As hoped, Emma's friends had a wonderful time testing out our backyard ice rink Friday night.

Earlier in the week, Chris picked up a hockey helmet for Josie at a used sports equipment store and then found two more on Saturday at a local estate sale where everything was 50% off. The extra helmets will come in handy when Josie's little friends want to visit our ice rink.

Doesn't she make a cute hockey player!?!
Between you and me, we all feel a little safer with Josie wearing even MORE protective gear on her head when she's skating.

The arctic blast came roaring into Michigan Saturday evening.

With the cooler air temps, we're hoping for EVEN more lake effect snow Sunday night.

The girls (
and myself) are having so much fun with our backyard ice rink.

Here's a short video of the progress that Josie and Emma have made with their ice skating abilities.
Josie is a wild woman on the ice. She has NO fear.
On Saturday, Chris built a zamboni out of pvc piping, a yogi mat (cut to size) and it's hooked up to our water heater in our basement. Here is a picture of Chris putting a new layer of ice on our rink with our zamboni.
Speaking of ice skating, when
Elizabeth sent me this darling Valentine card, I knew I had to do something special with a copy of the image.

Cheers to winter fun!!