This & That

The snow finally stopped and it warmed up. In fact, we had thunderstorms the other night. Then it got chilly again. The only thing predictable about our winter weather is that it's unpredictable. I'm ok with that. It makes life interesting. Sometimes we get to experience all the seasons in one day!

We are working on our first full week of school since mid-December. We are eagerly looking forward to school softball & track starting soon. We are also counting down the days to spring break! Tyler has started driving himself to school, which leaves me with about 40 minutes to myself between work and the kids getting home. I've been picking Clara up and heading out for a walk on the trail. It's really nice right now because no one else is there when I am. I can let her walk off leash and explore, although she always stays close. When we start out, she's way ahead of me, but by the time we get back to the car, she's only a few steps ahead. Guess we are both a little out of shape. :) She is such a good dog. The increasing amount of white on her face makes me sad. Anyway, it's nice to have a few minutes to myself before the bustle of kids coming home, reviewing homework, shuttling kids to and fro, making dinner, etc.

Today it was snowing "Styrofoam" (graupel). I thought the dead seed fluffies looked pretty with the balls on them.

Danielle just finished up a hitting league with the high school softball players. She and 3 other 8th graders were invited to play with them. She was put in a group with the varsity players, which she enjoyed. At the last game, they faced one of the toughest pitchers the HS will face this year (according to the assistant coach). Danielle did as well or better than some of the varsity players, so she was pretty happy. That's the head varsity coach watching her in the background. He did that almost every time she was up. This weekend she's playing in some friendlies (scrimmages) with a team that asked her to sub. She practiced with them a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it. It's actually one of the teams we played in a championship game this fall. Danielle made a couple excellent plays against them, and they have been interested in her ever since. She is also playing in an out of state weekend tournament with them in a couple weeks. Inside softball is a little different, especially for a slapper, but I'm looking forward to watching her play.

We stopped to see my brother after Danielle's hitting lesson the other night. He made sure he was standing nice and tall so Danielle wouldn't look taller. It won't be long before she can look him in the eye, though. The dr told Tyler he's probably about done growing. Unfortunately he got more of my height genes than Ron's. Average for a male is 5'10". He's not quite that yet, but the pediatrician thought he could squeak that out before he was done. It was nice to visit with him for a little while. He has done a lot of work making things his own at his new house, and it was nice to see all that.

Lots of Snow

It's been snowing. A lot. I feel like we were short changed on the snow the past two years, but I am satisfied this year!



Tracks on our patio

Tracks on our patio. Squirrel and chicken. ;) Ok, maybe not chicken.

 

Drift by the house before yesterday's snowfall.

 

I love a good snow fall. Especially when we're all in the warm house where we belong. When it started snowing the other evening, the snow sparkled as it hit the ground. The wind whipped it around into swirls and created all kinds of interesting formations and drifts. The next morning, our neighborhood came alive with people shoveling and clearing the snow from their cars. Some of the neighborhood kids worked together to build a snow fort in the pile the snow plow made at the end of the street. The guy down the street with the snowblower cleared 3 more drives when he was done with his. Moving from one to the other with just a smile and a wave. Our neighbor &  her son shoveled the drive and sidewalk of the neighbors across the street while they were gone. A couple moms with toddlers took turns pulling their little ones around the yard on a toddler sled. They were so bundled up, I'm not sure how they could bend to sit. We came back in from shoveling, made hot chocolate, and settled in for the day. I guess maybe it's not just the snow fall I love.

Snow Birds

Snow buntings

Lapland longspur

 

Horned lark

 

 

 

White throated sparrow

Downy woodpecker

 

Chilly mallards

 

Frozen Bubbles

Christmas Break

It has been a lovely Christmas break. Ron has been off the entire time the kids and I have been home, but he has to go back to work tomorrow. We go back on Thursday. I always look forward to this time. It's always full of family time and special moments. It's like the busy-ness of every day life suddenly stops for a few short days and we get to focus on what's most important - just being together. And most everyone I know is doing the exact same thing.  It's lovely.

So, what have we been up to? Well, there's been a lot of sleeping in. That contributes to staying up late. It's a vicious cycle, really, but for 2 weeks...who cares?! It's been too cold to go outside, so we've been watching movies, playing games, reading, etc. I guess I can't really account for every second of the past two weeks - probably because I lost track of the days at some point. That's a pretty lovely feeling, too.

As usual, we spent Christmas Eve with my mom, Jack, & brother. We enjoyed the Christmas Eve service at church together, followed by dinner out and then time together at home. Uncle Ron and Danielle wore their light-up Christmas sweaters and looked pretty awesome.

We had a nice, quiet Christmas day. It always goes too quickly, though. You spend weeks planning, purchasing, and wrapping, and then it's all over in a matter of hours. It does last a little longer now that the kids are older, but that's just the way Christmas is.

Watching The Polar Express on Christmas Eve.



This was in Tyler's stocking. He said it tasted like hair. Maybe not, but he did say it was not good. It was meant more for a laugh, anyway.

Danielle said hers was good. Apparently unicorn farts have a cherry flavor.

We enjoyed lunch with my dad and Patty but missed getting to see the rest of the family. Danielle spent time with friends. Tyler tried to win records for spending the most days in pajamas, but I gave him a good run for his money. It was a great way to usher out 2017. 

I know a lot of people had a rough 2017. Politics, health concerns, job uncertainty, losing loved ones - there were a lot of big issues that many people we know struggled with. We were fortunate enough to end 2017 in much the same way that we started it - happy, healthy, warm, well fed, together, and loved. I have high hopes for 2018.