Least liked month of the year?

February, February, what do you have against me?  I mean, seriously!!  With just a few exceptions (Ben's birth being one) the whole month can be summed up as lots of cold, sunless, SHORT, SNOWY days.  You may recall that last month Gigi, Nanny and Ward were visiting and they complained about how cold it was IN the house.  It seemed colder in our house, but we thought it was our imagination.  Well, come to find out, no, it was colder in our house because we had a giant HOLE in our roof!!  A few weeks ago we had a wind storm and the chimney cap blew off the roof.  I was a responsible tenant and immediately informed our landlord about the big piece of tin sitting in our yard.  He assured me that as soon as the wind stopped blowing and the snow melted he would have someone over to replace it.  Well, three weeks later I am doing laundry and I hear the unmistakable sound of water dripping.  I look up expecting to see a sagging ceiling because outside at the very minute we were having a huge rain storm.  Thank goodness it wasn't snow!  So up I go into the attic space to see exactly what kind of damage awaited.  This is what greeted me! 

Yes that is a monster square of open space.  What isn't shown in this picture is the puddles of water all over the insulation and exposed drywall.  GREAT!  I call the landlord again and reported the even bigger problem.  By now the metal cap was unusable so he had to go purchase one and of course it was still raining cats and dogs so no one could climb up on the roof to fix the problem until it stopped - 3 days later!  AWESOME!!  So that was fun.  Probably helped our gas bill, too!  February 1, Wellons 0.

One night at dinner Lucy commented that one of her teeth were loose.  That is a huge deal because up until that very moment, she had not lost any teeth and this was really starting to get to her.  Unfortunately for both Lucy and Ben, they did not get their baby teeth in a timely fashion so I had already told them they would be seniors in high school before any of their baby teeth fell out.  So being the good mother that I am, I asked to wiggle the tooth to check it out.  This is what greeted me.

I am sorry for the close up shot of her mouth, but that is a tooth coming up behind her baby tooth!  My daughter has SHARK MOUTH!!  Yikes!! I have heard about this from other mothers, but never thought for a minute that I would have a child that exhibited this phenomena.  Google recommended getting the tooth pulled right away to keep the teeth from crowding, but after a call to our trusted Dentist at home (via Nanny) we decided to take a more wait-and-see approach, supplemented with an aggressive wiggling campaign (didn't I totally sound like a Marine right then?).  Feb 2, Wellons 0,

We recovered from the  shock of Shark mouth and had the roof repaired just in time for the arrival of Winter Storm Nemo.  The weather channels were predicting a ferocious Nor'easter to dump anywhere from 16" to 24" of snow, coupled with winds exceeding hurricane force.  I was so glad we got the roof fixed and hoped that the new cap would hold.  To demonstrate how much snow we might get I grabbed the tape measure to show the kids where the snow would measure on them.  Ben was overcome with excitement!  Actually he kept screaming "Oh My Goodness"!    

Before the first flake even starting to fall, Ben was all ready to go with his snow gear.  He didn't have to wait long.

We lost power Friday night but we had already put the kids to bed upstairs so didn't see the point of moving them.  I slept downstairs to make sure the cat door didn't get blown out of the window (my worst fear was to wake up Saturday morning with 2 feet of snow in the house)!   Thankfully the window held, but it was not a restful night's sleep.  When the kids got up Saturday morning, the storm was still going so I wouldn't let them go outside.  Mainly because I had no way of drying any of their snow clothes and it was basically blizzard conditions.  Finally, I got tired of the whining and turned them out to face the elements.
The snow plows had been going all night and so they had piled the snow really high, the wind helped in making the drifts even higher.  The kids were in heaven.   
When it was all said and done we only got 16" of snow.  I say only because there were several nearby areas that ended up with upwards of 2 feet.  We felt extremely lucky!!

View of our back deck

Finally everyone got tired of being wet and cold and came inside to be wet and cold!  Thankfully we had managed to turn the gas logs on before the power went out so we were able to heat one room in the house a few degrees above freezing.  Saturday night we "camped" in the living room. 

We have a gas stove top so we were able to have soup and Jim fired up the grill so we were good on the food front.  Plenty of "ice" to keep our refrigerator/freezer things cold.  If we could just warm up the house a few more degrees!!  BRRRR  Score update: Feb. 3, Wellons 0.

Our neighbors got power back Saturday night, but we had to wait until Sunday morning.  Once power was restored it was "game on" for outside activities! (Feb. 3 Wellons 1)

Kids in the snow fort

Sledding for 3

 We all piled in the car and headed to the local sledding hill.  We were NOT disappointed.  The hill was great!  

I have tons and tons of photos and videos of the kids sledding and snurfing and skiing.  I must say I was glad when we got here last year to be late enough for no snow.  However, we have definitely enjoyed having the snow THIS year.  Especially since we are Florida-bound again, this might be the last time the kids see snow for quite a while!  Which is a shame, because they have really taken to skiing.

We interrupt this winter-wonderland for a HOLIDAY!!  That is right, Valentines day.  The kids were all excited even though Ben had proclaimed it to be only for girls.  When I questioned him about that, he was very vague and basically was convinced that only girls get cards and candy and he was unhappy about it.  I had thought about having the kids make their own valentines when we were house bound over the course of Nemo, but that proved to be too difficult a task.  Then I briefly thought I would make them.  HA HA HA HA yeah, right.

In the end we pulled out the valentines I bought 1/2 price last year and dug in.  Turns out Lilly has a not-so-secret admirer.  She was surprised before school with a card and a chocolate rose!! Feb. 3 Wellons 2.

One of the coolest things we did this month (and the competition was stiff, let me tell you) was to tour the USS Dallas.  It is a submarine in port in Groton, Connecticut and one of Jim's class mates is a submarine guy and somehow he pulled some strings and we were able to get a group tour.  It was AMAZING!  The kids really enjoyed it, although, I am not so sure the crew of the sub had any idea we were coming.  They were in the midst of doing all these tests and system checks and basically seemed a bit put out that an extra 30-odd people were on board.  Can't say that I blame them.  That sub got real small, real fast.  Feb. 3 Wellons 3.  

Another cool thing about touring the sub in Groton is that Mystic, Connecticut is just down the street, so we had to go there to check it out.  There is an aquarium that is open in the warmer months, so maybe I will take the kids there this spring before we head south.  So if you are in Mystic near dinner time the only choice is MYSTIC PIZZA!  I just love that movie!  Unfortunately a quick google search gave us the depressing information: Only 1 scene of that movie was actually filmed in Mystic and it had nothing to do with pizza!  Turns out it doesn't matter cause the pizza was really good anyway!

Neither Julia, Liv or Annabell were working - bummer!

As if I haven't shared enough snow activities with you as it is, we decided to hit Yawgoo the first weekend of winter break.  Yes the good state of Rhode Island has a week off from school right around Presidents Day weekend every year.  I don't quite understand why they do it.  If the kids went to school that week the school year would end the second week of June even if you had to account for weather days.  But apparently they enjoy the current system, and because of it the last day of school this year is June 25th!!  CRAZY!!!

Lilly in her happy place

Lucy and Alexia on the slopes

Ben enjoying the snow

Lilly & Connor Me, Lilly & Jim

Now we are up to our 1 year anniversary in Rhode Island.  Ben's birthday!! To kick off the celebration we decided to take the kids to one of their favorite spots for dinner and of course the obligatory giant brownie sundae.  They made the most of it.  Feb 3, Wellons 4.

The Birthday Boy drinking up the dregs of the sundae - gross!

Look who is 5 and VERY proud!!

Ben decided EARLY this year that he wanted to go bowling for his birthday.  His decision may have been influenced by Lilly who also had a bowling party.  But if you ask him he will tell you he had always wanted to have one and that she copied him.  Good story Ben, stick with it.

Actually that isn't entirely true.  Originally he had requested a Star Wars party at the house complete with light sabers.  Well that would put the party a week before we were slated to move across the street.  So basically a no go.  When I told him it couldn't be at the house he started with the bowling idea.  So I incorporated the two.  I found a neat bowling clip art that featured the death star as the ball and storm troopers as the pins, totally plagiarized the text and printed them off at staples.  All I needed now was a cake.  I thought a bowling ball or maybe a bowling pin would be easy enough, but Ben had other ideas.  It had to be Star Wars.  

Me - "OK, how about we make cupcakes and instead of frosting them all fancy we put a sugar cookie on top made with our Star Wars cookie cutters."

Ben -  "Nooooo."

Me - "Are you sure, that might be cool."

Ben - "No Mommy.  I want a cake."

Me - "Well maybe I can make a Death Star cake."

Ben - "Oh Yeah!"

Can I make a Death Star cake?  Hmmm, well I can make half of a Death Star cake.  OK, how bad can it be.  Turns out the hardest thing was coming up with grey frosting.   

So the big day arrives and we head on over to the bowling alley.  Ben is so excited he is basically levitating rather than walking!!  All his friends arrive and we start to bowl.

Jim giving instructions

Lucy stylin the shoes

Should you be there?

STRIKE!

Now it was time for the cake.  I was a little nervous, because I wasn't sure how baking it in the bowl was going to work.  The only thing worse than having the middle of the cake be undercooked is the edges of the cake to be over cooked.  Oh well, at least it looks pretty cool.

Someone seems pretty happy with the cake.

Well it was a hit!  Everyone ate all they wanted and there wasn't very much left over!  I am going to put that in the win column.  Feb 3, Wellons 5.

Shortly after Ben's party, I took Lucy and Ben to the library for what was billed as a up close and personal look at small creatures.  I didn't really know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't this!

 

Lilly was going to be sooo mad!!  She loves this type of stuff, but she and Daddy missed the show.  Lucy and Ben held just about every animal that guy pulled out of his cages.  The ones I didn't want them to get anywhere near were of course their favorites!  Throughout the presentation, the man who owned all these animals continued to "reassure" us that he had never been bitten or felt threatened in anyway.  Of course, who knows how the animals will react when put in a room of 40 small excitable screaming children man handling them all.  I kept telling the kids to take the snakes off their necks.  All for naught!  My greatest fear is once we get to Florida they will petition to get an exotic pet or worse pick something up that has slithered from the Everglades in our backyard!! I am going to have to award a point to both sides on this one.  Feb 4, Wellons 6.

 

So as predicted, Lilly was furious!  Even being told one of her friends was going to have the creature man at his birthday party didn't break her out of her funk.  "No FAIR!" was the quote of the afternoon.  Don't feel too badly for her however.  Our good friend Christine was taking her daughter to Build A Bear the next morning so guess who got to tag along and spend her birthday present from Aunt Gigi? 

She even got an ice cream sundae!  She still reminded us about the injustice of it all when she returned from her day at the mall.  God help us when she is a teenager!! Feb. 4 Wellons 7.

The last day of the month was filled with movers.  BLECK!  I am so happy to have this over with now rather then in June, don't get me wrong.  But how many times can a family move in one calendar year?  Feb 5, Wellons 7.

So maybe I had given February a bad rap.  The points total clearly is in our favor.  Still, February is over and March is upon us.  Daddy graduates in March.  Daddy leaves for Florida in March.  Mommy loses her mind in March.  Oh well, at least it will make for some good reading!