Saturday was blustery and cold.  A strong bitter wind was blowing and the snow kept coming down off and on throughout the day.  Dave was upstairs sleeping after a long night shift and the kiddos and I all had the lingering of a nasty cold.  After one look at my boogery, coughing, bored kiddos I declared it a pajama party read-a-thon day and although it wasn't even 8:00 in the morning yet we quickly changed back into our pajamas and didn't bother with brushing our hair (as the pictures will clearly show).

First up was a tasty treat- tropical smoothies.  Because really, what kind of pajama party read-a-thon would it be without a treat.  I added a few cups of almond milk to the blender and let the kiddos pick out whatever fruits and veggies they wanted to toss in.  They had a blast chopping and peeling and tossing in strawberries, oranges, apples, carrots, pineapple and even a little coconut extract for good measure.  Smoothie success.  Which believe me, isn't always the case when you give three little ones that much freedom with the ingredient list.

Next up- the read-a-thon.  We all grabbed miscellaneous pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and books galore and piled them up in the middle of the all ready messy living room and settled down for a read.  I read to the kids for a few hours and then they took turns reading to me and the others. It was a good day. Boogers and all.


Sunday, shortly after waking from our mandatory Sunday nap we discovered the power was out and that dinner (pulled pork in the crock pot) was still very much undercooked and cold. Dave, ever the thinker, pulled out a few dutch ovens and warmed some charcoal outside in the smokehouse he recently built. An hour later we had ourselves a little candlelit dutch oven feast.. pulled pork sandwiches and an amazing strawberry cobbler.  We talked.  We laughed.  We ate.  The kids thought it was the best adventure ever.  Later, when the children were in bed and Dave and I were sitting quietly on the couch in front of the fireplace the power came back on.  Dave made the comment that he was sad the power was back on.  I was too.

Reflecting on this weekend it's really hit me that as much fun as it is to go out to the movies, bowling, the zoo (etc) as a family, sometimes the best adventures and memories happen by keeping it simple. In fact, it seems the kiddos talk about and remember the simple adventures more.  All of a sudden I'm not feeling so bad about choosing not to go to Disneyland with the girls' dance company.

Canyon loves to get his pictures taken.  Lucky me!  That is, except for days like this one where the temperature was hovering right around 0 degrees and he kept on insisting on one more "cheeeeeeese".  Not even the bribe of fresh baked cupcakes from his sister could woo him inside. What a character.

While making pizza last night for dinner Canyon was hovering by my legs and demanding, "CHEESE! CHEESE! CHEEEESE!"

"Canyon!  That's not very nice.  What do you say?"

Long pause...

"You pri-eee (pretty), mommy"

Not exactly what I was looking for but it worked seeing as Canyon got all the cheese his little heart tummy desired.

What a little flatterer.

By the way, fresh pesto and roasted tomato pizza = my new favorite food.  Mmmm.

Just before Thanksgiving my sister- and dearest friend in the WHOLE wide world, mind you- moved to Germany.  Something about having to go where her Air Force husband goes.  Whatever.

I was pretty darn proud of myself for not crying while we hugged goodbye.. twice.

But when she called me from the airport before she boarded the plane and shut her phone off for good I broke down.  No more texting a gazillion times a day about the big, the little, and the so inconsequential only she would care?  No more calling her whenever I'm having a funk of a day to have her snap me out of it with her witty sense of humor? No more instant updates and pictures sent to me on the latest dog biscuits and puppy cakes she is baking for her fur baby? Unimaginable.

And then it got worse...

We survived by facebook and emailing the first few weeks she was in Germany while she was living on base in temporary housing... but then she went and got a house.  Apparently it is rare to have the internet in your private residence in Germany and to get it takes a very, very long time.  We're talking months.

Man, I've been missing her.

So you can imagine my extreme and utter happiness when Dave brought the mail home and I spied, amidst all the junk mail,  a cute little German postcard for the chickens and a letter for me.

A letter? A real letter? Why didn't I think of that?!


What a treasure!

I am very grateful for modern technology- texting, email, facebook, Skype- that make it possible to communicate with loved ones instantly but man, something about holding that letter in my hands and reading it over and over again made me realize that as a society we are missing out on something by moving away from the old fashioned pen and paper.

Downton Abbey anyone?

Which reminds me, next time I talk write to Crystal I must strongly insist she watch Downton Abbey so we can gossip and chatter about the characters as if they are real people.