We enjoy the football game for the snacks.

We had our monthly potluck after the morning service followed by an afternoon service.  Tonight's supper...snacks to go with pb & j sandwiches.  So far...not impressed with the commercials that everyone is so excited about.  I'm glad our children are playing in the other room...there are things that they just don't need to see or have explained at this point and time!  The halftime show is not even worthy of a comment.  It is sad to see what is put before Americans as entertainment...and what America allows as entertainment.

Pieces and parts are all collected...

now what will it all look like when it is all put together?!?  I've got ideas and sketches.  Hmmm?!  Are you wondering?  I am!  I better get it together...for next Saturday!

Makes me think of the joke we told when we were little...

What's black and white and red all over?

...there were many so many endings that we used...

the answer for this year is "a banquet"!

There are moments that I need to remember...

as a Mom!  Moments when our children do something without being told.   Moments when they demonstrate growth.  Moments when they show love and kindness. They see something that needs to be done...and they do it.  I called Ashlynn's name and she looked at me...and I said, "Thank you."  She smiled.  She knew I noticed what she was doing.  She knew I was grateful...and proud of her.

It is so easy to get bogged down with the daily nagging we tend to do as mothers.  We get in a zone...and we end up sounding just like the children we are trying to train and correct.  Ted has been around home more again and he has reminded me on more than one occasion, "You should hear what you sound like.  Take a step back and let me deal with this."  So I take that step backward...and listen to him and watch the kids respond to him quickly and obediently...while I replay the scenario in my head.  I don't want them to remember "that kind of mother"!  I want them to remember a loving, firm, consistent, grateful, and praising mother.  The moments of good decisions do outweigh the bad decisions...it is up to me to NOTICE and SPEAK words of praise and thankfulness!

The day after...

the "official" 14.3 inch snowfall, the temperatures have hit -30 below windchill and have affected all of us!  I think our brains (and stored up energy) were greatly affected by the changing barometric pressure and falling temperatures.  We fought through our school work.  We have fussed and feuded with one another.  We have whined about doing small chores...evidently, reading and practicing for music lessons is requiring too much effort!  We have sat unmoving in the the recliners...rocking gently.  We are constantly hungry.  We have consumed many different types of hot beverages.  We unwillingly went outside and took care of various obligations.  We are tired of all the Blizzard of Twenty Eleven recaps and pictures.  One of the local tv stations even designed a logo for this big event.  Silly people.  We have now turned on the tv and are escaping the four walls via movies, Food Network, and etc.  That may be one of the reasons for the constant appetite...or the fact that it is suppertime...again.

We are thankful for the warmth of our home...but we all have some sort of "cabin fever" to one degree or another.  We are thankful for electricity...that never went out!

I think chocolate helps me deal...and whipped cream helps too.  I wonder what kind of concoction we can come up with to help us make it to bedtime!?  The girls just reminded me that we have ice cream in the freezer.  We had better eat supper...quick!   It makes me laugh...when the temps drop...it is all about the food...every time.  I guess there isn't a mistake when mothers are compared to mother bears!

Yesterday, our area was declared to be in a "state of snow emergency".  That is nothing...I just looked...there is only one package of hot chocolate left in the snowman jar!  Now that is a state of emergency in sub-zero temps! 

I like it when I score big on supper!

After the kids played outside all afternoon, they were starving.  It was easier to put everything on one platter and throw it in the oven.  MMMM...nachos!  I got the thumbs up as the mouths chewed happily.

It will definitely be a repeat meal...not super healthy, I suppose, but hearty!

Finding things to do...

inside...because it is so cold outside!

Enjoying the Blizzard Effects of 20-11!

It's not the abominable snowman...it is Papa the Snowblower to the rescue!

The snowblower's helpers!

The kids are having fun!

Helping a neighbor.

One of our neighbor's playing with our children.

It has been a busy day outside...as well as inside...I have taken down the big Christmas tree finally.  The dust was almost as deep as the snow outside.  The snowman tree and all the snowmen will remain up for an undetermined amount of time...or until the dust starts drifting too high in the house.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

"It’s Groundhog Day, and the question on everyone’s mind is did the groundhog see his shadow in 2011? The answer is NO, Punxsutawney Phil did not." Are you surprised?!?  "With a giant winter storm blanketing at least half of the United States there was not a ray of sunshine to make a shadow with. Puxatony Phil popped his head out as he does every year, and then dove for cover due to the nasty icy conditions above ground."

We watched the Early Show this morning and saw the furry creature being pulled from his special home by men in black top hats.  He didn't dive anywhere...he was held firmly in their gloved hands.  Poor little guy...he didn't have a choice!  I guess, they had four-wheel drive vehicles to be able to go disturb the groundhog from his slumber.  Evidently, they cancelled the celebration where his cousin Melvin lives.  Good grief.

"What is Groundhog Day, you might ask…if you’re not a crazy American. The tradition goes back to a German superstition that if a groundhog sees his shadow on February 2, there will be six more weeks of winter. With a lot of German immigrants settling in Pennsylvania, the group known as the Inner Circle started this event with a tame groundhog in Punxsutawney, Penn. just as way to enliven the dreary month of February."
Image courtesy of morningbounce.wordpress.com

Last night, I made cinnamon rolls for my family...  BUT...since it was Groundhog's Day...why not do something special?!?  I rolled the rolls into balls and added little balls for ears.  It was sticky and messy, but it worked.

Groundhog in a snowbank!

Crazy, drifts all over the place!

It didn't dawn on me how it would sound this morning..."These are good groundhogs, Mom!"  "I ate his ear first!"  "His eyes didn't taste like anything!" 

Please don't call PETA on us!  Anyway...there isn't much evidence left.

The Blizzard of '11

I had the giggles yesterday as we listened to news reports and watched the radar.  "Wouldn't it be something to get 20 plus inches?" I asked.  Ted thought I was crazy to say that and the kids had their fingers crossed.  We went to bed and listened to the ice hit the windows and the wind howl. 

We knew we didn't have to go anywhere!  Ted and Ashlynn ventured out earlier to pick up a couple movies...and met up with the rest of the city standing in line doing the same thing.

Who knows exactly how many inches fell!  How can it even be measured?  Part of our driveway looks like we got a dusting...while the other part looks like we got 2 feet...

Poor Chevy...he was running back and forth to the door this morning to go out.  When I pushed open the back door...he stopped short.  I suited up and went out to shovel around the back door and make a little spot for him at 7:30.  It was shielded from the wind on three sides even.  He refused and curled up on the couch.  An hour later, he decided he couldn't wait any longer and went out.

Until the kids go out and make tracks and paths and tunnels...Chevy is staying put!  He has made the circuit and finally found the warmest place to curl up.

I couldn't agree with him more!  The best place to be on a cold, snowy, windy day...curled up in bed.

Ted thought he would head out and go help Dad shovel out.  I laughed out loud, "How are you going to do that?"  He looked out the window by the driveway.  It is clear in front of his little white car. "I'll just take a run at it...I'll be fine."  I asked a simple question, "Have you looked out the front window yet?  We have no driveway and the plow just went by...twice."  He looked...and I laughed again..."Forget that, I'm going to go take a shower."  We'll go out later...there is no rush...we all have school to do anyway!

Weather.com is showing a pretty clear picture!

We are about to get hammered!  The winds are howling and little snowflakes have begun to swirl...this should be interesting!  To quote the nice people at weather.com..."A massive, dangerous storm tracks eastward."  The purple, green, and yellow shades on the map look more ominous to me than the grey and white shades!  I am thankful for our warm house and layers of clothes.

As I was scrolling through a certain uncle's pictures...

on facebook...I found these from 2008.  I enjoy looking at pictures that are posted of our family and friend's families!  I had no idea Uncle Kenny had these in his possession!  I look at how little Teddy was...and I see how he has grown! 

He is standing up in Uncle James' fireman boots...but he was having a tough time staying upright under all that gear!

And here he is this morning...he lost another tooth yesterday!  The "tooth fairy" stopped by the kitchen about 2:38am, rummaged through the cabinet for the green food coloring, found the change in the wallet, and then stumbled back to bed...or so she says.  I knew I would forget...and my reminder man fell asleep in the chair.  I have forgotten too many times...to forget again.  I think, when it is time for molars to fall out...we are going to meet the tooth fairy and put all the guessing games to rest.  Poor tooth fairy...needs her beauty rest, likes to use her quarters, and has too many other things to remember...because these children are growing up so quickly!

Happy February 1

This month's focus is always on love and Valentine's Day.  My focus for this month is going to be on doing those unexpected little things every day to show my family how much I love them.  Today, heart shaped pancakes with a tinge of pink made breakfast just a little more fun!

I have an idea for tomorrow to celebrate Groundhog's Day...blizzard style!  We'll see if I can make it work.