Blizzard!!

The conditions are like a hurricane, but with snow.  If I walked outside I would be blown away.  I cannot get out the door, so someone will have to dig us out eventually.  Elena and Matt are stuck in town; Charlotte and I are stuck here.  Since Debbie wanted photos, here's what I've got.

My view out the back door.

Usually that pile isn't there and you can see clearly above it. 

Snow between the screen and panes. 

My non-view out the windows.

Once the crazy is over I'll try to get out...and then maybe I'll have more photos!

We're All Breathing...

...a sigh of relief over here.  Charlotte has been attempting the roll-over for a few months now.  And by attempting I mean giving it her all whenever she thinks of it.  Which is not very often.  Unlike her sister, who tackled one milestone at a time, as if she had a check-list, Miss C practices everything at once.  She is a multi-tasker, which is fascinating to watch, frustrating for her to experience and irritating as all get-out (for both of us) when she wakes herself up mid-roll all night (and nap) long.

She has been so very close for ages.  So close that all I have to do is poke her one time with a finger and she'll plop on over.  The culprit seems to be the left arm...it just gets stuck under there and rather than move it she is bound and determined to roll over despite that despicable thing.  Oh, and she refuses to get her head into the action.  Oh, no.  The head must remain. on. the. floor. where. it. belongs.

Woe is she.

Today, I put her down on her play mat and away she went.  First there was some playing, then some talking, then some let's-see-if-I-can-get-my-whole-hand-in-my-mouth-ing, and eventually some grunting followed by extremely-irritatied-baby-ing.  She gets so incredibly ticked off that she is not all the way on her belly already and man does she let us know it.  I have decided the best approach for that is to ignore her and let her figure it out for herself.

Most days that has just provided me with an upset and tired baby, but today, oh, today, the extremely irritated baby-ing was followed pretty quickly by some quiet-ish hand sucking.  I walked over to see what was going on and found the following:

Baby on her tummy...with left arm completely stuck and right hand completely in her mouth.

"What's that Mom?  Hold on...

...let me turn so I can see you.

I'm so big.  Heh.

Holy cow, what IS that thing?!??

Oh, wait.  It's you.

Did you see?  I'm so proud!

Can you believe it?!?"

Men's Day; Women's Day

Here in Russia we've been having a few holidays.  February 23rd was Men's Day.  It is actually Defender Day, but is commonly referred to as Men's Day and compares to Father's Day in the United States.  Elena made a card at school:

I managed to make a yummy breakfast of eggs with cheese and toast...and Matt managed to work all day long.  It was a great "day off" for him, eh?

March 8th is Women's Day.  Back in the 1940s this was all about women wanting equal rights.  These days it is more of a combination of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day...and really not even the romance part of it factors in.  It is simply about honoring women.  For example, Matt gives gifts to all of the women who work for him.

Since he left for Houston this morning, he will miss Women's Day.  When he explained this to his admin and told her I would come with the girls to give gifts for him, she first said "Oh, no, don't worry.  It is okay; you will not be here; you can do it later."  He then asked her if it is really okay to do that and she smiled and told him nope.

Therefore, I, the woman, have made gifts for the women.  Elena calls them "Daddy's Ladies".  Yes, I realize how this sounds.  Her Papa Jim has some wonderful ladies who work in his office and Elena calls them Papa Jim's Ladies, so it is only natural that she would refer to the women who work with her Daddy as Daddy's Ladies.

I have made Zucchini Bread, Snickerdoodles, and Chocolate-Chocolate chip cookies:

Then I have managed to come up with some creative packaging:

Tomorrow we shall deliver them and Elena will tell each of them "Congratulations" in Russian, which is what you say to someone on a holiday here.  Let's hope they like them.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment, Big Sister and Little Sister:

Preview

I've been getting things ready for our Valentine's Day party tomorrow. At last count, there were twenty-two children invited and approximately ten Moms and/or Nannies. We've lost three kids and two Moms due to illness...bronchitis and ear infections. Good times. Here's hoping the rest of us can remain sick-o-less and that we all manage to fit into the house at once!

We will be having snacks (thanks everyone for contributing!) so that we can ruin everyone's dinner (not the goal, but somewhat inevitable methinks), games so as to use up all of the "energies" garnered from sugar, and crafts to calm everyone down again. Not that we'll be doing things in that order, but you get the picture.

Or do you?

Let's see:

Conversation Heart Decor - Cause we're Classy.

70's Throwback Decor - complete with 'Hearts by E'

Mmmmm - Energies

Craft Idea Decor - Because it Takes Too Much Time to Think of Your Own

a.k.a. We Don't Want to Foster Creativity Up in This Place

Welcome to the Post Office (pochta in Russian)

Not shown: games such as the Heart Hop Relay, Valentine Day Bingo, St. Valentine Says, Take This Heart Singing Game (of course I had to...I was a music teacher in my previous life) and more (you know, 'cause it always takes way less time to do things you think will take forever...and it always takes forever to do things you think will only take a few minutes).

I hope this is a success...if so, I already have ideas for April Fool's Day.

If tomorrow wears me out we can all forget that I said that...

Trying so very hard.

Someone has been working very hard lately.

She's definitely got the right idea.

So far she just can't quite get it.

With a little assistance she can reach her goal.

Holy smokes is it a shock-er-ooo.

And did I mention super fun to boot?