Clara Turns 7!

For the past month, my stress level has been elevated as I try to plan for Clara's 7th birthday amid two major snowstorms and a girl who keeps adding to the "what my party should be" list. Yet, here I sit surrounded by the aftermath of what I can only hope was a good party for Clara and her friends. She is 7! How did that happen?

On her birthday, I took the boys to her school and we ate lunch with her. I made apple bread (at her request) for her to share with her class. Then that evening, we took her out for dinner where she received a complimentary piece of birthday cake... her choice: Strawberry Angel Food Cake. She opened the gifts from us and loved them more than I expected she would. By far her favorite gift was a "sapphire-blue hiking pole". She is all ready to go hiking this spring and summer!On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday with a party... a flower party to be exact. We decorated the house with flower garlands. Her un-cake was a little flower garden... it was actually a pan of brownies frosted with marshmallow fluff colored green then iced flower-shaped sugar cookies all around the sides. Clara was very adamant about not wanting a cake for her birthday. She invited 13 friends and only 1 wasn't able to come. She had a hand in helping to plan it almost every step of the way. We decided to pick three crafts to do with her friends: flower name tags, tissue paper flower pens, and flower headbands. I think the girls enjoyed the crafts even though a lot of the girls had some trouble with the crafts and others would have rather played games. In fact, we did have to improvise a little and allow for some "game-time" with some of the girls playing Duck, Duck, Goose and the others playing Fairies. Of course, I think that one of the best parts of the party was the brownie sundaes... loads of sugar... what little girl doesn't like loads of sugar?

Happy Birthday, Clara!

Snow, Snow and more Snow!

January 30; 6 inches. It started snowing in the morning, but we chanced it and drove into DC to look around the National Museum of Natural History... one of the places that I've been wanting to go since we moved here. We found a parking place right in front of the building and walked in right as they opened... the place was nearly empty. It was so nice to be able to walk through and leisurely look at the displays. Such a change from when we were there on July 4th two summers ago and the people were crowded in there like sardines! We didn't see everything we wanted to, so we will definitely be going back. Jason shovelled the driveway Sunday morning and the kids didn't have school Monday, since it was a teacher work day. I was sad that the library book sale was cancelled, but that was just the beginning.

February 2; 4-5 inches. After being back in school Tuesday, school was cancelled Wednesday. Lucas missed school on Tuesday... home sick. He had been having cold symptoms since Sunday and didn't seem to be improving at all, so he saw the doctor on Thursday morning. An ear infection in both ears! Poor guy had to stay home Thursday, too. He was so excited about going back to school on Friday. Until....

February 5-6; 23 inches! School cancelled again on Friday! So, aside from Lucas who missed the entire week, the kids were in school all of 2 days this week. After such a huge accumulation of snow, most of the area was still digging themselves out on Monday... so school was cancelled again. And again Tuesday... and again Wednesday! And upon digging ourselves out Sunday, Jason discovered our car with a dead battery. Due to an interfering seat belt buckle, Clara had not closed her door completely the last time she was in the car... Thursday night! Thank goodness for our neighbors, who loaned us a battery charger. The kids did get out and play in the snow, but the biggest kid in our house had the most fun... Jason created two tunnels in the snow long after all the little ones were warm and snug back in the house. In fact, the kids are completely done with playing in the snow! I tried to encourage them to get out and play and was met with total resistance... they don't want to get out in the snow anymore.

February 10; 7 inches of snow on top of a thin layer of freezing rain. The blizzard was incredible to watch and I am so glad that we didn't lose power at all. The winds were really blowing the trees and snow around, and power outages were a huge fear (according to the news), but it looks like we made it through. School has been cancelled for the remainder of the week though! I'm starting to feel like they won't ever be going back to school. And of course this hits right before all their Valentine's parties (for which we've already bought and filled out all the cards). Lucas keeps looking at his school's calendar of events and expressing disappointment at all the activities that are being missed. Clara doesn't seem disappointed at all that school's been cancelled, which actually surprises me, considering how much she loves school.

Now that the winds have stopped and the snow looks like it’s tapering quite a bit, I feel like I can relax a little. I’ve been so high strung through these storms worried about all the possible (negative) outcomes that it feels like a relief to have come through them fairly unscathed. The thought that keeps my stomach in knots is what this 'brave new world' will be like once everyone is back in their normal routines. With most roads down to just one lane, the drop off/pick up at the school will be an utter nightmare, not to mention just the regular going about town.

Clara was chosen as the Citizen of the Month for the month of February for her school, which is quite an honor. It'll be a surprise for her, so I'm excited to see her reaction at the assembly where she will be awarded her certificate. Unfortunately, that assembly keeps getting postponed. I'm ready for things to go back to normal... I'm tired of all this snow!