After weeks of anticipation, it finally snowed today! One minute we had nothing, the next it was dumping, and about 20 minutes later it was gone again.
When I saw it start I called for Talan and we quickly suited him up so that he could go play in it (Reese wasn't home). That's when we realized that he will need new snow pants this year.
Hello highwaters! I guess he's done his fair share of growing this past year. He was so excited to be out in it. He went running for the playset.
Next up was a snowball fight with Kevin. I don't have picture proof because I was way too cold to go stand out there with a camera but judging by the belly laughs I was hearing it was a good time. I can't believe that we're already into January and today's light dusting was the most we've seen so far this winter. Makes for an easier time on the roads but dare I say I've missed it this year? I hope those aren't words I'll come to regret.
We have really tried to make a point of getting out of the house and doing more as a family. It's hard because we know that every time we leave the house we're going to end up spending money. On the flip side, the reason Kevin works so hard is so that we can get out of the house and enjoy life. He's been able to take these past couple of weeks off and we've had a blast.
This past week we went to the bowling alley. I am the world's most terrible bowler. There was a time, waaaaay back when, when I could throw a couple turkeys up on the board. Those days are long gone. My ball sees a whole lot of gutter and not much more. See if you can guess who is who:
After two games we took the kids next door to ride rides and to play games in the arcade.
Needless to say, they had an absolute blast. We ended up being there for over three hours. Here's a little video of them on the rides. The squeals and smiles are priceless.
Yesterday was another fantastic day. The kids were showered in gift cards for Christmas this year. They both love to shop so we dedicated the day to running from store to store cashing them in. First stop was Starbucks where we used the gift card from Uncle Jeff.
Talan used some of his Best Buy gift card to buy the movie Paranorman (super cute movie!). So that night we went home and busted out the sofa bed, blankets, pillows, and about 350 stuffed animals that they insist on having with them and watched the movie all together.
Moments like those are amongst my favorites. I feel like we really reconnected as a family over the holidays. I'm actually sad to see them go back to school. Getting back into a routine will be so tough. We've all grown accustom to staying up extra late, sleeping late, and spending the majority of the day in our pajamas. Getting the kids to bed at a decent time tomorrow could be the death of me. But I'll cross that bridge when I have to and no sooner.
This year we did something a little different for New Years Eve. Some friends of ours invited us to join them at an Irish Pub where they ring in the Irish New Year at 6PM. They encourage families to come and have a lively Irish band playing, noise makers, hats, balloons, etc. It was wall-to-wall people. I kept hoping Talan would give us plenty of notice if he needed a bathroom knowing it would take a while to get through the crowd to get him there.
Talan and I got our groove on! He was jamming out to the music and loving every second.
Because we got such an early start and because we have all stayed up so late throughout the winter break we were exhausted. The kids and I were in bed by 10 and Kevin wasn't far behind us. Although he did make it to midnight.
The next morning we got to work on our traditional New Years Day meal. It takes us most of the day but it's so worth it. In addition to black eyed peas we make my Grandpa Boudreaux's hot tamales and my Great Mama Thompson's cabbage rolls. This year Reese got in on the prep work.
In years past the kids have turned their noses up at just about everything on our new years day menu. This year, however, Reese couldn't get enough of dinner. She was digging the cabbage rolls but really couldn't get enough of the tamales....dosed in a ton of hot sauce.
We always freeze leftovers and have it again mid-year. Not sure we'll get to far this year. I know she'll be all over the tamales before we know it. Makes me proud and I know my Grandpa is up there fist pumping, so proud of his little baby girl with Cajun roots!
I'm always excited for a new year to start because with it brings new beginnings. I love a fresh start. My wishes for this year are good health, blessings of peace, love, and happiness, more time with family and friends.....and no broken bones! Here's to bigger and better in 2013.
