Winter Wonderland

We got 5 inches of snow yesterday...Philadelphia got 8! It snowed all day long, seriously. It did not stop until later in the evening. So this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland of snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. The sky was clear blue, and the sun was up, making all of the soft, powdery snow look like glittery sugar. I wanted so bad to just lick the bushes at the bus stop!!! Jordan DID lick the bushes at the bus stop! If we were skiing, it would have been perfect snow. I was so thankful to see such a beautiful sight this morning. It is amazing to me how much snow can pile up on the skinny branches of the trees. I think some of the them had two or three inches of snow. After school, Jordan wanted to play in the snow. I was all for it. We had to pry Jaron away from his beloved toys, but he had fun too. We even made a make-shift sled out of Jaron's Tonka truck and Jordan's princess jump rope. They tried to pull me in the sled, but it didn't work so well. It was great fun, and I am so glad we got to play in the snow today!




By the way, we have a snowball living in our freezer. Chris put it there yesterday to save it!? The kids check on it every few minutes :) And I did buy them some water proof gloves (Chris was mortified that I used plastic bags...I was trying to be thrifty and think "green"). But Jaron still had to use Jordan's pink rain boots. However, he didn't care. He pretended to be Ironman!!!!!

Party Time!

One of the libraries in our county library system held a party for the author of the Max and Ruby books, Rosemary Wells. She has written many, many wonderful, cute and funny books for children. Her Max and Ruby books were the inspiration for a Max and Ruby show on Nick Junior. Little Mr. Jaron LOVES Max and Ruby...mostly Max. And here's why. Jaron thinks he is Max. Max is the pesky brother of Ruby, who is constantly trying to reform his boy-ish behavior. He is silly and funny and creative, just like Jaron!
When I saw that Max would be a guest at the party, I HAD to sign Jaron up to go. I am so glad I did...he had such a wonderful time!! He was so excited! We wish Emily could have gone with us too :)
After meeting Max, we had a little snack. Jaron is really enjoying his Dunkin Donuts powdered sugar munchkins.
And then it was craft time. It's a good thing I took this picture...by the time we got out to the car Jaron had taken everything off of the plate. He wanted to hold just Max!!!
School was cancelled on Wednesday. We made a mini-snowman in our backyard. Jaron is wearing Jordan's pink rain boots because he doesn't have any boots, and I tied plastic bags around their hands since we don't have waterproof gloves........I know you probably think that's really funny, but it worked like a charm!!!!

Princeton University Art Museum

Jordan heard me talking about taking Jaron to the farm last week while she was at school, so she decided she wanted to go too. Unfortunately, since it is the dead of winter and no living being can stay out in the harsh wind chills for very long, the farm is a little limited on the activities right now. I lucked out finding a read and explore group during the day for Jaron, but there was nothing for the weekends. So I promised her I would find us something fun to do, even if it wasn't the farm. So as you can see from the title of this post, we went to the Princeton Art Museum. We live 5 minutes from the Princeton University campus. That's right, the Ivy League school. The township of Princeton is home to several Nobel Peace Prize winners. It is a really cool little place. The streets around the university are lined with stores, restaurants and coffee shops. It's a very unique place to go. Princeton University was chartered in 1746!!! Before the Declaration of Independence was even signed! It is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. We had fun...the museum was just right for little feet to walk through. Jordan enjoyed the statues and Jaron didn't like any of it because there were no superheros. And that's exactly what he said when I asked him if he had fun! There are no pictures of the artwork, photography was prohibited of course. But we saw works by Monet, Degas, Manet and Picasso. It was very enjoyable, and the best part is that the admission is free to the public! Cha-ching!!!








All of the previous pictures were taken on our way back to the car, as our teeth were chattering and we were running to keep warm. So I have no idea what any of these buildings are! They are just really, really old and beautiful!!!!



Here are a couple of pictures of my recent craftiness. I made these pictures for Jaden and Claire to hang in their new bedrooms. I can't wait to see those little boogers and give them a huge hug and kiss!!!!!!!!!

Ode to "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats

"One winter morning Peter woke up and looked out the window. Snow had fallen during the night. It covered everything as far as he could see."
Ezra Jack Keats

Did you know Ezra Jack Keats was instrumental in introducing multiculturalism into mainstream American children's literature? Did you also know he was one of the first authors of children's books in America to use an urban setting in his stories? And he was born to Polish/Jewish parents. (Thank you, Wikipedia.) If I haven't already mentioned it before, this is one of my favorite children's books. It is one I remember vividly from my childhood, and I thoroughly enjoy passing it on to my children. I think, like most children, I love the illustrations most. That is why it won the Caldecott Medal. After four decades children still love the story of Peter!!! If you have children in any capacity, please read them this story. You can tell them it is from me :)

So on to the real reason for this post........it has been really, really cold here in Jersey. The wind chills have been down in the single digits some. But we have also had some sunny days, even though it doesn't warm up enough to melt the layer of snow on the ground. We haven't had alot of snow, but we have had enough to play in, so that's just what the kids and I did the other day, right out our back door.





Jordan's snow angel.
Jaron's snow angel.

Riding down the slope in our Tonka truck.........

Jaron only wanted to push it down............


Jaron just gave Jordan a little push, even though she told him 10 times she could do it herself!!!!

TGI a Long Weekend

Here's a little update from last Friday's post:

1. The sun did not shine last weekend. It was extremely cold AND it snowed. The average temp this week hasn't gotten out of the 20s, and the wind chills are even worse. This morning it was 2 below zero, and it is supposed to get worse over the weekend. So no playing outside, I guess!

2. My new recipes worked pretty well. The red beans and rice was good, it used brown rice. Not too bad. The pasta e fagioli soup was alright. It called for pancetta which is like bacon, just not smoked. I couldn't find any, so I substituted turkey bacon. Bad choice! The soup was good as long as I didn't eat the pieces of bacon. Just so you will know, Jennie O turkey bacon is absolutley disgusting in or out of soup!

3. I have been very crafty lately. Chris says I am going Martha Stewart on him. I made Jaden and Claire some sweet little pictures for their new rooms. Jordan and I are working on a Valentine's garland. Pics will be posted later.

4. Jaron was upset about something today (who knows what) and he was crying hysterically. He still took the time to nudge the mouse and make the screen saver go off!!!!!!!!!

5. Since Jordy is taking piano lessons from your truly, I have been trying to sightread more music for my own personal practice. I sat down this afternoon to play through a couple of songs and was teasing Chris that he never wants to hear me play. Jordan said, "Yes he does, Mommy. And he likes your meals!" Ha, ha, ha!

6. Chris and I had a little date today. Jaron went to none other than Emily's apartment, so Chris and I ran to the Olive Garden to eat. We even had time to take a little nap afterwards :)

7. There was a new episode of The Office on last night. HILARIOUS!!! We will have to watch it again because it was so, so, so funny. Michael, Dwight, Jim and Andy are just the funniest characters we have ever seen on TV.

8. I am considering reading the Twilight series.

9. There is yucky salt residue all over our car from the roads this week. And I filled up our tank for $15 the other day! It wasn't completely empty, but a few months ago that would have been like 30 bucks worth of gas.

10. Jordan doesn't have to go to school on Monday because of Martin King Stewart day!

Overdue Christmas Videos

I know, I know. Christmas was like a month ago, and I am just now posting these videos. Welcome to my world of things always being overdue. I have $4 in fines at the library just for late movies, the dishes in the sink are always overdue a good washing, we can't seem to get out the door in the mornings when we should.......and these videos are late. I am sure I am the only who has noticed or even cares!!!! Ha, ha :) The first video was taken the night that I got to have all the kids at our apartment by myself. Nana, Papa, Uncle B and Aunt K had some last minute shopping to do (extra luggage and security at the airport don't mix). So I got to play with all the kids!! They are playing with Jaron's Little People garage. I just love the Little People toys. They are soooo cute! And so are these cousins :)





This next video is from Christmas morning. Wow! Toys galore!!!

TGIF!!

Who else is so glad that it is Friday?! I know Jordan's teacher, Miss Estremera is. She and the class do a "Friday Dance" every week :) I am glad too because it's Girls Night for me and Jordy, and I don't have to get up to get out to the bus stop tomorrow. We have had a little trouble getting out of the house in the morning this week :( Anyway, here's some things on my/our minds.

~1. I hope it is sunny tomorrow so we can go to the park or something.

~2. The kids and I are going to take ice skating lessons in February! YIPEEEE!!!!!!!

~3. I really like the books I have been reading...Two From Galilee, Three From Galilee and I just started the last book in the trilogy, The Messiah. They are novels based on the lives of Mary, Joseph and Jesus...very, very good.

~4. I am glad Chris and Jaron have Daddy's Day, the male equivalent of Girl's Night.

~5. The kids and I love going to Michael's.

~6. Chris and I love it when Jaron nudges the mouse to get the screen saver OFF the computer screen. He checks it regularly!!

~7. Chris sprinted to the bus stop yesterday afternoon to pick up Jordan.

~8. I am going to try two new recipes this week.

~9. Our sister-in-law Kelly is right.......New Jersey bagels ROCK!! And so does New Jersey pizza.

~10. Just in case you didn't know, Jordan knows everything. She will ask a question, and when we give her the answer she always responds with, "I know." We love it!!!!!!!!

What's been on your mind lately?