January 5

It snowed today! But we did a whole bunch of other stuff before we went out to play in the snow.

First, Caleb attempted to bond with the cat.

I was actually very proud of him for getting this close to her! She is grouchy and cantankerous, and generally starts hissing and growling as soon as the kids enter the room she's in. But I walked into the room to see Caleb sitting patiently and quietly near Tigerlily. Neither one was freaked out, and I was so very proud of Caleb! Of course, then fearless Eli crawled into the equation and the terrified cat ran off, but still. It was good progress! It has only taken 7.5 years...

Then the big kids did some science from a kit that Caleb got for Christmas.

Today's experiment involved red cabbage powder, water, citric acid, and baking soda. The kids were fascinated at the way the water changed color and bubbled.

I love my little scientists!

(I also love those flowers in the background that Chris picked up for me at Trader Joes. They have the best flowers there!)

Finally, I sent the big kids out to play in the snow. Eli woke up from his nap a short while later, so he joined them.

Goodness - isn't she cute! Also, those exposed wrists tell me that my tall girl is ready for a new winter coat!

This is one happy baby.

I love this boy!

Poor Caleb kept trying to make snowballs, but the snow was too powdery to do anything fun.

And then Daisy just turned mean. Here, she's dumping snow on Eli's head.

Caleb demonstrated the snow slide.

Eli was very excited to get his turn on the snow slide.

He must have taken a bit too long for Daisy's liking, though, because immediately after I snapped this picture, she used her foot to nudge him down the slide. He wasn't prepared, tipped over, went down on his belly, and landed face-first in the snow. Poor baby!

And this was after the neighbor's dog barged into our house and knocked him over as I was bundling him up to go outside. The poor little guy had a rough afternoon!

Luckily, his big brother took pity on him and pulled him around in the sled, and then all was right in his world.

Chris came home for dinner, then headed out with my dad and Ryan to the Blues game to celebrate Ryan's 19th birthday. I still can't believe my nephew is 19 years old!

These were our bedtime selfies.

Caleb was there, too, but his nose was buried in a book and he couldn't be bothered to join us.

We might have sent a few of these to Chris at the game.

Oh - and see the girls in their matching fleece jammies? They finally wore holes in the feet of the ones that Grandmother gave them last Christmas. They were so upset because they love matching and they love fleece, but I was thrilled to find 2 matching sets in their sizes on clearance at Target. Now I have two warm, cozy, matching, and happy girls.