Two Birthdays, Two Crafts

Today Emily and I wanted to make Valentines for Mimi's and Poppy's birthdays, but ever since she got the idea of making a duck in her head a couple days ago, all she wanted to do was make that duck. Since a duck doesn't have much to do with birthdays or even with winter, I suggested we make a duck craft and then make snowman Valentines. Two crafts in one day? Of course she agreed!

Starting with the duck, I cut the body and beak out of construction paper and cut the wing out of a yellow painting. I had her practice cutting with scissors on a square of orange paper, and then I used the cut paper to make the duck's feet. She finished with a googly eye, named him Jack after her cousin, and flew her new friend all around the house.







After naptime, it was time to make the snowmen for Mimi's and Poppy's birthday cards. I cut the shapes out of construction paper, then had Emily sort the snowballs by size before she glued them together along with the top hats and scarves. She finished with googly eyes and buttons dotted on with a marker.








Happy Birthday to Mimi (late) and Poppy (early)!

Backyard Scenes

Snowman Snow

Finally, we got snow good enough for a snowman! With Quinn and Sydney's help, we made more than just one snowman; we made three! A Daddy, an Emmy, and a Quinn, naturally.



Kate kept watch from the stroller, where Quinn and Sydney did their best to keep her smiling.




After all the fun outside, Emmy got a special treat: her very first cup of hot chocolate, chock full of marshmallows. (She has such a good memory; she remembered marshmallows from the beach house, where Auntie D showed her how to smoosh them together!)



Can you tell how much she loved it? Of course, like every kid, the marshmallows were her favorite part. With how much I love hot chocolate, I'm glad I get to share it with her now too!

A Snowy Walk

I gave Kate another shot in the snow, but she still doesn't seem to keen on it, so we decided to take a walk instead. I told Emily she'd be so cozy in the stroller, but really I just didn't want to take an hour to walk around the block like we did last time!



Emily was content once she was all bundled up, but it was Kate who was really happy to be out of the snow!

Kate is Walking!

It's official: She's not just taking steps anymore, she's actually walking! Her big sister is obviously a big influence, as today she kept walking to Emily over and over. Of course, holding a toy apple as bait helps too. Just look how excited she is!






We are so proud of our big baby girl!

Sledding with Pop-Pop

Last night Daddy and I had our first overnight away from the girls and took them to spend the night at Mimi and Pop-Pop's house. Pop-Pop had a trick up his sleeve to keep Emmy from missing us too much: he took her out sledding!





It sure looked like Emmy had fun, but unfortunately the night wasn't as much fun for anyone, with the girls waking up so much. I think it'll be a while before we ask for an overnight sitter again! Sorry, Mimi and Pop-Pop!

Baby's First Snow

Now that we're all feeling better, and we had another snowfall, the girls and I finally made it outside for Kate to get her first taste of snow!




Unfortunately, by the time I got the girls all bundled up, it was almost Kate's naptime, so she wasn't in the best of moods. You would probably cry if you got stuck in the snow next to such a measly snowman too!

Emily wanted to take a walk, and since Kate was fine as long as I was holding her -- what else is new?! -- that's just what we did. Emily loves playing "I'm gonna get you!" and also got a kick out of finding a snow-covered sofa in front of a neighbor's house.






She loves playing hide-and-seek too, although you can tell she needs to work on her hiding skills a bit more!



When we got home, she showed me how Miss Cammy taught her to make snow angels, apparently forgetting when I taught her last year!




We made a Mommy and an Emmy angel and would have tried for a Katie angel if she were up for it, so we settled for Mommy-Emmy-Katie footprints instead!