life in general

a quick trip to the land of snow

Last week we took a quick family trip to Utah to find some snow.  Scott took the kids skiing and I sat in the lodge and read a book.  And took pictures and video.

I shot this video with the 8mm Vintage Camera app on my iphone.

It started out cloudy with light snow, but ended up being a gorgeous day!

Anna spent the day in ski school and did great.  It was a cold cold day so she appreciated all 3 trips inside for hot chocolate and crackers.

Before the day of skiing began the boys studied the maps.  Conner smiled and said, "I want to go on the black!"  Payton firmly protested, "No!  We're staying on the green ones!"

When the day was done we packed ourselves into the van and not 5 minutes later I turned around to see this

Wiped out!

During our trip we were also able to squeeze in a BYU basketball game at the Marriott Center, dinner at Brick Oven with Mason, Chinese take-out at Randy & Kate's apartment (and petting their kitty Toby, but not Millie), and a crepes brunch with Kent & Becca & cousins on our way out of town.  Thanks to everyone for making time for us!

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Thinking about snow . . . . I've sat around for the past little while browsing through old blog posts about our snow days in Oregon.  Good times.  I sure loved those days when we could cozy up in the house with nowhere to go, send the kids in and out to the snow, drink hot chocolate, and lay by the heater vents to warmup.

Snow day 2012

Snow day 2011

Snow day 2008 and a fun video in slow motion and one more post -- it was Snowmaggedon this year (at least by Portland standards)

Snow day March 2006 and November 2006

snow day 2012

We love snow days around here.  Although the kids were already scheduled to have no school today (a professional development day), it felt like a surprise bonus day off.

a little sad because everyone had finished playing in the snow (after 4 hours) and she wanted another snowball fight

Other snow day activities included:

• baking cookies
• serving hot chocolate
• piano lessons
• laundry
• watching Phineas and Ferb

snowy sunday

Last night we received our first snow of the season.  It's only a dusting, but we get pretty excited about this kind of stuff.

This morning it was a beautiful, white wonderland.  All 1/4 inches of it.  :)

This snow has all since melted.  The weatherman tells us we'll see more snow showers, but I doubt there will be any more accumulation.  

Today, on this snowy Sunday, Scott and I also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!  

I always like to watch this for a trip down memory lane.

While we weren't able to fit in any celebrating today, luckily I was able to spend a few days with him in Vegas this week where we did fit in a wonderful date.  Details on that later.

13 years and it just keeps getting better!

photo: instax
custome "nurture" magnet: lisa leonard designs 

'tis the season to be freezin'

It snowed again today.  School was cancelled. (I cleaned the bathrooms!)  Payton & Anna built snowmen and Conner shoveled the driveway and sidewalk.  His payment came in the form of candy cleaned out of Scott's forbidden zone.  

So, in honor of the snow I thought this would be the perfect time to post details of our Winter Wipeout Party.

We love Wipeout.  The kids laugh hysterically and I love that it is something that we can all watch together.  It usually airs during the summertime, but the show was soooo successful that they brought it back for a season of "Winter Wipeout."  We were thrilled to hear this news and since early January we have held a family Wipeout Party every Friday night.  Nothing too crazy - just popcorn or ice cream and lots of laughs.

A few weeks ago when we had family here for Payton's baptism I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take the Wipeout Party to the next level.  I brainstormed food & activity ideas for a few weeks and here's what I came up with.

FOOD

white chocolate covered pretzel rods . . . 

a summer sausage . . . 

The 7-Letter Word was my favorite to make!  I felt so proud of myself when I came up with this idea.  I used a recipe for Stained Glass Jell-O to mimic the frothy, snow & ice covered waters.  And then I cut the letters from fruit roll-ups.  Wa-la!

(This recipe also came in handy last week for the Blue & Gold banquet when I used blue & yellow jell-o.)

ACTIVITIES

Watch an episode of Winter Wipeout, of course.

Make Sinister Snowflakes.

Make your own Ballsy.  Ballsy is the Wipeout mascot.  You don't often see him on the weekly episodes, but he's always behind the scenes throwing snowballs at the contestants.

Make snow.  I had some of this Insta-Snow leftover from Conner's Mad Science Birthday Party.  It is fun stuff, but it can be messy.

DECORATIONS

The week before the party I scored a deal on a free custom vinyl banner!  All I had to do was pay shipping.  I think it added the perfect touch to this party.

The end!  Not too crazy, but just fun and themed enough to add something special to the day.

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Linking up at Tatertots and Jell-o Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Linking up at Shindig Saturday

snow days

It's 10:35pm and Anna is still awake.  Yowzers.  I guess the "I'm not feeling good nap" after church perked her right up.

Anyways . . . . We had a good weekend.  A good loooong weekend thanks to a couple snow days.  You know, it doesn't take much for them to cancel school here, but that's fine by me.  I enjoy the lazy days and staying cozy in the house, watching the kids play outside, and serving hot chocolate.

Both days Anna came to me before 7:30 am fully dressed and bundled up, ready to go outside and play in the snow.  Uh, that's a bit early my dear.  How about 9 am?  I think it's so funny how eager she is to get outside in the snow.  And even though I make Conner and Payton join her, she outlasts them all by a long shot.  I've said this before, but she just loves being outside.

Payton managed to gather enough snow in the front yard to build a mini snowman.  

Our little winter wonderland . . . . 

But the best part of the day is when cheeks are icy, fingers are numbing, and toes are frozen (thankfully we are past the stage of snow+cold=tears) and I greet the kids at the back door one by one, and peel off the wet layers right there on the kitchen floor.  As they run upstairs to put warm clothes on -- which usually means t-shirts and shorts -- for me there's something heartwarming to see the snow gear all together in a pile.  Evidence of a good day of play.  

And rather than wear pants and sweaters (something they would never choose to do), they turn to hot chocolate served by mom or cozying under blankets by the heater vent to get warm.  

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Oh, and here's Conner's reaction when he heard that school was cancelled.  After the jumping and cheering he broke into song and air guitar.

And we also enjoyed watching this video on YouTube.  :)  We followed his advice - "Stay inside your home!  Whatever you do, do not leave your house!  You're not safe!"  Gotta love it.

 

last snow post, I promise

But you must understand that this has been somewhat of a record breaking storm and this fluffy (sometimes icy) white stuff has dictated our lives for the past 10 days.

Saturday:  8 more inches of snow (in addition to everything else that was still on the ground).  We did leave the house so we could attend the Ward Christmas Breakfast.  I'm so glad they didn't cancel it.  We needed to get out and see other people.

Sunday:  Freezing rain fell overnight and left a nice layer of ice on top of all the snow.

 

Church was canceled.  This has happened only one other time since we lived here (I think in Jan. 2004 - it was a big, scary freezing rain / ice event).  We watched Joy to the World and played a family game.  I worked on filling up my December Daily album.  And what else but play around with my camera.

 

Here's our Christmas tree -- I had fun picking out new ornaments this year.  I went with a red, silver, & sparkly theme.

 

The kids had their own tree to decorate -- a 4 1/2 foot tree in the family room filled with their favorite ornaments, some homemade, and a lot of Star Wars guys.

 

I spy Han Solo, a storm trooper, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Millennium Falcon.  But there is compromise in all things.  One Darth Vader ornament (the big talking one) has a home on the big tree. 

oh, and we had another 3 inches of snow fall on Sunday.

Monday:  woke up to an additional 2-3 inches on the ground.  Sunday evening Conner came to us and asked, "What kind of jobs are there for kids to make money?"  Scott suggested that if he shoveled the back patio he could earn $2.  Conner thought that was a great idea. 

 puttin' some muscle into it.

And here's a look at our house front & back:

  

  

After another 2 days of being cooped up, it was time to get out of the house.  We went to the town next door for some last minute Christmas shopping.  Scott put chains on the truck and we all piled in.  It was so weird to see the highway covered in snow.

 

The Christmas shopping is done.  We even wrapped everything last week.  We've got our fridge & freezer stocked with everything we need to get through the holiday.  The van still sits in the garage - undriven for a full week.  The drive way is clear of snow (thanks to Scott's hard work).  It looks like it will be several more days before temps get high enough to melt any of this (and we're praying for a sloooow melt).  In the mean-time we are anticipating Christmas and everyone is well and happy . . . . . 

 

. . . . and just a little bit crazy. 

snow day - day 2, 3, 4

day 2 (wednesday)

LOTS of snow play today.  It started snowing at 7am and it was still going strong when it got dark.  I'm guessing we got a good 4-5 inches on the ground.  The kids love the snow.  I'm always amazed at their endurance and tolerance of the snow -- even when it ends up on their face on down their coat or when they socks are completely wet.  They just love it.

Payton was all about army crawling through the snow and plowing new paths as he walked along.

  

Anna was the snow angel queen.  Plopping down everywhere, even the side of the road, to make a snow angel.  If she found a fresh, untouched patch of snow it had to have a snow angel on it.

  

Conner latched onto a couple neighborhood boys as soon as they came out with a sled.  They shoveled some snow off the road and with a big running head start (like, a half block) tried to see how far they could sled down the road.  

 

Me, I added a little Christmas/Winter cheer to our porch.

  

Scott came home early (about 3-4pm) and was shocked to hear about all the snow we received -- they had gotten nothing in town.  After shoveling the driveway he and Conner went into the untouched backyard to make the snowman.  Then he rolled a few more giant balls and arranged them in a semi-circle to create a snow fort!  I thought it was so cute!  The boys stood behind the fort walls and threw snow balls at their new friend/enemy.  Whichever.

 

snow day - day 3, 4 (thursday, friday)

Well, it looks like the kids are getting a 3 week Christmas vacation! 

We've had a little melting, freezing, and a little additional snow.  A big storm is supposed to hit tomorrow.  Scott worked from home and drove us around in his truck so I could get some things taken care of -- post office, grocery store.  Of course, that also means I have to smile through side-trips to the church parking lot for spinning donuts.  Not much I can say other than a reminder: "we have eggs in the back of the truck, dear."

We've stayed inside more the last 2 days -- the snow isn't that great for playing in (thursday it was too wet and today it's just crunchy & frozen over the top).

I have plans to get Christmas organized in a big way this weekend -- wrapping gifts, finishing & de-cluttering from all the projects -- so I can spend all of next week just enJOYing.

snow day

sleep in . . . . check

snow pants . . . . check

snow ball fight . . . . check

snow/grass angels . . . . check

snowman . . . . check

hot chocolate . . . . check

melting snowman . . . . check

all in a days' work.

let it snow

The past two days we have had some snowy & icy mornings at our house.  Today AM Kindergarten was cancelled so Conner got to stay home.  We ventured outside to let the kids play in snow -- if you can even call it that.  It was basically a light dusting on the ground, but it stuck.  Anna and Conner loved it, but Payton was too cold and wanted to go back in the house.

Yesterday Scott even worked from home.  He left for work and was only 5 miles out of town when he had already passed 2 accidents and traffic was at a stand-still.  So he turned around and made an office in our bedroom.

The forecast shows Thursday to be the worst day -- maybe some freezing rain.  We'll see what happens!

let it snow

we woke up to find this outside our window this morning -- pics taken at 6:45 am

The boys were so excited to see the snow.  During scriptures and prayer they kept jumping up to look out the window.

and Anna laying at my feet, stretching her turtle neck to see Diego on the tv.

Hope the snow doesn't mess up plans for our Enrichment dinner tonight!