Winter Storm 2009

Bye Bye Mommy

It really was pretty

Sampling an icicle -- they all taste the same!

Lucy loved the 4 wheeler ride in the snow

Loving the snow

After 3 days, we are back up and running! The kids thought the snow was great. I could do the snow again, the ice not so much, and for sure not the power outage. We did get some great pictures!

No power!

We have been without power since Wed at 3 am. Thankfully, we had the sense to invest in a generator after the fall outage that kept us down for days. With 2 box fans, 2 space heaters, the stovetop, and closing off some rooms we have been able to stay in our home. Helps when Daddy is an Eagle Scout. We are hopeful we might be up by this weekend, but they are bracing the area to be prepared for this to continue until next week.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Patrick had a blast playing in the snow today, even got to try out his new sled. We have the perfect sledding hill in the backyard, which Brian said is really just a sheet of ice. The kids and I went out earlier in the day, then just Patrick and I to sled when Lucy laid down, then when Daddy got home the boys ventured out again with the 4 wheeler. That's all Patrick wanted him to do all day, hitch up the sled to the back of the 4-wheeler. Fun!

Big Ouchie!

Lucy fell out of her highchair on Saturday night and we found out today that she did break her right wrist. We took her to get it checked out that night, but she was moving it so well by the time we got there that no xrays were ordered. For the past two days, she has been using it to eat and play, but has not been able to bear enough weight through it to crawl. So we decided to have it checked again. Our day went from the pediatrician to St. Mary's XRAY to Tri State Ortho and finally up to therapy to have a splint fabricated by an OT. To be specific, Lucy has a "buckle fracture of her radius, and probably her ulna", a fancy way of saying she broke one or both of her forearm bones. The pediatrician was impressed that when asked where her "ouchie" is, she points to her wrist. And the orthopedic surgeon was chuckling at how well she was using her broken wrist (made us feel better for second guessing the degree of her injury)! She will be in the splint for 2-3 weeks, we will get re xray'd, and she should be all healed up by then. For now, her primary mode of transporation is --- pink pony! Maybe this will encourage her to start walking. Lucy has taken this all in stride, very upset by the end of the afternoon with all the poking and prodding, but mostly ticked that she has to wear this splint now. We are so grateful her injuries weren't greater!

Heat wave!

How did we go from playing in the snow to having a picnic in less than a week? The kids were thrilled to be outside, we hit up the park and did indeed have a picnic. We've been able to take a couple of nice long walks lately, which has been great to return to. I think Daddy will have some help push mowing the side yard this season -- Lucy is a pro!

Snow day!!!!

It is a rare moment that we get both kids posed nicely in a picture together, and even rarer that either one of them will keep a hat on. Lucy is wearing Patrick's John Deere cap, which she loves for some reason, and Patrick is wearing Daddy's Dukes hat.

Patrick had to clear a path with his equipment before we were able to leave this morning. Only in Indiana would you have a snow day with this meager amount. He sure had fun -- and hot chocolate with not one but TWO marshmallows was the perfect ending.

Just playing all day

If you ask Patrick what he wants to do today, he gives the same response every morning over breakfast -- "play all day". Which, is pretty much what he does. Today we returned to library school after the holiday break and I was so proud of how well he did. In the past, he hasn't really enjoyed it, but we were giving it another shot. Today he was participating in some of the songs/dances and often sitting away from Lucy and I during the stories, next to the other kids and answering questions from his teacher. We talked on the way in how it's important that he gets extra props (like the sticks and plastic eggs filled with beans for the coordinating songs) for his sister when his teacher starts passing them out to the kids. I was so proud of him when I heard him announcing loudly among the cluster of toddlers that he "needed some for baby girl", not leaving until he had some for her.

"Bear bear"

Lucy loves to rock and rock and rock, holding and kissing her beloved "Bear bear". We helped her climb up there this weekend, not realizing the ordeal it was going to be coaxing her down. Every time we asked her if she wanted to get down, she started to throw a fit. She also has taken to congratulating herself for tasks achieved by saying "good girl", most recent being the bath toy she finally was able to get to stick to the tub wall after multiple attempts. She is her father's daughter for sure, thank God she has his patience and perseverence (unlike her brother and mother). Happy 13 months baby girl!

Little stinker

She looks innocent and sweet enough, so that is why I was so amazed when I watched her little trick yesterday.  She very happily handed her brother a toy, which he took, and then she promptly screamed for me, as if he had snatched it from her.  Which happens often enough, I just happened to witness her little trick.  Oh my, we are gonna have our hands full with her!