Super Bowl

This post is a little late but between the two snow storms we was the Super Bowl.  We packed up and headed to Karrie and Joseph's to hang out and watch the game.  Well, watching the game didn't happen for me but that is ok, I got to visit with the girls and Arden got to play with all of her little friends.  She is only 5 months older than the next oldest baby but she seems SO much older and bigger than the rest of them.  Of course, if I see a baby I want to hold a baby, so I held Asher for a while and Arden didn't seem to notice in the beginning but then she did something I had never seen before - she came up and reached out to him like she was trying to take a baby doll from my lap!  She wanted to pick him up so bad!  I leaned him in close to her and she gave him the biggest hug...well she hugged his head!  She wrapped her arms around his head pretty tight so I had to pull him back.  He wasn't phased in the least but Arden definitely didn't understand why I wouldn't let go of him!  Of course no pictures of those precious moments but we did get a group shot of the kids (thanks Leslie, I swiped these from your blog!)...

Austyn, Asher, Porter, Arden, Ellison and Madeline 

We put Arden in the middle to anchor little Ellison and give Porter someone to lean on if he needed to :).  I don't understand this face she is making, she did this the whole time we took the pictures.  She went from a smiling baby to camera shy almost!

Austyn and Asher...I love the way he is leaning on his sister!

There is snow...and then there is SNOW!

Wow!  We just thought last week's snow was exciting, it had nothing on this week's 22 inches!  Yes, parts of NWA got 22 inches of snow starting early Tuesday morning and not stopping until Wednesday afternoon.  It came down fast and stuck to everything.  Kevin woke me up about 7:30 Wednesday morning to show me how much we had gotten, I was shocked!  By then the news was already reporting at least 10 inches in most places but some places had more and the snow wasn't ready to quit.  Before all was said and done to say we were "snowed in" was an understatement.  We had a snow that would make Colorado ski resorts jealous (although I am sure they get their feel all the time)!  I knew things were bad when my brother sent me a text early Wednesday morning telling me not to even attempt to get out - the roads were a disaster and even the City of Fayetteville had told their workers to go home because trying to keep the sidewalks and roads clear was a lost cause it was coming down so hard and so fast.  We didn't step outside until Wednesday night when Kevin ran a quick errand.  We opened the garage and saw the snow against the house/on the driveway for the first time from that angle.  Whoa!  The shrubs under our front windows had disappeared!  Our recycling bin that was at the curb was completely buried and the trash can next to it seemed small because of the snow built up so high against it.  When Kevin backed out of the garage the snow was coming up to the middle of the wheels!  As he pulled forward the front bumper of the Tahoe was pushing the snow as he drove forward.  So many people are saying this is historic (and the news sure acted like it was, the 3 main stations were broadcasting almost all day cutting into soap operas much to my disappointment!) and people who have lived here their whole lives are saying they haven't seen anything like it before...I am personally happy to say we saw it and we are enjoying it (from the inside looking out) but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if this was the last snow of the year :).

Snow Round 1...front of house - 2.4.11

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Izzy is NOT a fan of the snow!  She has to be pretty desperate to go out! 2.4.11

The REAL snow!  We have shrubs under the mound of snow under the window.

The ruts the car made when Kevin backed out of the garage for the first time.

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As of now the sun is out and it is supposed to get to 36 degrees today...major heat wave huh? The weekend is supposed to have temps in the 50's and 60's though so this will be melting fast and then just be a huge mess!

Chuck.E.Cheese

Last week cabin fever set in just enough for Kevin, Arden and I that we ventured to Chuck-E-Cheese with the Baker's and the Roark's!  It was our first time to ever go to Chuck-E-Cheese so we didn't really know what we were in for but it turned out to be a huge success (success to us is if we leave somewhere and she is so tired she can't stand it)!  Even though the place was packed (everyone else needed somewhere to let their kids burn some energy) we hung out in the special area for the little kids and before we knew it we had been there 2 hours!  

For a while Arden walked around trying to take it all in!

She tried a big kid ride just for fun

One of the first trips down the slide - we had to coach her along until she got the idea.

Going down with Dad's help but not sure what to think

Arden: "I think I am going to like this!"

Olivia and Arden at the top of the slide talking to Kevin

How cute is she?!  Olivia was a pro at the slide!

Back at the slide...she was up and down and up and down about 400 times before we left!

Ryder driving the little blue car!

Rowe on the police motorcycle

Ryder going down the slide...he also liked to climb UP the slide from the bottom ;)

It's a race to see who gets to the top of the slide first!

This face makes me laugh!  But at this point she was doing it all by herself and having a blast!

Arden and Olivia in the Chuck-E-Cheese car together.  Neither would look up at the camera at the same time!

Arden's turn in the little blue car.
Arden: "Who is this guy?!"

Arden on the police motorcycle

At the end we tried to get a group shot but that was too much to ask at that point.  It ended up being group shots of two!  

Arden and Rowe's party pic.  Sorry Ryder we didn't get a pic with you!

I am pretty sure that night was the quickest bath Arden has ever had...she was SO tired but there was no way I was putting her in her bed without a bath after an outing to Chuck-E-Cheese!  She went to bed a little early, slept late the next morning and then took a major afternoon nap...she was exhausted!  Thanks friends for such a good time!

Chef in Training?

Yesterday afternoon I decided to make cheese dip - snow days and junk food go hand-in-hand, right?  While I was working on the dip I decided to let Arden have a wisk figuring she couldn't do any damage to herself or the house so why not (which is all you worry about with a 15-month old!)?  Once she ran out of things to do with the wisk by herself I handed her a small colander.  It probably goes without saying but the girl hasn't seen us "wisk" something and I know she hasn't really used a bowl (she prefers to eat off of her high chair tray) so I had no idea where this would go but I turn around a few seconds later to find her using the wisk to "stir" what was in the bowl!  Genius right?  How did she know that you stir what is in a bowl? If I wasn't amazed enough then a few minutes later I was, she had put her goldfish in the bowl and was "wisking" her goldfish!  Maybe I just don't give her enough credit or maybe I don't give a 15-month old enough credit since I have never had one before but I was VERY impressed. On our next snow day I might even be brave enough to put water in the bowl!

I promise I did not stage this photo!

Her ingredients...Colored Goldfish!

Her student Izzy looks on...I think Izzy was just hoping a Goldfish would hop out of the bowl.

Arden: Maybe if I stir with the other end of the wisk it will make the Goldfish crumble to pieces.

Every chef has to try their creation!

Both hands in to get it really stirred up

Bite number two

Arden: It's finished!  I will take this with me!

I am going to go out on a limb and say she isn't going to be Martha Stewart, it just isn't in her genes, but I am very encouraged by her early cooking skills :)!

Snow, Snow...and more Snow

Whoa!  The weathermen got this one right!  We have gotten snow...and ice...since Tuesday (it is Friday!).  We woke up Tuesday morning to sleet that was turning into snow - all of this on top of freezing rain that happened for hours during the night and the temperature falling throughout the night into the daytime.  Things haven't had a chance to melt either!  On Wednesday the temperature was in the high teens/upper 20's (I think...super cold either way, especially with the wind chill which had things feeling like it was in the single digits) and Wednesday night it dropped to -5!  Thursday it seemed warmer because the sun came out and it got up to 25.  This morning we woke up and it was snowing AGAIN!  It has steadily snowed all day with temps in the 20's so more is falling on top of the snow and ice we already had on the already covered roads.  Today was the 4th day of school cancelled this week and the 4th day this week for Kevin and I to work at home (while entertaining Arden).  We do love the time at home and getting to spend our days with Arden but we have reached a few points where we just have to get out and have a change of scenery!  We haven't let Arden play in the snow, it is too cold and she doesn't have the right clothes to be outside in this, so our snow day pics are all from inside.  Luckily, while we are home she is a good napper but Kevin and I did make a Target run to buy more Backyardigans DVD's because the two we had were about to have a hole burned in them we have played them so much!  I can't tell you how much she LOVES the Backyardigans - she has learned what the DVD player is so is constantly pointing at the DVD player as if she is asking for us to turn it on.  When we do she shrieks (it is way above a scream) with excitement and just laughs and laughs through the first song.  She still doesn't usually sit through a whole show but she loves their theme song and waves "bye" to them at the end of each show.  It is precious and buys us some entertainment time if we need it ;).

Our venture out on Wednesday to JJ's for dinner - Arden isn't too much of a fan of the puffy jacket because she thinks she can't move.  I tried to put two super cute hats on her but she threw a fit until she got them off so instead of fighting her about it all night I decided to put her hood on her.  She wasn't too sure about it and instead of using her hands to take it off she would bend over at her waist and move her head to see if the hood would come off by itself...

Arden: "Is there a goldfish on the floor?  No, well will this hood come off?!"

Lots of time in the ball pit!  Kevin and Izzy joined her one afternoon and she thought that was great!
(Izzy wasn't up for a photo opp)

We read LOTS of books!

Being cute while eating lunch

Playing on her music table

Look Mom a yellow ball!

3 degrees!  That is what our car said on Wednesday night.  Notice Kevin's face in the mirror :)

I am very proud of this picture.  Arden pulled all the pillows off of the couch and got them situated like she wanted them then sat there like it was her pallet or special chair.  From here she played ball and read books and thought life was great!

And what would a snow day be without US magazine?  I don't think she liked the gossip this week?!

I do love the snow BUT I think we are all ready for at least one day of being able to jump in the car and go somewhere if we want to!  Tomorrow it is supposed to get to 32 (heat wave!) and Sunday maybe 36 with more flurries but stay tuned because next Wednesday we are supposed to get MORE snow.  I think we should enjoy it while we can...we all know this summer we will be wishing for a break from the heat!