How's it going Frosty?

-Sarah said as we were assembling the snowman in our front yard. Samuel and Sarah came over for a playdate, most of which took place outside playing with the snow. It was a gorgeous day; sunny, high only around 35 degrees. The kids had a great time outside until the two youngest started to get cold. Ian was the first one to be 'all done', thus no appearance with Frosty.

Snow, snow, and snow again!

This is the third time we've had snow this winter and it tops the other two times by 4 inches. Yep, we had 5 inches of accumulated snow and it looked beautiful this morning. It rained most of yesterday with the temperature hovering around 33 degrees. Then it started snowing last night about 8 pm and ended sometime early this morning. It was a very wet, slushy snow. There were piles of snow perched on the branches of the trees. Snow stuck to the side of the tree and icicles on the rail of the deck. We woke up to our own winter wonderland. I wasn't the only one snapping pictures before dawn. Down the street was a neighbor in his robe, bare ankled and clutching his camera.

Daddy had a hard decision this morning: whether to brave the roads or not. Since we had rain yesterday and the snow was so wet, the road conditions were pretty bad this morning. Scott started a new rotation today which is an elective (not as demanding or necessary for him to be there). Plus, he didn't have to be at the hospital til 8:30 am. He wanted to stay and play in the snow with the kids, and we aren't too fond of driving in icy conditions (we grew up in TX and lived in Phoenix for the past 6 years!) So there was definitely a debate going on between us - stay or go, stay or go. In the end, when we saw the paper delivery guy, we knew that the Doctor didn't really have much of a choice. Off Scott went down the hill and to work. He said it was pretty slippery the whole way there.

I bundled the kids up to go play outside. This is such a production. On a suggestion from my Aunt Dori, I layered the kids hands with socks, plastic bags and then socks. This seemed to REALLY disturb the kids at first. Once we outside, they seemed to have a great time until they fell down one too many times. Then they were cold. Of course, Payton was the most vocal about being cold and we went back inside. The first outing lasted about 7 minutes. Just about the same amount of time it took to get them ready.

The second time lasted longer. We went out just before nap time and the kids 'helped' me shovel off the driveway. (There is actually a little shovel in Ian's hand.) They had a blast. I didn't do the plastic bags this time and they didn't seem to mind that they were picking up (sometimes dripping) wet snow.

Rainy day fun

We had a rough night last night with Ian. He didn't get a good nap yesterday and we had company last night, so I thought he would have slept all night soundly. But he was up a couple of times; only went to sleep after some ibuprofen; and was up at 5:10 this morning. Scott and I didn't feel up to church, knowing that Ian wouldn't be an easy person to deal with at church. So we stayed home.

It's a COLD and rainy day. We've had rain all day and it's 33 degrees. We're expected to get snow late afternoon into the evening with a chance of 4 - 8 inches of accumulation. Since we weren't going anywhere, Daddy decided to build a fort with the kids. It ended up being a large tent and Payton decided to decorate it :)

Earlier in the day, Ian was watching Daddy get dressed and do his hair. Ian told Daddy, 'Fix hair?' - Ian wanted his hair fixed too. Daddy combed his hair and then Ian wanted 'Goop' Daddy obliged - I'm thinking this isn't the best look for my little boy.

IKEA!

IKEA comes to Charlotte and the van Poppels have to make a special trip to get our Swedish meatball fix! The IKEA is about an hour away from our house. We decided to trek down there today to walk around have lunch and then hit Trader Joe's on the way home. We arrived at IKEA 15 minutes after it opened and the parking lot, which hold 1700 cars, was about 75% full. It was crazy! We seemed to be drawn to the orange furniture....but no large purchases today.

We were having a great time until I tried to show Daddy something and Ian used the opportunity to run off. It took us about 3 minutes to find him and I think it was about the longest 3 minutes of both of our lives. At first I thought he must be close by, but then I didn't see him anywhere. Then an IKEA employee saw Ian by himself and grabbed him - thank God!

Say Aaahhh

Payton and Ian are something else. Today we went to the doctor for Payton's breathing issues. She has always been a very loud sleeper. Sometimes snoring, sometimes just very loud breather. I think she also has sleep apnea occasionally. Pediatricians in the past have said that she could grow out of it, but I'm thinking that she's not growing out of anything. So we had the doctor look down her throat today. The Dr. said her tonsils were a little large with could be part of the problem, but she's referred us to an ENT doc. I don't know when that appt. will be yet, but we'll keep everyone informed.

Payton is such a happy little girl. She runs around playing always narrating her little escapades as she goes, or singing little songs. Right now she has been in to jumping tricks. Jumping on the bed. Jumping off the bed. Jumping off the exercise bench. Jumping off the couch. Unfortunately Ian wants to do the same.

Payton and I were talking about going to school and college and what she wanted to be when she grows up. Then she asked me, 'Mom, will I get too big for my bed?' (A little off subject, but ok..) Its funny what her little mind thinks of.

Is that Michael Jordan? or Larry Bird?

So Daddy has set up a new game for Payton and Ian to play. He's taken my bench (exercise equipment) and set it up about 3-4 feet from the basketball hoop. I'm impressed with the coordination of these kids. Payton runs, jumps off the bench and (sometimes) makes a basket. Ian already has his form down for free throws!

On a different note entirely: Ian's making progress in the napping arena (I hope). For the last two days, he's gone to sleep on his own and hasn't fussed about it. I've been reading to the kids together and then tell them to go to their room. Ian goes to his room, sometimes with a little help and then I ask him if he wants the door open or closed. He says, 'open'. I've left it open; he reads books and then crawls into bed by himself :)

Samuel's Birthday Party

One of Payton's favorite playmates had a birthday this past weekend. Samuel turned 4 and we celebrated his birthday at the Winston-Salem Children's Museum. Words cannot express how excited the kids were about he whole affair. They both love Samuel and Sarah (Samuel's sister). Give them their friends, cake, ice cream, car stickers AND the children's museum and they couldn't contain themselves. They ran and played and ate and had a grand time. We've been to this museum several times, but they have a new exhibit of Arthur (which is a series on PBS). Payton and Ian spent most of their time here. They both loved the green screen which put them in the middle of an episode of Arthur. Ian also couldn't get enough of the kitchen that they had in this area. He kept answering the phone and talking to Daddy.

Scott missed out - he had to work this weekend :(