Winter is flying by......

We had a new experience here in Omaha......snow days!  In Wyoming, Milan had recess until 0 degrees so a snow day for freezing temperatures was foreign to us, but hey, we'll take it!  

We brought some snow inside and made a restaurant with scoops of ice cream, shakes, and 3-layer cakes!  

Another new experience was that my car broke down and I was without a car for an entire week while we waited for the part to get here.  I already knew that I was never meant to be in a one-car family and this experience just confirmed my thoughts!  We did find some fun creative activities (plus shaving cream baths every day.)

As soon as we had a car, we resumed our fun activities!  Fontenelle Forest has a great preschool program call Mudpies.  The girls love crafts, toys, the indoor play ground, and this particular time, a pool filled with corn starch peanuts.....who knew!   I love Eden's crazy excited face!

We got to go on a bakery tour with play group.  Eden and Cora obviously loved decorating their own cookies with tons of frosting then immediately eating it.  I thought Eden and I should get a picture together, but she was being a little goofball, so I just tickled her instead. 

Eden was soooo excited for her preschool's Hibernation Party!  She planned out her jammies all week long then loved wearing them to school.  Their teachers made a fort out of desks, popped popcorn, and let them enjoy a movie.  Eden has found a fun group of girls (Sydney, Emma, Izzie) and loves to go to school now.   

Girl Scout Cookie Time!  Milan is a Brownie and Eden is an honorary Daisy (she can't officially be in Girl Scouts until she is in Kindergarten.)  We visited a couple of neighbors and friends and participated in one cookie booth for a grand total of 62 boxes.  They earned a small bracelet, but had a great time selling. 

Study time.  Dave usually gets home for dinner time and a couple minutes of Tickle Monster, then spends more time studying in our room.  Of course, he has to wear ear plugs to tune out the shenanigans around here.  Cora was not dissuaded though because she loves to hang out with daddy. 

 Family Zoo Day.  Dave ditched his studying for a fun Saturday at the zoo.  It was warm, but I was glad I told the girls to wear snow boots because they tend to go off the paved path whenever possible! 

The girls have been asking to go the circus for years!  I'm not a huge fan, but Eden got free tickets through preschool so I couldn't resist.  We met the Rose girls at the show and everyone was mesmerized by the entertainment (and the cotton candy didn't hurt either.)  

 Great Aunt Yuri and Uncle Albert sent some adorable knitted hats and generous $25 gift cards for belated Christmas gifts.  I let each of the girls select their own gift.  We spent A LOT of time in the toy department deciding on the perfect gifts.  Eden was the first to finalize her decision and chose a new baby doll and accessory kit.  Milan chose a veterinarian Barbie.  Cora wanted everything and finally settled on a big My Little Pony, which she has played with every day since!

What a Beautiful Weekend!

We have had weeks of cold temperatures so we were very excited to enjoy a warm weekend!  Starting Friday, I implemented mandatory outdoor play.  The kids were happy to comply and spent hours jumping on the trampoline, crafting on the deck, playing with neighbors, visiting Fontenelle Forest on Saturday and meeting up with some friends at the zoo today.  The forest was fun, but it wasn't quite warm enough to spend a lot of time outside so we played in the indoor playground.  It was a hit for Cora and Milan, but Eden decided it was the perfect opportunity for a massive tantrum.  I guess it was pretty unreasonable for me to expect her to go to Time Out after pushing her sister.  There was a lot of screaming and I'm not going to be surprised if DFS was called, but then she snapped out of it and we went on to have a nice day.  We did have a great time at the zoo.  I picked up Milan's friend Maame and we met up with her friend Maddie's family at the zoo.  Maddie's mom is great and I really enjoyed spending time with her and corralling all the kiddos.  With gorgeous weather and new friends, Omaha is growing on me :)  

Game Face

Just look at Miss Eden Bug, she sure takes her games of Old Maid seriously.  She tries to keep it a secret when she gets or gives the Old Maid, but she can't help a little smile then at some point she has to tell everyone else what she knows.  She is wearing her nightdress on top of a too-small Dora pj shirt and heart pj shorts.  She wears the same pj outfit whenever she can.  She realizes that the shirt is too small because it shows her tummy when her arms are down.  I think that is why she has decided to layer the nightdress on top of it.....perfect solution.  She also loves her Hello Kitty tattoos.....she is quite the trend setter.  So much cuteness here!

Baby Girl

My baby girl is becoming a big girl.  Just look at her, she looks all grown up.  She is so full of spunk and personality.  She walks right into our room in the morning, tells me to get a sweat shirt on, then get her breakfast ("you get me befast mom!")  She has an extensive vocabulary and talks up a storm.  She is a little hard to understand, but her mom's a fast talker, so that's understandable.  She loves to dance and sing "Shake it off" (Taylor Swift) with cute little booty shaking moves.  She thinks she is a big girl and follows her sisters around.  She asks to be tickled and asks us to play with her.  Both are irresistible.  Playing is almost always mommy and baby- everything.  She is hilarious.  Today I asked her if she would be a good girl and she said, "I not hear you mom."  She still loves twinkle star blankie and warm milk when she's tired.  She is the cutest 2 1/2 year old I know!      

My Princesses

Hanging out at home during winter is perfect for lots of dress-up!  The girls have fancy dresses, but will dress-up in just about anything.  Milan and Eden were invited to the perfect girly-Frozen-dress-up party this weekend so it was a great chance to show off their fancy outfits and princess hair (thanks Pinterest :))

Crafting

Of course we do a lot of crafts around here, it's fun to be creative!  Cora loves coloring, putting stickers everywhere and smashing marker tips on paper.  Eden is getting great at writing her letters and is always making up long words with random letters.  Milan loves to make jewelry, Shrinky Dinks, special BFF binders, and recently made an awesome Fairy House with daddy.  I have been busy painting/renovating this entire house so I've added some pictures of our master bedroom that I recently finished.  Right now, we have lived here almost 6 months and I am about 50% done with my projects.  I am finishing the basement right now which is so. much. work.  Next, I have the entryway, doors, upstairs bathroom, downstairs bathroom, kitchen, and flooring in that order.  

The entire house was pretty rough when we moved in!  I painted most of the main floor before getting to our bedroom so we looked at this awesomeness for about 3 months.  During that time, I stalked Craigslist looking for some additional furniture.  I found a great armoire and now Dave has his own space for clothes.  Really, the first time ever!  He used to put his underwear in the TV stand in our very first apartment.  I also found a solid mahogany bed for $60, a cute antique dresser for $40, and repainted my childhood furniture for $12.  I really love Craigslist, paint, and our new space.  Now.....on to the rest of the house!

A Beautiful Day in January

After a bunch of freezing days, we had 40 degree weather today and it was wonderful!  We had a bunch of friends over, a trampoline, and burn pile in the backyard.  Eden decided our burn pile was perfect for marshmallow roasting; we could only find mini marshmallows so that's what we did.  It was a little more challenging, but it all worked out and we had some happy kiddos.