What a fun filled 2 weeks we've had

AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm done with snow :) We've been hit with over 40 inches of snow in two back-to-back storms and the state has no money to deal with the huge mounds of white stuff.

This is a measurement after the first storm.

We have enjoyed drinking lots of hot chocolate. Actually, I think Isabel gets all geared up to go play in the snow just so she can have hot chocolate when she comes back in because she never stays for more than 5 minutes.

Speaking of Isabel, she turned 4 years old last week and we had a great party! I stayed up late to make her Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake.

The next morning, when she hopped into bed with us, Al said, "Let's go have cake and ice cream." And he wasn't kidding. We had cake and ice cream at 7:30am

and were opening presents before 8:00am. She received some great gifts and had a fun day.

Isabel saw a cute little fabric dollhouse in a magazine and said she wanted on like it with little bunnies (just like the picture). I sewed this cute little house but wasn't able to find bunnies to live inside but thought she would still enjoy it. She's not played with it once. She wanted the bunnies and the stuffed bed and chair that was pictured in the magazine. maybe one day she'll appreciate it...when she's 30 and has her own kids to please :)

She got a new baby doll and baby bed from Grandma. This doll sucks her bottle and binky and closes her eyes and and breathes deeply when she goes to sleep.

Strawberry Shortcake was the star of the day. She received a doll, movie and 2 books all Strawberry Shortcake.

She's also been saying and doing some really funny things:

Grandma Jane has been organizing all of her hundreds, maybe thousands, of photographs. So one day, Isabel went downstairs where the sorting has been happening and said, "Where are those books with the pictures of the human beings in them?"

One afternoon, I asked the girls to clean their bedroom. After a bit of time, the girls appeared in the kitchen to announce the bedroom was clean and ready for inspection. Lillee continued to share that she cleaned the room almost completely by herself. When I questioned Isabel as to why she did not help clean the room, she spouted back, "I wanted to see how good Lillee could do by herself."

One morning at breakfast, we were having a little family chat...nothing serious, just talking. Isabel is something difficult to understand as she's lazy in her speech. On occasion, Al and I will tease her a bit to make her aware of her mispronunciations. This particular morning, I had mentioned that Connor made Isabel's cake all by himself and that he really enjoys commenting on the food I cook, with very descriptive language. Isabel wanted to chime in that she was a good cook, too. Al picked up on this and started teasing her about being a 'dood took'. Well the teasing continued in a slew of other funny word combinations. She corrected him over and over, "No, I'm a dood took!" She finally gave up, slapped her forehead and shook her head. It was hilarious!

I took her for her 4 year old check-up today and she was wonderful! Of course, I bribed her with a milkshake and chicken nuggets from McDonald's. Normally, she would scream when the Dr approaches her, but the bribery really worked! Dr. Pedriera told me how sweet and kind Isabel is and said, "Isabel, you're my favorite patient" and that made her feel so good. He always tells me what a good mom I am, that's why we really go to see Dr Pedriera :)