BIG snow

If you are reading this from Montana, please ignore the title.  I haven't gone crazy, I realize that this is just a skiff for you, but for us in Washington, it was HUGE and we made the most of it. 

It stuck around for about 5 days at our house, but most places there wasn't a trace left after 3. 

Ryker was most excited about peeing in the snow this first day when there was just a little.

They also enjoyed throwing snowballs to Cosmos.  Ryker was reminiscing about what a great snowball catcher Chacon was and how much higher he jumped that Cosmos.  Yes, Chacon was a heck of an athletic dog and I missed him in that moment too, but in Cosmos' defense, he is 11, it was a little chilly for him, his winter coat was weighing him down, and he, like the rest of us older folk, knows it just isn't worth it to slip jumping to catch a snowball anymore. 

If I were Kya, I would be real sick of all the gates and railroad crossings always popping up in front of me.  Plus, she's always required to give him some kind of payment to get though.  Who ever heard of having to fork over a ticket to get through a railroad crossing.  I'm giving it another 6 months before she just starts barrelling through this kid's blockades.

Then after she got through, he grabbed the handle of the trike, put her in a wheelie, and drove her around where he thought she should go.  She was laughing until she realized she wasn't in control of turning, then she wanted him to put her down.  Apparently, he was taking the wrong route!

Ryker made snow angels for himself, Kya, and I then tried to coax Cosmos into making a dog angel.  Cosmos just walked through Ryker's instead.  He did sit down later and Ryker called it good.  His tail brushed a little snow, so Ryker assumed that was the intent.

Once we came inside, we sat in my room on the bed and watched the snow fall.

Day 2: Now we're talking!  We got dumped on!  We still didn't have a sled but this tote did the trick.  Ryker started the day by looking out his window and yelling "Oh yes, more snow!"  Then he suddenly became concerned and asked, "Where are my pee holes?  I made pee holes right there by Dad's truck."  I explained that they were covered by the new snow, but don't worry, after breakfast he headed out and promptly got started on some new ones. 

We put this ramp in clearly for accessibility reasons, but it has proven useful for so many things like riding bikes down it (even though it is difficult to navigate the turns and they often end up crashing), pulling sleds down, and from a utilitarian standpoint, I haul stuff on it all the time.  I don't think our treadmill would have gotten in the house without that thing.  I can't imagine life without it now.  I didn't think I could get so excited about a ramp, but I love it!

Yep, went to town and got ourselves our first Washington sled.....yee haw!

Had to manufacture our own sledding hill........

Now they're getting serious!

Day 3:  We woke up to this and our power was out.  I figured since my alarm didn't go off and I was already going to be late, plus I couldn't shower without power because we're on a wel,l I should just call it a snow day and start my work week with 8 hours of VACATION!  I called work and told them I wouldn't be in, but then I started feeling bad because I really hadn't tried that hard and since when did the lack of a shower stop me from going anywhere?  I'd had enough fun on the weekend and figured I should be a responsible adult so I got ready and headed out the door only an hour behind schedule.  What happened next was fate I tell you.  I have never been unable to get to work because of snow, but there I was stuck in the snow!  I had backed up and when I went to go forward the snow was so sticky and a mound build under my car as it went forward.  Pretty soon I was high centered.  I put some cardboard under my tires and Seth tried pushing me.  We would have had to shovel my whole driveway (100ft) and dig the car out and who knows, I might have gotten stuck on the regular road.  Seth was ready to dig the car out, since it was now blocking the truck in and I was going to take the truck, but I figured I'd given it my best and I could call it a snow day now.  I didn't really want to leave him with 2 kids, no power, and no vehicle.  As hard as it was to admit that I was actually stuck, by the time we dug my car out I would have missed a half day of work anyway and that would have been a lot of digging when the smart thing to do would be to wait until the afternoon and it would probably melt on it's own.  So my snow day had officially began.  I skipped back inside, put on my snow gear, and we headed out for some more fun.

Ryker eating snow.

Kya getting a little worried about the depth.  Cosmos wasn't making a very good trail for her to follow.

Ryker and I searched the neighborhood for some good sledding hills while Kya napped.  All we could find were a few septic mounds.  He liked being pulled around and even pulled me for about 6 inches, with me pushing with my hands of course.  We ran across this big snowman out by the road.  Excellent work neighbor kids!

With the power out, we had an excuse to use our fireplace for the first time since the construction phase.

Day 4 & 5:  I had to go to work (insert groan here) so I only have this one picture of Ryker pushing Kya up the ramp when I got home.  And yes, I did get my car stuck a second time.  I like to drive in the deep stuff and still believe I am invincible with only front wheel drive.  I'm smart enough not to try it in rear wheel, but front wheel should get me anywhere, right?!

A Day of Firsts

Ryker started montessori school in January.  They all have to bring plants their first day.  Ryker decorated his pot and was excited to go.  Thankfully he liked this fern because I wanted a plant that needed a lot of water.  I'm sure he waters it everyday as well as a bunch of other kids and I didn't want it to die from overwatering the first week!  I checked on it when I was there for the Valentine's party and his still looks great and yes, it is plenty wet.  He has already been on two field trips, one to Safeway and one to the Children's museum.  Seth was able to go on both of them with him.  I can't wait until it is my turn, but Seth is gone so much that it is important that he goes when he's here.  So far he loves everything about school, but wishes he could eat lunch there.  He only goes half days and the kids that go full days eat their lunch while he is packing up to leave.

 

While at the store getting Ryker's fern, we also got Kya her first candy necklace.  Should have known how that would end.......

That Sneaky Santa

Note from Santa........check.

Note from Peeka.......check.

Farwell Peeka snow angel on the porch........check.

Make it look like the reindeer ate their food.......check. 

Ate Santa's rice crispy treats......check.

Cosmos not impressed with my shenanigans or stern lecture about staying out of the flour snow angel until Ryker and Kya see it in the morning.....check.

Fireplace door cracked open.....check.  Perfect........I can go to bed.  I learned something this Christmas that is going to be detrimental in the years to come.  Our house was not designed for sneaking around on Christmas Eve.  Every inch of the loft opens up to the downstairs fireplace with a birds eye view of any action.  All the kids have to do is walk out of their rooms to use the bathroom and I'm caught.  We were unsure if Seth was going to make it home for Christmas since he was crabbing and my Mom suggested that we do our Christmas a little later so he could be there.  My reply:  You can't stop Santa's sleigh!  Seth is a big boy. Ryker and Kya; not so big and they are expecting Christmas on Christmas!  Nice thought Mom, but you know me, I wait for no one!  Luckily Seth made it home the night before.  Good thing too because I made him sleep in Ryker's room with him to ensure that he would not come out.  I still snuck around in the pitch black with no lights on because I was worried he'd catch me.  When they're older, I'll probably be setting my alarm for 2am to do it well after they are sleeping. 

Christmas morning, I heard Ryker running around upstairs with this candy cane.  I had snuck it into his bed and he was so excited that Santa would do such a thing.  He ran down the hall to tell Kya, but she was already up and in my room.  He was a little alarmed that she was gone (did Santa take more than Peeka?), but made his way quickly downstairs to find us and tell us all about how he woke up to this candy cane and that there was one in Kya's room too.

Kya, not quite as pumped especially considering that she won't actually get to eat any of it.  I had to get them each one or Ryker would have wondered, plus I really like salt water taffy!

We fed Cosmos and checked out the reindeer food and discovered this fantastic snow angel left by Peeka. 

Back inside for the grand finale.

Ice cream cone ball shooters never go out of style!

Ryker told Santa (who happened to be a retired Police chief) that he wanted a Firetruck for Christmas.  Some friends of our, one of which is a police officer, figured he needed to explore both careers so they got him a this sweet car.  Ryker likes them both, but Kya is much more into this one because of the catchy "Bad Boys" tune.  Ryker likes to bring it in the car and play the siren and I have to pretend like I think it is a real police car pulling me over.  If I don't, even one time, he's annoyed with me.  Kya, she just likes to head bang in the back seat when Ryker plays the song.

Here's the firetruck he got from Santa.  It came with a helicopter, motorcycle, and boat too.  Sadly, it did not squirt real water like he wanted, but he was not too upset.

Ryker and I bought helicopters for Seth and Ryker's cousin Asa.  Seth took his out of the box and it didn't work.  We decided we better check Asa's before we gave it to him and it also didn't work.  I took them both back, but by this time Seth had an itch for a helicopter so he went and bought his own.  This one worked.  I guess you have to buy an "Air Hog" to get a quality copter these days.  Anyway, Ryker loves it and can actually fly it which surprised me.  He always sits by the fireplace when he flies it and finds it very amusing to fly it into the kitchen and try to shoot me with the darts when I'm not paying attention.

Our vaulted ceilings are perfect for it, but the cable lighting is a little tricky to get around sometimes.