And the SNOW goes on...

Not one member of our household left the house by car* from Monday night to Saturday afternoon at 3. That's a record folks. I'm so thankful I went grocery shopping Monday morning and just happened to pick up 2 gallons of milk. All in all, "Snowcalypse 2011" was a memorable experience. There's something about being forced to slow down and just be. Really, I think the kids could have stayed in the house a few more days. I was reminded how much they love being at home with their family and how little it takes to make them happy. As long as there are couch cushions, Max and Ruby episodes and fruit snacks, they are good to go.

We finally got our gate open about 3 this afternoon and after setting off the most piercing gate alarm ever (which we didn't know existed) for about 5 minutes straight. The wheels had gotten off track and Jack was able to pop it back on track by using his shovel as a lever. Then, our very sweet neighbors helped Jack push the gate through the ice to unblock the driveway. Two minutes later, I hopped in the car with Colton and we went to Sonic! I have never been so excited to run errands. As we were driving, Colton was pretty chatty, so I had to tell him that I needed to concentrate because there still might be some slick spots. He replied, "I won't say any more questions, Mommy." Sweet boy, he's growing up so fast.

On Friday, it snowed about 6 inches at our house. It was beautiful. I took the kids for a walk* and it was surreal. Our neighborhood looked like a Colorado ski resort. Kids were sledding down the streets and all you could see was white. The kids enjoyed their sleigh stroller ride and loved it when I ran through the deep snow. At one point I thought it would be funny to crash into a snowbank (the neighbor's curb) and they both went flying out into the snow, Caden landing on top of Colton. Thankfully, they were fine, in their double layers of socks, pants, and jackets, and thought it was funny. 

These Cinnamon Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins were from Thursday. They get better each day :) I used the whole can of pumpkin so they've got to be good for us, right? :) The recipe came from here.

We also made these fun snowman snacks.

Caden just took the marshmallows and ran. Scared me to death when he stuck all 3 marshmallows in his mouth at the same time.

This is what our playroom looked like ALL week and still does.

Where did my shoes go?

Lunch time!

Colton's imagination is really fun! I never knew my couch cushions would be off every single day. He loves building elaborate parks with them and it really uses lots of energy so I've decided not to pick this battle. Now the bed is not usually on the floor, but I made an exception for snow days. He came up with this idea to lay the cushions end to end (forest trail) from the playroom to his room and ending at his bed (red castle). If you touch the carpet the alligators and snapping turtles will get you. We also went on several lion and bear hunts.