Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Happy Birthday tickers
Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Happy Birthday tickers

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

longest winter...EVER!

Since Christmas we have found ourselves dealing with the longest, snowiest winter in history. In fact I think it ended up being one of the snowiest winters in history, with Fort Wayne getting close to 60 inches of snow! All of that snow meant many long days indoors trying to find creative ways to keep the girls occupied.


2014 did not get off to the best start for our little one. About half way through the day on New Year's Eve a touch of the stomach flu attacked Cece and she spent the rest of the day down and out. That sort of threw a wrench in our New Year's plans, as we were planning to celebrate at my brother in law's. Todd and Olivia still went to the party while Cece and I stayed home and snuggled on the couch. It may not have been what we originally planned, but ringing in the New Year with a night of Cece snuggles wasn't so bad.


Towards the end of the girl's Christmas break the weather took a nasty turn. After two weeks off of school the girls were ready to get back into their routines and I was ready too. So what do we get two days before the first day back?...a massive snow storm! A storm so bad that the city issued a travel warning which even kept Todd and I from going to work.


For one full day the snow just kept falling, and falling, and falling. It was a bit much for Cecilia so she stayed inside with me while Olivia braved the snow and cold to build the perfect snowman. She was so proud of her creation and with good reason...it turned out great!


This snow storm was the first of many we would experience in the next few months. So when not stuck inside because the roads were bad, or it was just too darn cold outside we would stay busy with some of the girl's extracurricular activities. Olivia wrapped up another session of soccer in mid-January. For close to a year now she has been playing with the same group of girls. She has known these girls for awhile between soccer and dance classes and they have grown to be quite a strong little soccer team.



Olivia's soccer ability has improved so much lately and I am really proud of how well she is playing. She seems to have a natural talent for it and most importantly she seems to enjoy it. Soccer seems to be her "thing", as well as dance, so we are going to stick with it for now and see where it goes.



Being cooped up so much this winter left plenty of time for Cecilia to be her crazy, nutty self. This bundle of energy finds a way to brighten the day, even when you have been stuck inside for hours at end. We tried to get out as often as possible to do things with the kids and break up the winter gloom. It's always fun to get out and do things has a family.


While out to dinner one night Cece decided to snap her first selfie. She is obsessed with playing with our phones and loves to snap photos. Once I showed her that she could see herself in the phone and take her own picture she busted out this cheesy smile. Not bad for a first time selfie! I'm sure there will be many more in her future.


One highlight of the winter for Olivia was attending her first sleepover. We had been thinking about the sleepover thing for awhile, knowing that she would probably be invited to one any day. Sleepovers are one of those things you worry about as a Mom...not knowing if your child is ready to spend the night at a unfamiliar house. Wondering if you are going to get a phone call at midnight saying that your child wants to go home. Oh, why do I worry? My girl was more than ready to attend her first sleepover!


This was the birthday party for one of her little soccer buddies, Ava. Things kicked off at the Roller Dome..another first for Olivia. Having never roller skated before I knew this would be a challenge for her. Luckily one of her other little buddies was a newbie to roller skating too, so Aleah and Olivia ventured out onto the roller rink hand in hand, giving each other moral support.




Next it was back to Ava's house for a night of girly things, like manicures, pedicures and make-overs...every 7 year old girl's dream come true! The nice thing was that I got constant updates from Ava's Mom saying what a great time the girls were having and there was absolutely no sign of homesickness. I was able to go to bed that night knowing that the chance of getting a middle of the night phone call was pretty slim. In fact the girls actually asked to go to bed at a reasonable hour.



The next day the girls got to tumble and jump at a gymnastics studio before wrapping up what Olivia called the "best birthday party EVER!". She was super proud of the fact that she tackled two "firsts" like a pro...roller skating and a sleepover. I'm sure this was the first of many sleepovers, especially since she has been requesting her next one almost daily since the party.


By the time February rolled around we are more for the snow storms to stop, so Valentine's Day was a fun little distraction. Personally I think it is a silly holiday and an excuse for stores to double the price of roses for one day, but it is a fun holiday to celebrate with the kids. An ongoing tradition for us is to make heart shaped pizzas. Last year Cece observed but this year she got in on the pizza making action.




Both girls loved decorating their pizzas, but Cece made it clear up front she would not be eating hers. Not sure why she decided to boycott her Valentine's Day creation but the child spent the rest of the evening completely refusing to eat. Olivia, however gladly ate her pizza and said it was delicious.



As we searched desperately for things to do this winter we did find our new favorite indoor activity...SkyZone, our new indoor trampoline park. The first time we tried it we all jumped and had a blast. It was so fun and if it weren't for the fact that it was incredibly expensive we would probably do it every weekend. So when we were invited to a birthday party of one of Cece's little friends we were pretty excited for the chance to go back.





The girls love this place and I am not ashamed to admit that I do too. I think it is a ton of fun and a great way to burn off some energy. It's been a long winter but we have managed to find many ways to pass the time. It's hard not to enjoy the days when you are spending them with two of the sweetest girls in the world. Luckily Spring is right around the corner, but until then we will keep filling our days with dance classes, soccer games and keeping up with Cecilia's non-stop energy!