Snow Days, Snow Days....

Snow days, snow days, dear old golden rule days. Okay, so they're not exactly the right words. But thought it a catchy tune to modify for our snowy weather. Monday school was delayed by 1 1/2 hours.




Tuesday it was business as usual. Wednesday I didn't bother checking the school closure reports since there was no new snow. Boy, was I surprised when I pulled up to CSR's school to find it closed. What a waste of a perfectly good school day. So much for getting some Christmas shopping done. Of course, today was a different story. Snow, snow and more snow. I took the boys for a quick toboggan ride down the lane. They loved it. Until we got back in the yard and the toboggan tipped and RTR ended up doing a face plant. Then he was ready to go inside.

Counter Intelligence

RTR is proving each day just how intelligent he is. His brain is always working, figuring things out. One of his latest tricks is pushing one of the kid size chairs to the corner of the kitchen counter, climbing up on the chair and then trying to reach whatever is there, preferably food or a sharp knife.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

We met up with Santa Claus this afternoon. Anyone looking at this picture might wonder, hmm... how come CSR is in it and not RTR. Well, RTR burst into tears when we placed him on Santa's lap. So that will be how the professional photograph will turn out. It will be ready in a week. I was able to snap these pictures of CSR and Santa. Before they looked at the camera, CSR was talking to Santa. Being too busy working my camera, I didn't have a chance to hear what they were chatting about. Hopefully, it wasn't ALL about what's on his Christmas list.

Medal-worthy Mothering Moments?

This morning as RTR and I were leaving our co-op preschool class, I was in a bit of a hurry. I had a table to load in the car and it was raining. But RTR wasn't really that into hurrying to the car. So I took the time and decided that yes, I could slow down and let RTR go at his own pace. So he splashed through all the puddles on the sidewalk, despite not wearing the proper footwear. He became particularly interested in the deepest puddle which was being fed by the leaky rain gutter, dripping steadily. Of course splashing wasn't enough. He had to walk through the stream coming from the rain gutter--several times. I thought, okay... the table can wait. He's having fun. What's a little water? Of course, by the time RTR was finished, he was soaked and I didn't have a change of clothes for him. I rushed to load up the table and raced home in time to change RTR before we had to go pick up CSR. I thought, yea for me, mother of the day for letting RTR splash around.
Now it's an hour later and we're walking home from picking up CSR's school. The light rain turned into a cold drizzle. Not even before we left the school yard, RTR was mad and pulling to get out of the stroller. Foolish me for braving the rain. Halfway home, I had to take him out of the stroller and carry him. He had gotten cold and wet from the rain. Thankfully CSR was very cooperative and willingly pushed the stroller the rest of the way home. So now, I withdraw my nomination for mother of the day. RTR did bounce back after a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup and some warm milk. But still not one of my smarter moves.

Oh Christmas Tree

It took a little bit longer than I would have liked, but finally we have our tree up. Helping increase the Christmas spirit around here. We drove out to the same farm yesterday we went to last year. This year, only a cloudy sky. Last year, we trooped out to the farmer's field in the middle of a big snow storm. I'm sure if you look at last year's blog post, there are full details there.

CSR was really eager to get the tree decorated. He really got into looking at all the ornaments. Our collection of special ones grows each year. I think they're crowding out the "filler" ornaments, the basic glass bulbs. It was fun looking at them all and talking about them, where they came from, what they represent. One of my favorites is the snowman I made for Tyler back in 1999. I can't remember the significance exactly. But I thought my construction was pretty ingenious-- using a twig for the arms, making a tiny felt hat and the teeny carrot nose.

The little blue stocking for RTR's first Christmas.


The glittery pine cone marking the summer camping trip with just the boys.
It will be interesting to see how RTR reacts to the tree tomorrow. He was in bed by the time we broke out the decorations. Most of the ornaments within his reach aren't delicate or breakable. Nothing that a little glue couldn't fix. I have a few others that need some repair work.

Reading is Fundamental

I can't believe my luck. We checked out a "Books to Grow On" theme kit on manners from the library. When it came due, I couldn't find one of the 12 books that came in the kit. I looked high and low, inside, outside, every possible place I could think of. I made CSR look for it too, even denying him a trip to the library when he couldn't find the book either. The librarian told me I could hold onto the kit a little longer in hopes the book would turn up. So I waited, accruing ten cent a day fines for nearly a month. And then having $200 for the kit billed to my overdue fines account. Last Monday, I decided to take one more look around, checking the kit case before returning it to the library and paying for the lost book. As I counted the books again, I noticed a small label on the inside lid of the case. It said "Missing 12/2007 No! David", the exact book I had been looking for for the past month! I couldn't believe it. Boy did I feel foolish. On the bright side, when I told my story to the librarian at the desk, she kindly knocked half the amount of the overdue amount for the kit.