NO!

Today, for the first time Calvin said the word NO!  I am so excited because he has shook his head, or he would scream but not actually say the word.  He is making progress really slowly, but I see little changes daily. 

When Calvin was a baby and even up until recently he would love to listen to music but never sing it or make any sounds to it.  Lately he has been singing and it is so cute.  It is words that I do not understand, but it is beautiful none the less.  I love my little Bubba Bear.

Winter Storm February 2014

We had a pretty mild Winter here in Oregon and my mind was looking forward to Spring more and more.  On Thursday, February 6 it was just suppose to be cold and we received about 5 inches of beautiful snow.  It was so windy and was blizzard like conditions.  Due to the snow, and the icy roads, school was cancelled.  In the morning I realized that we did not have any water because it had frozen so I got under the house and used a hair dryer to unfreeze the pipes.  It was cold, 12 degree wind chill, but I was determined that we needed water and it worked!

 

Friday we received a couple more inches so they cancelled school again.  It was a day spent playing in the snow and building forts.  Our girls had fun while Calvin decided he did not like the snow just yet.  We also received quite a few calls of frozen pipes from residents so most of the morning was spent helping them get their water going again.

 

Saturday I decided that since it was so boring and we could not go anywhere due to the road conditions that it would be fun to sled with the girls.  We had a blast.  We went across the street where there is a nice little hill and made a pretty fast track.  Calvin finally decided that the snow would be fun and he joined us.  It was so nice to have Mitchell home to play with the kids and gets some things done around here.  Mitchell did venture out with Ashley and they came home with a 1000 piece puzzle.  I had never completed such a huge puzzle before but it was the perfect thing for our bored family.  We completed it Sunday in just over 24 hours.  It is 3 feet long and is called Grand Finale.  I love it so much that I mod podged it and it is hanging in my bedroom.

Sunday church was cancelled because an ice storm came in Saturday night and froze everything.  You would walk on the snow and it would just crunch below your feet and was really really slippery.  The City of Portland asked that no one travel because the road conditions were so bad. 

 

Since we had not started thawing out yet school was cancelled again on Monday.  We decided it would be a good day to clean and get our house back in order.  It is nice that today, Tuesday, it is going away and we can get back to our normal lives again.  It was fun spending so much time with our family, but is so nice that they are back to school.

 

 Hailey made a little fort, until Calvin came over and stepped on it.

 Crash!

 My sweet Hailey after her fall.

 Calvin deciding if he likes the snow or not.

 Our neighbor brought over a couple of sleds and decided to pull me around on it and it was actually a lot of fun. 

 My little bubba bear enjoying the snow.

 Snow princess Lindsay.

 Surfing!!!

 Lindsay and Hailey going over to the hill across the street.

 Snow princess Ashley

Ashley and Calvin having fun together in the snow.

 

Now time for the Winter Thaw 2014