One foot later

And the thing about a foot in the south is...... yea, we're not equipped to handle it. Most of the roads look like this too.

15 Minute Sled

4 inches........... WAY UNDERESTIMATED! I would say around 8 right now and coming down so hard that we couldn't even stay outdoors for longer than 15 minutes. Here's hoping we don't lose power! Obviously it is snowing so hard in these pictures that we are not what the camera focused on and the flash reflected off some of the flakes.






This feels slightly like a huge snow we got in NYC two winters ago!

Big Snow!

*All NE and Colorado readers will not find this interesting.... but if you live in the South, you will understand the excitement behind the post. My friend Beth always mocked my child like excitement.... but when you're from a southern state, it's inevitable.



Last night they predicted 100% chance of snow. I always go in a skeptic, but they were right on. It started this morning around 7:30 and by 9 we had several inches. It has snowed off and on all afternoon and by now we have at least 4 inches and everything is completely covered! Supposedly the heaviest of the snowfall is coming this evening and it should taper off sometime after midnight. We went out to play this morning before it as covered, and plan to go sledding later tonight or tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Celery.... if you were wondering


These were all taken this morning before the majority of the downfall.

Stay tuned for more after our sledding expedition!

The Joys of 18 months apart

This story may sound like a sitcom of some type.... but seriously..... this is my life.


Thanks to my mother, Steven Edward is obsessed (and has been for almost a year now) with the movie Cars. He can tell you every character and give you a play by play of certain parts of the movie by memory. Signs of a good mom right? Either way - we have an amazing neighbor who keeps my boys quite a lot. This morning when she came over she very generously brought over some Christmas gifts for the boys. Sam's gift happened to be bath toys with a Cars theme. So at 11:30 in the morning my oldest was adamant about taking a bath. And I, being an incredibly wise mother, have found that if I don't need to say no..... it is often easier just to go along with it. I mean, why don't we bathe at mid day. At this point I can think of no real reason..... so with 20 minutes to go until Anna (the little girl I keep) comes we strip down and have an afternoon bath. Everything is going well - the toys are a hit and the boys are having a great time. Sam, has a habit of drinking the water. This is something we are trying to work on, but it seems to be slow going. Well evidently while I was looking at Steven, Sam took an especially soapy swig which induced a small vomiting situation. I say.... "well I suppose we're done with the bath." Steven Edward is not so keen on this idea - and seeing as I have to tend to the youngest anyway, (and obviously the spit up will be diluted by water right? - this is the point where a mother of one is currently horrified) I leave Steven in the tub. Sam and I head out of the room to find him some clothes. We return to a happy Steven, who at this point, still doesn't want to get out of the tub. Asking turns to warning, which turns to tantrum. So I sit Sam on the floor to pull out a screaming 2.5 year old. Before I even get Steven raised to eye level I hear a thump. I look to the right to see a fully clothed Sam diving into the tub. He looks up at me and smiles a smile of triumph as he clutches the toy he desires. Once he realizes he is wet, he starts to cry. Meanwhile Steven is still screaming..... so I put him down to pull Sam out of the tub. A sopping Sam crawls behind us like a slug leaving his trail, as I carry Steven Edward to his room to get him dressed. In the midst of this, Anna and her father enter the scene. I say, "Yea, we were just taking a mid day bath and Sam decided to jump in fully clothed." This is normal right? He should feel totally comfortable leaving his daughter with me as a chorus of cries echo in the background. Sigh.

Gingerbread Houses

Every year the Grove Park Inn hosts a ginger bread house competition. It is CRAZY! Everything has to be edible. And from the looks of it, people must start months in advance, and have lots of time on their hands. We went with some friends over to admire. In truth, I'm not sure the kids really even noticed the houses. They loved running around a huge hotel/lodge pretending to be race cars. Dashing from sleigh to tree to terrace where they could run free and unobstructed with "fewer" rules. Overall it was a great time, here are some of the houses. And if you're interested you can check out professional pictures of them here.

This was my favorite, but I had trouble with my flash. It's Santa's kitchen with little elves working. It was right beside the Obama house, where Barak has a Santa hat and is on the chimney. Is that a slam on stimulus checks?

This is actually the winner, my flash messes it up and my little camera doesn't do it justice! It is so detailed! There is even "edible" glass on the grandfather clock!

This was more on their level of interest!

The rows of trees, leaves, and garland made me feel like I was at Macy's in Harold Square. I loved it!

The front, complete with phone booth and wedding chapel

The inside.... can you see the dancers and the man on the treadmill?

An amazing windmill. Look at the intricate flowers! It is ALL EDIBLE!

Admiring

Huge trees!

This sleigh and reindeer are tucked inside a fire place that several grown men could walk into standing upright. I was the last to leap out of the picture, hence the last to pick up a camera. Picture Steven Edward holding Sam and Ryan sitting beside Steven. This happened to be just after Steven shoved Sam off his lap, and Ryan grew restless. Picture my son in the background going, "i'm all done momma, I'm all done." Oh well....it's kind of like an attendance shot.

The Cutest Impromptu Christmas Pageant Ever

After church today we had a Christmas lunch and a pageant. The kids got to pick their characters and the church sang Christmas Carols that went along with the the birth of Jesus (which was narrated by another student). It was quite adorable and very well-controlled chaos! Steven Edward went in wanting to be an angel..... until he saw that the shepherds got their very own staff (and all the other boys were shepherds!). So he changed his mind. In the end he was quite an abusive shepherd - hitting other boys with his staff. This evoked laughter from his father, and quiet "Steven Edward..... stop hitting!" from his mother who was watching in the audience. He would then proceed to beat the ground for awhile until the urge was irresistible to start sword fighting with other shepherds or abusing them. All in all there may be therapy needed down the line for some other boys due to our abusive shepard. It was quite enjoyable to watch and our son loved it!







s

Urgent Care....

Seriously.... not so urgent (on their part) and care in this usage seems to be relative. The location and name of this establishment will remain anonymous. Ignore the large logo pasted at the top of this post. I spent 1.5 hours waiting to be called back. In this time I sat beside a old woman who dialogued out loud (for the entire waiting room to hear) about her symptoms, as if we were the judge and jury in the world of medication. I was then roped into a conversation (based on the book I was reading) with a 70 year old crazy Messianic Jew (cane and full length white beard) who told me he strongly believed were we in the 7 years of tribulation and that America would cease to exist as we know it. I smiled and giggled awkwardly while hoping a nurse would slip through the brown door and say my name. After seeing the doctor for 5 minutes, he gave me a choice of antibiotics (really? a choice? Aren't you the doctor? Shouldn't i just tell you my symptoms?), and then prescribed vicodin for my cough. Come again? VICODIN FOR MY COUGH! This is the same drug they gave me in the hospital after my multiple surgeries - the one I attempted to stop using as quickly as possible! The same drug that is a pretty hot commodity for recreational use.....

Well - 2 hours later at least I have a Rx right? I can't wait for my well visit at our family practice. It can't come too soon.

Ready or not....

Here come Christmas! Last night we went to a Christmas Tree lot and picked up a mini tree to decorate. At Sam's phase of life it seemed easier (and less dangerous) than a full sized one on the ground! We put up our creche and other decorations..... so now for the shopping!







Enjoy the season of advent!

No tootsie rolls involved....

....just a spinning chair and a prepared camera. Worked like a charm. Now how can we adapt that theory for the family photo...... hm....








Eggnog Latte anyone?




Picture mom putting down the camera, taking away the cup, and the screaming fit that followed.