"It's Not Cold Mom"

The boys must go out,

The boys must go out,

No matter if its rain or shine,

The boys must go out.

(Does anyone else remember this song?)

They are a lot like the mail. Maybe it is because they are male. They need to be outside running and jumping and tackling and running and sledding and smooshing and running and throwing and building and running. Boys are crazy. That's how God made them.

So I sent them out to shovel the driveway. They did a good job don't you think?

The boys have the wind to thank for completing this chore for them. It was gusting in our favor today.

To reward them for their hard work, I let them do some sledding in the backyard.

After they tired of jumping themselves, they came in to get their remote control trucks.

They took them outside and made ramps for them. They tried to see how far they would fly over snow jumps, experimented with how they slid on ice puddles in the yard and how steep of hills they would climb in the snow. They came in to defrost for about 5 seconds and then went back out into the 30 degree weather. Which is really not bad, unless you add in the wind chill. This makes the real feel about 18 degrees. They still came in all sweaty and smelling like boys. Digging Badger told me "Its not even cold Mom!" I told him to "You just go out and have fun then".

To boys there is no weather, just different mediums to play in.

He Loves Me. . .He Loves Me Not. . .He Loves Me!

As I write this I have been married to The Zoo Keeper for 5247 days, 20 hours, and 18 minutes And I am so glad! When he came home from work on Tuesday morning, he had this with him.Just because. . .

Just because he is so sweet and thoughtful.

Just because he knew it would make my day.

Just because he thinks I am the greatest.

Just because I take care of his children.

Just because he is not particulary fond of doing the laundry.

Just because he likes it when he doesn't have to eat cheerios for dinner.

Just because he likes to keep me happy.

Just because I cleaned out his truck that a curious cat had climbed into two days before and shed all over and used as a litter box.

Just because. . . He loves me!

And I would happily do all those things for him and our family, even without getting a red rose now and then, but it sure does make me smile to see it on the table while I am cooking dinner and doing the dishes and teaching math.I worked in a flower shop when I was in high school, and let me tell you, I would much rather have a single red rose on just any day because he loves me, than three dozen red roses on the day when half the world gets red roses just because that is what you're supposed to do. 14 years, 4 months, 12 days, 20 hours, and 18 minutes ago I thought I was as happy as I could ever be. I was wrong.

One Rad Snow Fort

It was so nice to have the Zookeeper home today. He finished off all the touch up painting in Little Lady's room while the rest of us did school. After lunch the Zookeeper and the boys did an extensive . . . er . . . quick look up of how to build a snow fort. We had a snow block mold in the garage that had never been used. We have never had enough snow to use it! It started snowing this morning and hasn't stopped all day. It is supposed to snow into the night and the next 3 days. The boys had fun building a snow fort with their dad.

Then they practiced their hitting with some snowballs and a bat.

Little Lady went outside to check out the snow fort and then everyone came in for some hot chocolate.

Watching the Paint Dry

We have always painted and installed new carpet or flooring and done all the major re-doing BEFORE we moved in. But because our last move was to a new state and a fifteen hour drive, that wasn't really our best option. So the plan was "One room at a time". As in, we will decide what we want to do in each room, move the stuff out, paint, carpet, lather, rinse, repeat. So, nearly two years later we have made our first decision. (Which I guess is lucky because had we painted Little Lady's room a few months ago, I can guarantee it would have been in a shade of pink, but procrastinating has actually saved the day in this case.

So, we went to our home improvement mega center of choice and matched paint samples to the fabric that is to be made into curtains. This is the fabric that I chose after searching through bolts and bolts of fabric to find just the perfect pattern for my sweet little girl's room. This was four year's ago, back when Little Lady was the reason that my favorite jeans had to find their way back to my closet, in the very back. That excuse has long since expired and those jeans are not in style anymore, which in okay, because they still don't fit. So we have the perfect fabric with a soft, calming shade of pink in the background. But instead we are matching the color samples to the purple flowers on this fabric.

So, while The Zookeeper is working, all the inhabitants of this crazy home go to work on Little Lady's room.

Digging Badger was very eager to start painting. His blog name is very fitting. He was badgering me all day, "Can we paint? Can we paint? Can we paint?" I explained to him that preparing the walls is very important. Like any good and patient mom, I told him things like masking off and taping over the outlets is all just as imprtant as a good paint job. He said, "Can you just call me when you're ready to paint? Oh, and can I open the paint can by myself?"
So I did, and he did.

I decided that it might be best for all involved if they took turns helping me paint. So, after Digging Badger finished one wall, he dutifully called his brother and told him it was his turn. Crazy Fox came in wearing the only pair of boy jeans we own that do not have holes in the knees. I told him to go change. He came in wearing the only pair of boy jeans we own that has only one hole in the knees, but they are getting short. So I began again, the painting lesson, thinking in the back of my head, some day he is going to buy a home of his own and he will know how to paint it, because I spent this afternoon following him with my roller, showing him how to go back and smooth out lines and drips. I think we'll hold off on the cutting in lessons for now. All in all, they did a great job. And Little Lady kept herself busy right up until the end when she came in and leaned against the wet wall and said "Yep, I like purple".

"D" Day

Little Lady and the boys all had dentist appointments yesterday. I told her " We are going to the dentist this afternoon." She said, " I am going to show him all my teeth. I'm bigger now". This is quite amazing since last time we were there, she would not open her mouth except to say, "No, you can not look in my mouth".

She is four now, you know.

What a difference a few weeks make.

Here's Little Lady waiting to get a picture of her teeth.

She let her mom take a picture of her first.

All smiles waiting while the hygienist checks her chart.

As the hygienist started polishing Little Lady's teeth she said, "This will make your teeth nice and sparkly". Little Lady said "I want them to be sparkly and purple!"

Luckily they came out sparkly and white . . . and no cavities (unlike her brothers).

Skating By

We went to the home school skate day at the local skating rink yesterday. The kids had never been to a skating rink before. The boys have always had amazing balance. They asked me to take their training wheels off their bikes when they were three. I took them off but kept the wrench close by knowing I would be putting them right back on. But guess what? They never looked back. They rode around in circles on the driveway until it was too dark to see. Then they wanted to teach all their little friends how to ride two-wheelers so they could all go fast together. I can still remember that amazed feeling I had as I watched those two little guys riding their two wheel bikes for the first time. So, I was a little surprised at the fear I saw in their eyes as they clung to the wall as they went around the rink. They were holding on to the wall as if they were on the rim of a volcano, hoping and praying they would be able to hold on, lest they drop into a pit of hot lava.

Crazy Fox went through an obsession with roller blades a few months ago. He found a pair at a yard sale and has practiced for probably 30 minutes total.

He held on to the wall for a few laps, and then he stopped in front of me and said "Roller blading is easy mom! I can do it without even touching the wall." And he did.

Little Lady told me she didn't want to go skating. I thought to myself, She doesn't even know what skating is. So I asked her to just try it, we got her some skates and put them on. I helped her stand up and hold on to the wall so I could take her picture, (she is a very willing ham).

Little Lady rolled about 1/8 of an inch and sat back down.

"Mom, I do not want wheels on my feet."

I held her hand and had her roll beside me for a few feet.

"Mom, I do not want wheels on my feet."

I said, "Honey, trust me, you're going to have so much fun. I will hold your hand. I won't let you fall."

"Mom, I want these wheels off my feet! I want my shoes."

We turned the skates in and Little Lady told the skating rink lady that she was too little to skate and she did not like having wheels on her feet. The skating rink lady tried to encourage her, but it had been decided. Little Lady was not going to skate. She was happy to sit on the bench watching her friends do the limbo and open and close our locker 900 times.

As the morning went on, Digging Badger let go of the wall, but he was always within arms reach of it. We'll have to go back and practice some more.

Good Bye Split Ends

Little Lady's hair was getting a bit hard to comb through (sometimes because there was syrup in it), but usually just because it has been a while since it has been trimmed. Her ends were dry and even though her last haircut was a good one, it was still trying to recover from her baby mullet. It had a very defined vee shape to it. So we decided to even it out. She's always wanting a haircut and I really am surprised she hasn't taken it upon herself to just chop it off. I'm sure that day will come. We talked about it and she told me she wanted her hair cut short like T.S. (a boy from church). Even though his hair is not a really short boy cut I wasn't ready to let go of her tresses yet. So when I told her that would be too short for pony tails she said, "I would like it to be short like D.S.'s hair." D.S. is T.S's sister. Again, a little shorter than I was willing to go. (Even though D.S. looks super adorable with her hair cut short). So, I told her "We'll see". We got the stool out of the garage and the scissors and the water bottle and evened her hair right up. It turned out okay for just a mom-cut. The boys got a haircut too. Certainly nothing fantastic, but it will work since we don't have any family portraits planned in the next few weeks.

Here's the new do.

When she holds her head straight, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

On a side note, I have been really challenged by this blog

http://www.inthetrenchesofmotherhood.com/

and I was more than happy to save $40 by cutting the kids hair myself.

Is Anyone Out There?

Crazy Fox has been wanting to build this "Make Your Own Radio" kit since we brought it home a few months ago. I bought it knowing we would be studying radio waves and sound waves in school and thought it would make a good activity. But, he couldn't wait. We did touch on sound waves back when we were studying our senses. So after we were done with school yesterday he begged me to help him build it.

Does this look like any radio you have ever seen?

First we wrapped the coil wire around the? . . . anyone? . . . anyone? . . .

That's right . . .the coil.

Then together, we assembled the pieces according to the directions. We carefully wrapped the wires around the bolts and sandwiched them between two washers to secure them in place. We sanded the thin plastic coating off the coil wire so that it could make a connection with the tuning wheel. Then as the directions instructed, we rechecked all of our connections and tightened all the bolts. Now go place one end of the connecting wire to a cold water faucet to act as an antenna, while holding the other end of the connecting wire in your bare hand. Slowly move the tuning wheel across the coil and you should be able to pick up a local radio station.

How cool is that?!

Except it didn't work.

So, we will be rechecking our connections and calling on some of our more electrically inclined friends. Really, how hard could it be? It says 8+ on the box. I am 8+. Crazy Fox is nearly 8 and he far surpasses my knowledge in most things technological. (Not this this is such advanced technology. For bonus points, can anyone tell me how long the radio has been around? Who invented the first radio?) He can usually figure things out just by tweaking them a bit. So at least until we can figure out where we went wrong, the answer is no. . . no one is out there.

A Plethora of Purple Pony Party Pictures

Here's Little Lady Primping for her Purple Pony Party

Posing with a Pack of Purple Ponies

Purple Ponies on Parade

Partaking of Pony Provisions

Perfectly Picked Presents from Pony Pals

The Purple Pony Pastry

Puffing at the Purple Pony Pastry

Purple Ponies Preparing to Part

Thanks to all of Little Lady's pals who came to help her celebrate!

Barney on the Loose

Ringgggggg.......................Ringgggggg...................

The Zoo Keeper - Hello

Informative Neighbor - Did you know Barney is out in the alfalfa field?

(this particular alfalfa field is not ours, because we do not have an alfalfa field)

The Zoo Keeper - No. Thanks for letting me know. Click

So, the Zoo Keeper walks out in the snow to hunt down the wild donkey in the neighbor's alfalfa field .

This is right before Barney started running like he had just watched the "Elaine Dances" episode of Seinfeld. He took off running around like a . . .well . . . like a wild donkey. His legs were kicking out to the side and he was sliding in the snow and we were all busting up watching him. Maybe just I was busting up. The Zoo Keepere was ready to just let him be a wild donkey and fend for himself. Not that it would be so hard for Barney to find food. There's about 100 acres of alfalfa fields all around us. It was for Digging Badger that the Zoo Keeper tried to wrangle him. Digging Badger has wanted a donkey since we went to Oatman, AZ where real wild donkeys walk into town and beg for carrots or apples or whatever you might have that they want. But, back to the story. Barney is just having a hay day, I guess it was more of an alfalfa day, out in the field. Every time the Zoo Keeper got close to him he would go berserk again. So I started making some weird kissy noise and he responded quite nicely. The poor guy just wanted some love. He just wanted to stretch his legs a bit. But now he was hungry. . . and ready to come home. He casually walked over to the hay bale we feed him from and started to help himself.

We opened the gate, threw him a flake and in he went. Like he just wanted us to know he was out in the cold and somebody better start showing him some appreciation for the morning wake up calls.

Did I mention Barney thinks he's a rooster?

A Rare Queit Moment at the Zoo

For those of you who live in sunny southern California or in the never ending warmth of Arizona, your missing out. Yesterday morning as we woke up to another snow fall, I couldn't stop myself from sitting on the porch in my pajamas to watch the snow in it's peaceful, almost too quiet descent. The whole world seemed to be in slow motion. Huge flakes were floating down from the sky in complete silence.

Except for Barney.

"HeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw HeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaw, it's snowing again." (Barney sounds a lot like Eeyore when he talks.)

But in case you sunshine people want to have your cake and eat it too, here's 30 seconds of Winter, Idaho style.

And here's a less quiet clip with Barney being Barney. Enjoy.

Aloha

The boys had Hawaii night at AWANA tonight.

It seemed so fitting for the weather we have been having.

No More Mud . . . For now

After yesterday's mud-scapades, we woke up to a few inches of fresh snow and frozen ground. All the mushy spots in our yard, (including our driveway that was not easily passable yesterday) overnight, have become solid ground again. . . never to return . . .until the next warm day. But for today we can be glad. Look at the color of the sky. It is so vibrant. Everything looks clean and fresh. I love the snow!

This was the view on the way into church this morning.

Stuck in the Mud

I'm not sure how it happened (or what was going on with my flash), but Little Lady got stuck in the mud. The kids have been spending their time inside the last few days. Friday it was so windy they would have blown away if they went outside, all the snow melted and it started to rain. Which left our yard in a state of mudness. It was so muddy that there were mud puddles in our mud puddles.

Yesterday, Little Lady had a friend over and I told them they could go out and jump on the trampoline. I said, "Just walk straight to the trampoline and jump. Come straight back when you're done. Don't play in the mud". I watched as they trudged their way over to the trampoline. They jumped for a few minutes and I watched from the kitchen window as I did the dishes. Next thing I know Little Lady's friend was at the back door knocking. I opened the door and she said, "Uh, Little Lady is stuck in the mud, she can't move". Being barefoot and without my camera in hand, I told her to "Hold on, I'll be right there" (as if she had any choice). I ran to get some shoes and the camera and worked my way out to her. The ground was so slippery I almost needed a rescue. She was having fun trying to lift her feet out of her boots while she laughed at her uncoordinated mother. As I got closer to her she told me, "I think I'm sinking in the mud".

Here she is sinking in the mud.

This was all that was left after the rescue.

Except for this.