January Snow "Storm"

Tuesday a snow storm was forecasted to hit our area.  Since it was supposed to start mid-morning, schools closed.  Adeline was devastated- she missed her friends!  Alden was fine with it....  Finally by the early evening, the snow started- and we woke-up to about 2" of snow covering the ground!  Asher was ecstatic as snow is his FAVORITE thing!  It was c-o-l-d- temps in the single digits- but that did not stop the 4 Perreca children- and thus their parents- from going out and enjoying The Perfect Sledding Hill- aka, our back yard.  All the neighbors came over and together, there was quiet a collection of sleds!  

Lots and lots of sledding happened over the next few days- school was out for the entire week (which means Addie and Alden will have been out of school for 5 weeks which is about 4 weeks too long of family-together-not-in-the-summer-time).  

The twins loved the snow and you could tell that they had never experienced it like THIS!  Annalise could not get enough of sledding- she is such a dare devil.  Asher would sled a few times and then be perfectly content grabbing a handful of snow and tossing it into the air.

Lila, Adeline and Asher- Ashers's face is so stoic...

Alden was a total speed demon!

Alden, Winston, Jack and Annalise- these 4 are going to be best buddies!

Alden, Addie and Lila- their faces just say it all!

Who needs a sled when the entire hill is ice??

A family shot while Rebecca was still in town! 

Al taking Asher

The Peanut Gallery

Annalise's turn

Al taking his girls

SO happy!

This pic captures the beautiful, happy chaos of our sledding hill!

Hot Chocolate Breaks were needed throughout the day- the twins LOVED it and so did Adeline and Alden- and I may have enjoyed a few cups myself!

2 handing it

Yum!

Not sure of what to think of the marshmallows- once she tried one, she LOVED them!

Bottoms- Up!

Even though this snow was not when I would have liked it, it did force us to have extra family time- which I think was good in the end!  It was a good way for the twins to learn more about being a family and let them still meet our friends!  I won't lie though- I am looking forward to school starting up for Adeline and Alden on Monday- they need their routine and own little worlds.

An added bonus to this whole snow-vacation? Everyone can now totally dress themselves in their snow gear in record time!  No longer does it take 2,000 hours to get out the door!!

Hitting Our Stride

It has been an adjustment going from a family of 4 where just about everyone is self-sufficient- to a family of 6 and this change means that many people now need help....  Thankfully we have been loved on by our friends- both sending meals and praying for us- and I do believe that we are slowly starting to develop a routine.  Things have changed and most for the better!  Here are some pictures to show that!

Adeline, it turns out, LOVES to vacuum and is really rather good!

A griddle was purchased, thanks to gcs from friends- now breakfast doesn't take forever to cook!

Annalise is learning to snuggle- and she loves it!  She also has learned to say "I love you Mommy"- which  totally made the huge meltdown leading up to this, worth it! 

The twins can now watch TV- their eyesight has some issues, and this is the first time they really watched TV! 

Matching sisters in matching sisters boots (mine and Rebecca's)

Opening gifts- the best part- the CANDY!! 

He has discovered a deep love of lollypops!

Annalise is 100% Diva- she wears jewelry at all times and is obsessed with chapstick and nail polish!

Playing outside in 60degree weather- 24hrs later, the temps would be in the single digits and snow would cover the ground!

Breakfast together- introducing Cheerios- a hit!

How boys play with nail polish

Happy Girls- bored boys- Annalise is a HUGE fan- she even painted the couch, the carpet, the walls, and herself....

Asher LOVES the broom

Sweet boy

Funny faces- love this picture!

It isn't glamorous but it is pretty spectacular!  God is good- our twins clearly belong in our family and we are excited to have them be a part of it forever!

First Real Haircuts!

The twins have had haircuts in the past, but I am fairly certain they were done by the workers.  In our apartment in Vilnius, using my sister's Swiss Army Knife, some basic "fixing" was done- but it was clear that a professional needed to step in!

On our first day home, we took the twins to Crew Cuts and Pigtails- a salon just for kids.  We figured they would know what to do if the twins flipped out (which they didn't) and they would probably not judge us and my feeble attempts to "fix" their hair.  Both kids did perfectly- sat still, looked where they were told, and left with a lollypop and a sweet new do!

Before

Before

After- notice the 3,000 necklaces?

After- he was happy, just not sure about the lollypop, but that didn't stop him from popping it into his mouth and crunching it to pieces!

We celebrated this special moment by going to Sweet Frog!  The twins were excited because they had seen pictures of Addie and Alden eating here- and it was neat to see them recognize this!  They were even MORE excited when they tasted what Sweet Frog IS!

My 4 Darlings

Jumping for joy!

Shoveling it in!

So happy and SO decked out!

First Day Home Fun

We arrived home to warm temps, so we tried to get the kids outside to run around and play- snow was in the forecast which could mean just about anything here....  The twins were SO excited to actually BE in all the places we had sent them pictures of- their rooms, their beds, bathrooms, their bikes, the swing set, all the neighbors, etc.  It was neat to have time to not only recover from jet lag, but also to share our life with the twins and see them be so excited about it!

Sun glasses AND brushing his teeth- this is just about perfection for Asher!

Matching sisters- and Annalise has a very deep love of jewelry- we did not know we owned so many necklaces and bracelets- over 20- that she wore continually for just about 3 days!

SO excited to try out her new bike- she almost has it!

Asher loved his bike too- and is close to getting how to pedal!

Being allowed to play with a hockey stick, a basketball AND IN the mud- he was over the moon excited!!

Annalise also loves glasses- and she quickly understood that we pray before meals!

First oreo- can you SEE the excitement in his eyes?

So cool- she actually crammed her entire oreo in her mouth it was THAT good!

My new view!

What Love Looks Like

Love is often a word that is thrown around and doesn't really mean anything other than it is what you like the most in that moment.  Thankfully my family is surrounded by people who know the true meaning of "love"- love that is explained in the Bible- a Great Love- a love where you give what is needed, not necessarily what is fun or cute.  Here are a few pictures of what love looks like when you have returned from Eastern Europe with your 2 most recent family members.  It also looks like a meal schedule that is totally full for the next 2 months- 2 months!

Thank you friends for stocking my basically empty 'fridge and pantry to the point that you needed to pile things on my counters- all things I needed and most of them I didn't realize we needed until they were there!  Thank you for all the amazing meals!  Thank you for phone calls and texts to check on us.  Thank you for dropping off diapers and meals, just because you had them and thought we could use them.  Thank you for the prayers you have sent-up on our behalf.  Thank you for showing us Christ's love.  We have been so humbled by all the generosity.  Thank you!