We live in Iowa, so you would think that snow would be second nature to us... however, since we hadn't seen snow for about 2 years, our recent blizzard was definitely much anticipated, and much enjoyed!
Buddy showed up outside and made Andrew a snowman, along with a sign telling him there would be a snow day the next day, which meant.....NO SCHOOL!!!
We heard the forecasts... but I didn't believe them. They were calling for a blizzard with a potential of 12 inches of snow. But since last year at this time we could have grilled out in our fleece jackets, I just wasn't buying it.
You can see little miss "I want to go outside all the time" wasn't too thrilled with the newly fallen snow!
Well, we had a blizzard, all right! One big enough to call off the 2 days of school before Christmas break. I must admit, the extra vacation was nice. Even though we were literally "snowed in" and could go nowhere for 2 whole days.
Honestly one of my favorite things is to be snowed in, just the 4 of us, lighting the fire in our fireplace, drinking hot chocolate, getting caught up on baking and wrapping, and just being together.
And playing in the snow is definitely a perk! It was up to Andrew's waist!
The snow drifts were just enormous!
Andrew was out in this for hours... he could have played in it all day!
Kerigan liked the sled, but she didn't care too much for the snow!
I think she felt like she couldn't move, plus she was probably confused as to the transformation because the last time she saw outside it was an empty driveway and brown grass! Ha!
I continued to torture her with pictures, mainly because I wanted her first snowstorm documented. And because it was a little bit funny.
Andrew loved helping daddy shovel
And I'm not sure why our neighbors decided to leave their cars in the driveway! I bet they didn't believe the weather reports either! Ha!
I.absolutely.love.this.picture.
While daddy was snow blowing the driveway, we had to check out the backyard too!
The swingset was pretty much buried!
Our landscaping covered
Standing in a snow pile!
Andrew found the remains of Buddy's snowman, even though it was covered in many more inches of snow by the next day!
Since there was no school, Andrew got to stay up late and watch Home Alone- a holiday favorite!
We got to take lazy afternoon naps...
And make lots of yummy holiday treats!
It took the plows 2 days to get out to our neighborhood, and once they finally did, we whipped up some hot chocolate and drove around in our Pj's to look at Christmas lights. I love our pretty lights and our tree in the window!
We were getting a little stir crazy so we got dressed after 2 days in our jammies and ventured out to Bass Pro Shops the next day, where they have the best Santaland ever! Isn't it so neat? It's like a child's wonderland!
This year they had a carousel, which Andrew and especially Kerigan loved. She wanted to go on it again and again! She picked the "bear" to ride on because she loves bears (another favorite word!) :)
Looking at the fish
She loved this BIG bear! She was very serious and didn't want to take her eyes off it though! Ha!
Andrew loves all the things they have set up to do, like race cars, shooting games and trains.
Normally Santa is a little more relaxed and put together- ha! I have to say I wasn't that impressed with the Santa this year (he looks scared to death!) In his defense, he was probably a little hot in all those clothes, and had been at this for several hours. Not to mention, my daughter screaming to get off his lap!
I think this was the 3rd time we put her on Santa's lap and she was a little less upset in this picture...but she still screamed the whole time!
She was much happier on the four wheelers!
She talked to this reindeer the whole night, was petting it and just loved it. But the second I set her down by Andrew to take her picture, she was running towards my arms before I could snap a picture! She is just impossible to get pictures of right now.
Same thing here, would only stand there if daddy held her. Silly girl! I can't wait for her to get over this picture-phobia!
A few pictures were on my phone- we took gifts to the kids' daycare before break. This was sweet Kerigan standing waiting to give a present to her favorite teacher, Emily. She just loves Emily.
This is Emily's daughter, Kylie. They are almost the same age and they are good friends! Kylie is always trying to give Kerigan hugs every morning and every time I pick her up. It is so cute!
Both kids love going to our heart support group meetings once a month. They love to play with friends (and mommy loves to talk and catch up with all my heart mommy friends!) December's meeting a couple of the dads dressed up like Santa and his Elf. It was so fun! The kids loved it. Except Kerigan, big surprise! Ha! (And can I just say that I really didn't intend for the kids to have the same outfits on in every picture with Santa- Ha! It just worked out that way because I had them dressed in their Christmas outfits for all these different occasions Santa happened to be at!)
And Buddy? He continued to get into lots of mischief...
like fishing for goldfish in the toilet!
Trapping Andrew in his room...
And taking a bubble bath in the sink! He had lots of fun adventures this year I know Andrew will not forget. One afternoon he almost cried and said "I don't want Buddy to leave." It was so sad! We think Buddy may have a few tricks up his sleeve so Andrew won't be too sad he's gone!
Next up...Christmas updates! I'm trying to catch up, even though New Years is now over and I start back to work tomorrow. Our break has been so wonderful, and I'm so sad to see it end!
