A snow day

Because all is right with the world, we had a snow day today. Last year, if school was closed, I was home alone in the quiet. I napped. Cleaned up. Got things done. It was amazing. Now, Mia is home, too. So is Wren. And by a stroke of good luck, Leigh was here, too. It has a been a loud, loud day. But Leigh took Mia outside to play. Wren and I stayed inside and watched.

If I was in charge of playing outside, it would have been short-lived because the ground was really covered mostly ice with a little snow on top. But Leigh was running the show, so the four-wheeler and sled were involved. And then Leigh had a brilliant idea.

He took Skye outside on a leash. Mia sat on the blue plastic sled and held on to one end, shouting "Hee-yah!" as Skye dragged her around the yard. I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy trying not to wet my pants from laughing.

America!

All right. I'm pretty proud of myself. Please admire this American flag snack tray. It's cheese, strawberries and chocolates. I, too, am impressed.

We hosted a watch party for the U.S.-Ghana soccer game. Aside from a super-exciting game and array of American-themed snacks, the most notable thing was the plethora of babies. There were seven children. SEVEN! We lamented about our past parties, when BYOB meant bring your own beer. Now it means bring your own baby.

Speaking of babies, here is ours. We let her wear the traditional Coppernoll international sporting events hat: a Hog hat with the American flag draped down in the back.

 Then Mia stole Leigh's camera and snapped a few selfies.

Ahhhhhhhsemayaaaabodeebesibabaaaaaa

I go to make toast; I come back to Leigh and Mia reenacting the opening of "The Lion King." It was much easier when she was a baby. 

You've got a little something there

 

We went to supper with our lovely friends Lauren and Marc and tried out a new restaurant. The review? The wait was long (above) but the food was tasty (below). Um, Mia: you've got a little something right over, uh, there.

A quick trip to the park

Whenever we go to the library, there's a little park right nearby that just can't be ignored. Plus, there are some crazy looking ducks that poke around the pond.

This has lead me to the conclusion that there is never a quick trip to the library.

Swinging

After work, we popped over to the sprayground water park to let Mia play. Oklahoma City has a bunch of them all over the city, and the one we went to this time also happened to have a park. Here's a recap of what happened:

- Splash around in the water park.
- Scurry to the park.
- Go down the slide.
- Scurry to the water park.
- Repeat a million times.

Leigh and I eventually acquiesced and sat at a picnic table in the middle. Then before we left, Leigh taught her how to twist a swing around and around and then let go. Weee!

Go Bokke!

Mia got up early with Leigh to watch some rugby. She's outgrown her last rugby shirt, so he had to outfit her with one of his own.

Happy birthday, Uncle Jason!

Leigh did the writing. Mia did the drawing. This is how you send birthday love all the way from Oklahoma to South Africa.

Leigh is 32

Leigh's Uncle Alan posted this photo on Facebook for his birthday. He's 3 years old here. Could he be any cuter? Doubtful.

Cupcake wars

Sometimes ideas are better in theory.

I decided that Mia and I should make cupcakes for Leigh's birthday. Wouldn't this be adorable? Wouldn't we take the cutest pictures? Wouldn't it all turn out lovely?

Please. Let's be honest. Mia was basically taking a bath in the batter once she realized how delicious it was. (Sometimes I don't teach her the best life skills ever. Like the time I taught her how to snap up popcorn with her tongue.)

And lesson learned: 3-year-old don't have the motor skills to fill the baking cups.

The only photo we have is this, and Leigh's smile cracks me up. He is totally pretending like this wasn't a giant ordeal that ended with cleaning the kitchen and giving Mia a bath.

Storm party

Once again, the weather is attacking Oklahoma. We're seeking shelter with some of our favorite people - Scout and her moms! Here is Maggie buried under a pile of girls. Keep in mind, they aren't scared. They're, as Mia would say, "so super excited" to be hanging out. By the end of the night, we weren't the only one to show up at our friends' house because of their basement. There were 11 dogs, 9 adults, 3 children and a cat.

Mia and the carousel lady

We visited the zoo for the last hour or so it was open and decided to visit some animals we don't normally see, especially the ocean exhibit and the meerkats. Well, the zoo has a carousel, which we forget because we never walk past it. Mia spotted it right as we were making our way out at closing time, but we decided to go ahead and get in on the last ride.

We were too late.

The woman running the carousel told us it was the last ride and we were too late. Mia sat down on a brick wall and made the saddest little people face of all time. I patted her on the back and told her we'd ride it next time.

The carousel lady couldn't handle it.

"Oh, OK! Come on! Hurry!" 

I snatched up Mia and we scurried on board. She was so, so happy. It was seriously the best. Thank you, carousel lady, for having a heart and giving this 3-year-old a chance to ride on a crane.

Coach Leigh

Well, Mia's soccer coach went on vacation with his wife, and Leigh has been left in charge of  the team.

I can't explain how excited I am about this.

Wrangling 3-year-olds is hilarious anyway, but now my husband is in charge of the wrangling. Soccer has now become twice as hilarious. Here are the main duties of a coach for this age group:

- Point out where the goal is.
- Lift up renegade children and place them back down within the field of play.
- Encourage players to stop playing with dirt and/or grass.
- Discourage crying.
- Pause for hug breaks.

Leigh was fantastic.

Oh yeah

I think I forgot to post this photo. Here's Mia enjoying her pretend supper in an Ikea display while we were in Dallas.

Dinner for Nick

We were so sad earlier this year when our friends Michael and Susanne moved to Houston. Thankfully, Susanne is telecommuting so she comes up to the main office every now and then for work. We had the chance to have supper with her the other night, and it also happened to be our friend Nicholas's birthday! Because he lives even further way - South Africa - we had to just make him a sign and eat a delicious dessert in his honor.

Choo-choo

While we were in Dallas for the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon, we couldn't resist stopping by Ikea. Sadly, Mia was 3 inches - 3 inches! - too short to stay in the children's area. Want to see a sad kid? Make them stand in line for the kids' area and then NOT let them go play. But despite that horribleness and a near-choking incident during lunch, she was extremely well behaved. The result: I snapped up a wooden train set for her. Needless to say, she was pretty excited.

For sale: a bunch of stuff

It was time again for us to empty our garage and pile everything into our friend Clay's front yard. We had the annual Vilakazi garage sale yesterday, and it was great! Even though we didn't have as much stuff, our board members worked and worked, and we made nearly as much as last year. In fact, we brought in enough to pay for about 25 backpacks. Hooray!

The Premier League

First of all, let's all be clear about this: 3-year-old soccer is hilarious. Hiiiilarious. Well this weekend was an eye-opener. Mia's team played a a team whose dads are nearly all professional athletes. (That's Desmond Mason in the photo above!) Scout's parents were convinced all the kids were 5 because they were a foot taller than our kids. But then we realized that they were all a foot taller than our kids because their parents were two feet taller than we are.

The runaround

The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon is getting close, and Mia is putting in her distance for the Kids Marathon. I love when we all go out together. It's so fun to unplug and do something with just the three of us, even if it's only for half an hour.

Easter bunnies, both seen and unseen

Oh, the Easter bunny came to our house. He left all kinds of fabulous things, and he hid eggs all over the front yard. 

 After church and a nap, we took Mia to the zoo. They were having egg hunts, and after so much excitement this morning, we thought for sure she'd love it.

Apparently not. But with a little help from Leigh, she conjured up the courage to pluck up a few eggs. After that was over, she had a fabulous time playing in the stream, watching a sea lion show with my mom and petting various fuzzy creatures. Success!