Take Your Daughter To Work Day

Daddy was helping out with the Conservation District Tree Sale, so he had little girl tag along.  She reportedly rode her bike, and worked diligently for four hours.  Reagan loves being treated like a "big girl"!

Ah, Spring.

It feels like an escape - like we snuck away from our frozen captor, winter, but we're still looking over our shoulder, unsure if we're free or not.  It could all be a ruse, a trap, one more blizzard hiding over the horizon.  We don't trust the sun yet.  But it's here now, and it's creating water features out of snow banks.  I am happy.

After church the kids and I debate how to spend this gift of a warm day, free of obligations.  It honestly seems sinful to squander it with housework.  We toss around plans of bike riding - but our unpaved road is currently two ruts interspersed with potholes filled with brown goop.  Even the parking lot of the local park is closed for construction.  Basketball - the heavy snow load from this past winter has destroyed the hoop grandpa constructed in his back yard, and the court at the park is still under two feet of snow.      The air is warm, the sky is brilliant blue with gauzy, lacey clouds - but our yard is muck, detritus, and dirty snowbanks.  I can not think of anything productive for us to do outside to enjoy the day.  It seems a tragic dilemma.

Then it hits me.  Since when is MUD not fun????  We don't need to do anything.  Let's go outside and get dirty, kids.

Colby, who has historically struggled to stay clothed, chooses today to insist on a long-sleeved shirt, sweat-pants, socks and shoes.  Clothes wash, I guess, just as easily as kids do - so I try to let go of the evil thought of muddy laundry.  Breathe.  Let it go, let it go. 

The snow has melted enough to uncover a pile of sticks just off the back porch - those swords, guns, and wizarding wands that little boys have squirreled inside all winter long, which Mom has just as sneakily returned to the great outdoors, to be covered under mounds of the white stuff.  Colby reacts as if finding a long buried treasure.  His STICKS!  He latches onto three long ones within minutes of meeting the outdoors, and begins his twirling and slicing. 

 

Reagan greets me with a fistful of crocuses and a smile, squinting against the sunlight.  These, my first and only flowers of the year thus far, are from my flower garden.  It is sweet, but oh, they were meant to stay in the ground, little girl!  To grow bigger!  She looks crestfallen when I say this, and I regret my words.  I stop, smile, take the purple blossoms and breathe in their goodness, as if they're filled with fragance - which they're not.  I go inside and find a special bowl to make them the centerpiece of our dining room table, and she beams at me, proud. 

Back outside, Reagan finds the mud lake at the center of our circle driveway.  I can't help but reminisce about past springs, this same pool of water, and two little boys splashing away.  This is our rite of spring, this depression in the ground that fills with melted snow every year.  Reagan is more timid than her brothers - she walks in with snowboots, but then sits and empties them of their watery contents- two pink buckets of mud.  I convince her to go barefoot, and we splash around for a few mintues, the two of us.  She insists on a bathing suit before diving in fully.  I get one for her from inside.  Quinn and Colby were never so worried about mussing their clothes.  Before the afternoon is done, she is buck naked. 

 

 

 

 

  

Quinn has replaced his church clothes with an orange shirt ("to match the sun", he said) and a swimsuit.  He begins body surfing on the river of sludge running from the driveway, through two snowbanks, to the woods.  Then he's swimming in the mud lake with Reagan, to "clean off".  I smile, picturing his two-year-old self, in muckin' boots and Thomas the Tank Engine undies, splashing.  He's so much bigger now, and sometimes I miss the little guy.    I'm glad that he still loves to splash, although there's a definite "Ninja" component to this splashing now -- he kicks, feints, and scares off invisible enemies with his stacatto karate chops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have ventured out here in a pair of skorts.  My glow-in-the dark legs can use some sun, and I feel brave enough to expose them, since I'm on my back porch where no one but the kids can see.  I watch them all, these three little pieces of my heart, revelling in the sunlight, warmth, and mud, and I am happy.  I rock back and forth on my husband's rocking chair - the one with the twirly branches, that looks more like it was born from a willow tree than constructed by human hands.  The robins sing to me, the breeze blows across something that causes a hooting like from a jug.  My rocking is the rhythm section, as is the little bursts of children's laughter here and there - together we are the symphony of a late April day.

OH, SPRING.  I'm falling in love with you.  Don't you dare break my heart by leaving us now. 

 

 

Basketball Camp

Quinn and Colby have really improved alot over this past basketball season, and recently completed basketball camp at Michigan Tech.  I was proud of the boys' ball handling skills, and the camp was light-years more organized and beneficial than last year's.  Proud of the little men!

 

Reagan took this arena-scape photo. Not too shabby for a 4 year old! 

Girls at Tea

Grandma Laverne treated us gals to an afternoon tea!  So fun!!  Everyone looked so cute in their little hats!  What an elegant afternoon.

 

Tenative Hope

Another snow storm Tuesday.  My husband sent me THIS picture yesterday.  Lookee here!!  A real-live, genuine FLOWER.  The first one of spring.  In our yard. 

Of course, today, it's covered up by 2" of snow, but I SAW it.  Spring!  You can't hide from us now!  We know you're coming!!! (It IS almost May).

P.S.  Just looked up official snow fall for this winter so far.  311".  We broke the 300" mark.  Yippee Ding Dong, good for us.  Now winter, will you please GO AWAY??? And STAY AWAY for more than a day or two at a time????  Forecast is predicting 60 degrees this weekend, and I'm hoping that's the death knell for this never-ending winter.  Of course, that will bring on massive flooding, but I'm just snow-weary enough to be just fine with that.

Preschool Art Fair

While Quinn and Colby were at Basketball Camp, and Mommy was at work, Dad and Reagan went to Reagan's Preschool art fair!  There, he admired all of her artwork from this past school year, and marveled at her use of color and form.  Reagan is definitely our "artistic" child - she loves to color, loves to paint, loves to cut and glue things together.  Crafty, crafty, crafty. 

 

 

Just ignore the glare from the snow outside the window, and pretend you see lush, green grass and tulips, please.  We have to imagine spring around here. 

The Morning After....

My photos don't nearly capture the beauty of this sunny, blue-skied morning - the day after our big April Blizzard.  That's probably because I'm trying to take all the pictures through the windows, while staying in my jammies inside.  We've got 21 degrees at the moment, and I'm not going to "appreciate the morning sunshine" THAT much, thank you very much.  Haven't heard an official snow-fall count, but given that the snow on top of my barbecue had melted before the storm, and now has nearly a foot on top of it... I'm guessing that's a pretty good measure.  Everything looks clean and white, buried, drifted, and.... FEBRUARY.  The mailbox is a decapitated head sitting on top of a pile of snow, and the snow on my porch is still a good 10" or so ABOVE the doorknob. 

It's a good thing it's pretty, because I'm really DISGUSTED that we're not seeing daffodils right about now.  In that respect, I suppose Mother Nature is a bit like having kids.  They misbehave, and do anything but what you WANT them to do, but you can't get too mad because, well.... they're cute.  Or in this case, stunningly beautiful ... what with the sunrise causing the world to sparkle, and making everything clean and white again. 

I don't WANT to give up my hope for spring, but if I do, my sanity will stay intact a whole lot better. 

April TWENTIETH.  UGH.

 

 

 

ADDENDUM:  Just looked up official snow totals for this winter.  On April 17th, before this last blizzard, we were at 288", with 41" on the ground.  We got at least another 10-12" yesterday, which puts us dangerously close to the 300" mark.  And all of that started in January, because November and December had very little snow.  Twenty five feet of snow we've survived so far.  Let's hope we're done.

Spring 'Round Here

So yesterday's Winter Storm warning was taken down.  GOOD.  But it was replaced by a blizzard warning.  Blizzards in April.  I quit.

The kids went to school, then came home from school 3 hours early.  Mom went to work, saw exactly ZILCHO kids, and then came home from work, 6 hours early.  This is just.... crazy. The 20 minute drive home took 47 minutes, and then.... I got stuck in my driveway.  Three times, before the car was actually plowed out enough to get into the garage.  GOOD GRIEF.  That's all I have to say.



URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
401 PM EDT FRI APR 19 2013

...WINTER STORM WITH HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS NEAR LAKE
SUPERIOR AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA...

.LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL LAKE SUPERIOR WILL MOVE EAST TO
ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HEAVY WET SNOW AND STRONG
WINDS IMPACTING WESTERN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN THIS MORNING WILL
SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF NORTHERN UPPER MICHIGAN BY THIS EVENING. BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS OVER THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA WILL ALSO PERSIST THIS EVENING.
SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR POWER
OUTAGES ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ESPECIALLY OVER WESTERN UPPER
MICHIGAN AND THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA WHERE SNOWFALL TOTALS OVER A FOOT
HAVE BEEN OBSERVED SO FAR. THE SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATER
TONIGHT.

MIZ001-003-200500-
/O.EXT.KMQT.BZ.W.0002.000000T0000Z-130420T0500Z/
KEWEENAW-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...COPPER HARBOR...HOUGHTON...HANCOCK
401 PM EDT FRI APR 19 2013

...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM EDT SATURDAY...

HAZARDOUS WEATHER...

* SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH EARLY THIS
   EVENING...THEN DIMINISH OVERNIGHT.

* STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTING TO 50 MPH WILL CREATE
   CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
   THIS EVENING.

* ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE
   EXPECTED...BRINGING STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS TO 8 TO 16 INCHES.

IMPACTS...

* EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
   THROUGH THIS EVENING DUE TO BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. AVOID TRAVEL IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.

* POWER OUTAGES AND FALLING TREE LIMBS ARE LIKELY DUE TO HEAVY WET
   SNOW AND STRONG WINDS. THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF TREES ON POWER
   LINES.

Happy Spring....

The forecast for April 19th.  Trying to keep a positive attitude, but quite frankly, it's getting hard....

Winter Storm with heavy snow and strong winds near Lake Superior tonight into Friday night.
Low pressure over the Central Mississippi River Valley will deepen while moving into Eastern Upper Michigan tonight into Friday. Scattered rain and snow showers this afternoon will change over to heavy wet snow this evening over western Upper Michigan. Heavy wet snow and strong winds will impact the area through most of Friday. Significant travel disruptions along with the potential for power outages are expected with this storm. The snow and strong winds will diminish Friday night.
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 8 pm this evening to 8 pm EDT Friday. Hazardous Weather.

• Scattered rain and snow showers late this afternoon will transition to wet and heavy snow tonight. Expect heavy snow to continue through most of Friday.
• Total snow accumulations tonight through Friday over 10 inches are expected across much of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Strong winds of 40 to 55 mph late tonight and Friday will result in considerable blowing and drifting snow. Impacts:.
• Very difficult travel conditions are expected tonight and Friday due to the heavy wet snow and blowing snow.
• Power outages are possible due to heavy wet snow and strong winds.

Spring Break, the Movie Version

Trying my hand at family movies.

3rd Grade Talent Show and Reading is FUNdamental Party!

 The boys had a 3rd class talent show and reading party.  This happened on a Wednesday, which means it's the first party all year that I've been able to participate in (parties seem to ALWAYS end up on Fridays while I'm at work!!).  I was ridiculously excited about this - just as much or more so than the boys, probably.  I was going to try and make book cupcakes to go with the theme, but that seemed a bit beyond my meager capabilities, so Reagan and I instead made owl cupcakes.  Because for some reason owls look smart. 

 

 

Quinn played Hedwig's theme and Colby played Fur Elise by Beethoven for the talent show. 

 

 

In-Home Ballroom

I thought this moment was very sweet - except for the snarky comments by the videographer. Little boys just don't appreciate these kinds of things. 

 

For now, it's a four year old girl in a tutu, dancing with her daddy.  In the blink of an eye, it will be a graying gentleman in a tux dancing with a 27 year old woman in a white dress (clutching a Ph.D in her hand).  SNIFF SNIFF.

Mommy Reagan day

As always, spending quality one-on-one time with any of my children is a rare and wonderful treat.  As the men-folk had basketball practice this snowy Saturday morning, Reagan and I decided to hit a mom-to-mom consignment sale, Wally World, and a Family Fun Day at the mall.  Reagan got nearly a whole new wardrobe for next school year (all for $40!!!) enjoyed herself immensely at the Kiwanis Family Fun Day Fair, and then enjoyed lunch at Mickey D's.  Doesn't have to be fancy, just quality Mommy-Daughter time!!