If you were really here having coffee with me...you'd notice that Elisabeth is home. That would be because she has another snow day. It's 2 degrees with a high of 5 and a -14 degree wind chill. Oh, and 3-5 inches of snow coming our way to fall on top of the snow we already have. She hasn't had a normal week of school in ages.
While we sat and sipped our coffees...I'd tell you that Evan took took the girls to a Daddy & Daughter Dance at our YMCA on Saturday night. He took Elisabeth last year and this year Julia joined them.
I took pictures of them all dressed up, sent them on their way and then watched a movie while they were gone. It was lovely. Evan sent me pictures and texts to tell me that Julia was being a grump. She wouldn't dance, didn't like the refreshment choices and wasn't keen on all the people that were there. She sat in a corner and rolled around on the floor the whole time. Elisabeth, of course, had a blast. She loves it when Evan swing dances with her and flips her all around.
I am very done with feeling trapped in my own home. Yes, I do get out to run errands and whatnot, but I want to go on walks outside again and go to the park and plan days around being outside. And this wind, this bitter wind, is just miserable.
I'd offer you another cup of coffee because I'm just not ready for you to leave yet...because when you leave then I'll need to start on my to-do list and I just don't want to. One of the main things involves sorting through little girl clothes that need to go into their appropriate tubs in the basement. When we first moved here, there was no rhyme or reason to how Elisabeth's old clothes were thrown into tubs. Since our dining room was void of furniture, I literally dumped every article of clothing and sorted them into tubs according to size from newborn all the way to 6x. It took me a full week. Now, when Julia grows into the next size, it is most convenient to just find the next tub of clothes, but when she and Elisabeth out grow clothes, then I have to find the appropriate tub to put the clothes back into or buy a new one. It's just not fun. It's not hard either, but I'm one of those people that will put off a pretty simple task because the thought of it makes me grumpy. I'm super fun and efficient.
Before you leave to fight those cold temperatures...I would need to squeal with excitement that this Saturday, I will be in line to see Pioneer Woman in Denver. I will have my books with me for her to sign. I will have my camera charged and ready to go. I will have a small paper bag so as not to hyperventilate with excitement. Not only am I beyond thrilled to meet one of my favorite blogging/cooking people ever, but I'm going to a book signing which is something I've never done before but always wanted to do. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
One of my goals in life is to have a personal library in my house. I've wanted one for as long as I can remember. People who have whole wall book shelves make me green with envy. 
For a while, I just kept every book that ever came into my possession. I had boxes and boxes and boxes of books in my parents' basement and shed. Eventually, my dad told me I needed to go through them and decide what ones I needed and what ones could be donated. Then, when we joined the Air Force and were told we had a weight limit of what they'd pay to have moved, I knew I'd need to be pickier about what my library would be made of. 
So, I went through all my books. We had one tall bookshelf that was housing as many of my books as it could hold and then I had piles of books everywhere throughout my house. I feel like I've done a pretty good job. I inherited another bookshelf from a friend and now I have a shelf for books to read and a shelf of books I've read and want to keep. I'm slowly on my way to having my library.
We watched movies and colored and baked and read.
Of course, we also built things with legos. And by we, I mean Evan.
And even though we couldn't even open the door a crack without feeling like the wind was going to freeze our faces off, and even when the pipes froze and burst, and even though there didn't seem to be enough layers to keep me warm, the girls played so well together.
They played games and read and giggled. They barely bickered. They were sweet and kind. It was awesome.
I love them a little extra now.
Today, since we are stuck home all day, I foresee movies and baking and maybe some art projects. Elisabeth LOVES art projects. She's always making things and gifting them to people. She's shown lots of interest in scrapbooking, so I think we might do a little bit of that today. Julia will probably color like it's her job. Oh, and reading. We'll totally need to do some reading.
I have been going through my recipes lately and organizing and menu planning. I plan on talking more about it later on Virginia Cooks, but I super love recipes. I have a new binder I'm slowly filling up full of never tried recipes that I can not wait to get to!!!!! Elisabeth was watching me clip and tape and re-write and commented, "Wow. That's a lot of recipes. I love when you make new things." She earned a lot of points for that statement.
The wind here is wicked crazy today. I mean, the wind chill alone is ridiculous, but the wind gusts are 21mph. Poor Julia keeps asking to go outside. She doesn't understand "loss of limbs to frostbite" yet. She just stares at me like I'm a moron and asks again. But, the funny thing is, the sun is shining as happy as could be. It's one of the best things about living in Colorado in the winter--the sun still shines. It makes for less depression that it's so cold out because you can still sit in the sun inside.
This Friday, Elisabeth has no school and one of her friends is coming over to play for a while. I think we're going to make and decorate Valentine's Day cookies. Evan and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day (I told him the year we started dating it was something I didn't want to do and I think that's when he decided to keep me forever) but we do celebrate it with the girls. We usually have a heart shaped dinner of some sort and get the girls something small for when they wake up. We also send out cards to loved ones. We usually make cards for Elisabeth to pass out to her classmates too, instead of the store bought ones. Makes them a little more meaningful as she passes them out. Ooh, maybe we could start on those today!!! 
Thanks for stopping by today, even with the weather as frigid as it is. Make sure and stay warm by stopping by Amy's Lucky Number 13 to see how everyone else's winter storm is going with a cup of virtual coffee chat.
We ate dinner and then headed for the "hot pool" as Julia kept calling it. It was hot. Like really hot.
Julia lasted about half an hour and then we put her to bed.
The other kiddos went to bed around 10:00 and then we grown ups stayed out and stared at the stars in the hot spring. There were so many stars. I saw two shooting stars and a few airplanes that tricked me into thinking they might be more shooting stars. It was fun and relaxing. 
Elisabeth was in love with the "sea weed". She told Kim she liked how it sparkled.
Julia just wanted to dig and then throw rocks into the stream. 
Rachel was the first one to cross the stream...of course. 
Soon all the big kids were wading in the water with Rachel.
We started back to the house for one more dip in the hot spring.
Julia super loved swimming.
She wouldn't go away from the edge, but she'd blow bubbles and "float" and tell the older kids what to do. They adore her, so they entertained her.
The kids tried to talk us into moving all 3 of our families to this place. It was a fabulous idea, honestly.
We started packing up, but not before celebrating our beloved Kim's birthday.
Kim, Chris and Kayleigh were staying another night at the house, so we said good bye to them and thanked them for inviting us to share their weekend away. We said good by to this gorgeous view:
And decided that some people in the car could use a nap.
And headed home.
Thank you Kim and Chris for a fabulous weekend. We loved sharing it with you!!
