Winter Wonderland

For the second time this winter, Mother Nature thought she would have some fun with the south and dump a foot of snow on us! This is the first time in the 8+ years I have lived in Richmond that we actually had TWO snowstorms. Seriously! All of my kin in PA are laughing (well, actually my sis and BIL are kinda mad b/c he is a landscaper who plows snow in the winter and they aren't making any money right now with their zero inches of snow.......but enough of my digression). I pretend like two storms with a foot of snow each is no big deal - I mean I did grow-up in the north - but really, in a city ill-equipped to handle large snowfalls, we become pretty house-bound for a few days while waiting for snow plows to grace our street with their presence (last storm it took 4 days until they came by, and their work was spotty at best.......). While we will venture out tomorrow, plow or not, we have happily camped out at home and enjoyed the 'family time' we have been given.

Josie has happily frolicked in the snow several times over the past two days. She thinks snow is about the best thing that could happen to us. Luckily, I kinda agree with her and we had tons of fun playing outside and cuddling inside.


Can she make a snow angel in snow this deep?

Not too bad.....
Trying out the slide on her playset:

It sure was fast - but she loved it!


The car - about 8 inches into the storm:
Making snow cream - like ice cream, but made with snow:

Yummy! This is a wonderful treat:

Coloring

Josie has been coloring for about two years. We started by allowing her to use crayons, and in the last year or so, she has graduated to colored pencils and markers. For two years she has been a model color-er, doing her best to stay in the lines, keeping the colors away from non-coloring surfaces........until Tuesday that is:


Taking this picture was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Picture the scene: I am in the kitchen making dinner, Josie is in the living room, studiously coloring a My Little Ponies picture. I enter the room to ask her a question and she looks up at me with those guilty eyes. Good mother that I am, I affirm with my child that she knows that she is not to draw on herself (she agrees). I explain how hard it will be to get it off (she sadly nods her head). Then I say that I will show her how crazy she looks by taking a picture for her to see - you know, since we can't just look in the mirror! Still trying to keep a straight face, I snap picture #1. In it she looks like a scared puppy in big trouble. This makes it even harder to keep a straight face. (I have saved her future embarrassment by not posting it here.) Finally I hold the laughter in long enough to remind her to smile for the picture and, voila, the beautiful goatee-sporting girl you see above!

Broccoli

Josie: "Mommy, look! I ate all my dinner!"
Me: "Great job, Josie!"
Josie: "But, I'm still hungry. May I please have more broccoli?"
Me, pausing (thinking: broccoli? Not dessert, or more fruit?): "Well, alright, you can have a little bit more."

A few minutes later.

Josie: "Mommy, I finished all of my broccoli again! Can I have some more?"
Me, deciding to pick on my little one for a bit: "Well, I don't know. Do you deserve more broccoli? You already had a lot."
Josie: "But I really love broccoli! Please? Please can I have some more?"

I take the plate away. Josie gasps, she is certain I am cleaning up her dishes. I return with more broccoli.

Josie, huge smile spreading across her face: "Yeah! I got more broccoli. Thank you!"

She quickly scarfs down her third serving before I can change my mind.

A Good Example

I have a daughter who is very complimentary of my workouts. She is often heard saying, "Run faster, Mama" or "Do more exercise!" She is even known to do walking lunges through a parking lot and show off her push-up expertise. This morning I received yet another confirmation that my lifestyle is rubbing off on her. As I was getting my morning internet fill, she appeared in front of me wearing my running gloves, hat, iPod, and various other running paraphernalia. She announced, "Look at me. I am dressing up as a pretend running mama". She proceeded to run laps around the house for a few minutes. Then she stopped and with a big smile on her face she said, "I am a good running mama!" I think she just made my day!

Christmas 2009

We had such a wonderful Christmas weekend this year! Wednesday night we drove up to Philly to celebrate with Nana and Pop. Thursday was spent making a chocolate cake with Nana. Josie had been asking Nana for weeks if they could make a chocolate cake. Here is the evidence of how much she "helped":

After a long bath and good scrubbing, we got decked out in our holiday finest and attended a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Nana and Pop's church. Nana, Josie, and I even procured front pew seats. Following church, Josie "helped" Pop set up the train under the Christmas tree:

Finally, Josie and daddy fixed a plate of goodies for Santa and the reindeer:

Josie went to bed rather late (after 10!) on Christmas Eve, so we weren't too surprised that she slept in until after 8 on Christmas morning. After reminding her what day it was (she was SO groggy!) and getting dressed, we went downstairs to see what was in store for us. Play my little version of "Where's Waldo?" with this picture - except look for Josie:

Josie asked just about everyone if she could help open their gifts. Luckily most of us were adults about it and allowed her. Here she is helping Pop:
Every single thing that Josie received was perfect! She had the biggest smile on her face all morning (and most of the afternoon since we opened gifts for over 4 hours!). I have a zillion pictures of her cheesing it up with each gift. I won't post them all here, but a small selection follows:


Later that evening, other uncles, aunts, cousins and Great-Grandma came for dinner. Here is daddy with one of his brothers and two of his uncles:
Much later that night, we snapped a self-portrait:
On Saturday, we loaded up the truck and drove an additional 2 hours to Aunt Bobbi's house. Josie spent the rest of the day clinging to her cousins and terrorizing the puppy! On Sunday, Grammy, Eric, and Great-Grandma and Great Grandpa arrived to celebrate Christmas number two with us.

Here is Josie posing in front of Aunt Bobbi's tree:
Opening presents with cousin Rachel:
Modeling the awesome ballerina/princess dress and accessories from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa:
Finally, the following week, Christmas, round 3 arrived. We were able to enjoy Christmas with Uncle Brian, Aunt Neely, and cousins Jack and Eli. Here are the photogenic ones under the tree:
All three brothers, wives, and kids (not quite as photogenic as the children!):
Overall, the holiday season was wonderful! We were fortunate to get to spend quite a bit of time with pretty much all of our family. We are grateful and blessed.

Dinner

Me: Josie, why aren't you eating?
Josie: I don't like to eat.
Me: You don't like to eat?
Josie: Nope.

No wonder she is so skinny. Wish I didn't like to eat.

All Grown Up

Sniff, sniff, wah, wah......My little 3.5 year old is all grown up. Over the last week she has learned how to read. Seriously, I don't make this stuff up. She is reading. Complete books. Alright, so the books go something like: The cat has a bat. The cat is in a lap. The cat will hit the ball. (Not an exact quote, but you get the drift). But, she is sounding out all of the words and reading them by herself. I just don't get it. I certainly don't push her addiction of letters, sounds, writing, and spelling (which really have been an addiction the past few months thanks to her favorite show, 'Super Why!'). I will continue to encourage her love, but when a child starts reading at 3, am I just promoting a rebellious, bored kindergartener?!? Sigh....guess we can worry about that in 1.5 years. Until then, Congratulations, Josie, you have instantly grown up, in the blink of an eye! Love ya, girl!