Our ward has been holding Singing Time for the Primary kids directly after our Zoom Sunday School/Relief Society/Elder's Quorum meetings. The kids are enjoying it, though it is a bit tricky to keep Topher from closing the computer or jumping on the computer or smacking the computer with the handy egg shakers all the kids have and use while they sing. Two-year-olds and laptops don't really mix.
According to the National Weather Service, we got just over three feet of snow over the last three days. There's so much snow outside that none of us were able to walk very well in it. Topher and I only stayed out for a bit, mostly because we couldn't move around much. Peter and Bryan both worked at shoveling the snow, including the mountain behind Bryan's car that was deposited by the snow plows clearing the streets. Everyone in our family is in these pictures, they're just not all easy to find.
Can you spot Peter?
Cooper and Topher made their way into the snow and worked on a fort.
A few snowballs were thrown.
This gives a better idea of the depth of the snow. That tall bush on the left had so much snow that it was nearly bent in half. Peter rescued it by knocking the snow off.
Proof I was out there, freezing with the rest of them.
This is the mountain left by the plow.
So is this.
Snow gear on kids is equal parts a pain and adorable.
I wasn't ready to go out when the girls were, so they put on their snow clothes and hung out by the front steps, soaking in the sunshine and cold.
This is what the van looked like this morning.
And this was Bryan's car.
There is so much snow.
This is how much snow we had yesterday evening. I thought it was a decent amount.
This was shortly before dinner tonight.
You can't really tell, but this is a sidewalk that has been shoveled at least three times already, plus a few steps and the wall of snow that was not shoveled away.
Bryan's car is under there.
Topher inherited a onesie swimsuit and has worn it for water play exactly once. It is now definitely too small. I've been meaning to go through his drawers and pull out the items he's outgrown, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. That means that he asks every few weeks to wear the swimsuit. I redirect him to wear something else and we carry on with the day.
Except for yesterday.
Yesterday I told him to pick something out, then I walked into the bathroom to throw something away. When I came out, not only had he picked the swimsuit out, he had also started putting it on. Well, okay. I helped him put it all the way on, and added pants since it's a little too cold for short shorts. He wore the hood up throughout the day and ran around being a superhero.
The best part? He can't remember that it's called a swimsuit. Instead he says, "I want to wear my suitcase."
This picture represents a significant number of hours of my time. After nearly thirteen years of writing the blog and a few years of printing it, the printed hard copies are totally up-to-date. The 2020 books arrived last week. I love that these are here and easily accessible to the kids. They love pulling them out and rediscovering all the adventures and funny quotes chronicled therein.
Yesterday's big adventure began when Phoebe turned from her desk in the basement to the adjacent exercise area to attend her PE class. That's when she saw water on the basement floor. The water happened to be surrounding the water heater. She alerted Bryan and he reached out to the landlord.
I learned about it when I finished putting Topher down for a nap. The repair technician would arrive between 3 and 5, except that they finished a previous call early and we had about fifteen minutes notice to grab lunches and laptops and school supplies and head to the top floor, away from people not inside our bubble.
Guess who got a new water heater today?
I was surprised that they took care of it right away. A second technician was called to help and, all things considered, the job was done relatively quickly. The kids and I hung out upstairs for about five hours while Bryan continued to work in the basement and supervise. And good news, unlike the AC repairman in the summer, these guys kept their masks on the whole time. When they left, busted water heater in tow, Bryan sanitized and we emerged from our seclusion.
Hot water is a luxury I'm quite thankful for.
Sometimes you want to run around and be loud with your siblings.
Sometimes you want to sit quietly with your doll and play a board game.
It depends on the day.
"Topher, you look so handsome in your church clothes. Can I take a picture of you before we put your jammies back on?"
Because we watched the inauguration yesterday, the school day was pushed back a bit. It ended up being a do-your-math-at-the-table-while-Mom-makes-dinner-kind-of day.
