Again?

January 27, 2013
Didn't we just get rid of all this white stuff?

Two of us have a nap on the couch, another one entertains herself, and the other one slaves away making lasagna for three hours and what happens?

We get a ton of heavy, wet snow. Again.

Although I must say, it was very entertaining to watch the kids squeal with delight as Jeff turned the snow blower right on them.

Swap Party

January 26, 2013
I pert near forgot that today was my friend Libbey's annual swap party. And as usual, got lost going to her house. But luckily for me, just like the past three years, Pearl was my good luck charm. I swear we bring home more goodies than we take!

(Here's how the swap party works. Guests bring 10 items to swap. Everyone gets 10 stickers to put on stuff they want. If no one else puts a sticker on an item, it's yours. If there are multiple stickers on something, you draw for it and then take turns "winning.")

Office Visitors

January 25, 2013
Pearl is always begging me to take her on "a break" at work. Since it was Friday - and the day after our freezing rain - my office was pretty quiet. So I picked up the kids early and brought them to my office to hang out for the last 45 minutes of work. They visited Missi, our awesome secretary, for some treats, ran to the water cooler a couple of times, colored, and helped me shred some documents.

Come 5 o'clock, neither of them wanted to leave.

Freezing Rain

January 24, 2013
Utah weather is crazy.

This morning we awoke to not snow. Not sunshine. Not rain. But freezing rain. Yes, you read that right. Freezing rain.

And this picture was the aftermath of said freezing rain. Only it was on everything... the roads, cars, houses, Blu (dumb dog wouldn't stay put in her dog house) and snow (the frozen snow was pretty cool looking... it was smooth and shiny almost like water).

As defined by Wikipedia, "freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. Unlike rain and snow mixed, ice pellets, or hail, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air many hundreds of feet above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter."

Thank heavens it's a rare phenomenon in Utah, occurring only 10 times since 1940.

And while Wikipedia makes freezing rain sound really cool, here's my definition of freezing rain: "freezing rain + morning rush hour + the most asinine traffic light in all of Utah = a very long commute."

1st tooth

January 23, 2013
We had a momentous occasion very early this morning...

About 6:00 a.m. to be exact. (To be honest, I did hear Pearl yell "MOM!" but since she didn't come out of her room or squeal again, I stayed in bed.)

For weeks - WEEKS - now we've tried to convince Pearl to let us yank out her first tooth. It's been hanging in there by a single root forever! In fact, we were getting to the point that we were afraid she'd swallow it in her sleep it was so loose. Every night Jeff would attempt to trick her and push it out by brushing her teeth super hard or tying a string to it or flicking it or just plan ole distracting her while he tried to grab at it. He got this crazed look in his eye one night and told me he wanted to rip it out of there so bad...

There were many a tears shed over this. By all parties.

But finally. Finally today was the day! I have no idea what made Pearl get up the courage to pull it out but she did. And she was so excited! She even looked at the camera and smiled... crazy bedhead and all!

Now if we can just get the Tooth Fairy to remember to bring that dollar Pearl has been eagerly waiting for.

Thanks Jesse

January 22, 2013
I am loving my new purple sweater from my brother Jesse... I should have my sis-in-law go shopping for me more often :)

Kangaroo Zoo

January 21, 2013
I thought I would try and redeem myself a little today. You see, I'm a really crappy mom most days. Since it was a state holiday and we got to stay home, I figured I could bypass the laundry and cooking and cleaning for a few hours and take the kids to Kangaroo Zoo to burn off some energy. Seeing as how I didn't want to go outside in the freezing cold.

What I hadn't realized was if it was a state holiday, the schools would be out too.

Silly me.

So we bounced and jumped and ran and laughed with about 750 other kids and parents who had the same thought I did.

I hope the kids had fun... the sheer number of kids running around that germ filled building almost sent me running back to the laundry and cooking and cleaning!

Long Walks

January 20, 2013
On the weekends Blu and get a real treat.... a walk in daylight!

It's only a smidgen warmer than our walks at night but the scenery is much better. And we can walk on our favorite trail without the noise of traffic, just us and the frozen frost.

The only disadvantage is I'm worn out halfway through our walk. Trudging through snow has the same effect as running on a sandy beach (oh, how I wish right now....), leaving me sweaty (in the subzero weather) and wondering if I'd be able to make it home.

Car Wash

January 19, 2013
You think I'd learn to check the boy's pockets BEFORE I did the laundry.

At least Finn McMissile is squeaky clean now.

Utah State Capitol

January 18, 2013
The scene as I left a meeting at the State Capitol.

Too bad the gross inversion is back.

Snow Paths

January 17, 2013
I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before.

Junior High School kids can't drive. Meaning those little hoodlums still walk to school. Which means they've trampled down paths of snow all over the soccer fields for us to walk through. Meaning I don't have to try and hold my 65 lb. puppy back as she pulls on the leash and strains my back and shoulders and neck.

And sanity.

Be Right Back

January 16, 2013
My Grandpa had these three notes that he would stick on the door when he was gone, just in case someone dropped by.

I guess they still apply. So there's no need to worry.

Remembering Grandpa Jewkes

January 15, 2013
Today was not a good day.

It started out in tears and anxiety.

And ended the same way. The build up of emotions since last week finally came out.

I couldn't stop the tears.

1 Degree

January 14, 2013
It's a numbing 1 degree outside.

Blu had better appreciate this.

Warming Up

January 13, 2013
With freezing temperatures, the only way to warm up around here is a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup and some cheesy garlic bread swirls.

Yumm.

How Much Snow?

January 12, 2013
I wish a picture could accurately capture just how much snow we have.

It's deep enough that Jeff snowblowed a path in the backyard for Blu to run on.

It's deep enough that Pearl could "swim" in it.

It's deep enough that it comes up to my knees, Pearl's bum, Cole's waist, and Blu's chest.

It's deep enough that our trampoline has all but disappeared. Along with the ATV trailer, dog house, and even my bird feeder.

There's a lot of snow.

Snow Day

January 11, 2013
Well, Mother Nature replaced our inversion with a lot of snow.

A lot.

Try 34" of snow on the Bountiful benches. Granted, there probably wasn't quite that much at our house, but it was close. I bet Jeff dug us out of at least 8" last night when we got home from work and then this morning plowed his way through another 20".

The schools were closed and most everyone just hunkered down for a snow day. Most everyone but us. We dug our way out - ok, so Jeff dug us out - and headed to work. And then, just as round two was hitting Northern Utah again this afternoon, battled our way up to Logan for the USU men's basketball game.

Yeah. We are diehards. Snow day or not. 

Blue Skies Again

January 10, 2013
No more inversion!!!!

YIPEE!!!!

If you live outside of Utah, you have NO idea how big of a deal this is! No more smog and gross, disgusting, brown air! Only bright blue skies and mountains again!

I was so grateful to be able to see mountains again that I took a detour on the way to work and drove the kids up to the mountain benches to see the view. I wanted them to appreciate how wonderful this small blessing in our lives was. They were so excited to be able to look out over the valley and see the Great Salt Lake (Cole is convinced it's Bear Lake though), mountains, and all the houses.

It was beautiful.

And just in time for tonight's winter storm.

Baby Quilt

Back row L-R:  Denise, Makalya, Eliza, Liz, Hannah, Kristen

Front row L-R: Samantha, Brittney, Ashley

January 9, 2013
One of our Young Women leaders had a baby boy recently. #5!

To celebrate, we decided to teach the girls how to tie a quilt. You should have seen the wide eyes and heard the gasps from the girls.

Apparently, teenage girls nowadays do not know how to do anything that involves a needle.

Sad.

But we survived. We even made the girls Google instructions for tying a quilt, how much fabric to buy, and what supplies they needed. We took them to the fabric store where they picked out the fabric and yarn. And then we quilted. Well, not real quilting.... just tying. When I was their age my YW group actually hand quilted a baby blanket for our leader. One tiny stitch at a time. The patience our YW President had to let us come over to her house for weeks on end and hours at a time! Especially considering homemaking stuff was not her thing.

Now if I can just convince a few of them to help me do the binding on the edges!

Scary Face

January 8, 2013
Cole thought he was pretty funny - and scary - this morning when he climbed up onto the bathroom counter, pulled down his eyelids, and said to me, "Mom, me scary face!"

Puppy Hugs

January 7, 2013
This is one of those moments when you realize getting a puppy was the right decision.

Mother of the Year Award

January 6, 2013
The Mother of the Year Award goes to me for failing to protect my sweet boy from face planting it right down the corner of a stupid freestanding closet.

Thankfully, he is a boy. Which unlike what his sister would have done, stopped crying after just a few minutes and said he wanted some "cheese and roni" for lunch.

Poor Fern.

Amish Store

January 5, 2013
On our way to Logan we stopped by "the Amish Store." It's right off the "Fruit Highway" in Willard as you're going to Brigham City. Everything is shipped from Amish Country in Ohio.

The kids were in candy heaven! Old school bulk candy heaven that is. I was impressed with their array of flours, pastas, cheeses, deli meats, and flavored extracts... who's ever heard of banana or peanut butter extract before? And their awesome wind chimes! $500 awesome wind chimes that were as tall as me.

If you're ever near Brigham City, you really should stop by and get yourself a treat!

Coat

January 4, 2013
Our sweet neighbors who come and check on Blu at least twice a day while we're at work decided she needed something to keep her warm in these freezing temperatures.

Never mind her 63 lbs. of puppy fat and thick coat of fur.

Now Blu's sporting a new winter coat. I just hope she doesn't try to rip it off and eat it.

Breakfast for Dinner

January 3, 2013
Pearl and I have a bit of a tumultuous relationship.We fight and nag and push each other's buttons. I can't decide if we are just alike or complete opposites.

We struggle with each other. And I really don't know what to do to fix it... I mean she's only five!

So we took the rare opportunity to have a Girls Night Out while the boys went to Logan for a basketball game. I'm hoping doing something fun, just the two of us, will rekindle the long lost "best friend" status I had pre-Cole.

I asked Pearl where she wanted to go for dinner, fully expecting somewhere that involves fries, hamburgers, and lots of germs on the playland.

Instead she surprised me with a request to go to "that place we went a long time ago when we had breakfast for dinner" aka the V.I. (Village Inn). How she remembered going there more than a year ago I will never know. Apparently having breakfast for dinner is really memorable.

Just as memorable as it's going to be for me when she makes the request to have breakfast for dinner again and I remind her that she changed her mind on the blueberry pancakes she ordered and refused to eat them.

New Shoes

January 2, 2013
Taking the dog on a walk in the blistering cold is much more enjoyable with a new pair of shoes.

Minus the blister I got breaking in my new pair of shoes.

Thank you New Years Elf!

Calm

January 1, 2013
It always surprises me how calm, peaceful, and beautiful the winter is.

Even when you get home from walking the dog with frostbite.