longest winter of my life.

Seriously.  And even though the temps in the 20s have suddenly warmed to the 40s and it rains every day and brown muddy grass peeps through the snow in places and our snow mounds are no longer huge but still bigger than our car, as Bob puts it, it really doesn't feel one bit like spring as of yet.  The simultaneous good and bad news is that finally the parents have stopped seeing the reason in sending their kids to ski school, and thus as of Friday my lunchlady gig has come to an end.  Mostly good news, I'll admit -- although the income is quite necessary so there's that little problem.  I met some good people this winter, and as much as I was over the daily menu, it was bittersweet saying "adios."

Some winter tidbits:

Sometimes boys jump right up to play after naptime; sometimes they're snuggly.  I like when they snuggle.

For pretty much the entire month of january we had a tent set up in our living room, just because we're cool like that.  Perfect spot for quiet reading or crazy wrestling.

Brother bath time is always sweet, and a nice way to warm up in our cold, cold house...

When we finally got tired of a tent taking up our entire living room we compromised the basketball court and moved the tent up to our bedroom.  A little seek and find of fun stuff for you: four balls, one helmet, one spiderman mask, one children's book, a fake moustache, a toy dinosaur, and the basketball hoop of course...

A little sneak peek at our very messy, lived in, log cabiny living room -- just because that little tiny cutester dressing himself is one of the most precious things ever.

Some almost springlike weather to play out in, no hats required for the first time this year...

Oboe was personally affronted by a fall in the mud and ran across the driveway to the garage crying, "I'm way far away right now!"

Falling in mud is not so enjoyable, but stomping in it -- pure joy.

Also on our un-spring funlist: bubble wand lightsabers...

...and good old trackball of course.

We went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I tried to snag a photo of the boys all dolled up, but it was freezing and although Wooden somehow didn't notice, Pupper could not hide his disdain for the cold.  {And I have no idea what's the deal with Wooden's pose.  Just hamming for the camera I guess.}

So, there's the long part of our winter.  Here's to hoping the sun returns someday!  (And also, I'm moving to Cali.  For real.  Enough's enough.)

living room vacation

Last weekend the hubbs and I {and usually at some point in the night one or both of the children} took a little living room vacation while we {Ben} painted and ventilated our bedroom and moved in our new bed!  It was so nice going to sleep five feet from an open flame those nights -- my side of the bed perfectly toasted by the fireplace rather than chilled in our fifty degree bedroom -- that I almost didn't even want to move back upstairs until spring.  But alas, having a bed in the middle of things, although perfect for "accidentally tripping and falling onto the bed and then inadvertently dozing off for a bit," can get a little old, and we reluctantly ended our cozy living room stay.

Perhaps soon: sleeping arrangement updates and pics of the new room.

snow!

We've had quite a bit around here.  I think the photos tell the story -- snow forts; bird footprints; snow bank sliding and hill sledding; eating snow {owen, and me.  i don't know if it's a pregnancy craving thing this time around, but i'm completely obsessed with eating snow.}, throwing snowballs {bob}, and beautiful magical delicious loveliness all around.

Now the snow isn't so fresh {though I'm sure we'll get more} but in any case, I'm quite over winter by now.  Aren't we all?  {minus the needing to eat snow part.  i need a snow cone maker.}  Around this time every year is when I really wonder, why do we live here?  It's really a shame that the one time in my life that I work at a ski resort, I'm also with child and can't partake in activities that involve a (for me, relatively high) risk of crashing into a tree.

If you've still got weeks of cold to look forward to like we do, this here is a library book that Bob especially loved, Brave Irene by William Steig.

Happy March to all our friends and fam!