Really Snowed In!!

What a day! We woke up this morning to discover not only had the wind howled all night, it snowed as well. When Cory left at nine this morning for his Ward Clerk meetings, the wind hadn't stopped and the snow was still blizzard looking. Cory always takes the pickup to church because of his many meetings. Besides, the clutch went out yesterday in the pickup so I'm not even going to attempt driving it without one. The kids and I waited the hour for church for us to start and attempted to get there on time. I got the kids loaded in the car and tried to get out of the driveway, I discovered that the cattle guard had completely drifted over and the road had done the same in two spots beyond the cattle guard. Cory warned me of this and told me to just gas it on the way out. I gunned the car to get through those drifts not really knowing whether I was on the road or not because I couldn't see, and barely made it through the drifts.
During church the weather kept at it, therefore my brother in law (Cody) who lives next door to us called after church and warned me not to even attempt to bring the car home. Even after he plowed the road with the tractor an hour before, the drifts grew immensely. So my other brother in law (Cary) took me and the kids home from church while Cory stayed for his meetings . Cary's truck was pushing 6 inches of snow with his bumper to get through the drifts to our house so my car would have been buried! We waited for Cory to come home to make sure he got through because the drifts were growing rapidly by the second. He finally pulled up close enough to the house to walk in the rest of the way, after he was close to getting stuck in the cattle guard.
All was well except the growing piles of snow accumulating outside, and I had mentioned to Cory that Sadie wouldn't be going to school tomorrow with this weather when about five o'clock her teacher called to say they had cancelled school for tomorrow. Cory and I decided that our wood pile outside was getting buried by the minute so we'd better pack the wood up on the porch and more into the house for the night. As I was getting my winter clothes on, I looked out the window and couldn't see to the end of the sidewalk. It was a blizzard out there! Stepping outside I about blew away but managed to keep my footing until I unknowingly stepped into a drift that was as tall as my thigh! Snow kept coming down and the wind piled it up.
Discussing back up plans, Cory and I thought we could make it through the field to get to Mom and Dad's house in the morning for a vehicle if needs be because our pickup was snowed in by that time. A phone call from Cody ruined that thought as he tried to come home through the field. He reported that he was pushing a foot of snow with his truck's bumper before he turned around and went back to Mom and Dad's. So we are officially snowed in on all sides. Of course the one time we need the snow machine, it is at Mom and Dad's house on the trailer. Cory had gone sledding this past Tuesday with the Young Men. Oh well! I guess it will be indoor activities until the wind lets up and then we can go outside in the snow to play!! What a day to remember.

Twins!

Yes I know that is a shock, it was to me too but I have the pictures to prove it. It will take some getting used to but it will all be okay. We will just have to pay close attention to the pictures to tell them apart . . . . . .

So which one is Sadie and which one is Lexi? They look so much alike it is unreal. I guess the Bird baby genes run through both our kids. By the way the top one is Lexi and the bottom one is Sadie. We were looking through old pictures this last weekend and discovered how much they look alike. Crazy huh?

Horse Riding in the Winter

We have a great way to go out and ride a horse in the winter. All you have to do is . . . . well see for yourself!

Below: You just need your own indoor horse arena! :)

Sunday Naps

I think we all enjoy a Sunday nap from time to time. Here lately it seems everyone gets one except for me, however, moments like this make it worth missing my Sunday nap. Sadie woke up and smiled at me just as I was taking the picture. What a ham she is.

Change of Scenery

I cannot tell you how great it is to be just through the field from my in-laws. Especailly when my kids get bored of being in the house or outside at our own place. It takes ten minutes to go around the field to their house and we have a whole new playground with a swing set (that is a major hit with my girls) and a basketball court that turns into a chalk park, a bike race track, or a jumprope stage.

I feel forever grateful for our family close by and the great help they are to me. I can't count the times checking cows this winter has turned into a hot dog roast or a nature walk. There are many accounts of uncles taking girls with them out to the shop or out in the barn or in the pickup for a ride. It never fails that it seems to come just at the right time when I need help the most. My kids were rescued from a mom who was busy doing taxes and paperwork for a couple days, a mom who was too sick to get up for much other than getting to the bathroom and the necessities. I feel so blessed over these past couple months for the great help Kurt, Jan, Cody and Cary have been. I wouldn't have made it without them.

Below: Lexi swinging on Mom's finally finished swing set.

Below: Sadie trying to get Uncle Cody to do some fancy jumps on the trampoline.

St. Patrick's Day

Yes I'm slow at publishing this but better late than never right? Sadie loved the fact that you can pinch people on this day. At pre-school a boy in her class forgot to wear green and the teacher had to protect him a bit from the other kids. (mostly mine) We had green pancakes that morning and Sadie thought they should have been purple. I had to explain the whole green thing and why she was wearing a green shirt to school as well. Cory forgot to wear green to work and when he came home, he got pinched by two leprechauns!

Cousins or Best Buds?

On one of my monthly trips to Rexburg to the doctor, I also had a clogging competition in Pocatello. We went to Pocatello to stay the night with Cory's sister Angie and her family. It was really fun and she volunteered to watch my girls while I clogged in the competition (which we took first place by the way. Abbie is just about four months younger than Lexi and makes an excellent playmate for her. Sadie was the other "Mommy" for the two little ones and they played well together. It was as lot of fun and thanks to Angie and Jason for letting us stay with them for the weekend!

Below: Abbie and Lexi getting into my bag, namely the cell phone and my camera case. It takes two!

Below: Eating breakfast of banana Choc.-chip muffins and you can bet who is making a mess! Check out the naked kids and all the beautiful brown "paint" on them.

Reading the Staples of Life

Cory is teaching our children to read the staples in life and here is a picture of Lexi and Cory doing just that. The Western Horseman is the first magazine she reaches for to look at and loves to make all the animal sounds as she looks at the pages.

Snow Days

Here it is the 5th of March and we have had barely snow covering the ground and all of a sudden, it dumped on us. So the kids finally got to go outside and play in the snow. We built a snow fort and a snowman. They were outside for two days about until the snow melted again but had a great time in the snow. Isn't it amazing what the weather can do for you! It had been too cold to go outside with temperatures getting to 12 below in the mornings and then we get tons of snow and warmer weather that definatley came in the nick of time. I was going stir crazy so I know my kids were too!

Below: Here is Lexi eating the biggest icicle Sadie could find outside to break.

Below: Sadie, Lexi and Grandpa Bird showing off the icicles they found outside.

Below: Sadie and Lexi riding on the sled behind the four-wheeler

driven by Cory around our yard.

Below: Sadie standing in what is left of our fort after our dog, Tuff, decided to jump on it.

The Secret's Out

I decided to go ahead and publicly announce that we are going to have another baby due to arrive on August 16th of 2009. I was keeping it a secret for a while just in case any early complications came up but it seems that all is well and we are very excited. Sadie wants to have a brother because mommies have sisters and brothers and she already has a sister. I hope she doesn't have her heart too set yet. I can't decide what I want other than a healthy baby. We find out what we are having on April 10th so look for my post! I really was sick with this one and it was a struggle to keep myself going for the sake of my husband and kids. Lexi cried every time she found me hoovering over the toilet and she has a really hard time understanding all of this. Sadie was great help and knew if I hollered her name as I ran to the bathroom, she automatically shut my bedroom door and entertained Lexi for me until I came out. I made it through the first trimester now though and other than feeling tired, I am doing great. Cory is as wonderful as ever trying to pick up the slack around the house for me when I am just tuckered out. I really can't imagine what I will do trying to nurse a third kid and at the same time trying to chase down my not quite two year old down the hall. It will be an advenutre for sure.

Some Hair Now

As many of you know my children are bald as a babies bottom when they are born and don't seem to get much after that either. So it is an occasion to us when I can put two piggies in Lexi's hair! Yea! She was so funny about it, she loves to get "pretties" in her hair now. Another funny thing about Lexi is that every since she was about five months old, she started to cross her legs whenever she sat down and I have never taken a picture of it or written it down so here she is with her crossed legs and two piggies in her hair.