Lots of Snow!

Okay - I have to apologize to the weather folk I blasted in my previous post. We did get quite a bit of snow this weekend, although it didn't start exactly when they said it would. I just returned from the grocery store - not really wanting to go, but it wasn't bad. Roads were fine - although they haven't plowed our side street yet, so it's a little tricky getting from the alley to the main road. Pictures below show the amount of snow around our place and Conner having fun in the snow. We're not sure how much we got - because some drifts are a few inches and others are at least a foot or more. You be the judge......

Snow Day

The Twin Cities are forecast to receive at least a foot of snow this weekend - I don't know that I believe it. They said I would wake up this AM to 4-6 inches - ah, not so much. Maybe 1/2 of sleet pellets, but that's about it. The morning was mainly a mix of light snow and ice pellets - looks like it has finally switched over to snow. But I still don't think we'll get as much as they predict. What is it with weather people these days? Every storm has to be the BIG ONE - do they think this will improve their ratings? It only makes them look like complete idiots when they are wrong - AGAIN.

Although I have to admit we fell for the hype - I went to Target and the grocery store last night to ensure we had diapers, milk, juice, etc. As did everyone else - both places were very busy.

It's been a nice day at home though - Conner and I went for a walk to the park in the AM, didn't last very long with the wind. We got across the street to the park, Conner felt the full blast of wind and said "I want to go home". So we went up and down the alley (out of the wind) for awhile to get our fresh air for the day. Exciting part was when we were on our way to the park and a young dog - looked like a black shepherd, came RACING across Marshall, making a beeline for Conner. I wasn't quite sure what to do - so I kept pulling the sled Conner was riding in - thinking that if the dog attacked, he had enough clothing on to protect him until I could kick the dog away. Dog was very nice though - just excited and jumping around. When I figured it was safe, I grabbed his collar, and held on until the owner came over. He apologized and explained that the dog loves kids. Whew! At least he didn't love the TASTE of kids. Conner didn't seem to mind - he's used to big dogs.

Then we made some cookies - gingerbread boys and shapes with plenty of sprinkles - the ONLY way to make cookies

And we got a little silly - note the lovely earrings:

He does eat.....

This is for Joyce & Kent - thanks for lunch today! Just so you know, Conner does eat - he had 1/2 a sloppy joe, a cup of fruit, a handful of chips, 3 pickles, 1 carrot and milk for dinner. It's just the "when" of eating that is sporadic.

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's day and also Dan's birthday. Since it's impossible to find one of our usual college students to babysit, we stayed home. We usually try to celebrate Dan's birthday another night - since it's always insane to find a restaurant that isn't completely jammed on the actual day. He did buy me flowers, which was very nice - he waited until later in the day, thinking it wouldn't be as busy - but the place was still mobbed. As he was going in, he saw a woman sitting outside, having a smoke break. She looked exhausted - not surprisingly. Dan felt bad for her, so he walked by her, handed her a few bucks and said "here, you dropped this". He said the look he got was like he had given her a million dollars. She must have told her boss, because when he got inside, the saleswoman told him she was going to give him a good deal. So he bought me this:

Very pretty, isn't it? Notice the flowers in the heart shape? What would you pay for something this lovely? $40? $70? How about $125??? Yep, that's what they were charging for this. Luckily, the saleswoman liked Dan and gave it to him for FAR less. And they say florists don't jack up prices for Valentine's Day. I heard it was the bad weather this year....yeah, that's it!

A few more pics for you - Conner and I in the traditional "look what daddy bought me to give to you for valentine's day mommy" picture.

Conner opening his valentine's day cards and gifts:

Nope - hasn't eaten the cookie yet. He only gets a few treats each night (a whole bag from daycare!), so this is still "to be opened".

And finally Dan opening his gifts. Note the xmas lights still up in the background. We left them up for Conner, but they haven't been on since January....maybe a to-do for this weekend....

The New Favorite Story

Conner's new favorite story is The Brave Little Tailor or The Valient Tailor - depending on the version you read. We have both, but Conner reads the kid-ified version with fun pictures. We read it several times per day and nothing will convince him to read any of the other stories in the book. I'm tempted to say the Tailor and Giants went on vacation.

Someone else thinks my kid is a genius!

Of course Dan and I have believed our child was gifted from the moment he was born. But today we received confirmation of that - from someone who is NOT a relative, I might add. When I picked Conner up at school today, Ben, one of the college kids who works in Conner's room, said "he's a bright one!" I thought he was being sarcastic, because Conner had just showed me the mailbox and told me that "mailbox stuff" goes inside it. But he was actually serious. Apparently, earlier in the day, Conner had been lining things up and Ben asked him to count them. So Conner did, 1-10 in English and then 11-20 in Spanish. Ben was very impressed that Conner was able to switch between the two languages and even be accurate. Personally, I think it just means he forgot how to say 11-20 in English at that point in time.

Thank you Muzzy!

Playtime with Eryn and then Sick Again

Poor kid is sick again - came down with some sniffles yesterday and today he was a full-fledged coughing, sneezing, runny-nosed, crabby mess. We took it easy today and he's now out cold, so hopefully he'll sleep through the night and feel better in the AM.

Before he started feeling icky, Eryn came over on Saturday to play for a few hours. They decided it would be fun to sit in "boxes" and watch Dragon Tales for awhile......I'm not sure why Conner has that look on his face - it's not like he hasn't seen this DVD 5 million times - maybe some subtle, scary nuance that he finally noticed.....

When Daddy is in charge....

I came home from a meeting late last Tuesday and found a Dan who had been trying to clean up and keep tabs on the 3-year old. Didn't work - Conner came running over and Dan said - "Show Mom your surprise". Conner unzipped his pajamas and had colored all over his stomach with marker. This is the residual the next day.

Giving up the living room

Dan and I have finally admitted that the house no longer belongs to us. It took us three years, but we at last decided it was time to buy a toy organizer for the living room. It was just a big pile of stuff, which we tried to organize into plastic bins and pails - not so good. You can see below what it was like....

And here's what it looks like now. Much better!