Signage

Just some signs and pictures that Allison likes to post around the house.

Did I mention today was snow day #9?

Fresh Bread

My good friend and church child-care buddy Imogene had our family over for lunch on Saturday. It was a delicious lunch and Imogene shared with me her whole wheat bread recipe. It has quite a few steps and today I made some for our family. I still don't think it tastes as good as hers, but I think food is always more delicious when someone else makes/bakes it.

Journey to Oz

Allison had a half day today so for the afternoon we went to Crown Center. We walked around the shops, had a scoop of custard at Sheridan's, then visited the Journey to Oz exhibit.  Allison hasn't seen the Wizard of Oz so she didn't really get into it, but since we were the only people there, I could tell her the story as we visited each section.

 

 

 

 

Snow Fort

Nathan and I like to joke about how when we were kids we had to watch the early morning news to (hopefully) see the name of our school scroll by on the school closure list. Now, not only does Allison not have to wait by a screen to find out if her school is closed, but it's determined before the first snowflake falls. Last night we got an email that "because of the imminent weather...."

It did snow, but it was quite warm so the roads were totally clear. After errands, our 8th snow day of the year seemed like it would never end. Allison and I decided that we would put on our snow clothes and spend the afternoon building snowmen and forts.

We cleared nearly the whole front yard making our fort. Allison decided she was the "director" so she didn't have to roll the snow balls. Her favorite part was decorating the fort with spray bottles filled with pink and blue food dye.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Nathan didn't get called into work today so we were able to celebrate Valentine's Day as a family. Allison woke up (in the same clothes she wore yesterday - and insisted on wearing again today) to a few treats on the kitchen table.

Since today was going to be the only nice day of the week off, we went to a new park. Nathan found the Black Hoof Park in Lenexa, KS. It was probably one of the best parks the KC area has to offer. Besides the super cool dam, there were pristine trails, beautiful landscapes, playgrounds, and modern structural elements.

 

 

 

 

(Early) Valentine's Day

Allison's class celebrated Valentine's Day today because they have the next 5 days off school. They had a party with crafts, treats, and games. The kids were all invited to wear their favorite red, pink, or valentine outfits. Allison has recently decided that pink is no longer her favorite color so she vetoed her many pink outfit options. I had a grey heart sweater dress that I didn't want any more so I offered it up to Allison. It was a quick sew (about an hour), and she paired it with pink pants for her Valentine outfit.

Snow Day #7

For our second snow day, we decided to get ready for Valentine's Day. Allison packed up her treats and cards for her classmates.

Today was supposed to be the Kindergarten Round-Up day for new admissions, and there was a sign up list to bring items to help welcome the new families. I signed up to bring 2 dozen bagels (quartered). Unfortunately, with school being cancelled, I now have a lot of bread products to freeze (and no room in my freezer).

On top of that, Whitefield decided to that would ignore their handbook policy of using February 18th as a school make-up day (if there are more than 4 snow days in a year),  because a few families have given notice that they plan to take vacations on the long weekend (even though we hit the 4 day limit in early January), so now we have a five day weekend to get excited about next week. I love our school, but changing policies last minute is a big deal and will be something I tell other families about when they ask me about the school. I admit, there are times when I subscribe to "Convenient Theories for Me Monthly," but I had already booked stuff for that day based on the policies of the school.

 Since we were stuck in the house for the day, we decided to have a pajama day. We decided to have a pajama day because when I asked Allison to get dressed she insisted that it was impossible to take of her nightgown. So here we are.

 

Paper Mache

Allison loves to craft but it's difficult to find a project that is good for her because she is very impatient. She's been asking to do paper mache, and since we had yet another snow day today, I decided to give it a try. But the time we laid the third strip she was already complaining about how gross her hands felt, and asking when we could start painting. I managed to rein her in and over the next two days (snow day #6), we put on 4 coats of newspaper, a layer of white paint, and then Allison finally got to design her cat.