A Box

Early this week a box was delivered, with a birthday gift inside. It was an absurdly large box for the size of the gift, which appalled me but thrilled the kids. Grant in particular. While Emma worked on homework, Grant rowed in his "boat", hid under a "rock", then tore the box into pieces and rode various sized "surfboards". Thursday the box became a fort, wrapped around the post in the dining room, with Grant hunched inside roaring when someone walked by. Later, the smaller pieces were stepping stones across a river that used to be the living room. Friday saw a return to surfboards and forts. Today, as pictured above, the box became a tent. With windows cut out of the big pieces, and the little pieces propped up as a gate, the tent is secure from bears and ready for camping. All from a box.

A day of firsts

I went skiing with Dad and my brother today. Which isn't the first time. We skied at a big huge awesome resort. Which isn't the first time (although the first time in a reeeeeeallllllly long time). We were skiing because it was my birthday. Which isn't the first time.

It was, however, the first time in my dad's super cool new car. It's like a comfortable computer on wheels. It's pretty rad.

It was the first time I was given a men's size 8 boots instead of the equivalent of a women's size 8 boots.

And, as a result of that equipment malfunction, which didn't get figured out until mid way through the morning, I had my first ride off the hill on a snowmobile. Not because I was hurt, but because ski patrol wanted to make sure I didn't get hurt. The snowmobile ride was crazy awesome. And crazy fast. And crazy scary. But awesome.

My legs were so exhausted from skiing in the wrong boots that even an extended lunch break after I went back to the rental office to get correctly sized boots (and it turns out shorter poles) didn't give me enough rest to ski the rest of the day. So, as a result, two more firsts. First time getting off the mountain before the lifts close for the day. And first time riding a lift down the hill while my dad and brother skied down.

And, the last first of the day, first time getting a free rental to compensate me for the not so rad ski day.

Letter sounds, by Grant

Mmmm....M! Like mom!

Jajaja.....G! Like Grant!

Dadada.....W!

Two more things

Two things I forgot to mention:

1) I've introduced The Muppet Show to the kids and it's not clear who is enjoying it more - me or them. Probably me since I know all the characters and get all the jokes. My mom and I just laugh while the kids watch it because they love the show even though they don't get it at all.

2) I interviewed for a j.o.b. today. Very part time, only 15 hours a week. So stay tuned on that one.

Sorry

It's been too long, hasn't it? The Olympics are on, the "pool" had to be bailed out with a bucket, and I've been reading a lot. Along with a myriad of other reasons why I haven't blogged recently. I'm hoping I'm back on the horse since most of the reason why I blog is to remember this chapter of life with young children when they're grown and I'm managing empty nester life.

So let's get on with the memory making. Here are a few highlights from the last two weeks.

We took the kids skiing again and they both rocked it. Emma is reaching a point where she can make corrections while she's skiing down the bunny slope, and Grant skied down more than once, which is more than he did last year. They had a great time with the tubing too, so I'm hoping we'll make it back to this spot again this month or early March.

Emma can roller skate! She's been skating around the house in the skates Santa brought her, and doing a pretty good job. Then on Saturday we took a family walk around the neighborhood and Emma decided she'd rather skate. That girl has some skills! She only fell once, and popped right back up and kept going. It was super fun to watch, and brought back so many lovely memories from my own roller skating childhood.

I had this gem of a conversation with Grant last week:

Grant: Me think me be God when I grow up.
Me: God?
G: Yep, me want to be God and live in heaven.
M: Well how are you going to get to heaven?
G: Me think me break hole in the sky so I can peek through and see God and Jesus and their feet. Then God can liiiiiiiift me up through the hole and me be in heaven.
M: That's a good plan. What are your plans for when you're God?
G: Me think just be in heaven with God and Jesus.
M: Huh. Interesting.
G: Or me just be digger man or police man or fire fighter.

And with that he walked out of the room.

Alright, enough blogging. Back to the Olympics on my Tivo!

Waiting for an envelope

Dear Home Depot,
I'm wondering if we can work out a rental deal. Something like "rent a submergable pump twice, get the third rental free". Maybe I could use a punch card or something to keep track of my pump rentals. Really I think it's win win for us both, don't you think? Either way, I imagine I'll see you all Thur or Fri.

Sincerely,
Your Best Rental Customer

Move over Cake Boss

There's a new player in town.



I made some Valentines petits fours thanks to this blog post, and my MOPS dessert for a training I'm attending tomorrow is looking tres chic!