Christmas Continued

We planned to get on the road right after breakfast on Christmas day, which ended up being a little later than usual since the Bean slept in until 6:30!  I think that must have been her Christmas present to her exhausted parents. :)

Our trip to A-Town was so enjoyable.  The Bean slept like a dream for naps and at night, she spent lots of time playing with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and we enjoyed hanging out with everyone.

Playing in Cousin Sienna's bounce house

Talking game day strategy

Pance and the girls, ready for game day!

Christmas Eve

Whew!  Are the holidays really over?!  We had a wonderful time celebrating with our families here in MN and in WI.  Mike was in charge of the camera on Christmas Eve so we actually have quite a few pictures of the event!  We also have lots of pictures to share from our trip to Grandma Pance and Papa Gaz's, but in an effort to keep you from getting picture overload, I will save those for tomorrow. :)  I know, you're on the edge of your seat.

Santa has come, now just waiting for the cousins.

Ooh, this one has my name on it!

Yeah, Morgan and Campbell are here!

Christmas kisses

Check out Campbell's apple...too cute.

Open presents?  Nah, I'd rather play with Campbell's blocks!

Go Pack, Go!

Morgie helping Grandma open presents.

Papa's favorite gift of all time.  "This is my Red Rider b b gun!"

Campbell fishing with Great Uncle Jack.  "I did it!"

Super Fan

The Bean is a proud Packer fan and win or lose she supports her team by sporting her Aaron Rodgers jersey every Sunday.

Reading the Sunday paper, preparing for the game.

Unfortunately, this Sunday Aaron suffered a concussion during their game against the Lions.  Back-up quarter back Matt Flynn was called in and Willa was a well prepared fan.

Lesson Learned

In preparation for the big snow that was coming our way Friday night and all day Saturday I picked up my dad's extra snow blower Friday afternoon.  I didn't want poor Mike having to shovel 15+ inches of snow. Blah.

The view out of our front door Saturday evening.

So, Mike decided it would be a good idea to start it up Saturday evening once the snow stopped flying and before the super cold windchills set in on Sunday.  He got this far before it ran out of gas.  Oops.

After checking with the neighbor we called my dad to see if he could make it over with his full gas can.  He made a valiant attempt to blast out of their unplowed driveway using his four wheel drive, only to find himself stuck in the still unplowed street.  The snow blowing would have to wait until Sunday.

Mike went on to shovel about 2/3 of the driveway that night and then enough at the end of the driveway Sunday morning so he could to the gas station and finish the job with machine power.  I think we learned our lesson.  Double check to make sure you have enough gas BEFORE the snow comes!

After cleaning the driveway Mike decided to take care of the icicles
on the roof.  Oh boy.

Who Knew?!

Who knew toast could be so messy?

The Weather Outside is Frightful

When we moved to St. Louis and would tell people we were from MN the response was often "How do you live up there in the winter?!  Isn't it so cold and snowy?"  "Oh, its not that bad," we'd say.  "You just learn to dress for the weather."  Ha!  After the weather we've had the last several weeks I'm starting to ask myself the same thing!

Is it just me, or has this winter been particularly harsh already?  Two big snows, one crazy ice storm (don't get me started on driving in THAT!), and temps in the teens for days in a row feels more like January to me.  Or could it be that the milder St. Louis winters have softened me, turned me into a weather weenie? I didn't even make the trek out to the mailbox to get my PEOPLE magazine until Saturday!  That is how cold it is.

See how far the mailbox seems with all that snow?!

Well, I guess the good news is that its only December so I have plenty of time to toughen up again in case it isn't just me and MN winters really are worse than I remember.

In an effort to prevent an ice dam we
created some pretty spectacular icicles.
I think its time to call a professional to help us out.  

Mama's Little Helper

Change of Heart?

Its no secret that I'm not a big fan of dogs, or animals in general for that matter.  There have been a few very special dogs that have touched my heart over the years, but not enough for me to ever want one of my own.  "What if your kids want a dog someday," I've been asked.  Oh I'm not fool.  I know how it works.  You get a dog for the kids and then the mommy takes care of it.  "Oh, you'll love it if it is your own."  No. No, I'm pretty sure I won't.  I entered parenthood with a very strict NO DOGS EVER policy.  And then I saw this...

Turns out the Bean loves dogs!  Her little giggles and squeals are enough to make my heart melt and are possibly enough for me to consider loosening my no dogs policy, someday.

Meatloaf Nachos

The Bean and I went to my parent's for meatloaf last night and mom sent me home with some of the leftovers.  So, what do you do with leftover meatloaf?  Make meatloaf nachos for breakfast!  So good.

Just chunk up a piece of meatloaf, spread it over some chips, (I like the blue corn with flaxseed from Archer Farms) and then sprinkle with a little cheese.  So good.

I like to heat mine under the broiler, but today I let them go a little too long and burned them a bit.  Not so good.

You like meatloaf?  You like nachos?  You should try it.

Good Looking Out

Our neighborhood backs up to a park with lots of wooded trails for hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, etc.  My parents house sits on the other side of the same park and they have a beautiful view of woods from their living room window.  On occasion they'll see wild animals out for a stroll back there.

Well, now that the snow is here I thought it would be fun to pull the Bean through the woods on her sled.  Its nice and hilly so it would be great exercise for me and hopefully lots of fun for her.  On Monday I called my mom to tell her my plan and I'm so glad I did.  Wouldn't you know that just that morning she and my brother happened to look out the window and spotted a huge COYOTE back in the woods!  They got out their binoculars just to make sure, and sure enough thats what it was.  A big coyote that had obviously been pretty well fed.  I suppose that means it probably wouldn't have eaten us had we come across it, but we decided to stay out of the woods just to be safe.  Someone above was looking out for us that day!

Instead of a trip through the woods Willa and I just did laps around the yard.  Oh, and I figured out why she doesn't put her arms down when wearing her winter gear.  She can't, just like Randy in A Christmas Story.  he,he.

  

Winter is Here....great

After the mild fall we were having I was beginning to think that winter was never going to arrive.  I had plenty of time to get snow gear for the Bean, right?  Well, despite my best effort to ignore the weather people and their warnings of snow for Saturday, it still snowed.  A lot.  And I was caught unprepared.

After an 'emergency' trip to Target Willa was outfitted with all the necessary cold weather accessories and ready to play in the snow.  

She didn't put her arms down the whole time we were out there!