Great Day in December

 It did not stop snowing overnight. This morning we had lots of snow...like 13 inches in the last two days. 

It was still at 13 inches this afternoon though it's been snowing all day - it's packing down. LOL 

Millie was NOT happy to find how deep the snow was when she went out to potty. 

Stacia and Millie spent some time working on the sledding hill. This is a big job and she needs some help. Unfortunately, I had plans to be at Bre's and Michael had a date with a snow plow/shovel. Allie is under the weather...so she spent a bit of time out there until she realized she needed someone to help pack it all down. Maybe tomorrow. 

I'm DETERMINED to make time for SELF CARE in the middle of everything ELSE around here. I got up early and worked on some Bible Study. I started Nana's Epic Navy Bean and Ham bone soup in the crock pot. I hit the treadmill. Sure enough, the bill rang 7 minutes in. I could have stopped then and counted it as a success because I've determined establishing the habit is more important right now than TIME and I DID start a workout.  I broke from the work out and got Dad showered, fed, laundry started...settled him down with a magazine and went back to work out. Bottom line - 2 miles; 40 min. Go ME. 

I baked some brownie/cookie to take to Bre's house today. Stacia was putting a crumb coat on the Jared and Larissa's Baby Shower cake. She had extra frosting and frosted some graham crackers and sprinkled them with mini chocolate chips. 

There were rumors about driving conditions, so Michael drove me to Bre's. We all worked together to give Trudy a bath (my part was keeping Jojo and Annie safe and snapping photos). The girls were SURE Bre had it too warm, but all was well. 

This little boy is TOTALLY smitten with his baby sister. 

Jojo and Trudy share a birthday - Jojo is 2. 

After the exciting bath, Bre fed Trudy, I cleaned up and then the supervised the kids' painting of ornaments. 

We began to set up for our promised tea. December teas are great. I made a rookie Grandma mistake. I set the graham crackers on the table and went about helping with pots of tea and hot chocolate. I turned around and Gideon and Jojo had eaten all but one. 

The kids wanted a candlelight tea. They remembered the Advent Wreath which worked great. Bre quizzed them about the first candle, and it was fun to see their grasp of the significance of the season and the symbolism of the Advent Wreath...mostly Bella...but they'll all eventually get there. 

Michael picked me up. 

We came home and I made some bread like substance to go with our ham/bean soup. The soup was really good. Stacia and I added a healthy splash of balsamic vinegar to our bowls. 

Maybe it will quit snowing tonight.