Snow days

When there is snow on the ground, Carolyn wants to go sledding.

Here she is with daddy on a recent snowy afternoon.

Here she is with her buddy Grant, being pulled by Grant's daddy.

Funny Girl

The things that come out of her mouth often make me laugh, but this particularly evening, I laughed at how funny she looked. (her eybrows and earrings are stickers)

Tip, Tip, Tip

We took Carolyn bowling, for the first time, over New Year's weekend. She loved it. She patiently watched the ball roll in slow-motion down the lane. As the ball would hit the pins, she would yell "tip, tip, tip" as each new pin tipped over. Her favorite part of the game was watching the scores on the screen. She was sure to point out all of the numbers she recognized. She especially liked when the turkey flashed on the screen when Daddy bowled.

Sundays before 3pm, the games are only a buck each. We will have to go again. Cheap family date.

Pray for Snow

Most of you probably hate the fact that winter is on its way. You probably dread the thought of snow..... but when you live in a ski town, you celebrate the arrival of winter. Friends of ours even host an annual "Pray for Snow" party.

Nikki and Joshua, you outdid yourself this year on the food. The all-white dinner was fantastic. However, the costumes were pretty poor. With the exception of us and the Zimmers, nobody followed your instructions to dress up as their favorite "snow" character. As seen in the photos below, Steve was Mr. Snow Banks. I am not really sure what he was, other than perhaps a pimp. He wore an all-white jump suit and white shoes. We decked it out in gold; he had money dripping from his pockets; and he had snowflakes pinned to him. I was a snowman. I had a brainstorm to make a three dimensional snowman, but the execution was less-than-successful, making me instead look like a big fat round blob. Carolyn was a snow bunny. Tess was sasquatch or some variation of a snow monster. You can't see them in the pictures, but she even had furry boots to complete the look. Oh, and Heather, the one in the nice looking gray outfit below - the post-it-note on her chest claims that she is "Chicago Snow in March."

Ho-Hum, what to do on a rainy Sunday?

On Sunday, we woke up to rain -- one of those cold rains that hung around all day. Those days are so rare in Utah that all we wanted to do is stay in our pajamas all day, curl up on the couch, watch movies, and order chinese delivery. Unfortunately, that is not an option with a busy toddler in the house.

At first, Carolyn kept insisting on going outside and playing in the rain. Thankfully, she has a new raincoat that made that possible. But, after a while, that got boring.

So, we invited her friend to come over and play, which turned into a VERY FUN FILLED afternoon. We started out with lunch and baked a batch of peanut butter cookies. During lunch, I was most impressed with the girls' competitive nature and their ability to carry on conversations with one another. One said, "I like peas." So the other said, "I like peas too." Then they proceeded to stuff peas in their mouths until their bowls of veggies were gone. After the pea-eating contest, one girl said, "I have to go potty." So the other said, "I have to go potty too." Then, they both ran together to the bathroom. Hmm, peers can be a good influence, just as they can exert negative pressure as well.

Next, we painted pumpkins. The girls only wanted to use the colors pink and purple, of course, to paint their pumpkins, and they loved adding the curly hair and the googly eyes to their pumpkin faces.

After painting pumpkins, I cut open a few of the pumpkins so the girls could play with the "gooey guts" - or as Carolyn's friend says "gooey gumps." I roasted up the seeds. Carolyn said she liked the "nuts" but her friend did not even want to try them.

Next, they helped me make pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Carolyn could not stop tasting her batter, while her friend was very dedicated to her stirring job. Instead of dumping a handful of chocolate chips in the batter, they had to count each one they put in. They took their jobs very seriously. And, it was delicious.

As the bread baked, the girls got sparkly unicorn tatoos. They also entertained us with a singing and dancing contest. (warning for when you watch the videos, carolyn lost her pants somewhere. She is good about going to the bathroom by herself, but apparently it took too much time to put her pants back on. I guess, she was afraid that she would miss out on something fun).

As the girls said their goodbyes, they decided to trade their stuffed animals. Carolyn is now taking very good care of her friend's elephant, while her friend is taking care of her kitty cat.

What a day!

I would not trade it, even for one of those longed-for lazy rainy Sundays.

Party Planning ... I Learned From the Best!

I think I take after my mother. I love to plan parties.

My most recent party was a "Fall Harvest" party for the families of my mom's group. Not to brag, but I outdid myself on this one .... About 25 families came. It was at a local farm; we had hayrides, cow milking, and duck feeding. Each family made their own scarecrow. We made our own caramel apples. We painted pumpkins. And, each kid made a pumpkin fleece hat. The hats were my last minute brainstorm and I stayed up until 2am the night before sewing them together so the kids could decorate them. They were a hit.

Oh, and the best part, I did the whole party for just under $100. With a little creativity and some hard work, you really can have a great party for cheap.

SURPRISE

HAPPY 44th BIRTHDAY STEVE.

I have never been one to keep secrets, but I managed to pull off a pretty cool surprise for Steve's birthday party this year.

We often co-op babysit with our friends, Laurel and Marcus. A few weeks ago she asked if I would ever consider doing an overnight swap, and I figured why not? The girls get along well and now they are familiar with one another's houses and parents, so we tried it. We did not go very far, nor were we gone for that long, but it was AWESOME. And, Steve knew nothing about it beforehand. He thought he was meeting me downtown for a fundraising event for work. When he arrived to the hotel, he discovered that we were staying there and that he had an in-room massage scheduled upon his arrival. I met him shortly afterwards in the lobby for a cocktail. Then, we met four other couples for dinner, and there were almost 20 of us at the deuling piano bar. We slept in. Got some breakfast. Ran some errands (to Home Depot - where else?). And went home. When we got home, Carolyn was not even all that excited to see us. And, her friend Elise did not want to leave our house at all. So, I told Laurel to take a break and leave her with us. When I took Elise back home around dinnertime on Sunday, the girls cried when they had to say goodbye. So, I guess you could say that the overnight swap was a success. We will try it again later this fall when the other couple wants to getaway for an anniversary "vacation." Some photos from the piano bar ....

Cool Nights, Bright Stars, Good Music

One of our favorite summer activities is to go to concerts at Red Butte Garden. This year, we saw three shows: Kenny Wayne Shephard, Chris Isaak, and a New Orleans show (Allen Toussant, Trombone Shorty, Dirty Dozen Brass Band). The crowds are good; the picnics are nice. And, the cool air that comes streaming down the canyon when the sun sets is such a welcome relief from the hot summer temperatures.

Here are some pictures from our summer at Red Butte:

And two last photos from the Chris Isaak show -- on the left he is wearing a full suit of mirrors. On the right, he donned a bright yellow suit for his jaunt out to the crowd.

Happy to have our "family" friends

I know I have mentioned it before, but I joined a local mom's group when Carolyn was born. It is called "Mothers and More." I am so thankful for this group. The group has events for mom's only, like book club and a monthly dinner club. We have a couple of family events and parties throughout the year. There are also events for couples only. And, of course, there are plenty of events for the kids too, like playdates and monthly field trips. It has introduced us to some great families and friends. I think that my favorite part of the group is that other parents offer support to one another when kids are unruly and patience is thin. We also help one another out by watching each other's kids. The babysitting co-op is probably the biggest benefit for us. I like watching other kids (because I see how much Carolyn likes playing with other kids), and I definitely enjoy the *free* babysitting every once in a while.

On Saturday, we had a Couples Night Out -- a cocktail party which was thankfully right in our neighborhood. Being able to walk to a cocktail party is both a blessing and a curse. There is no need to worry about who is the designated driver, but it sure does make for a pretty lousy Sunday.

Speaking of Jumping

Wow, two posts in one day and both about jumping!

This weekend, I took Carolyn to a place called "Jumping Jacks." It is an indoor warehouse filled with those big inflatable bounce houses. She and Max (Michelle and Josh's son) had a ball running around, sliding, and jumping. Carolyn actually showed some fear and caution at this place. I think this was the first time I have ever seen her be hesitant to do something. A little fear and caution is a good thing, in my opinion.

The place also had a few other little amusement rides. She kept climbing in and out of the cars, acting like she was driving them. She loved them. Then, she climbed on one with another little girl whose mommy put in some coins. Whoa! She loved them even more, and could not stop asking me to make them start. Needless to say, I buckled and changed in some dollars for some coins.

With the temperatures in the 90s (and me feeling under-the-weather still), it was a nice way to spend a morning.

UPDATE: I have strep throat. I went to the Urgent Care clinic this morning where they quickly confirmed it and gave me a shot of penicilin. About 12 hours after the shot, the pain in my throat was starting to ease a little. Hopefully, by the time I wake up in the morning, I will be well on my way to recovery.