Sledding and Snowman

More snow fun!  The girls went sledding for the first time over the weekend.  Hannah loved it!  It was a pretty big hill and she went down on a sled by herself.  That girl has been fearless ever since she learned to walk. 

On the other hand, Olive needed some major convincing.  She even tried to kick off her boots when we said we were going outside.  Once she was outside, it wasn't so bad.  She went down the hill a couple of times until she said no more. 

 

So we picked out a sunny spot at the bottom of the hill and watched everyone go by.  It was still a good time.

 

 

 And back at home...
Hannah:  Look, Mama.  I'm decorating it with pretties.
me: Yeah.  It's a nice belt.
Hannah:  It's a necklace but I can't reach up there.

We're ready for more snow tonight!  Someone wants to go sledding again.

Snow Day!

We got about a foot of snow (first big snowfall since 1993), which meant no school on Thursday or Friday.  Thundersnow is awesome! The girls ate regular snow, mixed snow with food coloring, and we made our first snow ice cream!  It was vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, and sprinkles.  This was probably Olive's favorite thing about the snow.  She had two bowls. 
 

Even though it was blowing snow, Hannah couldn't wait to get outside.  Both girls started putting on their snow gear by themselves.
 

Once we were outside Olive just wanted to be carried.  I did convince her to get down once to play on the porch.  Notice the snow is almost up to the seats of our chairs.

Hannah is a snow bunny and loved every second of it.
 

 

 

After naps I had the idea to open up the garage door so that Olive could play in the snow without walking in it.  She liked that better.  Although she still got mad when Hannah went out and played in it.  She thinks they both need to be doing the same thing and since she wanted to be inside, Hannah should, too.  There was a lot of, "Hannah, NO!  Hannah, IN!"

The drift by our front door was up to Hannah's waist in this picture.  By the end of the day it was up to my waist.
 

Arkansas

For Valentine's Weekend, Steve arranged for Grandma and Grandpa to babysit the girls and we took a road trip to Arkansas.  It reminded me of our college days driving around south Missouri and stopping at random things.  The trip was a good mix of both of us- art galleries and museums for me, being outside and hiking for Steve.  

We drove to Eureka Springs Friday night. I think it's always fun to discover a new place.  It was a quaint little town- lots of narrow streets (with no parking!), old buildings, little shops and galleries, and lots of natural springs.  We ate lunch on the balcony of the big building on the left with the green awning.

 

 

a natural spring in the side of the hill
 

We also stopped by the largest Jesus statue in North America- Christ of the Ozarks.  Quote from Steve: "His hair looks like hands."  I'm sure that is deep somehow.

 

 

 We stayed in Fayetteville Saturday night and then drove on to Devil's Den State Park.  I'm just realizing the humor of this as I type it. :)  It was actually a pretty nice day for February- almost 60 degrees.  We did two different hiking trails that took most the of day.
 

 

 

On our way back on Sunday I made Steve stop in Bentonville to see the Crystal Bridges Museum.  It displays American art from colonial times to the present.  The architecture and landscape is amazing...and it's free!  I think it would be especially beautiful in the spring.

 

They have a Roxy Paine "dendroid" sculpture like we do at the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City.
 

A trip to Bentonville wouldn't be complete without seeing the very first Wal-Mart (before it was Wal-Mart). 

 

Chinese New Year

Now that the girls are old enough to enjoy it, I couldn't wait to go to the Chinese New Year celebration at the art gallery.  Parking was a hassle and sometimes the crowds were annoying, but we still had lots of fun.  After seeing a giant painting, the girls painted their own scrolls with water and ink.  They were both very focused on their work.   I was surprised by how well Olive painted.
 

 

The main attraction was the Lion Dance.  Hannah was on Steve's shoulders and  I was holding Olive.  She snuggled in with the lions got close to us, but then she would look at me and laugh.  I think acting scared was a game.  It was a fun family night.  Happy Year of the Snake!

 

Reading

I have lots of favorites, but reading with a girl on each knee probably ranks number one.  I am blessed.  So much love.  Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

Zoo in February

While Steve was on a ski trip in Colorado, the girls and I were having lots of fun in KC.  Eating a picnic lunch next to the polar bears was one of our adventures.  Not many people go to the zoo in February so we had the train all to ourselves.

But mostly we stayed inside at the polar bears, snake house, and our favorite- the Discovery Barn.  Such a small slide can only be this much fun when you are with your sister.

 

 

Fake Snow

Without much snow this winter, we've had to play with pretend snow.

 

 

Milk

 

Norah's 4th Birthday

Hannah was super excited for her first time skating. She woke up and said, "Is it skating time yet?"  With Steve out of town, I wasn't brave enough to take two little girls skating at once.  I anticipated lots of falling down and tears....mostly from Olive.  The party was during Olive's naptime anyway, so Aunt Marissa and Uncle Casey babysat while Hannah and I went to the skating rink.  They had cool trainers made of PVC pipe to help the kids.  Even with the trainers, Hannah fell down a few times.  But she still loved every minute of it.  She skated holding on to my hand and all by herself, too.  The only tears were when we had to leave.  The pictures are pretty horrible...I didn't bring my good camera.

 

Happy 4th birthday, Norah!  I can't believe how fast the time goes by.  It is really sweet to watch our friends' kids grow up with our kids.  These girls were buddies from the very beginning.