Blizzard

Our family is never short on adventures. We headed out for Christmas a day earlier than planned in order to get a jump on a storm that was headed in the direction we needed to travel. You would think, living in Wyoming, THAT's where we'd experience the tricky weather. But no. Things were going along just fine...there was some light snow, but that was nice. It made it feel festive. We left one town in southern Colorado and were busy counting down the hours we still had left to drive, when suddenly, we couldn't see the road. It wasn't like there were massive amounts of snow, but what was there was blowing and drifting. The wind was doing funny things with the snow, making it dance around in swirly patterns, which would have been beautiful had we not been on four wheels on a slick surface. With two of us alert, we could see reflectors every 20 yards or so, and by watching those, we managed to stay on the road. At 5-10 mph, with approx. 40 miles of road stretching ahead of us before the next town, it was a slow go. I was about as tense as I've ever been, and I can't imagine how Chris felt, being that he was doing the driving. We've been in some nasty situations before, but this took the cake. There were times when we could see nothing but a white cloud of snow engulfing us, and at those times, it was hard to know if we were going left, or right, or nowhere. The blowing snow like that causes an illusion of distance and direction. After 2-3 hours of that, we finally pulled into an old closed down truck stop outside of a tiny little town. It looked like a ghost town. There were others with the same idea as us, so we weren't completely alone out there. We spent a few hours in the trusty Jeep waiting for the sun to come up, and trying to grab a little bit of sleep. For the kids, it wasn't such a problem, but it's a little more difficult for these older bodies. We're still working the kinks out. I wish I had pictures, but I'll give you this visual image...WHITE. And if you can imagine a wind that kept the vehicle rocking all through the wee hours...you're there. By morning, the conditions weren't a whole lot better, but there was light, which made it a little bit better. We are glad to be here, safe and sound, and ready to enjoy the holidays. I have a list of things I'm thankful for today:

- Kids who are always ready to "go with the flow"
- A husband who keeps us safe
- A little dog with a great big bladder
- A full tank of gas (thanks dad, for constantly drilling that into my head)
- Bottled water
- A vehicle with good traction control
- Having the common sense to stop driving
- Snow plows
- A SOFT WARM BED

SNOW

When it snows, Skittles, more commonly known as "Snow Dog", goes a little nuts. It's as if he's gotten a dose of dognip or something...he just runs around like he's out of his mind. He runs through the house like a maniac, flipping his ball into the air, pushing it down the stairs, chasing after it, running into walls....you get the picture. This otherwise fairly mellow dog is suddenly exuberant...all because of a little snow. That's sort of how it makes me feel.

Is this odd?

This morning's discovery has prompted me to add a new song to my playlist. If it weren't for kids, there wouldn't be marshmallows in my egg box. There are many things that wouldn't happen...many experiences we would never have...if it weren't for kids. Some of those things are very perplexing. I have wracked my brain, and I can come up with no reason why someone would put marshmallows in the egg box in the fridge. But hey...I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Chris and I pondered this early this morning. Possibly someone wanted hard marshmallows??? I noticed the other day, that someone had left the twisty off of the marshmallow bag, so it's possible someone thought the marshmallows would become edible again if put in with the eggs????? I'm sure I can never imagine the logic behind this. And this, by the way, does not even come close to topping the list of strange mysteries that occur in our house. It only makes the "Top Strange Things At 6:00 This Morning" list. As I said to Chris this morning, just think what we'd be missing....if it weren't for kids.

Christmas Traditions

I'm the first grandchild. When I was 2, on Christmas Eve, my grandparents started something that continues even now that the grandkids have kids of their own. It was a small gathering that first year. I suppose it was my two grandparents, my two parents, me, my aunt and uncle, and another uncle. And Santa. Yes...Santa came that Christmas Eve, and he's come every Christmas Eve since. Through the years, the numbers grew. There were my brothers, and cousins. Then years later, I brought a spouse into the family, and the other grandkids started adding theirs too. A few years later, I added the first great-grandkids, and my cousins and brother followed suit, and some of them are still adding. By now, it's a large and loud gathering. My grandparents sit back and enjoy the numbers and the noise. I think Christmas Eve is probably the one day of the year they look forward to the most. They love to watch us play games, and even though they're in their mid-80's, they still love to play themselves. Whatever brings us all together, they love to see it and be a part of it. I love when my grandpa ("Poppy") brings out the Domino's and gathers up enough players to play Mexican Train. But the highlight of every Christmas Eve is Santa. I really don't remember that Christmas when I was 2, but I remember many Christmases since, when my aunt would take us to the bay window, and we would watch. She was so animated...she made it real for us. I swear, if we looked long and hard, we saw Santa's sleigh lights in the sky every time. And then there was the anticipation...once we saw his lights, we knew he would soon be knocking on the door. So we'd wait, and without fail, he would knock on that door. In awe, we'd open it, and let him in. He would greet everyone with a "Ho, Ho, Ho", and then take a seat. He would put down his big red bag of gifts, and slowly, he'd reach in and pull out one at a time, and call each and every one of us, the infants to the aged, to sit on his lap and collect our gift. It really never mattered that he sometimes looked like a neighbor...or his shoes seemed familiar...or that he had regular clothes peeking out from under his suit. It didn't matter that, for some reason, the grandparents kept a Santa suit in their basement. None of those things took away from the magic. I'm looking forward to Christmas Eve again this year. I will wait for Santa, as I have for many years, and I will sit on his lap when he calls my name. And, and always, I will still feel the magic.

Tree Hunt 2007

Today was one of my very favorite days of the year. The day we bundle up in the warmest things we can find, head up the mountain with our tree tag, and go in search of the perfect (or maybe not so perfect) Christmas tree!!!


The weather couldn't have been better, as far as tree hunting goes. The temperature wasn't unbearably cold, yet the snow was falling down. The forest always seems so peaceful and quiet, and gives you the feeling that you're the only people around for miles, even when that's not the case. If you stand still and really pay attention, you can even smell the sweet smells of the aspen and the pines.


There were snowballs....


snow dogs...


snow angels, and catching snowflakes on the tongue...


and even a not-quite hidden smile from a teenager.


Finally, after much searching, we found the tree.


It may seem a little thin to you...maybe it is. But it's fresh, it smells nice, and most importantly, it's OUR tree...one we searched for, found, cut, and drug through the knee-deep forest snow. So thin schminn....it's a GREAT tree!! And it was a GREAT day!!!

That's my girl!!!

She's my girl. She may not always think so. After all, she's the teenager, and I'm the mom. She's busy growing those wings just as fast as she can. I'm busy saying "no". Saying "not this time". Saying "you're 13, not 21". Saying "not yet". And, once in awhile, saying "yes". But yeah...she's still my girl.

FOOTBALL!!!

It's the sport of kings...better than diamond rings... Or at least it was to Goldie Hawn in Wildcats. For me...not so much. You can take me to a baseball game anyday!!!! LOVE IT!!! Watching my kids play sports...THRILLING!!!! But football...I've tried, but it's just not my thing. However, this week it made me a WINNER!!! Every week during football season, our local radio station runs a contest. There are cards all over town, and my husband brings them home faithfully every week. You simply check mark the team that you think will win each game, and then for Monday night's game, you choose the winner and predict the score. Now...I'm not saying it was pure luck. Being surrounded by some sort of sports media pretty much anytime my husband isn't snoring, and even sometimes when he is, I think I absorb a lot of information that I'm not really aware that I know. As we dropped the cards in the drop box last Sat., I confidently told my husband, "if anyone wins, it will be me". Imagine my surprise when the phone rang on Tues., and the caller id told me it was the local radio station calling. There was a split second where I think my heart stopped...the GRAND prize is $5000. However, I knew my picks weren't perfect, so that only lasted for a split second. Believe it or not though, I...Miss Don't Know Anything About Football...was the FIRST PLACE WINNER!!!!!! I won $50!!! So today, I proudly walked into the radio station. There was a bell with a sign that said, "if you are a winner, please ring bell for service". Heck yeah I'm a WINNER!!!! I rang that bell loud and clear, and when the guy came to the front, I smiled and said, "I'M A WINNER!!!" And you know what he said??? He said, "Wow...you sure must know a lot about FOOTBALL." "Yes", I said, "I sure do!!" (I could tell he was impressed) And you see...that's the nice thing about ME...it doesn't take a lot to make me happy.

'ello Scone

My husband said, "I just don't get it". But I did, and I smiled and said, "that's because you were never a girl". It was coming from the backseat. It started with a silly phrase, "'ello Muffin". Which was returned with, "'ello Scone", and echoes of giggles surrounded us, followed by more and more giggles and silliness. For the moment, it wasn't about peer pressure, or growing up too fast. It wasn't about girl drama, or growing pains. It was about silliness and being thirteen. It was about not yet being a woman but no longer being a little girl...just trapped in that in between place, and, for the moment, relishing in it. Some things have changed, but some have stayed the same, and yeah...I "got" it. It was about wearing each other's clothes and keeping half of your wardrobe in your best friend's closet. It was about making total sense in that nonsensical sort of way. Mostly though, it was about being a girl, and that, my dear husband, is something you'll never completely "get".

A HULA BOWL?

Somehow it turned into a Hawaiian themed party, which is, of course, always a great idea for a November day in Wyoming. It would have been just a bit more festive except that I vetoed the swimming suits. I know, I know...I really should try to be a little more fun sometimes.

Somewhere around the 8th frame, the girls decided that tearing the flowers off of the leis and watching them hover over the fan at the ball return was PROBABLY even more fun than bowling.

We did have some very talented bowlers among us. We managed to have a ball stuck in the gutter, despite the use of bumpers, and personally, I think that's an indication of some great skill.

As for the cake, some blue sugar sprinkles for water, crushed vanilla wafers for sand, green sour strings for palm trees (atop the Twix trunks), a surfboard cut from a piece of gum, some candy rings as floaties, an old paper umbrella found in a drawer, and some Finding Nemo fruit snack fish made for a great BEACH cake. And hey...since most of them weren't mine, I figured why not send them home all sugared up.

Just an observation....or two

- There is no such thing as too many cupcakes
- A good set of vampire teeth can really make things right with the world
- It's a HEATH bar....not a HEALTH bar
- Though the dad may say to the child, "you don't need to eat anymore candy", that's not necessarily true for himself
- The pizza places do a lot of business on Halloween
- If your bag breaks....that ain't good
- Dogs don't REALLY like to dress up

The night before Halloween

Time to carve
the

Jack-O-Lanterns

Could HE be the culprit?

The leaf bags have been destroyed. The bags are torn...the leaves are scattered.

The evidence is stacking up:

- nobody else is around
- there are what APPEAR to be leaves on his face and paws
- he can't look me in the eye
- he's not saying he DID, but he's not saying he DIDN'T
- he refuses the polygraph
- he just LOOKS guilty

It's beginning to look a lot like....

a BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! The UPS man just came, delivering packages for Paityn's birthday. She'll be 10 on Sat. How does that happen??? Does anyone know how that happens??? How they grow up right before your eyes??

She still wants American Girl doll stuff this year. In fact, that's about all she wants. I'm glad. I'm going to enjoy it for just as long as I can. After all, isn't one of the reasons we have children that we want to enjoy the things we loved from childhood all over again, only this time around we get to enjoy it with those little beings we love the most?

My latest listing - PENGUINS

I had so much fun creating this penguin set for the PICTURE THIS winter launch. It's kind of funny...when I got the invite to the launch, I almost ignored it. The person who sent it was also on a photography board that I was on, so I assumed it was just another photo board. I'm glad I finally clued in though...Mari and Chloe were SO nice to work with!!! Mari's photography is OUTSTANDING, and Chloe is a gorgeous little girl. (thanks Mari and Chloe)

Chris said this was his favorite set I've ever done. We'll see what a man's perpective means. Maybe I need to get his insight for all of my designs!!! :) Here's the listing.

Time to rake the leaves

Today was a gorgeous day!! It's hard to believe that a week ago we had 4-inches of snow on the ground, and today Paityn was running around in flip-flops. It was the perfect day for hanging out in the yard, even if we did use the time to clean it up. Hopefully the leaf bags will last through Halloween this time. Paityn filled them a couple of weeks ago and they blew all over the place.