Winter Wonderland

It really DOES look a lot like Christmas, thanks to yesterday's abundant snowfall. I went outside to shovel the walk and driveway while the kids were eating their breakfast and came in to find them stuffing baby carrots in their pockets for the snowmen they were going to make.

An hour later, they were dressed and ready for the snow. (Okay, not quite an hour, but pretty stinking close.) I had to do some serious rationalizing to Layla to get her to leave Teddy inside; she was finally convinced (quite easily) when I told her he should stay inside with Dolly "because he doesn't have a coat and will get cold," to which she replied, "ohp, yes" and set him on the shelf next to Dolly.

Quite possibly the funniest sight on this planet is watching Layla wade through 4-5 inches of snow in her puffy snowsuit. To her little frame, it's sooooo deep and takes such effort.


These are the snowmen (affectionately referred to, by me, as "snow lumps"...don't laugh, I simply have ZERO snow-building talent or, for that matter, patience) on either side of our sidewalk leading to the front door. Very welcoming, don't you think? Carson, digging deep into the cavernous depths of his exquisite naming creativity, has dubbed them "Frosty" and "Layla."

The world is beautiful.

Dad & Mom have come & gone...

It was a great, albeit too short, time spent with Dad & Mom this week. We saw them in Ogden all day Saturday, then they came up to stay with us on Monday morning until Wednesday morning. Carson and Layla loved seeing Poppi & "Dahmma Sowli." I was a little nervous that they would spend the entire two days "getting used to" my parents and finally be themselves right as my parents had to leave, but that wasn't an issue at all. Carson shared all sorts of insightful information (mostly about dinosaurs and Santa and sharks, which he casually refers to as "great whites") with both of them, and my parents were amused.

And I now live in a new house. Well, practically. Dad took care of a big branch pile in the backyard (left over from this fall's pruning and never disposed of properly) and cleaned and organized our entire garage. Hello. And Mom deep-cleaned my kitchen (I told her I was embarrassed, but I was neither going to encourage or discourage her in doing that) and made cookies with the kids and did dishes after every single meal. Hello again. And they both helped (ahem) "Santa" get some wrapping under his belt to alleviate worries that way. We also managed to have lots of time for visiting, and they shared some beautiful gifts from Germany that have become instant family heirlooms.

We sure love you, Dad & Mom. Layla and Carson keep asking about you and talking about you. He said in the lunchtime prayer today, "Bless Poppi & Drahmma Sowli, and please bless dem for der mission...and please bless dem for der NEW mission." (They were just called to another church assignment, Swedish-speaking, starting in July.) Thanks for everything.

T minus one day...

Until we get to go see "Poppi & Gramma Sally" return from their mission!!!! The kids are beyond excited. (Layla is excited more because Carson is excited, not because she knows what exactly to be excited about. Dah well. Potatoes, Potahtoes.)

Anyone want to come clean my house with me? I want to make my parentals think I've morphed into a stellar housekeeper over the past two years...you know, because they probably won't love me otherwise...

Welcome home from Deutschland, Dad & Mom!

Christmas cookies

So, I'm trying desperately to make the Christmas season a fun one for me and my kids this year while Paul's at work. Not that it's hard, it just takes a little thought and effort. We've done lots of Christmas crafts and even more baking. Too bad I'm the one who eats most of the goodies. I'm going to give one "bowl full of jelly" a run for his money this year...

(Thanks as always, Val, for the fabulous photo documentation of a very fun time!)

I feel like a pioneer.

Seriously. This is going to be an interactive post, because what I'm about to say I'm borderline embarrassed about, but there HAVE to be others of you out there who would've done the same...I hope...

So, we had some leftover turkey from T-Day weekend, and I was earning some serious points in the barefoot-wife-in-the-kitchen department (and an extra gold star for being barefoot because I was still in PJs in mid-afternoon, right?) trying to use it all up. We had delicious turkey noodle soup with homemade noodles (a childhood favorite), a saucy turkey, rice, and veggies combo, turkey with mashed potatoes & gravy, and cold turkey sandwiches on homemade rolls. Sounds yummy, right? It was. But, even after all that, we STILL had one meal's worth of turkey left, and I couldn't for the life of me think of something else to make with it.

But, instead of throwing it out, I made a divine spaghetti sauce and replaced the ground beef with, you guessed it, finely chopped turkey. (I think that I believed that if I cut it up small enough, no one, meaning Paul, would even notice. Heh. That's cute.) The kids loved it. LOVED it - they, who typically turn up their little pug noses at leftovers in favor of a freshly made grilled cheese, have devoured their lunches of "turkey spaghetti" for three days straight now. Paul and I have respectfully declined the invitation to join them in their feasts. (Oh, wait, I take it back - Paul did take some for lunch the next day. It was either that or a thermos full of mustard, which is about what we have in our fridge right now. And I think he considered both options for quite some time...)

Tell me you've all done something similarly strange to not be "wasteful"? Pretty please? I have, seared to my memory, Paul's rather incredulous look uponst his discovery of the imposter bird meat in his beloved spaghetti, and I want to come armed with evidence that his wife isn't SO weird. At least, not in this particular instance.

So, c'mon. Out with it.

All is well, all is well.

I knew life was back in action when Carson stated, matter-of-factly, after his bath last night, "Mom, did you know dat water ebaporates?"

We're back in action. Lots of beautiful snow outside (actually, it's kind of melty now, but still...it's white, so that counts). My Christmas "To Do" list is shrinking (but, ironically, also growing as I consider that there's more time to do more stuff...shame on me). Layla started informing us when necessary and actually using the potty for its intended purpose (as opposed to a glorified stool to get at the out-of-reachables). And my parents get back from a 2-year mission Germany in a week and a half. Wah hoo!