Thursday, January 30, 2014

Recent Atlanta Snows

I've seen several references to our current weather debacle as a "rare winter storm," but I don't think that's quite accurate. We may not have the kind of winter my Minnesota in-laws do, but we in metro Atlanta get some amount of snow every year, and pretty often--at least every other year, sometimes a couple of years in a row--it gets deep enough and sticks around long enough so that we miss a day or two of school or work.

Here are some pictures from three years of snow, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2011 we got at least four inches of snow, and the schools were closed for a full week.




Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Snow on Stuff in the Planet Burdett Backyard, 29 January 2014

Yesterday we got one of those once-every-couple-of-years snow storms here in Georgia, which put a couple of inches of snow on the ground. (It also caused all sorts of terrible problems all over metro Atlanta, which is a whole other story.) Here are some pictures of snow on stuff in our backyard:









Saturday, January 25, 2014

Birthday Party at Granny and Pa's House

This afternoon we went to Granny and Pa's house to have a family birthday party for Jessica and Elyse. Here are some pictures:

 (It's a delicious red velvet cake!)







Then, after we got home and got the girls ready for bed and got Elyse to sleep, the rest of us watched The Wizard of Oz! (We gave Jessica the DVD for her birthday, but we don't think Elyse is quite ready for it.) Jessica loved it, and so did I (though I'd seen it before, of course). Anna mostly slept through it; she was very tired.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

Today is Jessica's seventh birthday!

This morning I took cupcakes to her class in the cafeteria at 11:30 and had lunch with her. And tonight, while Mommy had to be out setting up for tomorrow's Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, we ate Arby's food (her favorite) and watched the Barbie movie she got for her birthday. (We have twenty-three Barbie movies now. I had no idea, when I had little girls, that I would soon be up to my ears in Barbie movies. And Barbies. And their clothes.)

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

(As with the picture of Elyse on her birthday, this picture is actually from Christmas Eve. It was just a month ago!)

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Happy Birthday, Elyse!

Today, Elyse turned four years old!

She celebrated by getting up at 3:30 a.m. and saying she was ready to open presents. (I'm not making that up.) We made her wait until 6:00.

(This picture is from Christmas Eve, but it was close to her birthday.)

Happy Birthday, Elyse!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Santas and Snowmen

This year before I put up our Christmas decorations--which we are still not finished doing, by the way--I took some pictures of our Santas and Snowmen:



I like the Snowmen picture better, personally. I thought the Santas might look good standing on black, but now I wish I'd just put them on a pure white background, too.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Elyse's First Birthday Party

Today Elyse went to her first birthday party, for her friend Addison. It was at Catch Air in Snellville, which is what we call a "jumping place." It was crowded and loud and a little stressful for her daddy, but Elyse had a great time. She wants to go back soon; in fact, she wants to have her own birthday party there. (Which we won't be doing, by the way.)