Just a few birthday party pictures as I didn't get many good shots. We had a couple families to the Holiday Inn for pizza, cupcakes, and swimming/hot tubbing. The pool area was perfect for what we did and we had the place to ourselves. She was slightly wound up and was still chatting to herself at 10:30 that night!
While I certainly could have gotten Kylie to Fae's today and worked, but after seeing Duluth schools were closed again due to the roads, I decided to take advantage of a lower work load and flexible schedule. Never mind Kylie's push to get me to stay home as I was deciding what to do, "Mom, if you want me to stay home with you today, I will!" Done. In the same breath, of course, was "I think I can stay in my pajamas again all day." Done. Hey, at least they're not the same pajamas as yesterday! We probably spent close to 4 hours outside on two separate occasions today which was great.
Me: Let's go outside and make a snowman! Kylie: That's a great idea. But I don't know how!
I was quite disappointed in my lack of snowman making ability; either I'm completely inept or this snow wasn't right for it. I thought "heart attack snow" would be perfect for this. She took another great nap and then we made cookies to share with a few neighbors. I may have let her eat a little too much chocolate in the process so she was pinging off the walls by about 4 which initiated the second trip outside! But not before painting her toenails and fingernails! Of course, she loves to do the dishes and also sample our yummy creations (oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip).
The forecast was finally right; we got bombed with snow! I stayed home with Kylie while Jon ventured into work, only to have them close the bank at 10. So we all had the better part of the day to lay low, hunker down, and head out for some snowy fun.
Here are a few of the things we did all day:
No morning is complete without a good cup of coffee...or two or three. Unfortunately, she still likes it. As if the kid needs energy.
About 90 minutes worth of crafts today: painting, coloring, dot art, and cutting/pasting The joys of balancing work at home: for every email I read or write, she gets a short video
We dug her tent out again a couple days ago and of course, she promptly filled it with "stuff." She may very well star on a future episode of hoarders.
She took a great nap today, but apparently not before adding a pair of pj's to those she was already wearing (and yes, are too small). Probably the highlight of her day was me telling her this morning that if she wanted to wear her pajamas all day she could. No idea where she gets that (end sarcasm).
Dancing some energy out this morning, but not without donning her "fancy dress."
Kylie surveying the hood; there was plenty to take in including: - stuck cars at a rate of about 1 per minute - college kids displaying many acts attributed to liquid courage. I'm pretty sure most of them started drinking the second it started snowing around midnight! - people being pulled behind a truck. On skis. - a Florida native who just experienced his first blizzard. Hilarious. He's not so impressed while his wife was getting a charge out of him (and trying to "teach" him how to properly push a car!)
Despite trying a few different routes coming home, Jon ultimately had to park on the street and try again later. Here's him, needing a bit of help.
We topped the day off with a good old "hotdish" comprised of literally odds and ends (thankfully it was edible) and an episode of VeggieTales.
Sneak Preview of future posts: More pix from her birthday Our Poop Cruise to Nowhere
Besides the gifts she already got from grandparents, Kylie had a few sent to her that she got to open this morning. Tons of fun things and her favorite? A small box of chocolates. Shocker.
I took the day off so Kylie and I could have a little fun. We went to Target, got our nails done (which she has almost half picked off already!), grabbed some coffee/hot cocoa, got her hair cut, and frosted her cupcakes. Now she's resting up for her little party tonight; swimming, pizza, and cupcakes with a few friends.
She has absolutely NO concept of the birthday thing; she's taking birthday and birthday party for the same thing. For the past 24 hours, she's been asking, "Are you going to drop me off at my birthday?"
Here is my last Christmas post. From here on out, we got back to blaming Jo for never posting, not me!
JonJo took Kylie to Bentleyville before I floated into town. We all went again when I got there. In case anyone is ever wondering, what is that Kylie thinking right now, I have the answer: food. The next meal, the last meal, and that particular night, how to maneuver from one location to another to procure sustenance from the elves. First the hot coco and cookies,
then popcorn,
then marshmallows by the fire.
Yeah, she may remember there were lights, but probably only to guide the path to the food.
We had a lovely time with my dad's family. Lunch with him, two aunts, one cousin, and her two kids. We thought we reserved the whole back room for ourselves, turns out we only got the biggest table, and had the fun of annoying two tables to one side of us. Three kids, one of which was right in the middle of his regular nap time. All things considered, not too bad. After lunch we went back to dad's place for presents.
Our girl loves presents!
Grandpa Jim and Kylie
Yet another successful Christmas. How many did we have this year?
I think in two parent households it's called, "you got her?" When three adults are around, I like to call it tag team Kylie. Here's how the day went today: Ginger is in the living room with the fort, Jo is in the kitchen, Jonathan is in the TV room where Kylie's toys are. As long as she doesn't go upstairs, we've got zone coverage. I was pretty proud of the moment Kylie snagged my mocha, ran to the kitchen, I yelled for Jo, and though she got some pretty good sips in there she didn't get too far. For those of you gasping at the whole Kylie drinking coffee thing, at least it was decaf? That and I may or may not have shared half of it before she took off with it. What can I say? The price of a free baby sitter.
Here's more pictures just for fun: Our annual girls night out, getting all fabulous.
Kylie loooooves our phones.
Still it takes a few people to go outside to "enjoy" the weather.
I'm back home to Washington early, early, early tomorrow morning. Everyone pray for my co-travelers, I'm tend to make bad decisions before 9 am. Especially if something sharp is nearby. Maybe that's why we're not allowed to pack scissors on planes any more...
