Ice Ice Baby

Well this week wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be -- we've literally been iced in since Tuesday morning! We caught the tail end of the blizzard that swept across the midwest, although all we got was ice. Lots and lots of ice. There is so much ice that people in local cities were ice skating on the street! To make it all worse, the temperature has not gotten above freezing since Tuesday, so the ice hasn't melted at all. It has been cold. Temps in the teens with wind chills in the single digits to below zero! Thankfully, we haven't had any where we needed to be this week and I stocked up at the market on Monday. Chip hasn't had to go into work either, which is good since our driveway is on a incline and there is a solid inch of ice coating the whole driveway -- I don't think he could get out if he had to! So it has been a nice week hanging out as a family and staying warm indoors.

That is not snow -- that is solid ice coating the street and grass. It is crazy to kick the grass since it is frozen solid and feels like concrete.

The ice is so thick that our garden hose is practically buried in it.

The solid inch plus layer on the driveway on Wednesday.

This picture is from today (Friday) -- we broke off a piece of the driveway. It is so thick, it is crazy!

School Work

Here is some more of Lily's school work from the last couple months:

Purple + White = Pink!
Back in December they celebrated and learned about different cultures. Since the class has two kids with Indian parents and two kids with parents from England, they learned about India and England.

An Indian Rangoli

This makes me laugh since it says "I was in bed feeling happy." Lily hates going to bed and can't wait to get up!

I think a couple of buttons fell off in her backpack.

Mr. C's crazy cap!

Bike Ride to Grandma's House

Since yesterday was another beautiful 74 degree winter day we decided to take advantage of it by walking (me) and riding her bike (Lily) to Grandma's house -- a whopping .25 miles away! It is really sad and pathetic that we don't walk over more often. We used to all the time, but then it seems like it was too cold or too hot, or we were in a hurry or Lily would walk there, but not want to come home, etc. But after being sick and cooped up, we both needed a walk and some fresh air.

Lily got her bike for Christmas 2009, but never really took to it. We've "rode" it to the park before, but that usually involved me pushing her while she sat. So this was a HUGE accomplishment!! There are very slight inclines and declines along the way and she would need a push or two "uphill", but all in all, she rode her bike the whole way there and back. I was so proud of her and she was pretty proud of herself too!

Off we go!
She filled her handlebar purse with lipsticks -- a necessity on any good bike ride. :)

She does have a little trouble still, the petals seem hard for her. But she kept at it and did well. Although the "downhill" portions really helped to boost her confidence since it was so easy! :)

Almost home again! I was afraid that after playing at Grandma's for a few hours she wouldn't want to ride back home and we would have to hitch a ride, but she impressed me and rode all the way home too!

Lily's "Park"

Two weeks ago, Chip and my Dad finally started construction on the new swing set that my parent's bought Lily for Christmas. After three and a half frustrating hours, Dad, Chip and a worker from the golf course completed this portion:

And it sat like that for a week. :)

In their defense it was a HUGE project. Every single piece of wood was separate and needed to be put together. I wouldn't have even known where to start. I think they were a tad overwhelmed, but they came back with an extra helper one week later and seriously got to work.

Actually, they had 2 extra workers since Lily grabbed her tool box and got right out there in the action! She LOVED being outside and helping Daddy and "the guys". Normally, she shys away from strangers, especially men, but she was out there the whole time helping, playing, singing and dancing. It was pretty sweet.

With her little drill.

Out there with her screw driver and hammer! :)

Taking a break with her Rosetta doll to lay in the wood pieces?

She is SO silly.

Finally, after 4 days of work; a sod cutter to even out the yard, some new mixed matched grass to fix the patches they tore up, and a lot of hard work Lily's new "Park", as she calls it, was done! It was perfect timing too since it was a gorgeous 75 degree winter day and she got to stay outside and play!

Lily was making "fresh hot beignets" for us in her little cafe area. Then it was Chick Fil-A!

It is the perfect combination of playhouse and swing set! I know she'll have so much fun out here!

Toddler Bed -- Finally!

Finally! The last 4 year old in the world who was still in a crib gets her "big girl bed". Well, sort of -- it is still her crib, but minus a side!

I know, she was WAY to old to still be in a crib, but she never complained and never tried to climb out, so why mess with a good thing?? But Chip and I started feeling bad that she was still in her baby bed. So we converted it to a toddler bed last Monday. I have my childhood daybed for Lily that I just got when my parent's cleaned out the California house, but we wanted to take baby steps. Lily can upgrade to the day bed in a few months. She was excited at first and then scared. I actually think she liked the security of being trapped. She has been scared at night a lot lately and has had to sleep with a lamp on. Poor baby is terrified that someone is going to take her from her bed in the middle of the night. So to solve all our concerns, we bought a new video monitor (the one we had when Lily was a baby died a year or so ago). It is amazing how far they have come in 4 years! This one is AWESOME and has dual communication, so we can talk to Lily in her room! For example, when she tried to get out of bed instead of going to sleep, I didn't have to go in to yell at her, I just told her through the monitor: "Lily, get back in bed!" And when I see her twisting her hair, I can say "Lily stop twisting your hair!". I actually think she likes it a lot. It makes her feel safe knowing that we are watching her all night. She also likes to have random conversations, which she always did as a stalling technique before bed, but now I don't have to go in to her room! It has been great and she hasn't been as scared since we got it.

In her "crib" for the last time.

Ta Da!

Not a whole lot different, but now she has all that freedom and responsibility to stay in bed that she never had before (since she didn't realize she could climb out of the crib!)

I'm Back!

Wow! Two whole weeks since my last blog post, that has to be a record! Sorry, there just hasn't been a whole lot going on here besides Lily and I being sick. Lily had that HIGH fever the night before her birthday party and seemed fine afterwards, but that Wednesday started complaining that her ear hurt, so we went back to the doctor for the 3rd time in a week (we had been there Monday too, for a follow up after the ER trip and the Thursday before for her 4 year well visit). There was indeed some fluid in her ear that had not been there on Monday, so she got some antibiotics and since we were there they ran ALL the tests again. She even got to pee in a cup . . . guess who got to hold the cup? Thankfully she was negative for strep, flu, rsv, mono and her urine and throat culture results were negative. So, it was just the start of an ear infection, which the antibiotics should have taken care of by now. Meanwhile, while I was with her at the doctor I was NOT feeling well. I actually called my Dr from the parking lot of the pediatrician's office and got an appointment for the next morning. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and then spent the next 5 days napping whenever humanely possible. So it was a pretty low key week.

The most exciting thing that happened that week was that I got to corrupt Lily by introducing her to one of my favorite childhood movies! Those of you who know me well, must realize by now that I let Lily watch "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"! I loved musicals as a child, and my parents thought I would enjoy this one -- they were right! All the singing and dancing and pretty girls in fancy dresses (and lingerie). So when I saw it on cable, I recorded it to watch myself (even though I do have it on DVD). Usually, Lily doesn't pay much attention to what I am watching, she rather play with her dolls, but all the singing, dancing and pretty girls in fancy dresses caught her attention too and she was hooked. She LOVED it. She is such a little mini Vicki. It is really not that bad of a movie and most the "bad" parts went right over her head. She, like me as a kid, just liked the songs. Plus, she was very into the fact that it was in her state of Texas! She calls it "The Texas movie" and asks to watch it again and again. She even told Chip to call her "Miss Mona" and of course Chip was NOT to happy with me! :)