Ten on Tuesday

1.  First up - Happy Birthday to our oldest nephew, John, whose 7th Birthday is today!  We love him so much and loved getting to spend some of the weekend with him and his family.  Happy birthday also today to Aunt Suzi -- the chef of the Rouse family!  (Our family has tons of birthdays from Jan 20-March 9 so several birthday buddies). 

Photo credit goes to State Senator David Holt

 2.  We also celebrated George Washington's 283rd Birthday on Friday evening at Dust Bowl with the GW Oklahoma Alumni network (these are the kids of the alumni, obviously).  It was probably our best GW alumni event so far.  We had lots of fun, food, and great conversations.  All of the alumni present are lawyers which probably helps us find things to talk about rather easily :)

 3.  Then, after attempting and failing to go to sleep early, Brent and I woke the kids up just before 5am on Saturday for the drive to TX.  We banned electronics, books, and really anything for the first two hours in hope they would go back to sleep.  I even played their lullabye CD.  I think they got some sleep, but not enough.  Come 7am, E got to have some video for the first time and was very confused that it wasn't a touch screen. We dropped Brent off at a summer camp fair by 8:30am and were off to visit the Joneses.

 4. I really like looking down from the second story at Jamie's house.  It is beautiful and this little guy is so very curious.  He had an awesome time with his cousins and all the toys, but had to be banned from the kids sleeping room for keeping everyone awake way past bedtime (we did return him to his air mattress after he fell asleep in our bed).

 5. I had no idea we were going to John's basketball game while we were there, but it was great fun.  It was pretty fancy as grade school games go complete with a run in through a tunnel into a mostly dark gym when their name was called with pulsing music in the background!  John played a great game and the other kids behaved pretty well as spectators!

 6.  After lunch, M & B went to John's birthday party at the climbing gym.  E took a nap in the car while I went to pick up Brent and then we met them there.  Climbing was kind of hard for the kids, but they gave it a try and seemed to have a good time anyway.

 7.  This guy ate his Italian Ice in tiny bites like this for about 45 minutes.........

 8.  We made it back the next day in time for Ro's 2nd birthday party.  It was a woof woof themed party and full of fun, big dogs and little dogs, black and white dogs, etc.... It was also nice to see my siblings who I have seen very little this month!

9.  Monday, everyone went to school and then an unexpected amount of snow arrived.  These two loved playing in it and helped me clear off the driveway.  B joined them when he came home and they all rejoiced about having a snow day today.

10.  For the first time in this training cycle I missed a run --- shocking I know given how busy and exhausting my weekend was.  I was back on schedule today, but it is shocking how much I do feel it when there is a gap in my training.  Sigh.  It is going OK.  As usual, running is a largely psychological game for me.  That said, last Thursday's run was totally awesome so there will be good days.

This weekend I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends.  Thanks to all you readers who follow our journey and encourage us in this crazy life.  Love you!

Day 9: Snow Day Fun

School was closed yesterday (and today) so we've had lots of at-home fun.   I took the day off of work to take care of the kids so I got to play too.  I made three pages to try and capture the busy day.  It begins with the two page spread above.  The left page is about decorating gingerbread houses with Grandma.  The right page is about the other fun we had that morning, including filling bird feeders, playing a very long game of Candy Land, doing craft projects, playing more games, etc...I added a glittery ampersand (made by embossing this diamond embellishment from the Dec. SC kit with red glitter zing) as the story continues on another page. 

The back page is about Brent and my date night to the Myriad Garden's Glow and Wreath Auction.  It was a beautiful event, but hard to photograph as it was at night and the gardens were lit almost exclusively by Christmas lights.  I had a fun time bidding on wreaths, but did get nervous when I was winning four auctions at one point.  We ended up winning one small knit wreath made by the Myriad's yarn bomber and a tickets package for the OKC Barons.  The later definitely made our kids happy when we arrived home to relieve our awesome babysitter (Uncle Zach).  It was a fun, busy day. 

Day 6 - Snow Day + Gingerbread Cookies

Day 6 was lots of fun -- it was our first snow day in quite some time!  The littles began the morning playing outside in the snow with Daddy.  M and Brent even made a very small snow man.  We do have lots of snow (maybe 6 inches) but it is dry and not good for snowmen.  We persevered.  Brent and the kids played, watched some shows, and spent lots of time making watercolor pencil paintings while I worked.  Then, Brent cleaned off the driveway and went in to work for a 1/2 day.  The big kids watched a movie while E nappped and I finished up my work.  Then, it was time for the big Gingerbread Cookie making adventure. 

I, admitly, do not really like making cut out cookies as it takes forever to get through the whole process and I'm usually over it by the time it is time to decorate.  The kids, however, love it and this seemed like a good day for it.  They helped with every stage and had a fabulous time.  E attempted some decorating, but mostly got VERY messy.  The bigs were more patient and made some fabulous creations.  It was a fun silly day and a great time with our kids.

(Crafting note - before I started working on this last night my SC boxes arrived and there were lots as fun goodies.  That cool "Love This Life" transparency is from the January PL kit.  The cork on the bottom photo is from my SC Secret Santa via Freckled Fawn.  On the right hand page, I used this cool metal tag that I bought on black friday.  It says "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." Perfect, right?)

Here are the pages together.  I'm mostly waiting to photograph them in the mornings even though I finish them at night because sometimes inspiration strikes over night.  I wasn't very pleased with the right page initially, but when I was photographing them this morning I had the sudden realization that the decorating photo should be on top (as shown here) not in the bottom slot where I put it initially.  With that one small change, I suddenly was much happier.  The great thing about pocket pages is that that was a very easy thing to fix!

DD 4 & 5 Doughnuts + Snow!

With all the weather excitement today I didn't get day 4 posted earlier so here are days four and five together (fun fact, apparently I posted them together last year too!) As mentioned previously, I'm trying to make December full of fun and low on stress (i.e. not over planning things).  Yesterday presented an opportunity to embrace impromptu fun and we seized it!  

On the way home from school, M asked if we could have a doughnut party. Now normally, my answer to this at 2:30 in the afternoon would be no, but, we're having random fun so off we went!  We bought a dozen festive doughnuts and threw ourselves a party.  The little kids had a hard time waiting for their brother to get home, but we made it by cleaning the counter and setting out the doughnuts in a fancy cake dome (which protected them from sneaky hands as well as looking pretty).  After lots of doughnut fun, we did baths x3 (at say 5pm...) Then, I knew they wouldn't eat dinner so we had popcorn and a movie instead (fun! although not a very nutrient dense day )  Brent has caught my cold so he slept through most of this, but the kids and I had a very fun evening.  Props to Lady M for keeping the fun rolling:)

Here is what the page looks like without the earlier page behind it.  I'm having a lot of trouble getting the "GIVE" letters from day three to stick and stay in a straight line. Turns out that stickles aren't a great adhesive on plastic so I've opted for my standby glue dots.  Otherwise, there's just a bit of stamping, sequins and flair to wrap up day 4.

Day 5's surprise was a lovely snow storm.  It was the type with the big beautiful fluffy flakes of snow.  It was E's first real experience playing in the snow and he loved it. He was full of smiles and fist pumps as he toddled around after his siblings.  The littles actually went out twice - once before B came home and once after.  The big kids had little heart hand warmers in their pockets and we managed to find mittens/gloves for everyone, which is a snow day miracle itself.  After everyone was freezing we came in and had hot chocolate and marshmallows (of course).  And enjoyed watching the flakes keep falling. We have a couple inches of snow now and may get a couple more.  School is cancelled tomorrow which will be our first snow day of the year (and maybe last year too!)

Crafting Notes: The ribbon on the photo, the number, and flair are from the SC December Daily Kit.  The little "snowflakes" are from an earlier SC kit and probably not meant to be snow flakes, but it works, right?

Here are the two pages together with the peak-a-boo page showing.  I kind of like how (completely by accident) the embellishments fit well around E's face in the page behind it. Hooray for serendipity!

I hope you all are having a lovely December and are somewhere safe and warm. 

Ten on Tuesday

(NOTE: If you are looking for the blog hop post it is just belonw or you can click here).

1. We did have a great snow after all. I was getting a little dubious, but it came. Some sleet followed by much blowing wind and big drifts of snow. The temperatures plummeted and a snow day was here.  (Ps. Isn't B just too adorable in his cool sock monkey hat from Uncle Able?)

2. Snow days are so wildly different than before we had kids or even when I was a kid. I didn't really make it outdoors, but also didn't get to sit around crafting or reading books as apparently many of my facebook friends did. I, you see, telecommute and there was no storm in DC so I had to work anyway and Brent became the childcare for the day. Sigh. Nice to have him here though.

3. Did I mention it was his birthday? Yes? Happy Birthday my darling husband. I love you so very much!

After so much cake, we instead made peanut butter chocolate birthday fudge, complete with sprinkles. M perfected saying "Happy Birthday" in her cutests tiny voice (I have video to share soon!) and there were a few presents too.

4. I am horrible at the present part. I don't want to pick out what he really wants by myself (new cell phones or new TV) and I'm not sure either of us really think we can afford them anyway. It is hard, but he assures me he loves my routine Wii game + Star Wars Lego gifts anyway. Lucky for me he is easy when it comes to presents, but I still feel guilty a bit.

5. Have had some pitty parties for myself lately on the "not being able to afford it" front. Try to remind myself how fortunate we are and that this is a choice we made -- to have more time together and with the kids rather than more money. Also, that it is good that we're frugal with our resources as it lets us do nice things later. Seriously, I can't complain as I'm well paid for sitting around thinking, writing and exercising good judgment. Sometimes still hard. My strategy is to hold one of my kids as close as possible for as long as they let me to remember how much better this time with them is than the money, stuff, big house and granite countertops we've given up to have it. (Sorry, apparently not quite over the pitty party, but always end up being really happy with my choices so all is well).

6. No clue what our plan is going to be for tomorrow. I think Brent wants to go back to work. I don't know what the streets are even like. Due to the wind some are find and some have huge drifts. If he goes back, I would probably have to take off work as I won't have childcare. Tricky decisions. ---oh, and no, he does not get to stay home when the state government is closed because he is somehow, mysteriously, essential personnel as the school cannot close (being a boarding school and whatnot).

7. I am reading the next book in the Pink Carnation series -- The Orchid Affair-- perfectly lovely distraction. The setting is almost precisely where I lived in Paris in the summer of 2000 which makes it all the better for me.

8. I've been doing some scrapbooking over the weekend and am really enjoying the pages. I've been using even more of the Ormolu tags and will share some of my efforts soon. What I've learned most of late is to step away when the creative magic isn't working and let it percolate in my head. When I come back later, the design tends to have come to me and be much better.

9. No Zumba for yet another week due to parties and now snow. Whatever am I going to do?

10. Believe it or not, next Tuesday's post will be coming to you from Washington, DC (weather permitting) as it is time for my quarterly Board prep trip. I am excited, but also nervous/guilty about leaving as usual.

Winter's Impending Arrival

We have had a blissfully light winter so far.  For example, it was about 75 degrees on Friday.  We wandered the back yard barefoot, had a picnic dinner outside and stayed out later still to watch the stars through our new telescope (one of B's birthday presents).  Tonight though, they say winter will arrive with "blizzard-like" conditions --- that was from a random email I received this afternoon telling me that the City of OKC would be closing on Tuesday.  EVERYTHING is closing or closed on Tuesday and not a drop of precipitation has fallen that I'm aware of.  The projects swear there is 100% chance of nastiness though -- snow of something like 8-12 inches, ice, winds of 30+ miles an hour the whole time.  Awesome. Seems like Brent may get to stay home for his birthday and watch the kids while I work as you see, my job will not be closed as 1000 miles away the weather will be somewhat less dramatic.

I managed to mightily resist the inherent urge to go out and procure supplies.  All day I felt like I needed to just go out and buy something so we would be prepared.  Mind you, we have bought more than $500 in groceries in the last three or four weeks so we are well provisioned even after three parties.  It did feel like I was missing out on tradition though.  I also missed the traditional call where my Dad entreats me to come to the farm (where we got snowed in this very week last year while the snow missed OKC).  They do have generators there though... I keep waiting for him to call so we can have this necessary and also some what irrational conversation.  Able did call, mostly just to say hi, and did not try to get me to pack up my family, but was nice.

Meanwhile, my mom and sister both have interesting pre-storm perspectives.  I particularly like the below poem which I've copied from my Mom's blog and is definitely our family's winter storm poem of choice.

The north wind doth blow 

and we shall have snow,

and what will the robin do then,

poor thing,

he'll sit in the barn to keep himself warm

and hide his head under his wing,

poor thing. 

The north wind doth blow 

and we shall have snow,

and what will the robin do then,

poor thing,

he'll sit in the barn to keep himself warm

and hide his head under his wing,

poor thing. 

My hope and prayer is that you and yours are snuggled safe and warm to ride out whatever storm may be headed your way.  (Or maybe blissfully enjoying the sun somewhere?)  I have to admit sneakily here in the moments while we're still waiting that the kid in me sort of wants a little snow to go tromp around in with my littles, and the grown-up who telecommutes has a pretty good gig for this situation too.  

I hear the wind blowing now so it appears the predictions are beginning to come true.  I think I'll snuggle down deeper in my blanket and check-in on my students from my cozy warm house. 

Garden Update

Today, my dear Mary gently reminded me that my blogworld was sorely lacking in garden updates. I admit, I haven't quite figured out how to chronicle this project. It is tricky with something that changes all the time and yet doesn't change alot. I decided to go with a collage and some highlights here for now and we'll see what happens.

At this point everything is pretty much up other than the chives. The radishes appear to be thriving and we have a veritable radish forest. This is pretty ridiculous given that we don't really eat radishes and just planted them to help the carrots which, at the moment, they seem to be hindering. In short, some radishes have been thinned out. The spinach and lettuce will need thining soon.

The garden survived a snow at the one week mark.  B and I covered everything in trash bags and weighed them down with his various toys and some sticks.  The herbs got little domes made out of bowls.  I think everything came through pretty well and the snow melted two days later.  B has been a fabulous helper.  He waters everything with me frequently and likes checking on the progress.  He helps a bit with the thinning under very close supervision.  He also has firm conversations with his Grandparents about how we need more dirt and they promise they are bringing some today.

There are some pictures here of the front beds too as the bulbs and Bradford pear are starting to bloom.  This really is one of my favorite times of year if not for the allergies and the INSANE Oklahoma wind we've been having.  Deep breaths. Just going to focus on the flowers and my adorable kids, thank you very much.

I'll try to update more frequently and would be interested to hear what you'd like to know about as our garden project progresses.  Happy Spring!

December Daily: Day 24 - Christmas Eve Blizzard

We had big plans for Christmas Eve - A day with the Richards/Rouse crew followed by Mass with my parents. The blizzard swept in to town early that morning and the plans were blanketed in blowing snow and ice. The above was quite early in the day and we finished the day with huge drifts several feet deep. So, we spent the day snuggled up inside eating popcorn, and watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. We did lots of cooking, including baking special Christmas Eve gingerbread waffles for breakfast, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, and cranberry roasted sweet potatoes for dinner. We did briefly ponder or dwindling stash of some essentials, but had a quiet family Christmas Eve at home and turned in early to wait for Santa. Our outdoor snow adventures safely saved for Christmas Day.

Ps.  Yes, I know, I'm still missing days 19, 20, 23, 26 & some more stores from 25 as well as the final re-cap for 31.  They are coming.  They are just really big days that require some thought, but stay tuned.