Little Man (trying to get my attention): Dad! Daaadd! Daddy!
Me: I think you need to learn my name.
Little Man: You mean, Lauren the Quee-eee-en.

Why yes, that's exactly what I mean.

We are working on Little Man's pre-K applications. The program at his elementary school is a peer modeling program. Does anyone have any experience with this type of program? Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm having a hard time finding information on the pros and cons for the "peer" children who are in the classes with the special needs kids.

On Wednesday we spent the afternoon at my grandparents house with our cousins from Massachusetts. Unfortunately, we brought home a nasty stomach virus. Blog posting will resume once I can remove myself from the couch & my brain recovers from hours of Thomas the Tank Engine.

Ditch Witch, Part 2

Words not to teach your 4 year old = Ditch Witch

Photos taken Christmas morning 2009

dear chocolate bundt cake,
my past experience with bundt cake leads me to believe that you are dry and bland, but your simple appearance is quite deceiving. you are so delicious that you must be from the devil. i blame you for how uncomfortable my jeans have become. i am no longer allowed to bake you if you are going to be staying in my house. you are too dangerous to be my friend.
wishing i had more self control,
lauren

Surviving the Snow

I wanted to post last week, but I was so bored with being snowed in... what more was there to post other than day after day of snow. So here are some of the finer points of the week:

* My husband took pity on me when after being stuck in the house for 4 days I came down with a monster sinus infection. He dug out the van, took the boys to Chick-fil-a and left me in a quiet house for a few hours. It was heaven (even with the pain).

* Bug turns 2 in less than two weeks. It is rare for him to throw a tantrum, to the point that when he does I automatically think he's sick. Apparently, that's a direct result of his pacifier. Weaning + snow days = fail.
* Little Man is completely consumed with Lego Star Wars. He will play it for hours on end. This means you have to sit with him while he demands you do it his way, even if this means jumping Jango Fett off a cliff a jagillion times. Lego Star Wars is now in time out.

* This was the cool view from our kitchen after the snow stopped and the sun came out for a few hours. The 40-50mph winds (which Little Man called buggy snow, because it stung so bad) created this:

Snow

After help from friends and much shoveling, we were able to get to the house and park the van. That was 36 hours ago. Here's the forecast for the next two days:

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... 7 TO 14 INCHES.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE THIS MORNING INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND IT WILL LAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. MODERATE SNOW RATES WILL OCCUR TONIGHT... AND HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES WILL RISE INTO THE UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S WEDNESDAY.

* WINDS... LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TODAY BECOMING NORTH- NORTHWESTERLY 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.

We've already had 4 huge temper tantrums this morning and it's not even 10am. George Washington Hotel, I miss you.

dear spring,

we love you and miss you. please come soon. i have two boys who are dying to play outside in the sun.

yours truly,
lauren

The best kind of snow day

Wil and I hit the five year mark back in October. We haven't had a weekend alone since we moved back to Maryland and decided it was about time. The planets finally aligned, reservations were made, babysitters all set... and then the weather forecast called for TWO FEET of snow. In this area that's big news. Things shut down, people don't leave their homes, they don't have the equipment to handle that kind of snow. So we had to decide if we were going to change our plans or roll with the punches. After much convincing (and a particularly rough morning with the kids) we decided that we would try it and see what happened. (Mostly Wil had to convince me that it was ok to leave the boys even though it was the anticipated "Super Storm" or "Snow-mageddon".)

So while our house looks like this:

the view from the front door

our poor cars

This is how we've spent our weekend:

we walked through the snow to this pub, where I had some really yummy fish and chips.

We stayed at the George Washington Hotel, which I highly recommend. It's an historic property in old town Winchester, VA.

We slept in a gorgeous room, with a fabulous marble bathroom.

Enjoyed the pool and hot tub...

ordered room service, caught up on all our favorite shows and enjoyed both the hotel restaurants while we watched the snow fall.

It was amazing.

Now we just have to figure out how we are going to get home. But if we're snowed in for another night... it wouldn't be so bad.