Snowed In...

School delays, school closings, blizzards, sub-zero temps...call it what you want. POLAR VORTEX is what I'm going with. Travel advisories and local government shut down the city and tell you to leave your house only in emergency.

We've had to get creative around these parts when spending days on end in the confines of our home. Mmmmkay then. Let's get crafty!

Taught the girls some basic sewing. Which lasted all of 30 minutes. 

Izzy was great at threading the needle

We made jewelry for ourselves. Then for every friend we could think of. Yay for beads being found all over our house for days.

And we also made our own lipgloss. Let's just say mommy made the lipgloss.

We played in the snow and then scooped up fresh snow to bring in for homemade snow-cream. It was not B.reyers French Vanilla but the girls thought it was amazing.

Flashcards are a hit in our house. Sight words, rhyming, making sentences...you name it, we play it. Laney has even caught on quite well to the flashcards we use.

And thanks to our old Nanny Natalie, I found a pack of S.hrinky Dinks in the craft closet...score! The girls and I kept on making batch after batch of these little gems. Finally started making tiny alphabet letters with holes punched out to use for jewelry making. Cross functional crafting :)

Winter wonderland kept getting whiter and whiter

And deeper and deeper

You won't see Mikey in any of these pictures because he was literally laid out in bed for 4-5 days. Quarantined himself. Flu turned bronchitis. Poor guy. This made entertaining the girls that much harder. No one to tag-team and take a rester. Oh, and guess who had to shovel for the first time in her life? This girl. Dug out all the ski apparel I could find and had at it. I figured it was a good replacement for being in the CrossFit gym. The snow just kept coming. I would go outside every few hours to uncover the driveway yet again. Shoveling is no easy feat. I had to keep stretching out my shoulders. Phew! Glad that is behind us.

Once we were able to get out of the house we ventured to Chik-fil-a for Colts-blue ice cream and some play time.

Followed by a night with our friends, the Fechtmans. Last time we were there in December Laney had an "incident" with one of their t.v.s. Let's just say it was an expensive Christmas gift to make up for that awesome accident. So our friends did what they normally do...pull pranks on us:

Nothing was broken that evening, thankyoubabyjesus. Captured a moment between Matt and Bug. These two....I just love this pic. So special to have friends like them.

More random stuck-in-the-house pictures:

Poor Katie dog. Ahem, Princess Katie.

Last weekend Laney got a very high temp for a few days that wasn't coming down without meds. Definitely was the flu and maybe a touch of the stomach bug. Was so hard watching her writhe with pain, unable to help her. Poor sis. She's on the mend now and spunkier than ever.

Laney had her kindergarten shots a few days after she felt better and was rewarded with fro-yo. Back this train up...I said kindergarten!!! Can't believe it. But I also can't stop her from growing up. Shoot.

This is what it looks like when all four of us snuggle at the same time. Some of my favorite moments at home are snuggling with these three.

Ten weeks after my offer, I finally started my new job (same place, new gig). It'd be an understatement to say I was thrilled. My stress level has gone down significantly. I can sleep better at night. Enjoy my weekends. A huge weight has been lifted, leaving my old job behind. Replacing it is excitement to learn a new business and work with new people. Pumped!

Izzy standing on her hands.

Was fortunate enough to be a judge at the GLI again this year. Getting up close to Games-level athletes to count their reps and cheer them on....priceless. One day I hope to compete at this event, but until then I'll just keep plugging away in the gym.

Speaking of which, the Mini is coming up in a few months. Which means mama has to get some miles in. Drat. Since January 1st I have been on the treadmill once a week, slowly building my mileage. Although I realize one run a week will not score me a PR come May, I do know it'll add value to my CF training and allow me to finish 13.1 without doubt.

I do not miss treadmills. At all.

And finally, we were able to spend last weekend with some of our best friends. Mike went to college with these guys 20 years ago and they all still get together yearly. Be it a baseball trip, a ski trip or whatever...these guys are tight. The Diazs were in town for a swim meet so it was only natural for a UE Swim Reunion.

Mike, Brian, Jason, Kip & Jon

And the wives (I'm the only non UE alumn): Holly, Sandi, Carrie & Karen

We played Cards A.gainst Human.ity for hours. Laughing until we cried. Forgetting all our worries, even if briefly. While all 11 of our children played together in the basement.

I captured this picture of Jason and I simply adore it. I'm sure he was laughing at some horribly awesome game play, but it captures his spirit. So full of life and laughter. Mike's best friend. Mike's brother. Our family. To follow his journey click here.

This reunion was one I won't soon forget. Was so very special to all be together celebrating our friendship.