Lesson Learned The Hard Way

Lesson: Pushing down a trash bag into the trash can to force the lid to close is not a good idea unless the above mentioned trash bag is full of feathers and definitely not half peeled back tomato soup can lids. Duh! Who would do that? Well a severed nerve, chopped blood vessel, nicked tendon and 15 stitches later (4 inside, 11 out) I definitely won't ever again.

Madden Christmas

This year the boys got to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa early because we are going to be in Texas on Christmas Day. It is the first time we have had the opportunity to drive a few minutes to a family members house and actually spend a holiday with them and it was wonderful.

We decided to celebrate with breakfast because morning is by far the best time of Christmas in my opinion and Marcia did not disappoint. She had "create your own pancakes" (ahem....dessert) with a choice of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips or all three like Bo chose, and sausage and eggs. Hello sugar high! Hello Christmas fun!

We then let the boys go to town on their presents. It was a great morning and everyone had a blast.

Snowmachining...Like Father Like Son

Bo and Sam definitely take after their Dad with their love of snowmachines. Any weekend warm enough (which isn't many right now), they are out at Grandma & Grandpa's riding through the trails, around the driveway and all through the yard. I can't wait until Spring when it's warm enough for them to be out even more. They absolutely LOVE IT!!

How The Girl Scouts Saved Christmas

We took the boys to see Santa today. They even had lists to give him and were so beyond excited. Well, Bo and Sam were at least. Max, not so much.

But when we got to Santa's House, we found out that Santa was not there because he rests on Mondays and Tuesdays. WTF? Santa doesn't rest in December. There are toys to be made and lists to be checked and then checked again. I know 'pa in his kerchief' but not 'good ole St Nick in his underoos'.

I have never seen Bo so disappointed. Bubble bursting. Sail drooping. Dog dying. I felt horrible. I almost cried. Probably would have if it weren't for the wall to wall holly jolly Christmas explosion I was standing in.

But then in happened. Frowns no longer. Cloud nine approaching. Looking like larks. Santa was in the building!! SANTA WAS IN THE BUILDING!

Thank you wonderful Girl Scout troop for dragging Santa from his day of rest. Now we love you AND your cookies.


*Side Note - Anyone else find it strange that Santa's mouth is always open?! Kind of creepy.

Sammy-Says #1

I have always loved keeping track of all the funny, strange and cute things Bo says and now it is time to start doing the same for Sam. Sam has been talking for quite awhile now and is usually the one who has me laughing all day but more from the things he does rather than the things he says. However, he's still a kid and spurts out some pretty fun stuff every now and then so from here on out I will do my best to capture them.

1) Sam: (While squinting) I need go to eye doctor.
Me: The eye doctor? How come?
Sam: Because my leg hurts.

And while I'm thinking about Sam, here are a few things that define Sam lately:

-always walking around with his shoes on the wrong feet and quite often un-matching ones (typically one rain boot and one snow boot)

-prefers to be naked
-always slightly awkward but in a really cute way

-has the personality and smile to light up a room

-never wants to be left behind. If anyone goes down stairs, or outside, or leaves our house, he wants to go too. Grass is always greener. "go too! me go tooooo!"
-loves to tell stories with tons of sound effects. Sometimes it's only sound effects and arm motions, especially when talking on the phone, and generally an airplane is involved.

Mmmmmm....Lego Soup

They worked on this soup for over an hour. Scooping. Stirring. Dumping. It was awesome. One pot eventually turned in to three and then, like with everything, the spoons became weapons and we had to clean up.

Brigitte Is Snow Much Fun!

Can I just say, Brigitte is AWESOME!

Today when I came home from running errands I opened the garage door to go inside and then heard some giggling down in the woods. I turned around and sure enough, out popped 2 little snow rats and their fearless leader. All bundled up, covered in snow and smiles from ear to ear.

Brigitte grew up in Alaska and loves being outside. She understands the weather and embraces it; something I am still struggling with after 9 years of living up here. To her, the snow and cold is an exciting change and opens up new wintery things to do while I am completely opposite and see it as an end to summer.

Goodbye bike riding and playing outside for hours. Goodbye soccer games in the front yard and sidewalk chalk roads on the driveway. Hello play-doh, toys everywhere and forts, forts, forts. Hello daily trips to Fred Meyer and hello cooped up energy.

So why? Why can't I think more like Brigitte? Why can't this Texan think like an Alaskan? It sure would be nice. I know the boys would love it. I know it would help the winter go by faster. And I know it would help keep the house cleaner.
But until then, until I learn to love the cold, until I fully appreciate the wonders of winter, thank goodness the boys have "Aunt Brigitte"

Cupcakes For Grandma

Yesterday was Grandma's birthday so the boys and I surprised her with homemade cupcakes. Sam helped me make them and then he and Bo decorated them all. And boy were they DECORATED!!!

I feel like an idiot for not taking any pictures of the boys giving them to her. It was priceless. They were so excited and Grandma was shocked. I think she really enjoyed the surprise.

Bo also gave her a book on 'Scats and Tracks" of Alaska. He and Grandma always talk about the animal tracks in the yard so this way they can learn to identify them. And by the time we left last night they had decided a fox and a vole were the two most frequent culprits.

Happy Birthday, Grandma. Hope it was a great day.

Just Some Cute Pics From October

Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's
Bo on a fire truck at Fire Safety Day at his school

A tub of funWinter is hereBuilding food forts