More on snow

How much can you write about the weather?

My husband asked me as he points out I write entirely to much on it.

And who cares?

Is the second question that he follows the first with. Well apparently I do. It is my whine. Until I am living in a sunny warm place I most likely will continue to write and whine about it. So here it goes again.

Burr. It is still cold here. This past weekend is always a cold one with hard weather for us. I remember because this weekend was Icefest.(More info in the next post) But to have a festival that celebrates winter and ice it has to be freezing.

I knew we had a chance of a little snow on Saturday but I was surprised to see it come on Friday. I bet the weather man was too. Still praying for him.

In fact if I would have know I would not have gone out. I started driving and brought my camera to take some pretty snow scape pictures. I did not find them. But I still clicked away.




I got to the gym a little before 9 and there was no snow. I attempted to park my car. I have got to be one of the worst car parkers in the world. And the worst part is I don't fix it I just leave it and think ugh.



Here I am a few feet from the covered curb. I usally am not this bad with the car. Now when I try to park our truck it is a multi spot diagonal mess. And we won't even get into parrell parking. Lets just say I love pulling up to a place that says valet.

After leaving the car parked as is. I went inside and started swimming. I looked out the window and it had started snowing. Wow it looked so pretty from inside. Big beautiful flakes covering the trees.



It wasn't sticking to the roads so I did not care.

After more than a hour was a difernt story. I grabbed my baby and went to leave it was starting to stick. Smiley thought it was so fun to walk with momma as snow flakes fell on us. His giggles were so cute. I buckled him in and cleaned the car, he watched.



Nice and warm.



The snow was comming down at a good rate we better be on our way.



I started slipping almost imediatly. The car was not handeling the slick roads. I called my husband and said don't worry we are okay and on our way home. He said why would I be worried? There was not laying snow at our house just a few flurries, but still I would appriacate more concern.



With the slick roads I was sure they were going to start sending the kids home early. And after a quick stop at McDonald's I was on my way home to get them.

As I continued to drive getting closer to my home we came into white out conditions.



Thank you Mr. weatherman. But we made it home safe to no real snow at all. The boys stayed in school and I took a nice warm nap.

Project 365 week 4

A word to describe this week best was cold. It snowed substantially a few times leaving the boys with a snow day on Wednesday and a late start to Thursday. I was so thankful to have them home.

January 22
Gregory at his basketball practice.



January 23
We are their biggest influence. Model what you want them to do. Be careful of what they are seeing you make as priorities.



January 24
It was 2 degrees outside! Far to cold for me. I wanted to crawl back into my warm bed but instead I put on my swimsuit and went to the gym.




January 25
Another night swimming and more crazy jumps.



January 26
We got a snow day! All day long the snow fell. I was happy to watch it from the window and the boys were thrilled to play outside.



January 27
I saw this quote and just loved it. I don't know who the author is, in a way it is everyone of us.




January 28
He is our rock star. Actually he is trying to play his guitar like Murry from the Wiggles.

Adult Truths

I got this from Southern Style & Living this morning and it made me smile. I thought I would pass it along to start your day off with a chuckle too. They are so true, that's what made me laugh.

1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

5. Was learning cursive really necessary?

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

9. Bad decisions make good stories.

10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.

12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

16. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

17. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

18. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

19. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -- but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

22. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

TGIF!!!! Cheers to a great weekend y'all!

snow men

With school closed yesterday, and still waiting on a determination for today, we had a snow day. It was hard for the kids to watch it and not go out in it. I held them back for a while but then thought why? The got dressed and headed out, Smiley too.



Every snow they have wanted to build snowmen but it has always been the wrong type of snow. Not this time it was heavy wet packing snow. They did great. They pushed it all around the yard creating large balls that there would be no way they could lift.



But they got the balls piled on top of each other after a little shaving them. I was surprised they were able to do all this with out mommy's help. They made 2 little snow men and 1 snow baby.



I gave them carrots and the boys made me laugh by putting the pointy side of the carrot into the snow men. Then they added raisins and mini wheat's for more decoration.



The snow men came out so comical. I was impressed and happy I got to be picture taker form inside.



Evan my dearest said Mom do you think Santa will be happy about our snowmen? He will say snow men check and put us on the good list. That's some forward thinking sweetheart. I love it and love you.



Well it seems as if school will be today and the boys are happy about that. They had a great snow day. I am sure it won't be the last for this winter.

Sometimes snow is so nice

A sweet surprise when I woke up this morning. I looked out the window with my weary eyes and they suddenly opened, SNOW! The ground was covered and it was still falling. Wow it was everywhere and by the looks of it there seemed to be a few inches. I knew they were predicting snow for late Wednesday afternoon but I heard nothing for last night. Hat's off to my weatherman AGAIN. I am just gonna pray for him. Weather is obviously not the field God intended him to be in so I will pray he finds it.

I walked over to the computer and checked on school sure enough closed. I checked the gym and my water aerobics class, closed. (On a side note going back to yesterdays post I did run last night. It was a great run and I can add 2 more miles in 20 minutes to my yearly total!) Church...again closed. Our day is cleared.

I am going to pour another cup of coffee, let my children sleep in and enjoy a snow day.

He is a sleep

My sweet smiley fell a sleep the other evening on one knee and my laptop on the other.

The countdown has started

Winding down towards the end of this pregnancy things are getting tougher. To start with the positive a week and a half ago was my 30th week!



That is always one of my favorite points in the pregnancy. I am no longer counting up but counting DOWN! She is almost here. At this weeks appointment the doctor won the bff award for telling me I have again gained no weight! For a month and a half I have remained only 7 pounds over my "goal weight". The unreasonable number I put upon myself. Baby is measuring perfect too. She is still thriving and grown but I am not :) I credit it to the gym I am still running miles each week (and eating a bunch of junk food). I try to work out 5 days a week there but the weather has closed it a few times but I am usually pretty close.

Emotional as can be. I cried all day Thursday. Even at walmart, but sometimes I cry just because I have to go there.

My wrist has been hurting me for sometime now and just keeps getting worse. I can only lift Smiley with the other arm now. It was time to go to the doctors and get it looked at. Tendinitis. Nothing serious and nothing they can give me any pain medicine for because of baby. For now I have it braced up most the day. It still hurts.

Sunday I entered 31 weeks.



Of course not to far into this week. But this is the one that is getting tough. I am getting bigger. I can see it in my legs. My hand are swelling I had a hard time putting on my rings and nearly impossible time getting them off. As far as my growing feet go I can add aching to them too. Actually I can add achy to most of my body. It can be hard to walk. However, I still made it to the gym yesterday. I had a good hour of water aerobics. I thought that would be good for my body, it was, and so was the HOT shower afterward. I don't know if I will be able to run tonight but I will try. As she becomes more active it seems I become less?

I am excited. Less than 9 weeks to go!

To kindle or not?

With a bunch of gift receiving occasions coming up I get asked what would you like for... I have never thought about getting a kindle I just did not think they were worth it for me. I thought 1. I would much rather have an ipad and 2. I don't read that much.

But there I was on amazon ordering two more books this weekend. It made me stop and think. I don't read that much? Couldn't be further form the truth. I spend time morning and night reading real books. I wake up before anyone in my house just so I can read The Bible in silence every morning. I stop what I am doing at 8:30 in the evening to read to or with the boys a book or two of their choosing before they go to bed. Throughout the day I read blogs and news wires. Plus when I am stuck waiting for some sort of appointment I read whatever I can find. I actually read a great deal.

As I was ordering these two books they had a price graph next to it for new and used, hardback or soft cover, and kindle. It made me think . Humm if I had a kindle would I get good use out of it? The new kindle was on sale for $140. But where I was surprised is the books I were ordering if bought for kindle were each more than I was paying for new hardbacks. So all together that was a lot more than the $20 purchase I was making including shipping.



But I hate clutter and book laying around take up so much space and create clutter. I am big into reading it and giving it away if it is in good shape. I will not buy my children many books. They are just to hard on them. I love that they bring them home from the library and then take them back. That's another thing I was wondering. Does kindle have childrens books and how much are they? Because that would be nice. It would help me keep my 7 year old occupied when we are running around.

In the end I am thinking of 1 big positive, no books laying around the house less clutter. And 1 big negative the cost is a good deal more that books. Do any of you have a kindle and what do you think?

Friendship comes in all places

You never know where you will meet a friend. At work, at church, a swimming lesson, or even online. In a society that has changed so much since even I was born, the social revolution has made friendship easier. It has gave you the chance to reconnect with childhood friends, stay connected to relatives across the land and meet people you would never otherwise come across.

I can't believe the people I have had the chance to get to know online. I can't believe how many of them are from California and Texas those really are big states with a lot of people. A lot of terrific people.

My husband used to spend so much time online it became a point of contention between us. He was a stay at home dad and sought out adult companionship by chating. I hated it, I did not understand why he would want to waste time talking to them when there were dishes to be done. Yes I really thought that and right now I too have dishes that need to be done. I did not understand why he would want to talk to people he did not know people that only existed in a box. Maybe I was just jealous why would he want to talk to them and not me? (Probably because they did not ask him to clean.) But I have slowly come to understand. I myself am meeting many other wonderful gals through blog land.

There are so many of you that have become a part of my daily life. I love seeing your daily pictures I love reading about your families and the wonderful things everyone is doing. I appreciate all the pointers I learn from your trials. The reviews on products have saved me a ton. And what could be more fun than winning giveaways! Comments are like big hugs. I read everyone and want to say thank you all. I do consider you my friends (and facebook has confirmed that).

The other day I received a package in the mail. I love to get packages. It was a special package from a sweet wonderful lady I have meet through blogging. She is so dear and generous. She is a busy mom of 2 little's, just finished college and is now taking on student teaching. She is a busy person and she took some of her precious time to congratulate me on having a baby girl and made something for her. I am so touched. You mean the world to me and it is one of those things to be though of and surprised is priceless. Threw email she asked me not to link her as she did not send me stuff for acknowledgment just congratulations. I appreciate her package and respect her wishes. However I still want to say the biggest THANK YOU to her. I love the gifts. I love the pink and I love the bubbly fabric.

She made the most wonderful gifts for my soon to be baby girl.



And she did a great job! She made wonderful blocks that are so squish-able and a blankey out of the same fabric. You can not believe how soft this pick fabric is. It has these bumps that are such a nice texture for it. Would it be weird if I went to the store bought a bolt and made sheets for my bed out of it?

There is also a matching album because everyone knows I love taking pictures of my kids. Also something I have really really been wanting. A BIG BOW! I have seen so many cute baby pictures of baby bows that are as big as baby's head and I love them. I know many of you make them and I am going to learn to as well. I can't wait for her to wear them. I love all of it SO much. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!



You touched more than just me with this package. Smiley was home when we got it and he proudly put on the headband to model what his sister will look like. Oh he made me laugh.



He is going to give her a run for those blocks as he pulled them out saying "mine".

Even my big boys are thankful to you. Because there crazy mom does not let them have any fun and this box came with something super fun for them...packing peanuts. And get this they were even PINK! The boys pulled them out and cheered (literally) we love packing peanuts!



I smiled as they cheered I let them have a moment of fun. I snap a picture of there excitement. I should have made a video.



And then I screamed clean it up! They just don't get a fun mom. The box will be passed on to another friend of mine who is grateful for boxes as she is moving. You touched more people than you could have known. Plus baby is going to love it. I am sure you will all see pictures of her with all the goodies.

You are a super mom, wife, teacher, and friend. I am so glad we met and look forward to knowing you always.

THANKS your friend Karen.

Birthday Ideas for a big 6 year old

We have got a birthday coming up. In fact we have got nearly everyone's birthday coming up. Our family all seems to have been born in March. Most importantly we have two of the kids birthdays coming up in March and I need to get planning.

This year Evan will be turning 6!



Birthdays are so important to Evan. He has been counting down to his birthday for the longest time. He tells us nearly everyday who he wants to invite and who can not come. He has asked for many different places to have. His birthday is always on his mind.



This year I really want to make sure he has a nice birthday that is solely to honor him and let him know how much we love. It is very important. He is the most loving and caring little boy. It would be so easy this year to have his birthday get lost in the shuffle or over shadowed by the birth day of his sister, which could be as soon as the week after that. He would be so hurt. He is so sensitive and to be skipped over like that would devastate him.



But I am always at a loss for what to do for his birthday. The problem is March in Pennsylvania is so cold and snowy the party has to be inside. My house is not large enough to host lots of children and their families, plus I live on a one way street with no off street parking. I can't park more than 3 cars at my house. So we have always had to rent some sort of venue.

Last years was great. We rented a play place that had inflatables, ball pits, trampolines, gyms, computers, you name it it was there even ride on toys. The kids had a great time. Plus they catered and cleaned up. They even did all the goody bags so all I had to do was show up with the birthday boy.



One of the places Evan has asked to go back to is a train place. We have also rented out train club buildings. These make him and every little boy happy. They are simply just many different train layouts that the kids can look at but not touch. But he has had at least 3 train birthdays.



He asks to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday every year but it is just not a good deal. Not to mention it is loud, hard to supervise chaos. I try to avoid parties there and weekends.

He is a crafter so I looked at Micheal's craft stores. They offer birthday packages but they really don't look that good. They provide a room, craft and instructor and you provide the rest food, set up, decorations. The crafts they have advertised are just not that good looking either. I could by better craft stuff and still provide the rest of what I would have to there as well and come in under what they are asking, but it is back to the space issue.



The Y lets you rent the pool for parties which could be a lot of fun. It has plenty of space and parking. It would be great except we are there all the time and are tired of that place. We are dealing with kids from 4 to 8 and I don't think many of them can swim. Would parents be willing to put on swimsuits in March to be with their kids?

No matter what I was going to bring cupcakes to school and have a little celebration there. I was wondering if that would be enough for him and then take the family, grandparents and cousin to the Baltimore Aquarium. It is an amazing place that I know he would love. But it would not be a "party". And with the price of the full tickets to that place just taking the family would cost more than throwing one of these parties.



I want to make it special. But I need to get a move on it because I need to make and get out invitations. I just don't know what to do. Any ideas?

Project 365 week 3

Three weeks in to January and burr. It has been a cold week with many non substantial snow falls. You would think that would mean we are inside all cozy and warm but nope we are still on the go an active life with active boys.

January 15
We got running water again. Happy they fixed it so quickly. And then came a ton of laundry and dishes to catch up on.



January 16
In bible school this morning when the kids were asking for prayers Gregory raised his hand and said I have a praise. Basketball was not canceled this week! He loves it. He has been asking everyday if I can take him to go practice. He thinks he perfected his jump shot. Hopefully he grows into his dads and my brothers towering height.



January 17
He asked do I look like a bull? I said you look like my goofy Gregory.



January 18
Snow fell and plans got canceled. We stayed inside all morning in our pajamas.



January 19
Back to school after a four day weekend



January 20
Both boys crack me up with their goofy style of jumps. No not ordinary dives here they are always doing creative (weird) jumps. This one Gregory called the strong man. Look at his mussel.



January 21
Smiley woke us all up early. I mean in the 5 o'clock hour. He was the only one enjoying it and he is the only one that gets to nap during the day.



This week turns out to be a lot of Gregory pictures next week I will try something different but it is a picture a day from my life and I am so glad to have him in it. I am linking up with Sonya again at Becoming a strong women of God and she is capable of taking pictures of more than just her kids, darn good pictures.

Say Cheese

Smiley