Snowstorm- 19 inches!

We got 19 inches of snow over this past weekend. I think that this is the most I've ever seen and know that this is the most Kate has ever seen. She was SO EXCITED to go and play in it. So was Rich, Molly and I. Here are some pictures from Saturday and Sunday.

Getting Kate dressed- I was sweating by the time we were done!

Ralphie!!! I have to give a shout out to my friend Joanna who gave us this entire snow outfit, minus the Dora hat- THANK YOU JOANNA!!!

Kate out in the snow

Trying to build a snowman



Snow Angels- Kate wouldn't do this last year. She couldn't wait to do it this year!

Day #1- up to her knees
Day #2- the snow finally stopped and everyone started coming out. Rich plowed our driveway and 2 of the older neighbors. He plowed literally all day. Here were all are in front of our house.


Rich and his girls

My 2 girls :)

Molly LOVED the snow. She would play and then come in and sleep all day. The snow stuck to her fur and I don't think she liked it too much, but she loved prancing and bouncing around in it.



Day #2- 19 inches- almost up to Kate's hips!

Making Cookies

We had a huge snowstorm here over the weekend so Kate and I spent it baking cookies while Rich plowed us and the 2 older neighbors out. Here are some of the pictures from baking.
First we made chocolate covered Oreos. Kate was such a great helper until she realized that I would let her eat the broken pieces so she would break them intentionally. She also wanted to wear the apron, or empress, that Namma and Pop Pop got her in Europe.

She decided to dress up in her winter gear halfway through

We decided to make some cut out cookies. We used jello cutouts since we didn't have cookie cutters for Christmas.

We rolled the dough

Did cutouts

Baked and decorated

And, we made peanut butter with hershey kisses. Kate was the perfect helper. She unwrapped all of the hershey kisses for me. What she didn't eat, we used.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Kate singing

Kate belted out in singing last night and i was able to get this video. Enjoy!!

Busy at Kate's school

Kate has been busy at school this month. They have been learning all about the holidays in December. They painted dreidels and menorrahs, Christmas trees, wreaths, Santa ornaments. They even had lunch with Santa! Here is Kate all dressed up for that:


Kate has worn a Christmas outfit to school everyday for the past 2 weeks. I thought this one was really cute:

And, they made a little headband with antlers on it. I thought this was an adorable idea.
Happy Holidays!

Santa Visit

I took Kate to see Santa at the mall. Unfortunately, Rich wasn't able to meet us, but he got pictures. She did so great! We saw him walking to the stand so she waved at him. When we got in line, she was so excited. It was her turn, I was talking to Rich on the phone and when I turned, she was already in Santa's lap. He asked her what she wanted and she said, "A Treat with Chocolate". He then said, "What kind of toys do you like"? and she said, "A Babydoll". We got her picture and then it was time to go. She didn't want to leave!!! Santa was like, ok, thanks! He had to put her down. All I could picture was A Christmas Story when Ralphie sat on Santa's lap and Santa booted him down the slide.

Let it Snow!

The weather people had called for some flurries on Saturday, but we all know they are usually wrong. This time, they were right! We had a ton of flurries. It was so beautiful. I called my parents in Florida so that they could see it on skype- just in case they were too hot.

I had told Kate a while ago that when it snows, we'll go outside and try to catch a snowflake on our tongues. Well, she couldn't wait to go out and do it, and she did!

New Words for "Santa Claus is coming to Town"

Kate is now starting to sing along to the radio, which is by the way, the cutest thing ever. She knows words to " You Belong with Me", "Meet me Halfway", "Already Gone" and I'm sure a few others. We've been playing Christmas songs in the car. She knows Frosty the Snowman and last night, we heard "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Kate was singing it after it was over and this was her version:

"You better not cry, You better not pout, You better not pee, You better not boss around". :)

I will never listen to this song the same way again. :) We just LOVE her!!!

New Moon

I went to the movies last night with 3 of my girlfriends. B brought her daughter A and son D, and a generous dinner of stuffed shells over and Rich fed and watched the kids until B's husband could get there. Rich made out great with all the kids and Molly- he said the girls were so well behaved, played together perfectly, ate, and even had a dance party. He said the goodbye was priceless.

We went to see New Moon and i thought it was good. I read the book and didn't like it at all, but the movie was good. Much better than Twilight, the movie, to me. It was nice to have a night out and have dinner and go to a movie with friends. Thanks Rich :)

Nativity Story

We bought Kate an adorable "Little People" Nativity set. It arrived yesterday and she was so excited about it. Rich was trying to explain to her the meaning of Christmas and that it's not just about Santa. He told her, it's Jesus's birthday. She said, "I'm having a Dora birthday party when I turn 3"! We just laughed.

We set up the Nativity and Rich explained who everyone was. She lined all of the people up and I told her to put them where she thought they should go. I said, "Put the angel on top of the manger". She looked and said, "Where is that butterfly person"? Then, she said, "Mommy, I can't find Jofus." She was confusing Joseph and Jesus, but it was so sweet. Just had to share this adorable Nativity story so that I can look back someday and remember how sweet it was.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a safe and happy holiday. I am so thankful for my Rich, my KK and my family and their love and health. oh, and Molly too :)

We're in Trouble....

Rich just called to tell me about Kate's morning. Kate wore a dress to school today, but decided not to wear her tights I had put out for her. Rich said she got to school, went over to her friend Ben, pulled up her dress and said, "Look Ben, I have no pants on!" Oh My! We are in trouble!!!

Our Little Indian

Kate has been working on Thanksgiving related items at school all month. Yesterday, they had a little Thanksgiving feast. The teacher brought in turkey and pumpkin pie and everyone in the class contributed something. Kate also brought in little turkey cookies for the kids to enjoy for their morning snack.



I picked Kate up yesterday and asked her what she had at the feast and she told me "Chicken and corn". She tried the pumpkin pie but didn't like it, but she said she had ice cream, which I'm sure made her so happy.



Her is a blurry picture of her in her Indian wear.




Happy Thanksgiving!

Fun Weekend

We had such a fun weekend this weekend. On Friday afternoon, Kate and I had lunch with my friend Katie. For dinner, we met Joanna and Bridget at Friendly's. Bridget was wearing a scarf and gloves and looked glamorous.


Saturday morning, Kate woke up and put on a scarf and gloves because Bridget was wearing them :) We went to a toy store and Kate got to meet Elmo and Dora. She wasn't thrilled at all at first, but as we were there longer, she warmed up to Dora and finally gave her a high five.

After the toy store, we went to the mall and Kate and I grabbed a slice of pizza while Rich went tool shopping. Isn't she the perfect lunch date?

After nap, we went up to our friends' house, the C's and met up with the D's who were visiting from E town and the B's. It was so fun to have everyone together and to watch all the kids play. We realized the last time we were together, there were only 3 kids. Now there are 5.

Sunday, Kate and I headed to church and Rich went golfing. After Church, Mike and Katie stopped by and we all hung out and they tired Kate out. We ended our weekend with dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then a little snuggling to watch Mickey Mouse Train in bed. I Love our weekends together!

Best Friends

I went to pick Kate up from school the other day and she always comes running as fast as she can to me when she sees me. (There is no better feeling at the end of a long work day than to have her running with a huge smile, ecstatic to see you). A little boy in her class, Adrian, also came running and pulled my hands off of her, and with tears in his little eyes, looked at me and said, "Please don't take Kate home. I want her to stay and play with me." It was the cutest thing I ever heard. So, I let her play a little while with Adrian and Ben (they are 3 peas in a pod). When we ask her who her friends at school are, she says, Adrian and Ben. My mom and dad said, who is your best girl friend, and she replied, unprompted, "Mommy!"

I love the minds of kids. They are so sweet.

Picnic in November

It was so warm here on Sunday that we were able to have a picnic outside and enjoy the warm weather. We had a great day playing outside. It was so warm, there were bees out, which put a little damper on our picnic.

Fall Fun

If you've been to our house, you know we have a ton of leaves in the fall. Rich got a head start on them this year with his new tractor and left a pile for Kate to play in. We've had a mild November so far, so we've been able to take advantage of the weather. Rich made a huge pile of leaves and we had a ball jumping into the pile. Even Molly joined in.

Here is Rich showing Kate how to do it:

And, here are Kate and Molly having fun:

We covered Kate in leaves:

Laying in the leaves:

Having fun on the swing:

Snowdeer

We got the Pottery Barn Kids catalog yesterday and while I was making dinner, Kate sat at the table to read it. She saw Santa and she got so excited and was yelling, "Look, Mommy! It's Santa and his SnowDeer!!" I looked and it was reindeer. I absolutely LOVE the little things she says. I had to write this down and share because it was too cute. I will forever think of that moment when I hear reindeer.

Kate's songs

Kate loves to listen to music on the radio. When we get in the car, she'll say, Mommy, can you please find "Fireflies, Hannah Montana or Short skirts?" Translation: "Fireflies" by Owl City, "Party in the USA" by Miley Cirus or "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. She loves to sing and dance to these songs. She's also become a big fan of "I've gotta a feeling" by the Black Eye Peas, "Hotel Room Service" by Pitbull. She gets so excited when she even hears the songs. She'll ask to wait to get out of the car until it's over, or if we are home, she gets out in the driveway and dances. I have no idea where she gets her taste in music ;)

Halloween Fun!

We had such a great Halloween. Kate woke up in the morning and we opened her card from Namma and Pop Pop- thanks Namma and Pop Pop for the money.

and her Halloween basket:

We went and visited our friends the Cs, and met their handsome new son and had breakfast. We stopped at Target and had some lunch, then went home and napped. When Kate woke up, she was SO EXCITED!! So, we had dinner and then got her and Molly all dressed up in their costumes:

Then, it was time to go out trick or treating.

Here is our little lion doing the biggest ROAR ever!- check out her pumped fist :)

And off we went. She had a ball- kept asking to go home so that she could eat her candy. She was the only trick or treater in our neighborhood. The people that we are the most friendly with made up little bags for her, which was just adorable. Hope everyone reading a great Halloween as well! Can't wait for next year's!

Halloween Parade

Kate had a Halloween parade at school today. She was dressed up as a lion. As soon as she put on her costume, she yelled, "ROAR"!

The kids all gathered in the room before the parade:
Then, they did the parade. It was very short, but cute.
And, then there was a party in the classroom. The teacher asked me to help out, which was great! The kids had fruit, juice and a cookie, and each got their own little gift bag.

Happy 4th Birthday, Molly!

Molly is 4 today. Kate & I went out over the weekend and got her treats and a special Happy Birthday biscuit, which we will give to her tonight. When Kate and I bought the treats, Molly was in the car with us. I told Kate, you can't tell Molly what her present is, it's a Surprise. So, we get in the car and she looks at Molly and says, "Molly, we bought you a present, but it's a surprise." :)

PHILLIES PHEVER!!!!

We have the Phillies fever! We are so excited they are in the World Series and even more excited that they beat the Yankees in the first game!! Let's go Phillies!!! PS- Kate will tell you, her favorite Phillies is the Philly Phantic.

I wanted to post the finished product of the pumpkin painting from my post yesterday:

Ta da- we have a little artist on our hands- she gets it from Rich :)

And, here is another pumpkin the Kate decorated at preschool. It has feathers for hair and eyes :)