Snow, snow and more snow

We have had way too many days of snow this year. It has brought lot's of joy to our children since schools have closed for several days but it has made it hard for Jeremy to get his business accounts serviced due to the weather.

So, when life gives you lemons you must make lemonade! The days we had canceled school and work started with a delicious breakfast made by daddy after which the older kids got bundle up for playing in the snow while daddy cleared our driveway. One of those days for family home evening we decided to go and surprise some of our friends by clearing their driveways also. The kids were very excited to help!

Jeremy used his snow blower and the kids helped by clearing the snow off the stairs. It was wonderful to see everyone working together and our friends came out and thanked us for bringing such great helpers to clear their snow. After we were done doing service for others we took the kids sledding. Even Michael got a quick ride with daddy. Jasmine and Andrew had a blast going down the hill. We did not stay very long because of the cold weather but the time spent there was sure fun.

I have to post just a little more about the snow clearing because I have an amazing husband who did not just clear our friends driveways once but he took the time to do it every time it snowed. I sure love how thoughtful he always is and loving towards everyone.

New Years Eve Party

Growing up in Romania we always celebrated New Year's Eve with an all night party. I remember all the delicious food mom would cook the entire day so that we would have plenty to enjoy as we waited to greet the New Year . We were dressed in our best party clothes and were allowed to toast with fancy crystal glasses. But the best part for me as a child was being allowed to stay up as long as I would like. It only happened one night a year and that was New Year's Eve.

We are keeping some of the same traditions with our little family and Jasmine and Andrew seem to love the same thing I did when I was their age...staying up late. Maybe because their bed time is always 8 o'clock.

For our New Year's Eve party we invited almost 40 people and more than half were children since most of our friends have big families. It took a little prep work to fit so many people but by switching the furniture in the living room and taking some pieces of furniture out in the garage we were able to manage. It all worked out great and we had plenty of seating for everyone. There were board games, finger food, sarmale, chatting, dancing and lot's of fun games for the little ones. The XBox Kinect was a huge hit and everyone from young to old had at least one turn. A couple of families were not able to stay until midnight but there were plenty of us who did. We got out the paper trumpets and crowns and close to midnight we all counted down the minutes until we entered the year 2011. Screams of joy, hugs, kisses and best wishes followed soon after. It was such a great party and I look forward to the next one.

First steps and potty training

On November 29, 2010 my 9 1/2 month old boy Michael took his first two steps all by himself. He has been walking holding on to the furniture since he was 7 months old so we knew that he would walk soon. Andrew also started at the end of his nine months if I remember correctly and by eleven months he was running. Same with Michael now. I have a hard time keeping Michael out of the kitchen long enough to load the dishwasher. He is so fast! As soon as I open the dishwasher door that kid is right next to me even though a second ago he was in the toy room playing with his siblings.

Michael is also in underwear at home during the day and he is doing amazing. For several months now he has pooped in the toilet without any accidents. The peeing is a different story because we still have some days with accidents. I am confident that soon enough he will not need diapers at all. I am grateful to be a stay home mother as it has allowed me the time to potty train all my kids by the age one and saved us lots of money.

We love Michael with all our hearts and I can't believe that he will be 1 year old in February.