Battling cabin fever

We have had some real weather this winter. More (and earlier) snow than usual, and now an amazing ice storm. My university actually cancelled classes! (I've had loads of free time this week, which has been wonderful.) I'm quite impressed with what Mother Nature has thrown our way.

But the weather has kept us indoors more than usual. Fortunately we hadn't yet decorated for Valentine's Day, so I was able to find some interesting projects for the kiddos to do, to keep them busy.

Nienie inspired me to try Crayon Hearts.

I regret to say that I enjoyed making them a lot more than the kids did. But they are pretty! (Not as pretty as Martha's, I guess, but I don't have a staff of people just to cut things out for me.)

Hubby cut out some paper heart mobiles that the kids decorated. That went over much better.

I have to say that I'm getting a bit stir-crazy, and more snow is expected this weekend. (For those of you who don't live in the Midwest, snow on top of ice is BAD NEWS.) I have started nesting (6-ish weeks to go until baby!) and I wish I could get down to a good spring cleaning. However, I don't think I'll be opening any windows any time soon. I'll just have to settle for washing cute baby clothes and purging things we don't need.

Gracie's birthday

Gracie's birthday is a few days after Christmas, and a few days before New Year's. Making the day stand out on its own is challenging, but I give it my best shot.

Behold, the princess cake. Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart!

Here's the Birthday Girl, being sung to. Notice the big smile on her face? LOVED the attention. That's the difference between being the first child and the fourth, I guess.

No activity at our house would be complete without LEGOs in there, somewhere. We have an embarrassingly large collection of LEGOs. Now, we've even got a LEGO game.

It's called Creationary, and the boys got it for Christmas. They love it. Me? I'm just not very good at building. So I keep score. Uncle Jeff and Shannon graciously offered to play with the kids so I wouldn't have to embarrass myself.

Finally! Real snow!

I am just GIDDY about this snow! Sure, I can't get my car out of the garage, but the snow is just beautiful. Here are some pics of the kids enjoying themselves. We've been making a lot of snow angels (okay, not really, because the snow is a bit too deep for that), and drinking our fair share of hot chocolate. Enjoy the pictures!