So cold today

It is so cold today. I think the temp is still just above freezing. It probably won't get into the 40's today...brrrrrr. The kids were driving me insane this morning bickering and fighting. Mark came home for lunch and gave me a bit of a break. Now it's rest/ nap time and all is quiet. I just finished reading my Bible and my daily devotion and hopped online before going to grab a snack. My small group issued a challenge to choose a devotion and read it every day for 90 days. I LOVE a challenge and probably stick to things better when I am challenged. It's day 19 of this particular one and I've read every day. I'm hoping this becomes a habit that sticks! I have never before been able to sustain any sort of daily quiet time or daily Bible reading. I fail every single time. It would be great if I can maintain it this time. There is so much to read and so much I want to learn.

We are heading to the library after rest time and then to our church for the monthly fellowship dinner. On the menu for tonight is a Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner. I cannot wait!

First snow of the season

Last night around 8:30pm I pulled Mark away from the computer and we stepped out onto the deck to see snow flurries. No one was forecasting any accumulation, so it was a nice surprise to see a dusting of snow outside this morning. Peyton was eager to get out of bed when I told her there was snow on the ground. Liam said, "We gonna need our boots to go play in the snow." Sadly it was almost gone by about 11am, but I guess officially this is the first snow of the season. Peyton said she was hoping for "eighty one thousand hundred feet" of snow this winter! I'm hoping for enough to close JMU so we can all stay home for a day or two and enjoy playing outside. I want the kids to build snowmen this winter!

Playing in the leaves

We spent some time outside late last week playing in and raking leaves. It was fairly nice last week with high temperatures in the high 50's, but not so much this week. The highs this week are not supposed to budge out of the 40's. I'm predicting some cabin fever!

Sidewalk Paint Art

I found a recipe online for sidewalk paint and gave it a shot. It worked well but was very runny. I made green, red, blue, and yellow and was hoping the kids would enjoy the different colors. Well, my sweet Peyton decided to mix them all and so we ended up with dirt brown. But they did have a ton of fun playing with it.

My musing for today includes this: why does Liam decide to poop just after I put him down for nap? He has been doing this almost every day for the past 2 weeks or so. I'll get him down for nap, go downstairs and open my Bible, start reading, and then, "Mama.....I pooped!" He did it today and now will not settle in and rest. He is screaming my name, singing the little skunk song, throwing things out of his crib, etc. It is going to be a very long evening because when Liam doesn't nap, he's a huge grumpy whiny mess. At least Nonna is coming. He'll probably be on his best behavior for her.

JMU versus William & Mary tomorrow....woo hoo! My mom and I are going to the game. It is supposed to be very windy and possibly rainy, but I'm still looking forward to it.

Crazy Peyton Jane

Every time I pull out the camera Peyton wants in on the action. She won't smile sweetly at the camera for long...oh no...she has to clown around (where did that come from?). So here are a few fun pictures we took this week of her being silly. As for the hairdo, she did that herself during her rest time!

Visiting JMU

I took Peyton and Liam to visit Mark at his office last week and we made a stop by the lake to feed the geese. I swear the geese have multiplied since I was a student. We used to sit by the lake and do homework, but now you can hardly walk without stepping in a pile of goose poop. We took a long walk around campus after we fed the geese, mostly so we could scrape the poo off of our shoes.

The weather has been cold the past two days and it feels like fall. I feel a need to eat lots of warm soup and to drink lots of coffee. In fact, I've been drinking WAY too much coffee because it makes me feel warm. I'm trying to encourage the kids to play outside even when it's a little chilly because they get crazy if they don't play. I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time at the library and children's museum this fall. The time change drives me crazy because it's dark by 5:30 and so there's not much time after naps to play. But we didn't have any difficulty with the kids adjusting to it.

I'm feeling renewed today and at peace. The kids are at preschool and the house is very quiet. Yesterday was a rough day. I was so impatient and frustrated all day and just so tired. I didn't get a great night's sleep last night, but it was enough because I'm feeling better. I left the house this morning and had breakfast at Mr. J's Bagels and spent time reading there. Now I'm going to work on a few Christmas presents. I hate thinking about Christmas before Thanksgiving, but since we're making a lot of our gifts this year, I have to get them done. It should make December a very calm month!

Fall in the Park

Fall has finally exploded in the Valley. The leaves are so pretty and I am enjoying the beautiful colors. Our maple tree in the yard finally started changing colors and we'll soon have a ton of leaves to rake. I took the kids to Purcell Park last week to play on the castle playground and Mark surprised us by showing up to play too. We had a lot of fun playing on the castle and walking around the park. I am trying to get the kids outside on any nice day so we can enjoy the weather while it lasts. Today it is warm and gorgeous. It's almost hard to believe it is fall because it feels like spring!

I am home today working on some crafty-type things for Christmas gifts and for fun. We are making a lot of our gifts this year and I love the chance to be creative and to have fun with it. I'm trying to slow down and relish this month because I love Thanksgiving and I don't want it to get lost in all the hustle and bustle that is Christmas. The stores already have holiday decorations in stock and some are already playing Christmas music! I'm not quite ready for that yet. I need to eat my big turkey meal first!