Snowy week!

We've had so much snow this week. This is a tree that I love, and every week when I pass it on my way to church I tell myself I need to pull over and take a picture of it. I planned on doing it Sunday and then it snowed during church so I had to stop for sure. The kids had no interest or understanding of why anyone would stop in the middle of the road and get out of the car to photograph a tree, but trees speak to me for some reason. If you've been to my house in the past year think about what's above my mantel.

We had planned on grilling steak that night and by golly Jason was going to be sure we did, even though it was only about 16 degrees. We let the kids play in the snow during the grilling. I promised to get their sled out of the crawl space if they would stand together and take a few pictures.


Then they gave each other rides.
On Tuesday we got a little more snow, but I didn't really feel that the 2-hour school delay was necessary for what looked like less than 2 inches of snow. When I was a kid we never closed school for that measley amount of snow. There was no such thing as a delay. You either had so much snow that there was no school, or you went on time.

Today school was closed. It started snowing last night, then we got ice, then it snowed on top of that all morning. The news says we only got about 6 inches here, but I think it looks like more. Maybe we just got 6 inches today and it's resting on the snow from yesterday and Sunday. Not sure. But today I took the kids out to play for awhile. Jordis was apprehensive at first but she wasn't heavy enough to really sink through all the snow and ice, so she had a blast once I got her into the yard. She had snot running down her face and everything and didn't care. Xander made a snow angel and I brought them out some little bottles of colored water to color the snow. A squirt bottle would have worked better but I didn't have one, so I need to remember to pick up a few because they really liked the colored snow.




I scooped up some fresh, clean snow when we first went out and I'm hoping to make snow ice cream after dinner. I've never tried it so hopefully it turns out okay.

January's almost over

I'm SO looking forward to February so I can focus on Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras. This month has been kind of lazy because it has been so cold. Global warming my booty. Last Friday after dinner I went to a friend's house for a spa party and this was what the thermometer said in the Jeep.

When I went outside my nose hairs were freezing. Later that night when Jason was at work he said it eventually got down to -23. That's without the wind chill mind you. Yesterday it reached 50 and I was out without a coat and had actually contemplated wearing flip flops. I quit wearing gloves earlier in the week when it was in the 20's. Too hot for such nonsense, ha-ha.

Comfort food is one of our joys this time of year, so the kids and I attempted to make our own hot pretzels. For whatever reason I couldn't get the dough to rise. I'm thinking maybe my water was too hot and I killed the yeast. Or maybe it was the fact that I chose to make them on the coldest day of the year. But oddly enough they still turned out, so I'll keep the recipe. Might try cinnamon sugar, too.

Xander has been taking a sports adventure class thanks to our MRDD funding. He really likes it and lately they've been skateboarding. I'm hoping this class will help him with spatial awareness and coordination.

Jordis has been my little helper around the house while Xander's at school. She loves to do anything that makes her a "big girl." Remember, she's 2 going on 12.

Yesterday we went to the nursing home to deliver the snowflakes we've been making. Jason's parents gave me some old coffee filters when they got a new coffee maker, and then I quit drinking coffee at home. Always trying to find ways to be less wasteful it occurred to me that they would make great snowflakes, so the kids colored some with markers and then I cut them out.

They're getting much more comfortable being there, so I'm happy about that. Yesterday they led the way and I didn't have to drag them behind me.

And finally, one of the things I like about January is clearance sales on winter items. I got Jordis this adorable dress for about $4 and it was normally a ridiculous $32, so I was pretty excited about that.

I can't pass up a good deal on something I know we'll use. If I can find Xander a new winter coat in the next week or two I'll be golden.

Our weekend visitor

Xander came home from school Thursday with a big purple bag, and inside I found this...
There was also a notebook that stated our new houseguest was named Lily, and we were to document how she spent the weekend with us. Bubba was very interested in Lily.

Lily went to Xander's sports adventure class with him, and they came home and fell asleep in our bed waiting for Jordis and I to come home from somewhere else.


Jordis was kind enough to share her doll highchair so Lily could join us at the table for meals.

It was REALLY cold (as in below 0 degrees) over the weekend, so I thought Lily would be much warmer in this lovely Ohio State cheerleading outfit. It didn't prohibit her at all from participating in fun activities.

I was even nice and let her change clothes. Afterall, she is pretty furry, and once the temperatures climbed into the sweltering teens I thought maybe something sleeveless might be more comfortable.

We took Lily to have a late Christmas celebration with some friends, and she also played Geo Trax in Xander's room.


Today Lily had to go back to school. We had a fun weekend!

The blame game

Jordis was playing quietly in the toy room yesterday, which does not usually draw suspicion like it would if Xander were being quiet. But I thought I would join her so I went down the hall to see what she was up to.

That's when I found some of my photo albums strewn about the floor.

I asked her if she was using mommy's books without permission and she said "no" in the sweet little voice she uses when she bats her long dark eyelashes. So I asked her how the books got out since she was the only one in there.

Her reply?

"My baby did it."

This baby.

Though it does appear that she can feed herself already, so maybe she has more skills than I was aware of.

Our Charlie Brown Snowman

So we're all familiar with Charlie Brown and his tiny Christmas tree, right? Well, today we created a Charlie Brown Snowman.

When I was out this morning with Xander as he went to school, I was trying to teach him how to make snowballs. I "thought" that the snow seemed like good packing snow, so I told him that after school we could make a snowman.

It didn't go so well.

The snow was kind of icy, so it definitely wouldn't roll. Not that we had much more than an inch to work with anyway. We kind of had to stack it.

After about 5 minutes Xander quit helping and went to make his own snowman and then claiming boredom went in and sat and watched us work from behind the storm door.

Jordis was a little trooper, but her poor little cheeks were so red I knew we couldn't stay out long enough to make a full-fledged snowman. His body was turning into a cone instead of a ball because it kept falling down the sides, and it was taking forever to try and do something about it.

So our snowman just has a head....

as well as a scarf, plastic carrot nose, plastic hat, and eyes made out of rocks. He had a sea grass mouth but it's gone, and Jason found our plastic snowman pipe after the fact in the toy room.

Oh well. It was fun and the kids were happy with it, which is all that matters.

Not much to say

I've been a little lax in making posts lately because I really just don't have much to say. Which is precisely why I don't like this time of year. It's so BORING.

Xander went back to school, Jason's days off switched to Sunday and Monday and I still haven't found a place to put all the new things the kids got for Christmas. Oh, and our 10 1/2 year old dryer is finally on its last leg so our new one is coming next Friday. Gotta love those first of the year expenditures that were unexpected. Okay, I guess it wasn't totally unexpected since we've thought the dryer was going to go "any day now" for the past three years. But you know what I mean.

Since I have nothing to report I thought I'd share some of the photos we ordered from Disney. (Yes, I know you're all gagging since I already posted a million other photos of our trip. I told you, it's a slow month). They have stations all around the theme parks where you can pose for photos and then they charge you an arm and a leg for the CD, which you'll pay for, because you know 10 years from now you'll have to have that photo of your kid doing XYZ.


Here's Jason and Xan on the test track ride at Epcot.

Jason and I pretending to like each other (ha,ha).

Epcot at night has always been one of my favorite sights.

I let Jason wait in the character line with Jordis this time.

I think this is the most seductive princess I've ever seen. Not trying to be mean, she just has that look about her. It's not like these girls are REALLY princesses. I'd love to see them outside of work.

Xander actually asked to go see Goofy without being prompted.

We were all kind of exhausted at this point.

And last but not least...

...this was one of my favorites until Jason made an observation....

..Mickey is totally groping me.

2 going on 12

She looks two.

Chronologically she's two.

Countdown Calendars

But she doesn't act two. Within 30 minutes today I was told the following...

"I told you so" and "It's not fair."

Seriously.

Isn't she at least supposed to be in school before she learns these things?
A few weeks back she refused to go to bed because her room isn't pink and if she uses a straw she wants one that matches her shirt. I've got news for her, too. I don't care what color straw she uses, but if I have anything to do with it her room won't be pink for a long, long time. We spent way too long getting it the way it is to change it to something else (especially something I can't stand).

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2009 already! I'm not a huge fan of January (except for my dad's birthday, of course), and even though I love winter there's so much of it ahead with not much to look forward to. Easter is late this year and no one recognizes Mardi Gras as a holiday here, so there's nothing to break up the monotony between now and then.

My resolution this year is simple.....to have no resolutions. They're always the same so I've decided instead of the typical losing weight and exercising that all of us always plan, it would be best to make a permanent change to eating more healthfully and staying active. I think if those two things can happen then everything will should fall into place.

I can say that, aside from the three trips we were fortunate to take, 2008 was not our best year. I think I had a cold for more of the year than not. They've been messing with my Synthroid for the past seven months and even though it's the right dosage on paper, it's not agreeing with my body. The refrigerator broke and we lived out of coolers for over a week. Our dear "friends" at the auditor's office made an error on their part which resulted in us owing them thousands of dollars. Both of the cars needed major repairs. Xander had stitches twice. We've been fighting with United Behavioral Health for four months over some of Xander's bills and Jason worked for almost six months without a contract. You get the picture. Maybe I should make a resolution not to be so negative???

In retrospect, even though 2008 was not such a great year I've been able to come up with a lot of things that were worth remembering.

1. Louisiana trip Jason hadn't been home in almost six years and I just love it there. Plus we got away without the kids and could come and go as we pleased for the first time in YEARS. We indulged to our hearts content and got to do some (albeit quick) visiting with family and friends as well as partying with fans from both of our favorite college football teams. It doesn't get much better than that.





2. Jason was able to come home/be home both times Xander needed stitches, so I didn't have to take care of it myself (which would have been bad, bad, BAD).


3. Blizzard We got a TON of snow, the most I've ever seen in one day. We took the kids sledding and they loved it.

4. I showed the kids how to plant strawberries We didn't get that many but they got excited when we did and there's something nice about knowing where your food is coming from. Hopefully better luck this year.

5. My cousin had a new baby I haven't had the chance to see her as much as I'd like, but I love getting my baby fix now and then since we don't plan on having any more kids. I held her today until my arms fell asleep.

6. Kids posed for photos in fancy clothes This is a rarity.

7. Jason's brother and his family came to visit for the 4th of July and we had a really fun weekend

8. My flowers grew (even though some of them were the wrong color)

9. Ten years of marriage and a weekend away to celebrate.

10. Got one of the kids potty trained and the other is half-way there

11. Finally got Xander into the special needs preschool and he LOVES it

12. Florida trip Who doesn't love Disney World?



What blessed your life in 2008?