Day 336: Our First Snow of the Season

Finally!  This morning, we woke up to a little dusting, soon followed by huge flakes falling from the sky.  Daniel and I helped get all of the kid's items together.  Buddy, our elf, returned and brought along two Advent calendars filled with chocolates.  We're now counting down the days to Christmas.  We hope to incorporate a few "thoughtful" advent pieces, but we're loving the candy at the moment.  Buddy was also new to Maddie, as she doesn't remember him from last year, so that was fun.  She didn't try to mess with him, she just looked at him and took her candy.  She didn't care who was giving her sweets, she just wanted them.

Once the kids finished up their breakfast and chocolate we got them off in the right directions.  Caleb got on the bus and I took Maddie to school.  Maddie's teacher told me that she is talking a lot in Polish now.  She said that she'll speak Polish to the kids and when she doesn't know how to say something she'll mix in English.  I love that she's picking it up, and it's hilarious to hear what she says sometimes.  She's now calling Daniel "Tata" which is Daddy in Polish.  She will also say "that's mine" in Polish, along with other phrases.  We're not sure what all she's capable of, as we're very Polish language challenged!

Daniel and I had a pretty busy day at work.  Two of the Marines were promoted this morning, so that was nice to attend.  The guys definitely deserved it, and I was thankful to be a part of it.  One Marine had his best friend (also a MSG on the program currently in Greece) pin him on and the Ambassador pinned on the other Marine.

After that fun, I went back to my boring, and terribly slow computer and began working on a few things.  I have a few more things to do, but I'm caught up for the most part, which is nice!  Daniel and I left early today and didn't beat the bus home.  The snow had melted and as we drove home, a rain/snow mix fell quite hard.  It was more rain than snow, so driving was terrible.  Caleb had just arrived, though, so we weren't too late.  He was, however, waiting out in the rain, so I hate he didn't get back in the bus.

Caleb worked on his letter back to Brody (this may be the death of his short ten years) and we all enjoyed some chicken casserole.  We turned our boring leftovers into a pretty tasty dish!  Well, Daniel did.  As he got everything together, I gave Maddie a bath and got her in pajamas.  We were all showered and ready to eat by 5:30.  By 6pm, Daniel and I were fighting to keep our eyes open.  We watched Sofia the First for a few episodes and then played with balloons.

I popped a couple by letting air out, and Daniel and Maddie popped others by sitting on them.  Caleb and I sat at the table and laughed, because they were much harder to pop than Daniel had planned.  He would sit on it, bounce on it, and nothing would happen.  Once it did, Maddie would let out a little squeal and then laugh.  We were all in tears from laughing so hard!

After the balloon fun, Daniel and I cleaned up everything and got the kitchen and living room cleaned up.  Maddie is now on night three of putting herself to sleep, and she did great.  She stood at the door two separate times, once in princess shoes, but after peeing two more times, and being laid back down three, she finally passed out.  Tonight she didn't cry nearly as much, so I think we're almost there!!

Goodnight all!!