Kumquats and such

On Friday, January 22nd, the snow began to fall. It didn't stop until Saturday evening around 10. With a head-on approach, Jess and I shoveled the driveway NINE different times throughout the storm!!! As we cleared the first inch or so, Jessica said, "Do you think we should do any of your neighbor's driveways?" For a brief moment, I considered it as many are elderly and live alone...but that thought passed and thank goodness. We never would have been able to keep up!  At some points, the snow was falling so hard, that when we finished shoveling, you could barely tell. We pulled a 4 am shift on Saturday which was one of the worst. The only one that beat it was the one immediately following. We let too much time pass and too much snow fall. The wind was crazy and in some spots, we were clearing close to 10+ inches at a time. But we made it through with a clear driveway! So grateful to Jessica for being with us!!! On Sunday, I finally broke out my camera to ...

Another thing my mother taught us was that you should always treat your neighbors kindly. Earlier in the week, with Blizzard 2016 looming, we had a couple neighbors stop by and say, "I see that Jason's away. If you need anything, please let us know!" How sweet is that?! Luckily, we had Jessica with us for the storm, so no helping hands were needed, but we wanted to repay their kindness, so on Sunday, the girls and I made some cookies and delivered them to the neighbors. Here's another post that's helping me stick to my resolutions. This is my favorite:) Of course, once the fun mixing part was over, they both abandoned me in the kitchen and went to watch cartoons! But they came back and helped me frost and sprinkle the cookies and were so proud when they gave them to the neighbors.

One of my resolutions was to do more activities with the girls this year. I want them to have a glimpse of what my childhood was like. My mother was amazing. She taught us to cook right alongside her. Our father taught us to work hard outside. They gave us independence and allowed us to try new things and make mistakes. Another resolution is to actually get in front of the camera a bit more. Mil and Fil gave me a remote for my camera, and with the tripod set up, I hopped on the other side! There are way too many pictures, but we had such a good time. They practiced cracking eggs, then whipped with salt, pepper and a bit of half-and-half to make scrambled eggs. So simple, yet so much fun. Look at the concentration! Savannah used the "crack and smash" method...hence the individual bowls. But look how proud she is! Caught them being sweet!

Since Jason is out of town, we decided to schedule an impromptu girls weekend visit in North Carolina. It was great to see Lynsey & Colleen and their families. Jessica, the girls and I drove down Friday night and got to Lynsey's just before midnight. We didn't do much, but hang around the house and play outside on the first day. It was relaxing and fun. Brian was awesome and played with the kids while Jess, Lynsey & I did a workout in their amazing home gym. Colleen came up with the boys around lunch time on Saturday. All the kids fawned over Miles, or as they have names him, Baby My My. I think Savannah really enjoyed not being the youngest for a few days. Saturday night, we ordered pizza, ate way too much, and Grammy Betty came over. We haven't seen her in a long time and it was wonderful to chat with her again.  The next day, we woke up to some snow! We played outside again and the kids played well together which was nice for us adults. Colleen and the boys ...