I Will Survive

If you know me well, then you know I don't like the winter season.

It's just cold. 

Too. Freezing. Cold. 

I'm a summertime girl and could live in a bathing suit,

all oiled up,

book in hand,

lying on a float in the pool

on the hottest days here....

for the rest of my life. No lie.

BUT....

yesterday it started snowing and when I finally raised my weary head after the 3rd time hitting snooze on my alarm clock, I went to check my cell phone and Maddox's teacher had texted me this:

"No school today."

In my head, I suddenly broke into The Hallelujah Chorus.

And I can handle that. : )

You know why?

Pardon me, as I share two important (horrible quality) cell phone photos from after school yesterday.

Reason #1 that we will survive the next few months:

Oh yes. He reads now. Chapter books! Alone!

He just discovered The Magic Treehouse Series two nights ago with me and he wants to read them all the time now. He literally asks if he can read them when he wakes up, before bed, after school. He is so excited about finishing each chapter and moving onto the next. 

I am giddy with excitement that I might have a fellow bookworm in this house! : )

And for the more active member of our home....Reason #2:

Baby got a brand new bike.

Yes! And she loves it! So does Brother.

(I just realized that she's wearing one of her new aprons in the above photo. Aunt Heather - she loves it! She received 2 for her birthday, which was great because she didn't have one yet, and both of them were given to her by two different Heathers. They are so adorable and she wears both. Ha!)

Back to the bike. This is so fantastic actually....the trike is a Trek Trikester/Trekster and it has real wheels.

We found this used locally, but in perfect condition. Normally retails for over $200, but my thrifty self found it for $75. SCORE! The awesome thing is that our downstairs has an entire "track" for them to ride on the hardwood floors. 

If you've been here, you know....if you haven't, here's how it works. : )

You start in the kitchen, then speed through the long hall to the foyer (as shown above),

then make a sharp right through the dining room, continue through the butler's pantry into the kitchen.

Another sharp right take you THROUGH the kitchen and back around to where you started. 

You're pretty much going in a large circle around our stair case and closet, 

and

IT

IS

AWESOME.

Maddox loves it and speeds so fast that he tips over. 

After seeing them do this today (or riding together since there are "running boards" on the back for another person to stand or kneel on and hang on tight to the driving/pedaling sibling) I realize that we will make it through this winter. 

In addition to the above new additions to our lives, our house organization is undergoing some changes that will also aid in wintertime boredom. I pray.

As they grow, I constantly need to rearrange areas in our home to suit our growing needs and the main one right now is our sunroom. My current focus and plan is to turn it into a craft/art/homework room for children and have enough space for everyone who comes over to play. These changes are very quickly spilling over into the other areas of our home and I'm very excited about moving out of the stage of having all of my rooms so baby & toddler friendly!! : ) I have big kids now!

I picked up some used children's furniture for an absolute steal today and will refinish it when warmer weather arrives. But for now it is usable. I'm hoping to share photos soon as I get after-holiday life back under control. Until then....