Snow Days

More photos and commentary, for better or worse, from the Blizzard of 2010.

It has been a fun adventure being snowed in since Friday night. We turned on the generator early Saturday morning after the power went out. Grampa and Dad began digging out the cars NOT to try to drive out (no chance of that on our lane -- besides the state road wasn't even plowed til Monday morning), but to get to the fuel tanks!

Imagine my surprise

when I looked out the window

to see Frank syphoning fuel from my Dad's Jeep!

No worries, Dad was in on it, too! They were looking for more gas for the generator...it was a bigger endeavor than they expected but they eventually came up with a few extra gallons.

Lily and I have been playing "Go Fish", "Crazy 8's", Legos, Puzzles, etc.

Lily has also been practicing her letters in her journal.

Phinn has been fighting a bit of a cold,

but that hasn't kept him from crawling all over the place;

in fact, this weekend, he has started pulling himself up into a standing position

by grabbing onto the couch, the edge of the tub, or other furniture.

The boy is unstoppable!

Lily, Phoenix and I walked up the lane to visit cousin Megan.

Lily would NOT stop eating snow!

Check out how high these drifts are!

Poor Phoenix was so bundled up that he couldn't move

and I think we were all a bit snow blind.

Besides, eating the snow, Lily also enjoyed nailing me with snowballs!

The chickens finally ventured out of their coop,

but they kept getting stuck in the snow.

It was pretty funny!

More pretty snow photos. It really is a winter wonderland out here!

Being snowed in has been delightful!

Thanks to the gas stove

and a well stocked pantry,

there has been no end to the delicious comfort food:

cookies, cake, and blueberry crisp,

oven-fried pork chops, mashed potatoes,

roasted chicken (store-bought, not from our little flock),

fresh salads, chips and salsas,

bacon and eggs (fresh from the our chickens),

venison sausage, etc, etc.

Yummy!

The (NEWEST) View from the Kitchen Window

Can you BELIEVE this SNOW!!!!!

Okay, so this is actually a photo from yesterday when Lily woke up and said,

"Mom, the chairs sunk!" :o)

and Grampa came in from setting up the generator, feeding the birds, checking the lane, etc to show that he had walked, at some points, through hip deep snow.

We measured Lily today: 3 feet 4 inches -- right about the snow drift levels!

My Boy

I didn't know I would love my boy this much!

He is the happiest baby I know.

He loves to make ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, and li-li-la noises.

He dances and sings with his big sister.

He is an early riser,

a speed-crawler,

a non-picky eater,

a drooly teething monster,

a bathtub waterbug,

but,

most importantly,

he's a mama's boy!

Love this happy boy!

Father and Son
Are these boys good-looking or what?

Phinn loves Grampa!

He loves Uncle Ia too;

he just doesn't do well with camera flashes!

:o)

She Might Have Stayed Out Too Long...

What do you think?

First Snow

We had so many important things we were supposed to get done today...

Then it snowed.

All day.

And we were forced, FORCED I say, to stay home

play in the snow

throw snowballs

discover hiding places under pine trees

catch snowflakes on our tongues

drink hot chocolates

eat Grampa's famous homemade chili

take a walk in the woods

and enjoy this day with every fiber of our being.

Daddy's winter walk in the woods resulted in bringing home an

EIGHT POINT BUCK!

He is SO proud of himself!

(Lily said "have fun killing deer!" as he left the house this morning,

then she was devastated to see a dead deer in the yard this afternoon...

not sure she fully understood the process.)

Look who's a big boy now!

Believe It or Not

Phoenix is officially past the 6 month mark

he is really not a baby anymore

I am so NOT ready for him to be this grown up

but he just keeps getting bigger

and brighter

and bubblier

and babblier

(I know that's not a word, but it IS what he does!)

He makes the cutest dah-dah-dah and raspberry sounds you've EVER heard!

Oh, and did I mention that he sits up by himself....here's proof!

Feelin' Crafty

I have been really diggin' homemade, crafty, far-from-perfect, filled-with-love, memory-making and family-gathering decor this season.

Here are a couple examples of my efforts to make that dream a reality in my home:

Lily and I decorated the Thanksgiving table with every Autumn craft she'd made up to that point including pinecone turkeys, foam decorated leaves and even a felt mouse in a yarn nest. We also made these turkey placecards and, okay, so we never got around to actually adding the names -- we still loved them! -- and there were only four of us at the table...so the confusion was minimal.

Lily and I also made these adorable muffin tin advent calendars for our family and ourselves this season. Lily loved helping me decorate them and add the treats to the cups under the decorated magnets. Big thanks to my mom who helped cut and paste til the wee hours of the morning and to Frank who supervised like a pro!