A Moment of Silence

Ladies and gentlemen, could we please observe a moment of silence for the monumental sacrifice that my husband has made in relinquishing his firstborn sailboat.

Yes, he made it himself from raw materials.  Lots of sweat and tears went into that little beauty.  I think he started it in 2007ish.  I know A was around, but she was still too little to sail along.  (She was too little and the boat was too "experimental.")

When we cleaned out the garage last month, he admitted that it was time to let it go.  He hadn't touched it since we moved almost three years ago.  This stage of life is just not conducive to time-consuming hobbies.  I posted it on freecycle and we were thrilled to pass it on to a boy scout who was really excited to spruce it up, make it seaworthy and earn a few merit badges with it.

I say it was his firstborn sailboat because I know it won't be the last.  This man loves to sail and make things with his hands.  He hearts DIY sailboats.  One day, his son will be ready to wield a hammer and slop paint and they will make amazing things together.  I want that for him and can't wait to watch (with band-aids and wipes at the ready).

Snow Day 2011

The great arctic blast of 2011 didn't live up to all the hype (as usual).  Our predicted 3" of snow was barely a dusting.  Still, we had a great time this morning.  J stayed home from work to help us have fun.  After last year's snow day went sour, I knew I would need his help to make this one memorable.  There wasn't nearly the accumulation as last year, so we started by just making lots of footprints.

Then, A made a beautiful snow angel.  I think the key is to do it on the driveway, not the grass. And you need to have daddy home to lift you up so you don't mess it up when you're trying to stand.

Next, the snow fight commenced.  It was really hard to pack a snowball with gloves that are a little too big, so daddy found some dustpans and it turned into a shovelful-of-snow fight.

J said it was the most polite snow fight he had ever been in.  The rules of engagement require that you turn your back, stand still and wait to be hit with snow. 

After all the available snow was shoveled, it was time to come in for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows.

Then we cracked open a package sent from Nana.  Thanks for the box, Nana!  As always, the box was way more entertaining than the contents.

And the packing peanuts were quickly turned into an indoor snow storm, which I think they both preferred to the outdoor kind that is wet and cold.

All in all, a pretty wonderful day.  I'm grateful that we don't live a little further north where they've been snowed in for days.  It's nice to get a taste of it, but it's okay with me that it's all melting away in the sunshine this afternoon.

Lazy Day

Mark it - I think today has been the closest our little family will come to a lazy summer day this year. Nowhere to go, nothing huge to do. We played trains, read books, the girls even played while I got some things tended to. We ate popsicles on the patio for snack, then I filled up the pool. The girls are swimming while I blog. Wish there were more days like this one in the foreseeable future. How did our summer fly by so fast and furious?!

Well, I Never!

I'm so ashamed. My sweet neighbor had to bring the following monstrosity to my attention.

I'm referring to the weed, not the child about to be eaten by the weed. For some perspective, J's boat is 4 feet wide and the shadow at the top of the pic is from our eaves!! Have you ever seen a weed that big?! My neighbor really was so sweet about it. Poor friend had to look out her kitchen window at that for how long? Patience of Job, I tell ya.

The bad news is that was the mother weed. It was not alone.

That's the other side of the house. And this was the back:

You feel better now about your lawn, don't you? The good news is that these pics were taken almost a month ago, the day before six students showed up to help rescue us from our land of woe for The Big Event. They worked about three and a half hours and pulled most of the weeds, raked all the leaves in the front yard, and painted a bench in the back yard. Hooray for free labor!

It looks much better now, I promise. You'll just have to take my word for it because it took me this long to get the pics up that I already had; I'm not waiting to post them for another month while I procrastinate on taking "after" pics.

Farewell, Arctic Blast of 2010

For all the hubbub and hoopla generated by The Great Arctic Blast of 2010, I have but one thing to say...

DIE, MOSQUITOES, DIE!

Sort of, kind of an outdoorsy moment

A has seen several shows recently about camping out, including one with marshmallows roasted over a fire. She's been clamoring to camp out in the backyard so she could participate in said marshmallows. J pitched his tent in the backyard before it got too cold and they played card games until the mosquitos started dealing themselves in. But she wasn't really keen on the idea of sleeping out there. I wasn't either; never been one for sleeping out of doors. I have a lovely Stearns & Foster king-size pillow top that welcomes me to slumber each night. Why would I forsake that kind of hospitality?

At any rate, we certainly wouldn't be making a fire in our backyard. So, we did the next best thing:

I'm happy to report that indoor s'mores are quite yummy. C agrees; she nearly took off my finger tip trying to clean off the sticky marshmallow.

Huge compromise for my manly man. Perhaps one day God will answer his prayers and I'll wake up believing that days on end without proper plumbing is actually relaxing. The title of that post shall read, "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much."