First Birthday Party

Caroline's birthday isn't until the 23rd. But, we're leaving tomorrow on vacation. So I thought it would be fun to have a little playdate/birthday party with our friend Ruthie.

Ruthie's mom Amanda and I were pregnant together as Ruthie's birthday is on the 19th. So, it was a great time to have a joint party.

Clearly, it was an excellent reason to break out the box of 64 crayons and make a sign. (No reason to let Caroline have all of the fun with crayons.)

Caroline put on her party dress in anticipation of Ruthie coming over to visit.

I also made sure that we had the staples of a party--cupcakes. Although normally there are candles for birthday parties, it didn't seem like a good idea for such little people. So we just had purple cupcakes.
We also had party games. One of Caroline's favorite past times is to splash in the bathtub. So, I brought the bathtub to the party.
Clearly Caroline though this was a good idea.

We also got out the crayons. There was a little coloring, a lot more eating of the crayons. But that's o.k. They're non-toxic.

We also had presents! Of course the best part for the little ones was tearing the paper!!!

All in all I think we can count the party a success!

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Snoverkill Aftermath

The Washington Post has affectionately named the latest storm Snoverkill. We thought we would give you an idea of how much snow we have. Caroline and I were FINALLY able to get outside again. We took a short walk around the neighborhood. Here is a picture of Caroline right as you go out of our parking lot. Of course, this takes into account the fact that there have been plows. But still, it is a LOT of snow.

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Snow Day III

The Koller family isn't going to let a perfectly good snow day go to waste. So, we broke out the crayons. With whiteout conditions and snow coming down sideways, Jack was home today too. He worked from the basement most of the day. But he popped up long enough to watch Caroline do something that we have never seen her actually do before--put the crayons ON the paper!!
Meanwhile...outside we were getting pounded...again. And the storm is moving south. So we might get even more overnight.
It is one of the weeks that we're really glad to live in a condo. Yesterday they came and shoveled off our flat roof. Check out the ice and snow on our neighbor's across the way. It is going to make quite the noise when it falls!

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Snowiest Winter...EVER

It is now official. We are having the snowiest winter ever for DC.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2010/02/winter_2009-2010_likely_snowie.html#comments

54.9 inches this winter at Reagan National Airport which is notorious around here for having low snowfall totals in comparison to everyone else in the region. But, whatever the method used for measuring, this is the snowiest winter since the 1898 - 1899 (yes, you read that right, the 1800s).

They are calling for possible flurries on Sunday/Monday. Good thing we'll be in Florida...

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And still more snow.

As a quick update...we have right around 3 inches of new snow since 5:30 this evening. The federal government is closed tomorrow. Caroline and I can ice the cookies...

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Snow Day Part Deux

We can't let the snow days go to waste around here. So, since Valentine's Day is just about upon us, Caroline and I made some cookies. Well, to be fair, I made the dough. Caroline tried to eat it. (Her left hand looks like she is just laying it there in the picture. But, she is totally making a grab for a mouthful of dough.) But really, what kid doesn't think this is the perfect way to make cookies? (What grown up for that matter?) She did help push down the cookie cutter for about half the cookies. So, I think it is fair to say that she helped. Besides, it was adorable either way.

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A good day

Lest anyone wonder whether we are putting our snow day to good use, I
thought I would share a picture of Caroline creating artwork (this is
after she ate a good deal of the "finger paint" also known as
chocolate pudding).

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Caroline in the Snow

As promised, here are a few pictures of Caroline outside in the snow. While this is our second major snow in DC this winter, this is really Caroline's first major foray into the snow. She was rather sick last time. But this was too historic to pass up!

She was pretty excited about getting out of the house, as you can see here getting bundled up. Note that under those jeans you can see are a pair of tights and some very warm sweat pants. THEN she got a pair of jeans she hasn't grown into yet.
The end result was a very bundled up little girl. We had great hopes that we could go sledding. Guess what? That doesn't work so well when there are two feet of snow. The brown box that I carefully saved for the occasion just sank into the snow. (It is too bad we didn't grab a picture of that. It had to be pretty hysterical seeing me just sink into the snow.)
Caroline thought the time honored game of catching snowflakes on her tongue was fun.
She was able to walk around a bit on the road (this is a road that had been plowed, by the way).
In the end, she did what all good kids do...she sat down and ate snow. (For the record she's actually sitting on the edge of a set of steps. Can't tell with all that snow, can you?) :-)

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On our way to church

Thought you all would like to see what it looked like on our way to
church today. This is Jack and Caroline going down Quaker lane (a
secondary road just off the interstate). The little pink hat bobbing
along way cracking me up.

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Whew

We just got power back. It was only out for a half hour so the house
was still toasty. But while we would be fine it would be cold in this
house by morning without the furnance! We are very grateful for the
heat!

Sent from my iPhone

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