A Taste of Spring

You know we've had a rough winter when, on the first day in climbed into the 40's, everyone ditched the winter coats and traded them in for light jackets or just went without. I saw my neighbor out walking in shorts and t-shirt!

I won't say we went quite that far, but we did manage to enjoy the nice weather. Wesley couldn't wait to take his skates outside and skate around the neighborhood. We made him stay near the house where there wasn't any ice - after all, his skates have wheels, not blades. Still, in a lighter coat and with the sun shining down, you would have thought he had been transported to his own tropical paradise.

It was such a great Spring like day that we even went to my least favorite fast food place and treated the whole family to Shamrock shakes. Roller skating outside and mint milkshakes pretty much made it a perfect day for Wesley.

Cheers!

Maple Syrup Festival

We headed out to the Boy Scout Maple Syrup Festival this morning with Grandma and Grandpa H. Despite the really icy trails (and a bit of whining from each child at different times) we really enjoyed it.

We had to park a little ways away and take a shuttle bus over to where the festival was held. Ryan faked a nap on the way.

Shuttle bus selfie for Mommy and Wesley

Our first stop was the all you can pancake breakfast with blueberry sausage (much better than it sounds) and real maple syrup. Ryan and Wesley each ate three pancakes and I'm not telling how much I ate. It was a lot.

I LOVE this picture of Wesley and Grandpa H. taken in the dining hall.

Even though we were all full from breakfast, we had to try some fresh made fry bread with cinnamon sugar. And Ryan can't resist a camp fire.

If you know my family in real life, you know why this picture of Grandpa by the sign amuses me so much. 

Ryan and Daddy made a metal whistle

A really loud, ear piercing metal whistle

Wesley didn't want to make a whistle, so he munched on some (hopefully) clean snow to help quench in thirst.

Doing a little leather working

Lots of trees around the camp were tapped

Ryan with a piece of wood he had branded

Put that boy to work!

Drill those holes!

Twist! Twist!

Wesley checked out the loft in the pioneer cabin

Grandma and Grandpa kept their feet on the ground

I think Wesley wished he could sleep there

Duane found a hat in the scout store. Hmm....maybe for our anniversary. I do love a man in a hat!

So that was our big outing today. Cold, but with good food and loving family!

My Own Seven Dwarfs

Quick! Can you name all the seven dwarfs? I even provided a cheat sheet picture for you in case you have forgotten these classic Disney men. 

Are you done? 

In the above picture you will find, Doc, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful, Dopey, Sleepy and Grumpy. I didn't even have to look up their names - a sad, but true fact.

Unfortunately, I am having a bit of a battle with my own seven dwarfs and they are not nearly as cute, nor as musical, as the ones above. I call my dwarfs Frumpy, Bitchy, Saggy, Wrinkly, Lazy, Mopey and Worrywart. They seem to have moved in to my body/mind and taken over lately like they do most every year towards the end of winter.

Frumpy dwarf hates all my clothes. All of them. Frumpy heaves many sighs whenever I look in my closet to get dressed and immediately discards everything as "too cold, too old, makes you look fat, makes you look even older, or just plain ugly."  Frumpy is a very cheap dwarf and will make me feel exceedingly guilty if I actually go out and purchase any clothing that may make him/her go away.  Frumpy also picks on my hair and my make up and my shoes and makes me feel much older than 41.

Bitchy dwarf raises her voice all the time because she can't stand being stuck in the house anymore. She yells at the kids and picks fights with my hubby. I work pretty hard to keep her in check, but she manages to slip out of the closet I shut her in and say cutting or mean things. I hate her.

Saggy dwarf is, unfortunately, here to stay. I can often ignore Saggy, but with a trip to the beach coming up this summer, Saggy is making me acutely aware of how much lower my breasts are hanging these days and makes me a bit self conscious about how that bathing suit is going to look come June. Saggy recommends a new supportive bathing suit, but Frumpy won't let her go out and get one for me. 'Besides,' Frumpy says. "All supportive suits are ugly."  Saggy has also been quick to point out that I'm starting to get a wee bit jowl-y around the jaw line and maybe I should do something about that.

Wrinkly dwarf is Saggy's twin. Wrinkly likes to make me very aware of the fact that, no matter how cute my nail polish is, my hands are starting to look old. Wrinkly also brought to my attention that I have a number of lines across my forehead that don't go away and are very pronounced in pictures. Wrinkly is settling in for a good, long stay.

Lazy dwarf can't get motivated to do anything. This is the dwarf that sat in a chair for two hours over the weekend and didn't nap or read or anything - just sat there. Lazy finds it hard to get up and go to work or to exercise class or even to get out of bed some days lately.

Mopey dwarf is Lazy's first cousin. When the two of them team up, I fight myself generally uninspired to do anything or see anyone. I start to lose my taste for food and begin to dislike things that generally bring me pleasure. I'm pretty sure it's Mopey's fault when I lose interest in puzzles or baking or books and start finding excuses not to go places or do things.

And finally, we have Worrywart. Worrywart is most likely to come around when the other dwarfs are here. This dwarf causes me lose sleep over stuff I have no control over and over little trivial things that I know better to believe when these dwarfs aren't visiting. Worrywart will keep me awake stressing over whether I am a good mom or if I have somehow damaged my children, about what I would do if Duane were to die suddenly, about various diseases and illnesses that could befall me or my loved ones, and about whether or not I am any good at my job. Worrywart likes me too tired to function well because it helps the other dwarfs get comfortable.

Now before any of you start to worry too much, yes, I am taking an antidepressant and yes, I get like this every winter.  I'm trying to look at it with a touch of humor because if not, Crazy dwarf may come knocking on the door, and I just don't have enough room for eight dwarfs. Good thing most of these dwarfs will disappear when the winter weather goes away. If only they'd remember to take Saggy and Wrinkly with them.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not have to bite my tongue to keep from yelling, "Where is your coat!?" to a teen who walked into the library with no coat, hat or gloves (but very expensive sneakers) on a day that was so cold that the schools closed.

I did not use a sugar packet as a bookmark when I found myself sitting in a restaurant with a book and no convenient bookmark.  What kind of librarian would admit to doing that?

There is no way that the words "Who peed on the back of the toilet?" come out of my mouth on a daily basis.  I mean, really?

I did not mentally liken going to church with my mom (the church I grew up in and went to into my 30s) to going to "Cheers" because everybody knows your name.  It would just be kind of wrong to compare a church to a bar.

In Like a Lion

This is what March 1st looks like in central Ohio.  

That's four inches of fresh snow and depression. Ryan is supposed to start soccer practice this week. I don't see that happening. I'm really ready for Spring. March had better go out like a lamb this year. A very warm lamb.

Ryan Short Story

This week's fairy tale theme at school must really have stuck with Ryan.  At dinner tonight he paused while eating and announced, "This is a Goldilocks dinner."

"A Goldilocks dinner?" I asked. "What's that?"

"Not too hot and not too cold. It's just right," he answered before spooning another bite into his mouth.

Right to Read and Literacy Night

I had planned to write a really nice post about Right to Read week that's going on at the kids' school this week and the literacy night we attended there tonight, but the kids have been fighting since we walked in the door, which has put me in a craptastic mood. So instead, I'll share some pictures from the event with you all, then go open a bottle of wine for me.

Pajama day was on Wednesday

Donning their super cool scarves from Aunt Cheryl for "Frozen" day

Ryan had a unique way of wearing his

Entrance to the school for literacy night

Signs encouraging folks to participate in the Read-a-Thon

Now THAT'S a dedicated principal!

King Wesley is displeased

Creating a shoe for Cinderella

Wesley posing with one of the third grade teachers who was portraying Princess Fiona

Those Are Some Manners

The W. family had an unexpected dinner out last night when one of the ingredients that we needed for our recipe had gone bad. I had come home with a terrible headache and feeling sick to my stomach, so I left our dinner destination up to Duane.  Knowing that I prefer to go to local restaurants, Duane took us to a cafe and bakery down the street. The owner is incredibly supportive of our community and the food is really good.

We sat down and ordered our meals and explained to the kids that since we were at a nicer restaurant, they were to put their napkins in their laps when the food arrived.  They said they understood and waited patiently for their meals.

When the food was placed on the table we all stared to eat. After a moment, Wesley said, "I need a fork."

"What happened to your fork?" Duane asked. "The utensils were wrapped up in the napkin. You have your napkin right?"

"Yes," Wesley replied, "but I didn't see a fork."

Duane peeked under the table and discovered that while Wesley had indeed put his napkin on his lap, he never unrolled the darn thing and the utensils were still inside it.

So close, and yet....no.

My Hubby, My Hero

That handsome man petting my friend's dog? That man is my hero. Every day. But especially today.

The boys had school one day last week. ONE. With the temperatures dipping well below zero last  night, I fell asleep crossing my fingers and toes and hoping there would be school today. They need to be in school.

When I heard my text alert go off at 4:52, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. Still, I managed to convince myself (at least partially) that it was just a hockey score alert from last night.  Yeah, right. When the phone rang at 5:15, I knew.  No school. AGAIN.

I started in on a random stream of consciousness while Duane listened. "Crap! I can't call off today. We're already pretty short staffed on the public service desks today, and I'm on desk first thing. I guess I could call Mom. I know she'll take them, but she hasn't had a break lately. First she was in Mansfield, then she had the kids most of last week, then she had weekend guests. It's not fair to always dump on her. I know Dad would take them too, but they are leaving for vacation tomorrow and will need today to get ready."

"I could call my mom and see if she could come down," Duane said.

"You can't call your mom at 5:30 in the morning and ask her to drive 20 miles in subzero temperatures to come stay with her grandkids who have essentially been housebound for the past week! I'm sure my mom will take them I just hate asking her all the time. Oh! I could take them to work with me for a couple of hours while I cover the desk, then I could come home after that. They'd be fine in the children's section or the homework help center. That's a possibility. But I know mom will take them if I call."

At this point Duane reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the phone.

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

"Work. I'm taking the day off," Duane replied.

"You can't take the day off!" I insisted. Duane pretty much IS the parts department at the HVAC company where he works. He never calls off and schedules his vacations very carefully. The main reason I always stay home when the kids are sick or something like this happens is that I get much more vacation than he does and my schedule is (usually) much more flexible.

"I can't normally call off, but we are actually pretty slow right now. Your mom has had them a lot lately and you are busy today. I'm a parent too. I'm calling off," he said.

Now this may not seem like that big of a deal to some of you. Some of you are probably thinking, "Well, he should share that responsibility." But life isn't always "fair" and the way we divide things is the way that works best for us. However, I've been battling the winter blues pretty fiercely lately and if I had to stay home today, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.  I joked to a friend that Duane called off because he values my sanity, but the truth is, he values our whole family. He didn't want to inconvenience anyone today and, as usual, was willing to step up and put others first. 

Yesterday, when I found a card he left in my car to help cheer me up, I knew I had a special man. Today it's reaffirmed that I have found my very own hero.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not have to take a day off work to stay with the kids when the schools were closed due to icy roads. And I certainly didn't make myself read all day if I had.

There is no way I have eaten cheesecake every day the past week and had my skinny jeans fit better than they have in months! That just wouldn't make sense.

I did not turn my hubby into the bad guy and tell my kids that we could adopt another cat if they could get their dad to agree, knowing full well that Daddy would say "no."

I did not skip exercising one morning because of the snow fall we recieved and instead spent my morning making a peanut butter pound cake. That would have been counterproductive to my health on TWO levels!

If You Can't Beat Winter, Join It

Yesterday set a record for February snowfall in central Ohio - 6.9 inches.  Our bowling plans were cancelled and Duane had to shovel the drive three times yesterday. A number of people lost power. We were lucky and were just pretty much housebound most of the day.

Unfortunately, that put me in a bit of a mood when I woke up this morning. I didn't want to go to church. I didn't want to read or do puzzles or bake or anything. I felt sad and completely listless. Thankfully, my hubby didn't let me wallow. He hauled my rear end up and made me go to church, which did good things for my soul.

After church we came home and had a full on comfort lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup, then decided to bundle up and go sledding. Well, Duane and I decided we were going sledding. The kids didn't really want to go, but I wanted them too. They've been inside too much lately and it's in the 30's today so it's practically tropical.

Despite their protests about going, everyone had a good time once we got to the hill.

 

Mommy's turn

 

 Daddy's turn

 

 

What is it with kids and eating the snow? This is Wesley chowing down, but Ryan grabbed a "snack" on his way up the hill every single time

We stayed at the hill for about an hour before getting back in the truck. "That was more fun than Disney World!" Wesley exclaimed.

Ryan looked at him and said, "Oh Wesley, you're such a kidder."

We came home wet and cold, but that means we got to enjoy the best part of sledding - hot chocolate with marshmallows and a fire in the fireplace.

I'm still not in love with winter, but getting out of the house and having fun helped beat some of those winter blues.