Big Kid on the Swings

She's been working on it for a while, but she definitely has the hang of it now!

Helping Spring Along

Spring weather finally arrived over the past couple weeks but we still had a ton of snow! It wasn't melting fast enough for us so for the past week or so, every time we were outside with the girls Brian or I would shovel some of the snow and ice off of our lawn. We had to chip away at several inches of ice and were throwing huge chunks of it over the fence to melt in the bushes. It's made a huge difference and our yard is now almost free of snow!

We propped this big chunk of ice up against the fence....

...and after 2 days of rain, it was almost gone!

Dinosaurs!

Grace has been interested in dinosaurs for a few months now so I was excited when I heard that the Museum of Natural History was going to have a temporary exhibit called Dinosaurs Unearthed. A few weeks ago Aunt MaryAnne and I took the girls to the museum to check it out. They both loved it! They were a little freaked out at first by the big animatronic dinosaurs that moved and growled, but they were very interested in all there was to see. We looked at all the permanent exhibits too, and the girls were excited to meet Gus, the 90 year old tortoise that lives at the museum.

I love dressing them in matching outfits and they love it too! (For now!)

Checking out the big frog!

This area was their favorite. They loved the big trees, and local animals.

Grace was so excited to see a dinosaur skeleton!

This dinosaur moved its head up and down. MaryAnne kept asking it questions and it would nod its head yes; the girls loved it

Digging for fossils!

Signs of Spring

We are all so happy that Spring has finally arrived! The driveway is full of sidewalk chalk, the girls are covered in mud every time we go outside, and Anna is no longer complaining and begging to go back inside after 5 minutes. Welcome, Spring!

"Twace me again, Mommy!"

That's What She Said

I haven't done one of these posts in a while! I try to keep a record of funny things the girls say in my phone but I often forget to type them up, and then forget entirely! Some of these are older (from the past few months) but still funny and cute. 

Anna: We love dis song! (said about almost every song that comes on the radio while we're in the van)
Grace: You always say that, Anna! You don't even know this song!

Lennan: I luh dis song!
Anna: No you don't, Buddy! You don't like dis song!
(I find it so funny when Anna takes on the big sister role when Grace isn't around! When Grace is at school, Anna will often say or do things to Lennan that Grace usually says or does to her).

Anna: Ca c'est pas bon, Lennan! (This was one of the first bits of French that Anna picked up from Grace. Imagine that.) 

I went to pick the girls up after a sleepover with Zilla and Bampers and as soon as I walked in the door Anna said "We went fwimmin' in da pool! And Gaycie went fwimmin' with her jacket on!" They hadn't gone swimming, and mom said she hadn't mentioned any of that to her before this. Makes me wonder if she was telling me about a dream she had! 

Brian: Grace, stop doing that (she was popping bubble wrap that was used to wrap some of our Christmas decorations)
Grace: (looks at Brian, confused) But... it's bubble wrap. I have to.

Grace: "Regarde, Maman! Tout les amis ont un collant!" (I'm not sure if I wrote that right, but I'm pretty sure she was saying it correctly! She had put stickers on a bunch of her stuffies)

Grace, as I was picking her up from school: "Maman, regarde! Ma main est bleu!" (they had been painting that day!)

Me: Grace, did you clean up your room like Daddy asked?
Grace: No, Anna did.
Me: Oh, that was nice of her.
Anna: No I didn't! I just make da mess!

And one more thing: Anna has an amazing vocabulary and mispronounces things less and less often now, but she still says "hup colder" instead of cup holder and it's so cute. We'll be getting in the van and she'll say "put my milk in the hup colder!" 

Melting!

We are finally getting some nice weather and warmer temperatures. I can see grass in the backyard! Keep melting, snow!

Winter 2015

I am so sick of snow! We've had an unbelievable amount of snow this year. Usually around this time of year we're wearing rubber boots and splash pants, playing in the yard and in the mud. This year we can't even see grass in the front yard yet! We just had another 10cm of snow earlier this week. It is ridiculous.
I've found this winter really tough for trying to get outside. Grace loves playing in the snow, Anna hates it. We go out anyway, of course, but usually don't last too long before Anna gets frustrated. I can't really blame her. Earlier this year we had several snow storms that brought snow, rain, and freezing rain, making everything super icy. It was really hard for Anna to get around! Then we just got so much snow and it was so deep, that she could barely move around in the yard. She also hated having snow on her mittens, for some reason. She is always taking her mittens off, regardless of how well I try to tuck them into her coat.
The snow is finally starting to melt. I can see the ground on the hill behind the house but we still have several feet of snow in the side yard and the front. It's going to take a while before we'll be playing in the grass, and it's going to be a messy, muddy Spring!
A few photos of our outdoor adventures this winter:

Just a bit of snow on the ground... Anna didn't mind so much because she could still move around fairly easily

Always taking her mittens off! "S'okay Mommy! I put my hands in my pockets!"

All of the snow melted! But then the real snow storms started...

Enjoying the playground while we could!

More snow! Grace got really good at making snow angels

Again with the mittens

After a bad storm of snow and freezing rain, our front yard was a sheet of ice!

Snow banks getting bigger and bigger!

Overall, Anna was not a fan of this winter!

Playing at Zilla's! Grace loved it...

...Anna was happy to be rescued by Bampers to go inside.

Anna did have some fun in the snow!

Several feet of snow in our yard. Grace could lean right over the fence!

Snow so deep, Grace had to lay down and rest on our way to the playground!

Usually she can barely get into the swing on her own, but with so much snow she could sit on it with ease

Snow so high the swings are completely buried!

Anna was so upset that she couldn't swing! Uncle Mike tried to clear enough snow to give her a little push but it didn't quite work!

Easter Sunday at Zilla and Bampers' house. The snow was higher than the railing of the deck.