Coming out of hibernation : : A Winter Recap

Warning....Photo bomb!

It has been a long, long, cold winter.  I'm currently popping vitamin D just to say ahead of the dark and gloomy days.  Spring is just around the corner and I am OH, SO GRATEFUL for that.

We had some rough times this winter.

Our cat (Gizmo) went to live with family members.

 

Our dog (Freckles) went to heaven to steal pizza crusts from the heavenly hosts during family movie night.

The pipes froze, several times.

We had wild weather with tornado warnings. We hung out in our "safe place".

And we spent most of February sick.  Almost all of us. Boo.  (But we snuggled everyone a lot.)

Not that we haven't had a good time around here.

There were heaps of good books.

Little girls totally overawed by teen ballerinas.

Chores turned into fun by hilarious kiddos.

A baby "baptism", or dedication, if you will

"Snow" days. (A small dusting, a few times)

Fabulous holidays with far off family come to visit.

Wonderfully terrible Christmas photos. (Seriously.  Not a good one in the bunch.  They remind me of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs.)

A 3rd Birthday.

Amazing art projects.

Epic sheet forts.

A ballet recital.

The ever blossoming friendship between these two.

And these two.

And these two.

And a whole lot of this wonderful girl, who is growing up on me, all sneaky-like, when I'm not looking.  My right hand gal, my perpetual conversationalist, my snuggler, my inventor, and queen bee/gang ringleader of this rabble.

And this boy, who is the sweetest boy.  Who is my guy, my wild boy, my tenderhearted, fearless one.

And this baby boy, who is amazingly strong, non stop motion, giggly sweetness, and mischief.  He has charmed us all!

And this guy.  My heart.  My love.
 

Who is just IN it with this parenting stuff!

 

 On the whole, we made it. We survived. Now March...enough of this Lion business, I am ready for the Lamb.

 

One more.  Just for good measure.

 

Sickies and sludge

Knock on wood, I am, so far, immune to the sickies around here.  They circle around me with their germs, coughing on me in the night and sneezing all over me with their little and big noses.  Oh these two are DETERMINED to infect me.  But I won't give in!  I won't!!  I will take my vitamins and eat chewable vitamin C like it is CANDY and I will drink water until my bladder gives up the good fight and just explodes!! 

I won't take a picture of the absolute sacrilege to my soul that is the current state of the great outdoors, so recently clothed in the garment of winter bride.  Now she has been wearing that gown to stomp in mud puddles!!  Oh it's too much for my beauty loving soul.  The piles of gray and black sludge that used to be snow piled in the grocery store parking lot!  I can't bear it.  I'm from the south.  Snow doesn't hang around there long enough to get piled anywhere! 

So instead I give you, a stolen kiss (taken by the Geek/Papa) and the most ghetto snowman ever rolled up (by me and the neighbor kids while my sickies slept).  With rocks for teeth, nostrils and eyes.  Yes.  Rocks.  (Which can only be topped by the one my friend showed me and promised to put on her blog soon.  Natty Ice beer bottle tops for buttons, folks.  Need I say more?)

Color for January :: Snow White

The snow is still hanging around, but I'm thinking it will be gone by tonight.  However, this is the best color I've found for this month!  Not just white but the beautiful purple shadows and sparkling diamonds of snowflakes all drifted in the morning light.  So bright and cheerful.  Just the color I was looking for.

 

Snow! Finally!

 

The weatherman forecast snow for last night, so when I got up at 5:30 am for BOOT CAMP (yes. Ug.) with nary a flake to tempt me back to my warm bed, I was slightly annoyed, called him a snake oil salesman and went to sweat with a bunch of other ladies who are into the same sort of self punishment as me, grumbling all the way!  And then 9am rolled around and it began to snow.  I was still skeptical, but lo and behold, it stuck and kept on snowing.  In fact it's still going!  A real rarity around here where we are known for our 'Tender Tennessee Christmas"es and also tender (or rather pathetic and gray) Januaries and Februaries. 

Cora and I got out to enjoy the snow, but it would seem just I enjoyed it.  Cora was rather more annoyed at being put down and at having to wear her 'marshmallow suit'  (since she looks like a pink and blue marshmallow in it), and for some reason her boots bother her.  Maybe she's just not used to structured shoes.  Poor gal.  It has been a rough couple of weeks.  Molars.  Need I say more? 

Matt enjoyed his snow day too. :)

Sunday

Color for January :: Purple in Motion

[This was the post for Thursday.  I didn't get it finished in time and then wasn't feeling so hot, and it got pushed back again and again.  Ah well.  Here it is, late but fun. Friday's post will follow tomorrow and I'll be all caught up for Monday!]

I can't get this girl to sit still!  It's no wonder.  There's just too much to explore and take in.  She's a blur of purple britches as she passes from one room to the next.

  The only thing that will hold her interest is me blogging.  Then she wants to sit in my lap, eat office supplies, and 'help'.  She's enough to brighten any gray day!

Flat into January

A friend recently posted about how December was so full and fun and decorated and just amazing and then it became January and it was just cold and blah.  Then another friend recently said the same thing and I realized they were putting into words the way these last two weeks have felt.  We've been snowed in, freezing out butts off, and spring seems ages away.  I'm sure we've got nothing on folks further north who are snowed in, but just the same, January feels flat.  And I don't like flat.  I'm going to put my brain to the task of bringing some light and color to my house and mind.  Any ideas, friends?

Just a dusting...

We got the most pitiful display of snow this week, starting January 7th and as of this posting, it's still hanging around.  Not to say that I'm not grateful, but the beautiful snow photos I dreamed of won't be materializing.

I didn't even bother putting Cora in her marshmallow suit to try it out.  The grass was still showing!  Ah well. She observed from the window, licking the glass to make sure it was cold.

See you Monday, friends!

The Return of the Light

I love the sunshine.  I love it's promise, it's renewal, it's heat, the way it makes things grow.  And today, after a long stretch of dark days, it begins it's return north.  There's a lot of stuff out there about Winter Solstice, but this is just, for me, a celebration of the return of the sun to the northern hemisphere. It is a herald of the coming celebration of the Light of the World!  The sun is still sending out long rays of pale yellow, but we find them and bask.  Happy Winter Solstice!

Snow - you are such a tease

Happy Valentines Day to all of you and for those of you who think Valentines Day sucks and one should be miserable and ignore the manufactured Greeting Card conspiracy to make everyone celebrate in the sappiest way possible, I'm sorry. Happy Day anyway. It takes a lot to be that miserable. I should know. I used to be in your camp. It gave me heartburn to be that full of angst, so I couldn't stay there. I tried. The whole bitter, angst-y artist thing doesn't work for me. My mama said it best..."Girl, you are a red rubber ball! Nothing keeps you down for long."

But I digress. This post is about snow...or lack there of in Nashvegas. I was office bound while all the lovely swirl was happening outside so didn't get any photos. The photos above are from a couple of people who managed to get pictures yesterday on Flickr. Just so you can see the pitifulness of it after a few hours. The dusting we got was beautiful and made a white world outside my window, but didn't hang around. I know, for those of you in the north who say "snow is the WORST! I can't wait for it to go away, all the sludge, wet, and mess...", let me just say this: I grew up in Texas. 'Nuf said. I am never, ever, ever, going to get sick of it. I'll always think it's beautiful, even if I AM cold and I wish it had stayed. So there.

My...wasn't that petulant.

Christmas time is here....happiness and cheer...

Time for all that children call, their favorite time of year...Snowflakes in the air...carols everywhere...

Thanks Vince. I needed that.

After an unsuccessful trip to the tree farm this past weekend, we are still in need of a tree. We had a great time with our neighbors on the way there, but all of the trees were a little TOO Charlie Brown for my taste. The drought this year really took a toll on them, all brown and skinny. So we are opting for my favorite place, Hillsboro High School. Every year they have a Christmas tree 'store' in front of their school and we procure my personal favorite kind of tree...a Fraser Fir. While this is not the tree of my youth, I am not so sure I long for that kind of tree. Mama usually took a hatchet or hack saw out into the woods one day shortly after Thanksgiving and dragged back whatever the East Texas woods on Grampa's land would offer up in the relative shape of a Christmas tree. Generally a pine of some sort or occasionally a fir tree of some kind, they got the job done and were covered in enough tinsel as to make them appear festive and fun. Mama let us get crazy. The tree was practically choked with the stuff and we vacuumed it up until June! Plus, if you put a strand through your two front teeth like dental floss then blow...oh the crazy fun!!! Those were the days.

But I've grown up since then and have decided that if I am to be grown up and have to actually PAY for a tree (we live too far from Grampa's land, plus he sold it last year), I am going to get exactly what I want for a tree. Thus the selecting of big FAT Fraser Fir. The first year I got one I lived in

THE COOLEST downtown loft EVAAAR.

My windows faced the Cumberland river and we watched many a concert at the Riverfront Park. I watched a building burn the night Cake played the park. There were thousands of people...but I digress. So I bought this big fat tree and the threw a party and had all my friends make or bring an ornament for my tree. It was so lovely. So the tradition began and so it shall continue with a trip to Hillsboro High School tonight.