Snow Storm = Pictures

when we get stuck inside because of snow storms...i tend to get restless. so today i broke out my camera. i miss taking pictures. i have seemed to lose steam because i am not that happy with my camera and life seems so busy. 

I guess I could come up with a million excuses but i still love the actual act of taking pictures. Luckily i have a house full of cute models to follow around. 

Here are a few snapshots I took today.

I know Cullan is missing, he is at school. I wish he was home with us. 

The weather outside is frightful, and I dread having to go out into it to get him. I just want us all home safe and sound. 

 this picture is so breia. in her "pretties", being silly with her wild hair. it just sums her up so nicely.

the next two are some of my favs. 

I love her hair in this one.

 I just love the sweetness I happened to catch in this one.

 umm. yeah. what can i say about this one. 

everyday life with littles ;0)

 then there is ayla. 

she had just eaten. i did not get a chance to clean her up. she moves so much that i don't have as many of her, but she sure is sweet. Look at those eyes, rosy cheeks, and sweet little smile. she just melts my heart. 

 Doesn't Kael look so grown up in this bottom picture. He looks so much older than 5!

 this is typical kael, hamming it up!

 Look at those eyes. Kindness and Love!! That is what I see.

 ayla and kael.

 she is so cute. she loves playing with  her older siblings. she tries so hard to keep up with them.

 then there is daddy. everybody loves daddy. Look at that cheesy smile on Ayla's face!

 everyone squeezing in...well except for cullan. i am planning on taking some pictures of him tomorrow. He is turning into such a handsome kid. Cute does not seem to really describe him anymore. 

the beginnings.

so just a little while ago, i was laying on the bed watching a movie on the computer when the sirens went off. i did not think much of it because it was so nice here. sunny and bright. no bad weather all day. i honestly thought that they must be testing them or something. after a few minutes i decided to get up and see what was going on. i looked out our bedroom window and this is what i saw. 

a tornado starting to form right outside our neighborhood. i could not believe it. 

i yelled down to garran to get the kids in the pantry. 

he asked why and i said "oh there is just a tornado outside". 

we watched it for a bit and then it slowly went back up into the sky. 

it was the craziest thing. 

i know it is not a massive tornado but it was still wild. 

i always thought you needed storms for torndos. i guess not.

blizzard fun.

well with all this snow you know garran had to do something fun with the kids. 

so goes the snow fort of 2011!

 garran starting the work.

 cullan helping daddy.

 briea was freezing, but wanted to be out there so badly to help the boys and play.

 freezing and having fun.

 cullan in the snow fort.

 and a tunnel. ok we took that part outside but it was a nice addition.

 the fort was big enough that garran could fit in there. those are his knees while we was digging.

this was kael. he was out patrolling hoping his little friend would come out to play too. 

update on the Blizzard!

This was out our back door at 9:00am this morning. 

I love her face. 

Isn't this how we pretty much all feel when there is this much snow on the ground!

baby, it's cold outside.

this morning, after i got up, this is how i found the kids. 

all snuggled together, watching one of their movies on Daddy's ipod. 

I love how they are all under the blankets snuggled together. 

I guess they really do love each other!

we have only just begun...

1:00 pm

 3:00 pm

 5:00 pm

The Blizzard of 2011 has begun. We will see what it looks like in the morning. For right now, we are pretty sure that we have got right around a foot.

Sweet Snowy Dreams!

before.

this is the before. 

the blizzard is supposed to start around 3:00.

(for those of you that have watched "Despicable Me")

"I'm havin a bad bad day"

i hate snow.

for this reason!

Garran and the boys got into an accident. Garran was trying to go and when he finally got traction he could not stop and slid into a pole.

ARRRGG. i hate snow, but am so happy that they are ok. count my blessings right?

the boat

the other day it rained...a lot..so the kids got creative. they brought down this toy box from upstairs and said they were going to sail away in their boat. i was impressed that all three squeezed in there. i did not get a picture of it, however i thought this one was pretty cute. my three wild sailors!!

playing in the rain

today the kids were outside playing. it started to pour down rain, however since there was no lighting i just let them play and get soaked. Joanna...their "girlfriend" was out there running around too. They were laughing and playing. I tried to get some shots of them, but at one point it was really coming down. this first one was through our back door.

 finally the rain slowed down long enough to get a picture of the kids! Joanna did not want to sit next to the boys, because the bench was all wet. (go figure, she was soaked already!) i thought it was funny. i used to love playing in the rain and still do!! i have been known to run around with my kids when it pours.

Cullan-Kael-Joanna

scary

ok this storm last night was by far one of the scariest i have ever seen. in the first picture you can see how blue the sky was and then all of a sudden this wall of pure black just started moving in. it was not just moving, it looked like the clouds were unfolding over and over each other. i have to admit i got a little panicky. i checked the news, thinking for sure there would be mention of a tornado. nothing, just severe weather. i tried to snap a few pictures before the down pour and lighting started. it was creepy how everything just went black. 

dreaming

tonight as i was working on transferring pictures, i came across this one from last summer and actually started to feel sad. will it ever be warm enough to do this again? it is starting to feel like only a dream. we are supposed to get six more inches tonight. i am really starting to hate snow.

i have decided!

I have decided that I HATE WINTER. i know snow is beautiful and wonderful but it lasts FOREVER here.
i have been thinking all day and here is why i have decided to give up on being positive about all this white stuff!

1. bundling. bundling my children constantly. it takes almost 20 minutes to get everyone ready to get out the door. then of course they are hot in the car so they shed a few things and then we have to re-dress when we get there.
2. the wind.
   
3. scrapping my car constantly. not just once in the morning, but when I come out of the store etc.
   
4. MY VAN DOORS FREEZING SHUT CONSTANTLY!! this is super annoying! i am trying to get kids to mom school, preschool, appointments, or just run errands and my van doors freeze shut. i saw another mom struggling with this same problem and she looked like she was about to go crazy. i went over and said "i feel your pain", and helped her tug on her door till it opened.
5. being stuck inside. when it barely gets above freezing it is not exactly playing outside weather. plus the above mentioned bundling!

I REALLY NEED SUMMER TO GET HERE, I HAVE GIVEN UP ON SPRING!

just pictures of my kids

bad weather = lots of pictures of my kiddos!