Nest Court: Lexi, Winnie, and Bella.

 Sled Races:

Daddy seems to be the determining factor for gaining velocity down the hill!

 

 

 

 Creating a snow fort:

 

Snowball fights:

"Snowboarding":

Posing for Mommy's camera:

 

 

Happy Snow Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've had lots of Valentine-themed fun here this week.  Both kids were very excited about the Valentine's Day parties at their schools yesterday, and came home with lots of cards and treats from their classmates.  Leah helped me prepare the snack for her class party, and the heart-shaped watermelon was one of our favorite parts:

 

My little sous-chef also helped me bake cupcakes this week and declared that the taste testing was one of the most important parts!  

 

 

There is lots of love shared among our little Valentines, and as I was attempting to take a picture Winnie's candy heart collar, I captured this adorable series:

 

 

Sweet puppy kisses.

 

Luke's Valentine's day message this year is very fitting for our Lego-building little man:

 

Leah also wants to share a special Valentine's Day greeting with everyone: 

 

 

Mimi is here this weekend and the girls went to afternoon tea at the O'Henry Hotel this afternoon to celebrate Valentine's Day.  This very girly activity is right up our alley, and Leah was enchanted with her first formal tea experience. 

(Editor's Note:  I think Mark and Luke were extremely relieved to be spared from this outing.  In fact, they went to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy baseball cleats for Luke while we were at tea. Pretty sure they couldn't have picked a more opposite activity from our fancy china and madeleines...)

 

A cute note:  When I told Leah that we were going to a tea party, she insisted that she wanted to bring her Fisher Price teapot and cup, and was adorable as she served us imaginary tea from her set:

 

Winnie had a special Valentine's Day, too, as we dog-sat our neighbor's puppy, Bella.  Bella and Winnie have become best friends, and the girls couldn't have been cuter during their day together:

 

Sending hugs and kisses to all our family and friends today!

We love you! 

Basketball, Bumps, and "Band-Ands"

Luke is playing basketball for the first time this winter, and it is so much fun for all of us.  I'm pretty sure that basketball is my favorite sport to watch so far- it's non-stop action, climate controlled and indoor, and adorable in the age 5-6 division.  The kids are learning the basics, and they have come so far from their first practice in November.  We thought Luke's basketball season was wrapping up next week, but just found out that it goes into next month, so we'll have our own version of "March Madness" to look forward to, complete with a tournament.  I've been waiting to post pictures because I can't seem to get good action shots of Luke during games.  It may be the strange lighting in the gym.... or the 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning game time... or more likely the fact that Mommy hasn't had a cup of coffee yet and isn't exactly quick with the camera at that hour.  However, I do have a couple of cute videos from the games that I can share.  The first one is the opening play in the very first game of the season.  We were shocked that the team looked so put together and executed such a great play... and were proud of our little's man's assist:

  

(Sorry these videos are so small/hard to see.  I am having trouble uploading them to our "Winterhoff Family Videos" site, but if the problem is corrected, I will include a link on this post.) 

The next video is Luke taking a foul shot.  It's pretty fun to see how excited the kids are when they score:

Each game has an official score board and buzzer, referees, cheerleaders, and stands full of cheering parents.  We love that Luke's teammates are comprised of his peers at school, and we are learning just how small Oak Ridge Youth Association is.  The same kids seem to cycle through seasonal rotations of soccer, basketball, and baseball, and it's delightful to have friends and parents that we know on Luke's teams.  His coaches are wonderful and the "Cobras" are having a great season together:

 If you are a loyal blog reader, you know that my strength as a mom doesn't lie in my sports knowledge or expertise, and several times this season Mark has had to gently educate me about some of the finer points of basketball... such as when I shouted out, "Don't foul, Luke!"...  and I learned  that sometimes fouling is good, so that the other team doesn't score.  Oops...  Or when I was confused about why the kids practice drills where they alternate hands while dribbling (vs. only using their dominant hand)... Or why in the world do they shoot a 1:1 vs. 2 foul shots, and for goodness sakes, what is a "pick" and a "brick"...and are there halves or quarters?  Sheesh.  Good thing I have years to understand all of this...

While Luke is currently our sports star, Leah wins a prize for being the bravest child in the world.  She fell running in our house last week and bumped her chin, splitting it open about 1/2 inch away from her scar from last May (when she required 3 stitches).  We raced to Urgent Care on Friday night, and Leah received stitches for the second time in 8 months.  The only tears that she shed were her initial fall, and her one request was that she wanted "Bubbie to come with me to the hop-sital".   Sweet girl.  She was unbelievably calm and the MD even gave Leah her suture kit as a souvenir of her experience, which delighted our little Doc.  This experience was less traumatic for Mommy for several reasons:  1) It wasn't moving day (like last time), 2) We have an established pediatrician here now, 3) I knew exactly what to expect and the course of treatment, and 4) Leah was completely fine with everything.

So, Leah sported a Doc McStuffins "Band-and" all week (and I may never encourage the correct pronunciation of that word) over her blue whiskers, and it was a non-event to have her stitches removed yesterday.   I didn't take any pictures of Leah's injury this time- I am hoping that these experiences fade from my memory... but here is a cute photo of our little girl, pretty in pink and wearing her usual sunny smile: 

Lots of excitement around here lately, with all the basketball, bumps, and "band-ands"!