Snow!!

Okay, so I am behind the times in the blogging world, but at least for memory's sake, it is worth posting about. Last weekend we had a record snow of 26" here. Saturday's big stack just wasn't enough, so another storm came last Tuesday, and we got another 20 inches! Today, being Presidents Day, means the kids and Dustan had a day scheduled "off". This is supposed to end the long weekend of 6 days, but it has started snowing yet again this afternoon, with 3-6 inches in the forecast. So, I guess we'll see what we end up with and if there'll actually be school tomorrow or not. The whole of the East coast has broken every record this year for snow accumulation. That just meant lots of exercise and no school for us!

The picture of the nearly 22" was taken from the first storm, at around 10 AM. The snow didn't stop coming down until above 5pm, but then the winds picked up and drifting problems started. The whole storm qualified as a blizzard, and they even shut down city streets. Tuesday's storm was a blizzard too, and they shut down the highway! That is VERY unusual for this area.

Here's Ariel with the second storm on Tuesday.

February!

I love February. Mostly because January is SO depressing! February always brings us closer to spring, and there's always something fun to do. People are in a happy mood and some are getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day. Then there is Nathaniel's birthday- a great thing to party about in my opinion. And, now that we are Orthodox, we have been made aware of the importance of Great Lent and all that it entails. So, while most people may dread the coming of this season, we look forward to it; the season of repentance and forgiveness, of self-sacrificing, conciously disciplining ourselves so that we can separate ourselves from the things of this earth, looking towards heaven and our Master; setting our hands to do His work more fully. These things we should be doing all year, but this season is set aside to ensure that we make time to do these all-important tasks. We're looking forward to celebrating Christ's conquering of death, and of our promise of resurrection to be with the Most High King.

Giving me the run around....

...literally- the kiddos were being cute today, so I wanted to capture a picture of them, and yes, it is asking too much. They started running like crazy people, trying to get away. It was funny for a few minutes, and then when I made them sit, Nathaniel had a pouting session. Ah, well, I got a good shot of their backsides anyway.

I just love milestone photos, and though I don't actually do many of them, I thought it would be nice to get one of the kids in front of the door of our house, marking the passage of time. So here's the first picture, in what I hope to be a series in years to come, of Ariel & Nathaniel at home, ages almost 6 and almost 8.

Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus is what Ariel wrote on the back of her beautiful picture she made and had put under the tree with all the gifts for Jesus on Christmas. Isn't she sweet? Well, I never did get any Christmas pictures, so I took one tonight, on this the 7th day of Christmas. The kids were playing so nice together and in such a good mood, and I thought it was a great time to do it. Well, Nathaniel didn't think so at all, as you can certainly tell! He was standing there very much against his will!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve baking and cleaning, and then going to church. Christmas day was lots of fun with smiling faces and surprises. Even Floyd was more than happy to find a new doggie bed under the tree and his stocking full of raw hide bones.

The kids got a variety of clothes, Legos, snack foods, icons, ornaments, movies, candy, balloons, and Ariel even got a down comforter, which she was very happy about! I got a crockpot (2 in fact), a Belgium waffle maker and some Pringles. I was more than pleased! (It doesn't take much) Dustan got some clothes, the Greek Bible and the Greek New Testament on CD. He was excited over that one! We also were happy to get a wine cellar and we put that to use already. It fits well under the desk in the kitchen.

After the morning's activities, we packed up our bags and the car and went to my in-laws for family funtime. : ) We got to see so many friendly faces and enjoyed being altogether. What a merry Christmas we had!