Tooo Cold For Me!!!

30 below with the wind chill factor might be normal out west---but not here! Apparently I've become a wimp over the last few years because I was hating that cold snap we got and it only lasted a few days! I sure was missing those block heaters for my vehicles, too! Vance gave me a hard time about how I was bundled up, so he took a picture to send to his dad! So I thought I'd share it. (I wouldn't stay outside long enough for him to take it out there---It was COLD!!)

Dog's Maze

Snow, snow and more snow . . . that seems to be about all we get around here lately! (We're getting more this week--BTW) We're 6 inches over our normal snowfall for this time of year and we've gotten all of it in the last 3 weeks!

The snow gets so deep that the dogs make little paths to get around the yard. So now my backyard looks like a little maze. Vance was nice enough after the last big storm to shovel their maze so they could keep their paths. That's Vance laying in the snow. You can just see Vanilla's ears over the snow--hee hee Pretty soon they'll just be able to walk over the fence and leave the yard!

First Winter Storm of 2011

We got about 15 inches of snow here on Wednesday. I keep telling myself that I need to enjoy this winter, because it will be my last here in Maine, but this much snow all at once makes it harder to do. Vance was praying for snow because he wanted a snow day. After shoveling all this snow + what the snow plow dumped in our driveway, he decided that school wasn't so bad. Mckaylie and Noah said they were helping shovel, but I'm not so sure that's what they were really doing. The kids had to take the dogs out front in the fresh snow. They could barely move, but they seem to be loving it! Waiting for the school bus the next day. (That snow piles impressive, but the fact that Vance knocked a good 1-2 feet off of it, is a little more impressive)

Blizzard of 2010

We got about 12 inches of snow Sunday/Monday. We've had worse storms here, but the wind was crazy!!! We have some drifts several feet deep and some areas are barely covered---that's not so typical of snowstorms here. The kids are LOVING the snow! They were even out during the blizzard. Glad I didn't lose any of them! ha ha

Christmas Cookies

We had fun decorating cookies this year. There was lots of laughter and giggling and lots of singing ----Myshel's new favorite Christmas song ---Baby It's Cold Outside by Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark----It's a classic!Vance--working hard. McKaylie trying not to smile . . . Myshel's hanging with her peeps . . . . Noah--decorating a cookie while eating another cookie The evil side of Vance She looks sweet . . . but it's debatable!

Christmas Cookie Decorating

Every year we decorate cookie for Christmas. The kids save some for santa and others are usually given to friends. I'm not sure if I should be concerned at some of the cookies that were made this year, though and I'm really sure that they wouldn't be appropriate "Christmas" cookies for friends. I'm blaming their dad----that definitely must have come from his side of the gene pool!!!

Can I Please Go Out . . . . . .

It snowed Sunday night and Monday. We only got about an inch maybe 2 but Vanilla was in heaven. She kept wanting to go out and play and then come in and then go out again. I got tired of her tracking in the snow and making my floor wet. I decided that if she wanted out that bad that I'd just leave her out, but then she cried to come in. So, I stopped letting her out all the time and this is where she spent a good part of the day.

Gingerbread Village

For Family Home Evening last night we made a little gingerbread village. It was actually a kit that I bought at the store. There were suppose to be 5 little houses, but apparently we weren't smart enough to figure out exactly which pieces went to each house and so, it didn't quite work out for the fifth house. Myshel and Vance took parts of it and added on to theirs, though. We had a good time and they all turned out cute. It was a fun night.