Days with the Dorans

So after what felt like an uneventful snow season last year, this year we have had some action.  Some people have really been whining about snow days and how teacher's don't have to work (as if all our work is done at school anyway...), but it really is all about whether the busses can get to the back roads safely. Well, our roads were a mess and the timing was perfect and more importantly this was a WET snow which meant SNOWMEN MAKING!  The Bigs got out right away while I got Sean's stuff on him.  Thankfully I had extra boots and snowpants (since I keep all his snow gear at his school).  He was chatting my ear off the entire time talking about all the layers he was having on and what he was going to do outside with the "Bigs."  By the time I got my own snowpants (and camera) and was ready, the Bigs already had a good start to their snowmen (and Jeff a pretty good dent in shoveling that horribly heavy snow)!  It was fun to watch them... Ali and...

 Each February we have a week off of school.  It's a God-send really... By that time, usually we've had so many indoor recesses that the kids are climbing the walls.  I have no problem going later into the summer for that break (in fact, I'd love year-round school 45-15).  Jeff only has two days off so we aren't able to go anywhere far for this break.  I actually enjoy being home.  We started off our break though with Sean having an ear infections.  No one has been sick until now and really after a day of antibiotics (and some cuddling and screen time), he was good as new.  We were able to go up north and see Grandma Doran which is always a treat!  We had a great time catching up and Mary, Uncle Jim and Tia Trish were able to come by for a delicious dinner and socializing too.  Jeff and I spent the night chatting with Jim and Trish while the others had fun playing games.  I did manage to snap a few shots with my phone. ...

So I feel that Sean is getting closer... He now runs to the potty (if in underwear) and has done some "jobs" in there.  I do feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Today was interesting though... He woke up right away and told me he needed to go on the potty. He went and sat for a while. Then he was done. Then he had to go again. Then done. I stopped going with him each time because I was cleaning up from breakfast.  I laughed when he finally brought his breakfast in with him.  Not surprising, he had some company.  I decided to just spy... Sharing some cheerios with Pele'. Then he had another visitor... Toast for Cobi (This was a second trip to the bathroom.  He returned the Cheerios to the island and took the toast with him for another 'go'). He actually didn't do anything when he was having breakfast with the first-borns.   He did do something after breakfast though and ran to the bathroom so I had to ...

 I love Valentine's Day! I don't know why... I'm not into gifts and that sort of stuff.  Jeff was recalling our first Valentine's Day and all the stuff he got for me and how I gave him a candy bar!  Well, things haven't changed much except now that we've been married almost a dozen years he gets MULTIPLE candy bars and other assorted sweets (with cute cheesy sayings).  Again this year he spent too much on me (but included a cute cheesy pun).  He got me a Mint floor cleaner (I still don't know what this is) because the dog hair dropping every day drives me nuts.  With it, he gave me a super sweet card and wrote something about me being in "mint" condition!  I laughed because a floor cleaner isn't exactly romantic... He'll say it's because I always say all I want is a clean house (and in his defense, he's right).  Sadly, I am a girl who is in the habit of always doing things last minute which is why I am often late... I am th...

As I mentioned, our snow day got off to a great start with me finishing up work and the kids super excited about getting Grandma's package in the mail.  After some playing (and daddy shoveling), we headed out to lunch (with Nana) and then swung by Seany's school to get his winter gear!  With snow like we had, it was time to take advantage of the day! It was actually a toss up as to how things would go.  We had a late lunch and Sean had no nap.  He was great at lunch and we were wondering if we should push it or just take him home for a nap.  The Bigs wanted to go sledding so much that we thought, oh well... Let's do it! We all got on our gear and piled in the car to go to a local hill (that I had never been to, but that Al and Jeff had checked out last week). The kids had a blast!!  Jeff got these super cheap flimsy sleds~ literally like a sheet of plastic~ (we left our's at the lake) and they actually worked great!  There...

Today was wonderful!  A snow day!  I got the call perhaps around 5:30 (I don't know exactly~ didn't put my glasses on and Jeff answered the phone) and then Jeff got his call.  I was able to fall back asleep and then when I woke up (in the EIGHTS!!), I decided to quickly kick out my school blog so we could get started having some fun!  I was up working when I heard the doorbell ring and the dogs go CRAZY!  I figured it was one of the neighborhood kids, but then I heard Joe say, "IT'S A PACKAGE!  IT'S GOT TO BE FROM GRANDMA!"  Two seconds later, Joe came upstairs with a box in his arms and asked if they could open it.  The box was full of loads of goodies but before digging in, Ali announced that they needed to read the card first (and shockingly all her brothers listened to her as she read the card aloud.. well except maybe Sean...)! After reading the card, there were smiles and screams of delight at all the wonderful treats from Grand...