Snow Preparation

I am a southern girl (from Atlanta) now living a little further north (Northern Virginia).  While I am still considered a resident of a southern state, we definitely have more snow/ice/sleet/and school closings than I ever had growing up.

In the last (almost) 5 years, I have learned to keep a few essentials around the house.  I have also learned it is important to invest in good quality items when it comes to being prepared to battle the cold.

So, if you have two inches of snow once every seven years, or ten feet of snow for five months out of the year, I think these are items you should keep around your house.

 You will definitely need a great snow coat.

One that is layers is preferable.

 Gloves.  

A pair that is made for snow.

A scarf and a hat.

Any scarf.

Just get a scarf, and a good hat.

Snow boots.

Ones that go above your ankle are the best.

 Snow scraper and brush for your car.

I really like this one that extends, it helps get the snow off the roof of your car.

Snow shovel.

It is very important to shovel all of the snow off your driveway and sidewalks as soon as possible.

If you don't, it will freeze and turn to ice.

Relax by a warm fire

Enjoy a nice hot chocolate!

Whip cream and marshmallows are a great addition!

Twenty-Three Months

My fabulous Elizabeth,

You are 23-months-old (and 4 days)!  I absolutely, positively cannot believe that you will be two-years-old in less than a month!

23 months (and 4 days)

You are growing and changing so much everyday.  Your vocabulary has exploded and you add new words to it everyday.  You talk from the moment you wake up until after we put you to bed.  You are very inquisitive, you love to explore, and ask lots of questions.

You are obsessed with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Elmo.  You love to wear your Minnie/Mickey Mouse shirts and carry around any or all of your Mickey/Minnie/Elmo toys.  You also have a Minnie Mouse watch that you wear all the time.    You have started to enjoy coloring and really like to color in your Elmo or Mickey/Minne Mouse coloring books.

In this past month, you have done a lot of fun things.  I had foot surgery on December 20th and you spent an entire 4 days playing with your Dad while I was recovering.  We celebrated Christmas here at home, and then on December 26th Nana and Pap Pap came to visit and have a second Christmas.  You helped Mommy and Dada cheer on their Alma Maters in their respective bowl games.  Pitt and USC both won!  We also took you to the Children's Museum and you played and played and played.  You loved the Sesame Street room!  Saturday (the 18th) we had dinner with some of your favorite people- Alan, Laura, Sam, and Alice.

You are wearing 2T or 24 month clothes, size 5 shoes, and a size 4 diaper.  You are on the same food schedule, 3 meals plus an afternoon snack.  You have gotten a little better about having a fluctuating meal time (12:30 instead of 12, for example). 

Your favorite foods are cheese and peaches.  Your favorite drink is milk.

You have seen and enjoyed the movies Nemo and Shrek.  You also like watching Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Club House on TV.

You like to think you are a big girl and you like to play with the big girls when you are at Mrs. Vicki's house.  Whatever they are doing, you are right there behind them copying them all the way.  I love your enthusiasm and the joy you show in playing with your friends.

My sweet girl, we are so proud of you.  You love to play with your friends, your parents, or by yourself.  You are loving and affectionate.  You love to laugh and have a good time.  You love to eat your favorite foods and are starting to try more new things.  You are the most wonderful girl to be around and you have started singing when you play.  You love music and you love to dance.  You have started jumping and throwing, kicking, and rolling a ball.  You love to play!

 We love you so much!!!  Here are some pictures of you from the past month:

 Christmas Morning

 Christmas Morning, Santa presents

 Loving Christmas with my family!

 Nana and Pap Pap come for a visit!

 She loves her Elmo and Cookie Monster pillows and blanket

 Let's Go Gamecocks!

 Children's Museum

 She had so much fun!

 Rocking out in your Princess Tent

 I love her smile!

 Double glasses

 Selfie

Elizabeth - we love you so much.  We cannot wait to celebrate your second birthday with you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

 

Monday Night Dinner

We had plans last night, so we had our "Sunday Night Dinner" on Monday Night.  We had a wonderful meal of barbeque beef brisket with carrots, mash potatoes, and garlic toast. 

Ben cooked the beef brisket in the crock pot by covering it in barbeque sauce. 
We threw in the carrots about half way through the cooking time.

It was sooooo good!!!  Thank you Ben for a wonderful dinner!

Free Stuff Saturday

On Saturday, we enjoyed some freebies from around the house and around town.  I had not planned any of the outings in advance, but once I checked out the blog, Southern Savers, I decided the family and I would enjoy these free items.

 However, I had planned my free Saturday breakfast in advance.

Remember way back when (2 weeks ago) I talked about cutting groceries in half here and where I showed you my free Pillsbury Crescent Rolls?

Well Saturday morning, I turned those free crescent rolls into Cinnamon Rolls for Ben and I for breakfast.  Pair that with some sausage we already had, and we had a fabulous breakfast!

 I used this recipe.  It was simple and delicious!

In the afternoon, I went over to Edible Arrangements and picked up some FREE fresh pineapple for Elizabeth.  I had a coupon for a chocolate covered pineapple shape.  However, when I got to edible arrangements, I asked if I could have plain fruit since it was for my daughter.  They happily agreed, and even added an extra fruit pop.

 She got a flower pineapple fruit pop, and...

a heart pineapple fruit pop!

Elizabeth inhaled the heart pineapple pop for dinner last night,

we are saving the heart pineapple pop for tomorrow.

When I left Edible Arrangements, I headed over to Bath and Body Works for some FREE lotion.  BBW has three new scents they are releasing and you can get a 3oz bottle for FREE when presenting a coupon (Like on Facebook to receive coupon).

I picked the SKY scent and really like it.

(sorry for the blurry picture)

That sums up our free stuff Saturday. 

Did you get any free stuff this weekend?

National Children's Museum

Tonight we took Elizabeth to the National Children's Museum at National Harbor. 

We had never been there before, but Elizabeth had gone once when she was about 9 months old with Laura, Sam, and Alice. 

Backing up for a minute in this story.... earlier this week I was looking for things for us to do this weekend since we have a three-day-weekend.  We had never been to the Children's Museum so I went over to their website to check it out. 

What I learned is that they were offering a FREE Family Night from 5-7pm tonight.

So instead of going Saturday morning for $30, we went to night for FREE!

Elizabeth had so much fun running and playing with other kids her age, and I loved that we got to check out the museum for free.  (After going back and looking at their website, it appears they do two free nights each month).

Here are some pictures from our fun tonight:

 Elizabeth headed into the 3 and under Sesame Street Section

It's for people under 3 feet tall

 Playing!

 

She played in this house for about an hour

 She just kept saying "Weeeee   Weeeee   Weeeee"

 Then we moved into this bus full of food and she loved playing with all of it

 She she found this magnetic board with numbers and shapes

 Then we played with a ton of plastic animals

 Back to the sesame street house

 Then she played in the fire truck

Then she got into some sort of taxi

 Then she found another kitchen

She cooked for us

Yummy!

In case you want to visit, here is the link