When Dad's Away

Dusty left yesterday morning to go out of town for a coaching thing. This mama was not excited.

Can you tell Bennett is settling right into eating baby food? He had prunes last night and thought they were yummy.

After both kids got baths, I really wanted to clean the floors. I'm so thankful for Avery Claire - she is so good at entertaining so Mama can get something done. 

Remember when we used to sleep late? That never happens anymore. And it's not just because of this boy. I can usually convince him to go back to sleep. 

But once sister is up, we're up. 

I decided we were not going to hang out at home all day. We've had enough snow days that have forced us to stay home. So, we headed for the mall, Target, etc. I made Avery Claire let me roll her hair. Here's what she thought abou it. 

She got over it. After I busted her in the bathroom trying to comb it out. 

I probably won't do it again...not only because she won't let me, but because she looks 15. 

This baby is such a good shopper. Both of my kids are, so far. That'll probably change when Bennett is older, I know. But, for now, I'll enjoy. 

Avery Claire is a champion shopper. Until our last stop Saturday. Considering she got up before 6:30 and had been going strong all day, I wasn't surprised. We called it a day and went home to meet Dad!

Snow-cation 2015

School was cancelled all day Wednesday because the snow was supposed to move in around 9 am. Dusty ran to Walmart and I ran for coffee with the kids before 9...I got a few minutes to relax with my coffee...

...before my hair appointment.

The snow didn't really start until after 1:00 that afternoon. 

After it had snowed awhile, it was really sticking, and Avery Claire could wait no longer. She and Dusty bundled up and headed out.

My neighbor sent me this picture from her house. 

Right before dark, Dusty and the neighbors pulled took off on the inner tube. I was kind of nervous that someone {Dusty} would get hurt and need to visit the ER on "impassable roads."

Bennett got to try the big boy high chair for the first time last night. He loved it.

Our house after dark.

This morning, I put Avery Claire to work! ;-)

Then we all bundled up to go out for a little bit. 

Bennett thought it was too bright!

So he just snuggled in and went to sleep. 

Sound asleep....

Avery Claire decided she would come in for a bit when I brought him inside. She watched her Daddy work on their snow man from inside. 

But she couldn't take it, so she went back out. 

She was so excited and so proud! 

And then all of her snow dreams came true when we made snow ice cream. 

Just look at this big boy. I cannot believe he is already sitting in the real high chair, eating pears! 

Our snow-cation is over. School is back on schedule tomorrow, which means I better get to bed. The alarm will be going off bright and early! 

Mom = Great Cook!

Our sweet babies after church

Avery Claire, Bennett, and I made our Sunday WalMart trip without Daddy this week. When we got to the checkout, Avery Claire saw a magazine that had a picture of toast cut into heart shapes. I told her they probably had a heart cookie cutter for sale, so we left the line to go look for one. They were all out of heart ones, so she chose a butterfly one. She couldn't wait to get home and play restaurant and make her daddy a pb&j butterfly sandwich. She was a little worried he wouldn't care too much for a girly butterfly!

After we made his sandwich, which he declared delicious, she decided to place her own order.

I got so tickled at her because she kept telling me that I was a great cook. I wonder how long I can keep her tricked into thinking that toast with jelly counts as cooking?

Zoey's Party

Avery Claire's friend Zoey had a birthday party today - at the "jumpy place." 

Can you see the sweat on their heads? They had too much fun!

Avery Claire and Addison. These two girls love each other so much! 

Snow/Ice Week 2015

Dusty and the kids' school was closed Monday because of the snow/ice that was supposed to move in Sunday during the night. My teacher workday was delayed until 10 that day, and then they told us at lunch that we HAD to be out of the building by 1:00.

My school was cancelled Tuesday. Dusty and the kids' school was delayed Tuesday. Everyone's school was closed Wednesday. We all went Thursday, and everyone was out again today! 

Needless to say, our week has been crazy, unpredictable, and full of nice, relaxing, unexpected days at home! 

Bennett has done his share of napping. I even managed a nap today...with Bennett on my left arm and Avery Claire tapping me on my right arm several times, asking questions. But I felt rested afterwards, so it counted. 

Avery Claire has found a new favorite show on Netflix - Horrid Henry. We try to limit iPad time, but she has literally watched it for hours today. {Sidenote: we did make her put socks on. She is one of the most hot-natured people I know. I've only seen her cold maybe twice in her life}.

She's had high hopes for snow ice cream this week. We managed to catch a very small amount of snow today, and we attempted it. It wasn't very good!

She let Bennett watch her play an alphabet game. She explained it to him as she played. 

In case you've never heard, every Lowe's has a "Build and Grow" program. They offer classes for kids to come build something on certain Saturday mornings. You can also buy their "Build and Grow" kits in the store. Dusty pulled one out today to build. I think he likes them just as much {or more} than Avery Claire.

Things weren't so bad early today, then the snow and ice moved back in. Dusty and our neighbor, Brandon, went to get pizza and had to come back home for a chain to pull a man out who lost control of his car, slid off the road, and hit a pole. 

Right now, our driveway and our street are solid sheets of ice. We've heard rumors that it's going to warm up some this weekend. Let's hope they're right. 

The kids are asleep, the floors are clean, most of the clothes are washed. And Dusty and I are about to watch Alaskan Bush People. He always watches it; we watched a marathon today. It's like a train wreck I can't look away from. Dusty keeps joking that we're gonna go live in the Alaskan bush this summer. Those people are roughing in the truest sense of the word. They enjoy NONE of the conveniences of the modern world. As Avery Claire said, "they have no medicine on the mountain." And you should've seen them when they had a chance to eat pizza.