Ladies and Gentlemen...

...we have pigtails!

The Snowy Day - Pictures

Nothing better than playing basketball in the snow!

The problem with having this much snow in Texas is that we're poorly outfitted for the occasion. Case in point - Hello Kitty rain boots instead of snow boots. Oh well. At least they were pink, Caroline's favorite color.Our snowman and attempt at a picture with him. Caroline is actually hugging him and Jack is just trying to get away.The best part of playing in the snow... hot chocolate!

The Snowy Day

Well, last Thursday was quite exciting here in North Texas! We had more snowfall ever recorded at DFW! The official measurement was 12.5 inches but I think we had around 13 or more here. As exciting as the snow was, it only added to the excitement of our day!

Jack had his school Valentine's Day party on Thursday morning. Caroline and I dropped him off at school, ran a couple of errands and headed home for a bit before heading to the party. On the way we picked up 20 Happy Meals from McDonald's. My car still smells a little like a french fry! The kids had a blast at the party. Caroline just loved being with all the big kids. She followed her brother around and did everything he did. They had lunch together, decorated cookies together, did art together, and played bingo together. So fun! I decided just to bring Jack home after the party rather then wait till school was out. I didn't want to venture out into the snow again if I didn't have to. After the party we made the trek to the car.

While we were still in the building we were walking behind a mom, Rachel, and three young girls. She was remarking about what a mess this weather was and how much of a pain it was going to be to trudge to the car in the snow and slush with three little ones in tow. I suggested I wait inside with her kids while she got her car if she'd do the same for me. She thought it was a great idea. After she'd retrieved her car it was my turn. I walked through the blizzard - this may be a bit of an exaggeration but it was a blizzard for us here in Texas - to my car. Hop in, key in ignition, turn the key... nothing. Just click, click... nothing. Lovely. Dead battery. Cold, wet, and embarrassed and a little PO'ed I slosh back inside to tell Rachel "Thanks for watching my kids. My car's dead and we'll just live at the church till we can dig our way out and walk home tomorrow" A little defeatist attitude? Yes.

Well, THANK GOD FOR RACHEL!!! She piled my munchkins in her car, popped in a movie and drove over to my cold, dead mom-bus. Another kind lady in the parking lot lent us her cables and we hooked up and got to charging my battery in the hopes that a jump start would do the trick.

As an aside... I do keep jumper cables in my car. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought the location of my cables completely through. They were under my third row seat, which was folded down, and cannot be unfolded unless you have power! Not. Smart.

Anyway...

The jump didn't work. We sat in the parking lot for about 30 minutes and tried it... nothing. Bummer. Time for plan C, or D, or Z. We took the kids seats out of my car and put them in Rachel's so she could drive us home. Did I mention Rachel is awesome?! Thankfully, our house is just a few blocks from hers. Amazing how God puts the right people in the right places, huh?

So, as we're moving the seats over, Rachel says, nonchalantly, "Jack just threw up in my car. It's no big deal". I get to her car with the seat and she's cleaning it up like he's her own child. Wow. Apparently, Jack was sharing Valentine candy with the girls in the back of the car and decided, against his better judgment, to eat a peanut M&M. Not smart when you're allergic. So, he threw it up. Fantastic.

Well, we made it home safely. Jason had to leave work early to change my battery in the blizzard. What a man I have! I am soooo thankful for him and that he knows his way around a car. I'm so glad it wasn't me freezing my tush off under the hood! He did make a point to take some time and play in the snow with us, though. We built a snowman and threw a few snowballs. SO. MUCH. FUN.

On Friday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland outside. Unfortunately, we also woke up to a broken power line in our backyard. So, we called 911 and the police and fire department came, all before 7:30am. The kids were uber excited! We've got electricity but have been operating on diminished power since then. Oncor hasn't made it out to fix the hot wire dangling over our driveway. They said they'd have it done by Tuesday... well, it's Wednesday. So, we're surviving. The only real inconvenience, other than the danger, is our inability to use our microwave and garbage disposal. It's just annoying, really. How am I surviving not being able to use the microwave, you ask...

I'm cooking my chicken nuggets in (GASP!) the oven. Old school.

There were seven in the bed...

All the kiddos snuggled up watching Elmo at our small group Super Bowl party. What a sweet, quiet moment. It lasted about three minutes.

Bling, bling!

Sweet Caroline had a big day yesterday! A rite of passage, if you will. She got her ears pierced! Now, I'll say we were planning on waiting until she was much older. I wanted her to be able to tell me she wanted them done, plan for it, make an event of it. I never thought we'd get them done this early. But... she's been really interested in my earrings for quite some time now. She has play earrings that she wants to wear all the time. For her birthday, her sweet grandparents, Pappaw and Gigi, got her some beautiful diamond studs! I don't even have diamond studs. Well, that was the kicker. I asked her if she wanted her ears pierced. I told her it would hurt like a shot. She said yes. That was several weeks ago and she hasn't stopped talking about it since.

What's wonderful is that one of the doctors at our pediatrician's office does ear piercing. Everything is sterile, she's comfortable with the office, Dr. Harris is very particular about placement and they even gave us a prescription for numbing cream so it wouldn't hurt. The most Caroline protested was when we had to take the band-aids off that I put on so the numbing cream wouldn't get on everything on the drive to the office. She also got mad when Dr. Harris tried to put dots on her earlobes with a little marker. We had to tell her that we were checking her ears so she would let us near her with the pen. When it came time to get down to business it was no big deal. She cried for just a few seconds. Then she noticed her earrings in the mirror and said "Oooooo! So brave! I love it!" Funny girl.

She's so proud of her earrings. She's been talking about them and the experience ever since. "My earrings. Cried and cried. So brave! So beautiful!", she'll say, over and over. Too cute.

In the car. She's got her band-aids on her ears so the numbing goo won't get everywhere.Waiting in the doctor's office

BTW... does anyone else see the crooked smile that she has in these two pics? I have the same crooked smile! I just noticed that. Maybe she does look a little like me after all. Anyway...

Right after. She's got a lollipop in her mouth that turned her lips the most lovely shade of blue.

-- Posted from my iPhone

There's a new sheriff in town!

And he's laying down on the job! Sometime between goodnight kisses and actually falling asleep, Jack found a badge sticker in his room from when the Tarrant County Sheriff's department came to visit his school. If he really wants to be a lawman he'll have to be sure not to fall asleep after putting on his badge.

Am I seeing double?

How many candles are on that cupcake?