Half Birthday And Legos!

This past Saturday, Paprika turned 6 and a half years old.  It's also President's Day weekend and the start of Ski Week for our school (everyone has the whole week off to go skiing).  Since we're just staying home and not vay-kay-ing anywhere fabulous, I thought it would be fun to celebrate Paprika's special day...her half birthday.  :-)

On Friday, we went over to Paula's house to swim and Paprika was convinced it was a celebration in honor of her half birthday.  :-)  Paula warmed up the hot tub, so I got in with the three girls and they had a blast.  Daryle came over and the "grown up girls" had a great time socializing - win/win!

The swimming pool was freezing, but Paprika and Ginger wanted to swim anyway.  They kept "braving" the "icy" waters of the pool and then racing back to the hot-tub.  After an hour or two, Mr. M came home from work and came over to say hi.  As soon as I saw him, I handed Baby Violet off to him (she was a handful in the water!!!)- then he took her home and I stayed with Ginger and Paprika.

It was like a vacation just having the older two to watch - it's amazing what perspective can do for ya.

Anyhoo - I got to enjoy a glass of wine while the girls watched a Barney movie on Paula's enormous TV (I think they thought they were in a movie theater - haha).  And, that's right, not only did I break my Lenten fast of no sugar, I also had a glass of wine!  Yikes!  Ann says I was being overly ambitious and  should have just given up gluten for Lent.  Paula says that God wants us to be happy.

All I know is that the day I gave up sugar, the song:  I can't live if living is without you was going through my head all day.  I had a piece of Valentine's Day candy and it was like the skies parted and everything was sunny again. 

So, I am not giving up sugar or the occasional glass of wine.  I am so weak.  If I was ever in a torture situation, I would break immediately.  I realize my marathon sessions of Homeland are clouding my judgement...but I'm just saying.  I can't even go two days without chocolate.  Haha!





We spent a lot of time this weekend playing around the house, running little errands here and there, and just being low-key.  On Saturday night, we took the girls to Krispy Kreme for Paprika's Half Birthday treat.  It was either that or make her a half cake, so we went with the easier option.  Haha.

The girls also played a lot of Legos this weekend.  All these Legos are Mr. M's from his childhood.  We have a ton and I love that they are all mixed up randomly - the girls love to build with them, and I am always so excited by what they make.




Paprika (age 6 and newly 1/2) made this mobile home.  On Saturday morning she saw a Lego set at Target that was for a "Mobile Home" (I think it was the Girl Legos).  Anyway - she really wanted it, but when we told her she'd have to use her own money to buy it, she improvised and made this little house out of the Legos we already had. 

It's actually pretty sweet inside- she made furniture, etc. before she put the roof on it:




Ginger (age 3) made this "Bunk Bed House" - when I asked her what a Bunk Bed House was, she said it's a house ontop of another house - (I guess that would be an apartment or a duplex?).   We have a single story house, so it's funny to me that she notices this stuff.  When we're driving around town, she always asks me why certain houses are tall and some are short, etc.  She notices everything!

Here is her little creation she made.  I love the stairs and the little man!  :-)





Last night, the girls made a "fort" under the table - Ginger dragged the quilt off her bed into the kitchen, and then the girls brought their stuffed animals and dolls under the table.  They had such a great time playing (Paprika, too) - it was so cute to watch.  Then my camera ran out of batteries, but at least I got this picture:



Then, this morning while the girls were sleeping, I hung these maps (find them: here and here) in Ginger and Paprika's room as a surprise for them. 

They were so excited and surprised when they woke up.  Paprika loves listening to Story of the World, so I thought this would help her understand the geography mentioned in the series. 





Paprika and Ginger are both always talking about all the places they want to visit. Hopefully these maps will help them visualize and dream about their big voyages they want to take. Although, really, I want them to live with me forever, so I don't want to encourage wanderlust. What am I thinking? Haha.




So, that's the start of our little Ski Week at home!  :-)  I feel like we've been off school forever and it's only Monday afternoon!  Ha!

The End.