Snow Much Fun!

Finally we got snow! Big, fluffy, wet, perfectly packable snow! It was predicted without much hoopla and arrived suddenly Saturday afternoon. Within 15 minutes, everything was covered. It was so beautiful. The kids were stoked and ran out immediately with hardly any clothes on, I started throwing hats, scarves, gloves and coats out the front door for them to put on. This was M's first snow and she seemed to enjoy it, but seemed confused by it too. We played until dark and then the big kids could hardly stand it to get back out in the a.m., plus we knew it was going to be gone by afternoon. They bundled up and stareted playing at 8:30 while I continued nursing my coffee. Miss M couldn't stand it that they were out and she wasn't, she grabbed her coat and kept trying to put it on while standing by the door. So I finally threw on some clothes and we headed to our neighbor's house where there is a hill (we have none in our yard!). They were finally able to use their sled and took turns pulling each other and holding M. They relocated theri tiny snowman to the swing and she stayed there long after the snow on the ground had melted. Lots of fun for a snowfall that was on the ground for less than 24 hours!

Lent, the true resolution time

Happy Mardi Gras! I'm planning to live it up big today. Already started with Chick-fil-a for breakfast and a coke. Yum. Tonight is pancakes at church of course, not my favorite but whatta-ya-gonna do? At least I have Talenti gelato to come home to after. :)
J and I have been talking a lot about making some diet changes this Lent. I've always been pretty good about buying mostly whole foods or at least foods with minimally processed and artificially ingredients. We have friends who have tried Paleo, and J is intrigued. We aren't going to go "whole hog" but we are going to intentionally try to cut out unnecessary grains/sugar. So far, my favorite cut has been in the morning at breakfast (except for my chick-fil-a treat today), instead of having toast with our eggs, we've had sauteed spinach and quinoa. Also, I've discovered Lara bars for snacks. Love the peanut butter cookie one.
Anyway, we'll use our Lent time to try this new eating lifestyle out and see how it goes.

I also plan to have more "reflection" time during Lent. Whether it's actually completing my bible study before class (instead of during), journaling, drawing, or reading. Exercise too is a big thinking time for me. I'm feeling...something lately. Not sure what it is yet but I need to have time to be able to listen and discern what that feeling might be. Is it to start something new? A blog, A new craft? A job? I feel pulled towards a lot of different things lately: photography, homeschooling, teaching, music, art...just to name a few.
I don't know, but hopefully the next 40 days will help me figure that out. Stay tuned. And live it up today!

Blurg

February doldrums are here. Even though it is absolutely beautiful outside today, in the low 60s, this household is worn out and worn down. We've had all manner of sickness in the last 4 months: bad colds in November (during our Disney trip no less!), Flu in December, Strep in January, and now colds again. I'm seriously done with illness. I want to pick my family up and relocate to a nice warm beach somewhere for a few weeks.
Plus the weather has been wonky, warm like this, then frigid the next day, then warm, then chances of snow. It's been back and forth like this for weeks. With three different chances of snow and no delivery! Unacceptable! We want snow!
Also we've just been super-busy for the last few months. November was Disney and Thanksgiving and M's birthday. December is well, December. January with the big crazy birthday weekend. And now we're finally having a chance to slow things down, and I think it's all caught up to us.
Luckily the last few weekends have been relatively calm. With no big plans on the calendar, we've been able to take it easy; the kids have been perfecting their bike skills and we're catching up on lots of movies and lego building.

All in all, it's been pretty relaxing actually, if only the sniffles and coughs would leave us.

I think there's a reason why February is the shortest month of the year. Come on SPRING!