He melts my heart

This was an entire year ago. I labeled the collage "February 2010" and came across it again tonight. I stared at it in wonder for a little while before deciding I had to repost this.

Skiing, seventies style

Saturday we, along with Jerry and Sabrina and their family, made plans to go to our favorite ski hill.  It looked like it was going to be the perfect day.  Last year we went in March, so the snow was sort of mushy...but this year, we thought, it'll be perfect!  Not too warm, not too cold, and some fresh snow as a bonus.  We thought.

 Snowflakes can be deceiving.  Try whipping down a slope with your eyes unprotected, and those sweet little snowflakes turn into cold little needles.

 Before we left.  I'll admit, I took an Excedrin before we even got in the truck.  Based on last year's after-skiing headache, I wasn't taking any chances.  It was honestly one of the worst headaches of my life.  I wasn't sure if it was just my day to get a headache or if it was related to being nervous about skiing, or being nervous watching my daughter bomb the black diamond hill with no fear...whatever.  I was prepared.

 We did all the paperwork and got our skis and boots.  I would have been perfectly content just to go that far, and pretend I was a good skiier.  You know, stand around outside the chalet with one arm casually perched atop my skis, scanning the crowd, talking about what hill I was going to tackle next...

 But alas, I finally strapped on the things that made me feel like my feet were 6 feet long, and Jaina and I dove right in.  First stop, chair lift.  Let's just get this over with.

John thoughtfully rented Rebecca a helmet this year, to help ease my mind.  It worked.

 See?  Skis!  Mine!
My Johnny--not feeling super-great but he skiied anyway.

 This picture was taken on my first trip up the lift.  It's a bad picture.  I didn't care.  I was just really happy I didn't fall out of my chair.  Thankfully the worst that happened on the chairlift was later on in the day, when I attempted to wipe my nose and ended up losing a mitten.

 Yay!  Jaina and I made it to the top!  This calls for a picture!

 Now me!  *Shuffle shuffle* We traded places.  I just don't look quite as cool as Jaina.  That wind was harsh, and my cute little blue knit hat did nothing to keep the wind from whistling past my ears.

 Brina and I, on her first trip up of the day...my third.  I was becoming an expert.  It's easy.  Nothing to it...

 A snowboarder saw us trying to change places and switch cameras and offered to get us all in one shot.

 "Take a picture of me!  It's MY camera."

My verdict this year:  I'd go again.  No headache, lots of fun...skiing is great!

Pictures I haven't posted yet

Rebecca has a camera and sometimes she uses it with wild abandon, and other times it sits alone for months. Sometimes I use it when I don't want to use my big camera or if I want to take videos.
Following are some of the pictures that have been trapped on her camera since the last day of school, June 9 or 10th, 2010. There were 387 pictures, but I did a little weeding out and got rid of all but 73. (!!!) Good thing we're not using film...
So here we go: A Look Back

Rebecca's class walked to the park on the last day of school. Chaperones were needed, to make sure no one got hit by a car while walking the mile.
Clockwise from top left: Joel with his first grade teacher, who is now Clayton's first grade teacher.
Rebecca with her fourth grade teacher, who has taken this year off to take care of her new baby girl.
Rebecca walking to the park with Clayton and her friend Lilyanne.
Joel and me...not sure why the picture is sideways.
Me, in front of most of the fourth grade class. I felt like a mama duck.
Clayton and me, at the park. He got to go along because his last day of school was the day before everyone else's, since he was a Kindergartener.

Rebecca, Jaina, Leanne, and Emily spent a few days with Grandpa over the one-year anniversary of Grandma Judy's death. Looks like they had a little fun with illusions:

Rebecca likes to switch things up and take pictures in black and white or sepia. Again, these pictures are from their few days with Grandpa.

Sometime in July Brina and her kids came. We went to the beach. Rebecca experimented with the black and white setting on her camera.

Early August--Jared and Bri came. We went to the Science Museum.

September--Joel's first field trip as a 2nd grader--Gibbs Farm. Rainy day. Made corn husk dolls.

January 17--Rebecca, cousins and a friend being goofy

Valentine's Day Poem

I found this poem in a magazine and I thought it was appropriate for today:

Amid the cares of married life
In spite of toil and business strife;
If you value your sweet wife,
Tell her.

Prove to her you don't forget
The bond to which the seal is set;
She's of life's sweets, the sweetest yet--
Tell her.

When days are dark and deeply blue,
She has her troubles, same as you;
Show her that your love is true--
Tell her.

There was a time you thought it bliss
To get the favor of one kiss;
A dozen now won't come amiss--
Tell her.

Your love for her is no mistake,
You feel it, dreaming or awake;
Don't conceal it, for her sake--
Tell her.

Don't act, if she has passed the prime,
As though to please her were a crime;
If ever you loved her, now's the time--
Tell her.

She'll return, for each caress,
A hundredfold of tenderness;
Hearts like hers were made to bless!
Tell her.

You are hers and hers alone;
Well you know she's all your own.
Don't wait to "Carve it on a stone"--
Tell her.

Never let her heart grow cold;
Richer beauties will unfold.
She is worth her weight in gold!
Tell her.

--Author Unknown

I just like the message of this poem, and if it rhymed I'd change the last words to "Tell him" because I think that's just as important, and sometimes being married maybe we take each other for granted.  We don't celebrate Valentine's Day really, but it's a nice reminder to show our love.

Kitchen makeover--"Before" pictures

John is in the process of taking out my old countertops so we can have the new ones installed.

Goodness, my kitchen looks messy.  I suppose it could be all those drawings and school papers I have taped to the cupboards.  And the fridge isn't helping the clutter any.  I've tried stripping it down, but without all those things magnetically attached I don't know what else to do with them.  Suggestions?  Currently it's the home of the school lunch menu, a whiteboard/corkboard, old pictures, school calendar, box tops, notepads...

I will be getting a new sink and faucet as part of the minor remodel.  The current sink is a 1973 model, kind of an orangey-brown cast iron sink with an undersized space on the left and a larger washing area on the right.  I've gotten used to it and I've often stacked more dishes to dry on the small side than would've been thought possible.  I'm looking forward to the new and improved sink. 

So far, he's taken out the penninsula. We also hope to remove the formica from the wall under the cabinets, and the if wall is intact I'd like to paint it. Otherwise we'll tile it.

Goodbye, penninsula.  Now that you're gone, I actually miss your peeling edges and worn spots.

The progress: He left the kitchen sink for now because he didn't get started on the project until after 8:30 last night.  Tonight hopefully we'll take out more countertop.   It's a mess everywhere, which is how projects usually go while in-progress.  Stuff from cupboards is on the floor, drawers are pulled out, and the guest room is currently serving as the holding area for all things Kitchen.

I have plans to repaint the kitchen soffits.  I am open to suggestions.  The new countertop will be tan with some off-white and gray in it.  I'm currently entertaining gray as the new wall color.  Thoughts?  I do kind of like the dining room wall and would like to leave it red for now, unless I end up painting under the cupboards instead of tiling, in which case I'll paint the dining room wall the same as everything else.

Today I've been busy going through my cupboards, purging things that haven't seen use or are just taking up valuable space.  I've also got my oven on self-cleaning mode, and have plans to use the drawer beneath the oven for some serving bowls.
New is good.  It forces me to take inventory and re-think my methods.  I've gotten careless and the cupboards and drawers were mostly a jumble.  This urges me to sort things out and almost have a new start.

The pictures are doing funny things.  I didn't actually want the last two photos to merge like that, nor did I want the text to show as captions of the photos.  Whatever, though.  You get the idea.

P.S.  I'd also like to get rid of the throw rugs.

60

Saturday, February 5. 

My dad's birthday.

His 60th birthday.

I couldn't let this milestone pass without marking it somehow.  I mentioned to Mom that I'd like to have a party for Dad.  She offered to have it at their house.

 My sister and I planned the menu and brought all the food.  Mom invited their Sunday meeting.

 And we had a party.

 Sure, he still would have turned 60 without all the fuss.

 But what fun is that?


Flourless chocolate sin cake and Poppyseed cake, made by Sabrina

  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Thanks for having a birthday so we could have a party.

 A good time was had by all.  :)

Snowmobiling, January 29, 2011

January was a funny month.  It was cold.  Yes, it's supposed to be cold here in January, but this year it was colder than normal.  I heard on the radio from our weatherman (the same weatherman I used to listen to when I was 10, same AM radio station) that we didn't have the usual "January thaw."  Our warmest was only 32*.  (Sorry Maxine...I couldn't remember that sequence of numbers to make the degree sign!)  Our coldest was in the -30 range.  That's the real temperature, not the "windshield" (or windchill, as it's more correctly referred to.)

 The weekdays would creep up to 15* or maybe even 20* if we were really really lucky.  Then when the weekend came, the temps would drop like a rock. 

Sorry about the picture quality on this one.  I forgot to adjust my camera settings and blew poor Rich out.  I tried to darken it and it worked real well on his snowmobile suit.  Unfortunately his face stayed bright.

 Snowmobiling isn't much fun when it's colder than the high teens.  And since we do most of our snowmobiling on the weekends when the weather is nice, we didn't get a chance to go for a whole month. 

 As you may have guessed, this bothered John a teensy bit more than it bothered me.  Snowmobiling isn't really my thing.  I enjoy it when we go, but I could take it or leave it.  John though?  He'll always take it.

The kids got cold toes and fingers so John opened up some of those foot and hand warmers.  We had to stop a lot.

 The last weekend of January finally warmed up to more reasonable temperatures.  And even though I'm currently waiting for John to install my new countertops, I know that can wait.  Snowmobiling trumps all.  (If I've learned nothing else in almost 13 years of marriage, I've learned this!)  The snow will melt and the season will end.  (yay!!!!!!!  *Ahem.*  I'm more of a warm-weather girl myself.)

"How are your feet?  Getting warmer?"  Seriously, we stopped about every five minutes for awhile.  Someday John and I will go alone.

 Last Saturday was absolutely beautiful, as winter days go.  It snowed lightly the entire day, it was in the high 20's, and we were at the farm with both snowmobiles, our sleigh, my father-in-law, and his snowmobile.
John had taken the kids out for a short ride in the morning and I was content to stay in the house and read my current novel.  After lunch though, John asked if I was ready. 
"Um, ready?  For what?"
"We're going to ride that loop trail."
"Ohhh...ah...okay!"

Yep.  Stopped again.

 John drove the Polaris and pulled the sleigh, I drove the red Ski-doo, and Rich brought up the rear on his bright yellow Ski-doo.

 The kids all took turns either in the sleigh or on John's or Rich's snowmobile.  Mine is only supposed to seat one, so I got it all to myself :)

Oh yeah, we had to stop again.

 We went a far long ways.  The farthest I've ever gone all at once, I think.  And certainly the farthest I've driven my own machine.

Did I mention we stopped a lot?

 We went 38 miles.

 Did you hear me?  I said we went 38 miles.

I'm just a little bit proud of that.