Cooped Up

So, we thought spring was on its way.......
We were wrong. It started snowing last week (for the annual St. Patrick's Day storm in Erie) and it is still going today.  It's cold and wet and slushy and muddy, and we have only been out to play or to visit friends a few times.  Stir crazy does not even begin to describe the end of March.

Meanwhile, the "Cubee" craft projects have taken over.  A good portion of every day is spent creating and playing with these creatures.  Several are print-outs from the website, but they have also made a bunch of their own designs and piles of accessories.  They spend hours in the art corner surrounded by paper scraps.

Flynn and Rapunzel (from Tangled), as well as Mother Gothel and the captain of the guards, are some of their most favorites.  They made their own designs for these.

Many mornings they jump right back into playing before they've even eaten breakfast.

When Cubees are set aside momentarily, we read or look through the hundreds of books we checked out from the library (oh my, the amount of books right now...).  I've been reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret to Evan; Chloe is usually sitting nearby listening, but I'm not sure how much she understands.  When it's Chloe's choice, we work our way through the James Herriot collection that she never tires of.

Dreary days seem to call for card games too. 

(Seeing the glasses in the photo above reminded me -- Evan recently had an eye appointment that showed his lazy eye to be completely healed and the other eye strengthened to 20/20.  Praise God!)

And Chloe wouldn't be Chloe without a constant art project in the works (messy stuff like paint and clay being her favorites).  She has made several more window clings to brighten the view out the front window.

........ brrrrrr .......

Discovery

We found snowdrops growing while the weather was nice.  We have never seen them in person, so the kids were excited and Chloe felt like something of an explorer making a discovery for the whole world.  The very next day the crocuses, which were non-existent just one day earlier, were wild everywhere.  Chloe brought handfuls of them home to save, so even though it's snowing outside today, we have a bit of spring here in the house.

Weekend Outside

It was a gorgeous weekend with spring-like sunshine and temperatures, so we basked in it.  With RC trucks charged up and ready to go, we were all over the neighborhood on Saturday.

The snow piles that hang out on sunny days seem to grab the kids' attention every year.

Todd's super dusty truck was just begging to be scrubbed with snow.

And what's a day outside without scrambling up the tree....

........or the truck roof....

On Sunday we went to the park with the RC trucks once again.  Evan drove his all over while Chloe followed along (her battery was dead).  She was busy hiking trails and collecting sticks. 

Eventually Evan joined in the hiking fun too, and from that point on Todd and I just stood watching in awe of our two big kids running all over.  They are such explorers.

 

Hello March

Yesterday it looked like a snowglobe outside.  We were mesmerized, but not motivated enough to run out in it, surprisingly.  We did stick our heads out the window and look up though.  So pretty!

I haven't been in a life-documenting mood recently, but I did take these fun pictures of the kids before we went out one day.  I still have to bribe them to smile by playing the "don't make any faces" game in which they try to sneak in a goofy face just as I'm snapping the picture.  When they laugh, I get a good picture.  Win, win.

After capturing some pretty good smiles, I let them go crazy.  These are the best of the silliness.