There's no day like a snow day!

My guy

Getting ready to slide!

Caitlin on the swing


Spencer, Rachel, Megan (R's friend) and Caitlin


Rachel, my total snow bunny

Courtney has a great time swinging!

Courtney: "Mommy, I weally need socks. My feet are shivering."

After I gave her pink and white striped socks to wear:

"I like these socks. They are fashion."

Once again, school was cancelled for today's snow storm. Somehow, Paul makes it to work 40-60 minutes away each and every snow day but the kids can't get to school a few miles away. It's so silly! Poor Spencer--because he was sick last week, he only went to school twice and now he's missing another day! I've lost count of how many snow days we've had this year but it's a lot. I'm afraid to know when we're getting out of school in June (or will it be July?)

We just got back inside after playing in the snow. It's pretty deep today. The kids had to find their sleds because they left them outside. They were buried in the snow. We still are missing one but I know it's somewhere out there.

I rediscovered my breadmaker this week and I decided to try some different recipes to see how they turn out. It's been gathering the dust for years in the basement. Courtney begged me to make bread the other day and I made some in the breadmaker and remembered how easy it is to operate. Anyway, I tried a new recipe today: cinnamon rolls. They turned out nice and big and were delicious! The kids loved them and so did I! The best thing was that it was easy to make them using the bread maker and there was hardly any clean-up involved.

With our new Bishopric, changes are afoot in the ward. I always love it when this happens. I think most of the time, change is good and I confess that I enjoy speculating about who will fill different roles in the ward. Yesterday, I was released as choir director and ward music chairperson and called as beehive advisor. It's going to be so much fun! I love working with the young women, especially the youngest girls, who are full of enthusiasm about being in young women. I'll miss leading the choir but I was getting burned out so I'm happy to do something new. I am still the preparedness coordinator so I will to continue encouraging people to get their houses in order. Speaking of order in houses. . . I'd better get my dinner made. Adios!

Random thoughts paint the corners of my mind. . .

Am I the only one who MUST recycle? When I'm trying to remove labels from my milk jugs or wash an empty tin can before placing it in the recycling bin, I get irritated because it is such a pain. Occasionally, I throw away an empty can rather than clean it out of laziness but the guilt nearly kills me so the next time I do my duty. I do think it's good to recycle. . .but sometimes I wish it was as easy as tossing it in the garbage can. That's why I love recycling newspaper. . .it's the easiest.

Good grief! What am I complaining about? We have every convenience these days but I wonder if we really appreciate it. Think about how simplified our life has become. It used to be if we wanted to know something, we had to make a trip to the library and deal with microfiche and card catalogues. Now, in just a few keystrokes, we have a detailed answer. If we had a car problem, we carried an emergency quarter in our shoes and had to find the nearest payphone, now we pull out the cell phone and we're rescued in no time. It used to be if we wanted to communicate with someone far away, we would either spend a ton of money on a phone call or it would take about 6 days for an answer; now we can instantly receive a reply from anywhere in the world. I guess washing a few cans and scraping off a few labels is really not that bad! We are so blessed by technology and innovation but I don't think we realize it very often. I know this is rambling. . . sometimes I must share the random thoughts in my head.

Today is a weird day. The kids are off from school (inservice) so we're being extremely lazy. I don't have anything new to read so I'm re-reading old books but I have absolutely nothing I'm interested in reading again which is getting on my nerves because Spencer's sick so I can't take the kids to the library. Maybe I'll raid Rachel's room and find a tween book to read. . . yep, I'm about that desperate! Rachel slept over at her friend's house and I need to pick her up but that would involve work (getting the kids in the car) so I have put it off all morning.

Paul is headed to Utah to visit his ailing mother and help with a work party at her house (the family is selling it) so I am looking at a weekend without his help--ugh! So here I am writing my rambling and strange thoughts for you like a stream of conscious novel or something. I have to say, it's not as strange as some Faulkner I've read (and I quote, "My mother is a fish.") although he's considered a genius and I know I'm not. Maybe if I wrote something really bizarre, I might be considered a brilliant novelist.

Well I'd better go get Rachel and get myself into gear. If you know of a good book to read, let me know so I can order it on Amazon. It will give me something to look forward to!

Follow the prophet. . .

Another cute conversation with Courtney:

Paul: Who's your favorite Book of Mormon prophet? Is it Nephi, Alma, Moroni?
Courtney: It's Elmo.

I bet you never knew that one of the prophets was red and furry!

I'm Back!

Hello! I have been computerless for the last week and a half. We lost ALL our data and most of our software (including pictures) and had to take it to the geek squad. I wish I was a geek and could do it myself but instead we spent too much money in repair costs. We're still having a few problems but the data was recovered and is now on a separate hard drive so I can breathe a sigh of relief! Whew! I have to confess that I realized what a computer addict I really am when the computer was gone. I am relieved that it's back home again!

Highlights of the last week:

1. On President's Day, I took Rachel and her friend skiing. The entire resort was packed with New Yorkers but we had a great time. We skied the entire day and I wasn't nearly as sore as the last time I went. I did chicken out of one black diamond all-terrain run. As I rode the lift up the mountain, I realized it was a full of jumps, stairs and other stunt type things. As I observed tons of people falling and discovered how steep it was at the top, my anxiety began building and I really started psyching myself out. When we got off the lift, I saw an intermediate run going a different way (hallelujah!) and told Rachel and her friend I'd meet them at the bottom. I'm sure I would have broken my leg or experienced great bodily injury if I would have tried it. Call me a wimp but I left the resort uninjured. All in all, it was a fun day of skiing! I'm so glad I started skiing again.
2. Beware! We have the stomach flu in our house. It began on Thursday with Rachel who threw up at school (luckily hardly anyone saw it because it was in the hallway during class) and then at home. At the moment, Caitlin, Courtney, Spencer and Paul are all experiencing the yuck. It has taken over my life for the past several days. So far, I haven't gotten it but I've been fully involved in clean-up and nursing operations. I hope that if I just keep washing my hands, I'll avoid it!
3. My friend Sandra came to visit this week. She moved to upstate New York and I've missed her so it was great to catch up with her and see her cute boys.
4. I didn't mention that Paul and I went out on Valentine's Day. We saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and enjoyed an after-movie snack at Olive Garden. We both liked the movie. It was quite a bit different from the book but very funny. The best part of our date was simply being together. It's so wonderful having my true love with me on Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Making heart cookies for the twins' preschool party

Another week has flown by. It began with Courtney sick and ended with Caitlin sick. Everyone seems to be getting better so I am hopeful that we'll all be back to normal very soon. I have a nasty sounding cough but it sounds much worse than it is. I actually feel pretty good. A few highlights from the week:

1. The choir sang on Sunday. It sounded pretty good. . . we could use a lot more men who actually practice with us prior to singing but I was glad the missionaries stepped in at the last minute to help my one bass.
2. Monday night Paul gave the family home evening lesson about communication with our Heavenly Father. He gave the kids a quiz about prayers and then talked about priesthood blessings. The kids loved it! They always love their Daddy's quiz games.
3. Tuesday night was New Beginnings. Rachel is turning 12 in December so she was invited and welcomed into Young Women. I can't believe she'll be going into Young Women this year. I have mixed feelings about her getting older. I just wish she could stay as pure and innocent as she is now. . . but I love the idea of her being able to babysit! I accompanied the girls in their musical presentation. It turned out beautifully. The girls sang very well, shared an inspiring message and gave moving testimonies. I just love working with the young women!
4. Wednesday was a crazy day! The twins and I made cookies for their pre-school class, Rachel had piano lessons, I took dinner to a family and I also went to enrichment meeting. It was a fun "Can Can" night. We dry pack canned a bunch of food storage for our Bishop's family and others canned a family home evening, time capsules and emergency money.
5. On Thursday, Spencer, Caitlin and Courtney had their Valentine's Day parties. We had fun preparing the Valentines. Spencer enjoyed writing the names of every one in his class. I actually found out a lot about each of the kids as Spencer talked about them while he was filling out their cards. I ended up making cookies for Rachel's class about 10:30 last night when she reminded me she signed me up to make lemon cookies (her faves). Paul brought me home a beautiful bunch of two dozen pink and red roses. He spoils me!
6. Today was a half day at school. It was fairly warm today (47 degrees) so the kids jumped on the tramp for quite a while. Tonight is kind of quiet because Rachel's skiing and Spencer's at a movie with his friend Charlie so it's just me and the girls. I am looking forward to putting them to bed and having a night to myself. Hopefully, Paul will get home soon!
   
   
   

Ski Bunnies

Rachel hitting the slopes with me (bad cell phone pic)

Last night, Rachel had ski club so I decided it was time for me to get back on the slopes after a very long break. I was very nervous because it has been so long but seeing Rachel ski made me realize how much I loved it when I was younger. She has lessons first and then free ski time so I planned to meet her at free ski time. Paul suggested I ski down the bunny hill a few times before I met her but because of traffic, I only had time to go down one time before it was time to meet her at the lodge. When I began skiing at the top of the hill, I felt like I was going way too fast! I even snow plowed the entire way down because I wasn't used to skiing anymore. Miraculously, I didn't fall so I felt ready to meet Rachel and hit the slopes.

We went down the bunny hill twice and then tried the Pennsylvania run. It's a long quad run from the top of the mountain. I can't believe I made it down without hitting someone or falling. There were so many kids out on the slopes, it was difficult to avoid running into them--especially snowboarders who kept falling right in front of me. Rachel's a little speed demon! She kept complaining that I was way too slow (And it was only her fourth time skiing) She's much more fearless than I am. I like gently swooshing down the slope at a leisurely pace where I feel completely in control. Rachel barrells down the mountain as fast as she can and then looks back to see what in the world is keeping me. Once we got to the bottom of the run, my knee hurt like crazy (same knee I hurt skiing when I was 13 that has bothered me ever since) and my legs were like jello. She looked at my face and said, "What's wrong?" I tried not to let her know what an out-of-shape mediocre skier I have become so I just told her I was getting a little tired. We went down the bunny hill again a couple of times and FINALLY took a break because her fingers were cold (thank goodness--I was dying!) When we got to the lodge, a bunch of Rachel's friends wanted her to go with them so I stayed in the lodge with a fun group of parents while she went out. She was gone forever so I decided I'd just ski the bunny hill until she got back. It was so relaxing and non-stressful. I just rode the lift and skied down over and over again. Remember, at the beginning of the night, I snow plowed almost the whole way. By the end, I took it straight down and right back onto the lift.

Rachel finally met me. She had gone with a bunch of more experienced skiers from her basketball team down some intermediate runs and then went down a black diamond run five times. What an impressive skier she is becoming. We went for a couple more runs before they closed the resort. All in all, it was a great night. I'm so excited to ski again. When I got out of the car after we drove home, my calves were so sore that I could hardly walk and I winced and waddled all the way to the house. That never happened when I was younger! But it was worth every ache and pain (and believe me, I'm feeling them today) to get back on the slopes again.

I didn't fall while skiing at all. I even managed not to fall when I snowboarder skied right into my back and nearly knocked me down. However, I did fall right after I took this picture (I was standing still, trying to unzip my coat, hold my glove and pole, put my cell phone away and somehow lost my balance.) After I got back up, we skied down the hill and I fell, once again, while putting my cell phone away after checking to see if we had time to go down the Pennsylvania run one more time before they closed. It was bizarre! Then I realized both of my boots were unlatched. . .I don't know if there was a connection. . . but I blame both falls (within about 1 minute of each other while standing still) on the boots--it makes me feel better.

Today, we took the whole family and drove an hour and a half each way to the stake center for Stake Leadership meeting. Paul and I both had meetings so we dragged all the kids up there (they had babysitting.) Rachel was complaining that she was the oldest kid there and I reminded her that next year she'll be twelve so she'll be at home babysitting while Paul and I go by ourselves to the meeting. We are all so glad to be home. Unfortunately, now I have to go grocery shopping which will require me to walk--OUCH. I will survive, though! It was worth it!

Random pictures from the camera

This is where we have spent a lot of time this winter--basketball. It's not the best picture but when the game is actually in play, I forget to take pictures because I'm too busy watching.

Rachel's hair done at a Sweet and Sassy Birthday party. She and her friends took a pink stretch limo to the salon and had their hair done, a manicure and a pedicure. All this at age 11!

The front view of her beautiful hair! She wore it to church the next day and people kept telling me what a good hairdresser I was--yeah, right! I can barely do a french braid!

A typical day at our house--Caitlin's dressed up like a princess and all the kids are jumping around on the couch cushions which they have taken off all the couches in the house and piled into the family room.

Resting after some wild and crazy play with all the couch cushions and pillows