One!

Our little boy celebrated his first birthday this past week (and weekend) with cupcakes, friends, Gran, pancakes and presents.


His present from us:

And the boy can EAT a cupcake!



Happy Birthday Grayson! You are just the best boy and it was a joy to celebrate with you!

(One year update to come shortly)

Birthday Eve (A poem)

Twas the night before his birthday
And all through the dark
He couldn't hear anything
Not even Hank's bark

He figured that downstairs
Everyone was having fun
He needed to get down there
How could it be done?

I must get out of this crib, he thought
I've never done it before
I can crawl downstairs
If I can only get to the floor

He grabbed a slat
And struggled to his knees
Then turned his toes under
He was almost free!

But then Gran walked in
And to her surprise
Grayson was standing up in his crib
Before her very eyes

And that is how
His first birthday eve
His crib was dropped down
So his bed he could not leave!

(After)

Snowmageddon- Part 7 (The End)

I know you are all heartbroken that our Snowmageddon posts are over after tonight, but our life must go on!

When the snow stopped yesterday evening it had snowed 11 more inches. Joe was off work again today (yea!) and has a two hour delay tomorrow. It was pretty shocking how horrible the roads were yesterday during the storm. You know things are bad off when they (not sure who "they" are) decide it is too dangerous for the plows and emergency vehicles.

Anyhow. Here are pics from last night and today:



We got out this afternoon and went to the town center. If you have visited us these scenes will look slightly familiar:

The outdoor skating rink

Grayson at Home Depot- we are almost finished with the bathroom!


We have been trying to take so many pictures of all this snow because we know we most likely will never see anything like it again! You just can't capture how beautiful and bright it is. (You seriously can't go outside without sunglasses on!)

And on a COMPLETELY unrelated topic. Look at these completely scandalous shorts at Gap Kids that we saw today-

These are for a 6 year old girl. Now I know how short 6 year-old's legs are; I used to spend all day everyday with them. But these are NOT OK. Not enough material. Uh-uh. What is this world coming to?

End of that discussion. Feel free to comment.

Tomorrow things go back to normal around here. It was such a treat to have Joe home for a whole week! I told him this evening that I have no problem spending 24 hours a day with him for long periods of time- enjoyable in fact. What a blessing!

And some more snowstorm names we have heard before I leave you: Snowpocalypse, Snowtastrophe, Snowtorious B.I.G., and Snowmygoodness!

Happy Weekend to all!

Snowmageddon- Part 6

Compared to the last several days, yesterday was an eventful day for us.

We walked up to

I have never seen that many people at B&N. I think everyone is desperate for entertainment, especially knowing of the impending blizzard that started last night. The line was about 25 people deep at check out. I wanted to take a picture of it, but was unsure how a bunch of people already on edge from spending a week inside would feel about a stranger taking their picture.

The bonus of walking to B&N was

Of course, even though it was freezing outside, I got this

Unsweetened ICE passion tea. Because I was so HOT and THIRSTY after the walk over. It's like walking through really deep sand and Joe's normal gait is way faster than mine, so I feel like I'm practically running.

Here are a few pics from the walk over and back:

The main road outside our complex- still covered with about an inch of ice/snow


Dad- this one if for you. It's the outdoor basketball court you love to play at when you visit.


Also, Hank cut his foot pretty badly yesterday when we let him out back to run around for a minute. It must have been from some ice; we're not sure.

Either way, we had to bring back the redneck doctoring skills

He's better today.

We are currently sitting and watching the blizzard outside. Joe's 4th day off work. He is getting antsy and feels like he is unemployed. I'm still having a great time.

Snowmageddon- Part 5 (Digging Out)

Digging out in December was an all day event. Digging out during Snowmageddon is a multi-day event.

The problem with townhouses is that you don't have anywhere to put the snow.


After filling up our median, which is the above mound between Joe in the foreground and Tim in the back, the guys would have to pick up a shovelful, walk across the road to a free area or empty parking spot, and dump the snow.

That's what Robert, our other neighbor, is doing in the picture below.

The guys have spent approximately 8 hours shoveling so far, by my estimate.

School has been canceled for the next week.

Now, I didn't see how it got there, but the mail did magically appear in our mailbox today. Way to go USPS!

Oh, and by the by, we are getting 10-20 more inches of snow....TOMORROW! WHAT?!

Mom and Jenny, don't you worry, there will be PLENTY of snow for you to play in when you get here next week.

Snowmageddon- Part 4 (The Dinner Party)

I'm sure you have all heard enough about all this by now, but I'm still snowed in, so it's gonna continue!

Hope and Billy ventured out to help Hope's single co-worker dig out and then came to see us! Yay for other humans! Just kidding. We actually had our neighbors over the first time last night for chocolate cake. We talked the weather, remodeling, jobs, and our neighborhood for hours.

If you're wondering if our half bath project is finished yet, the answer is a big FAT no. Joe has had to spend hours and hours shoveling, bless his heart, and hasn't gotten to the plumbing. Pictures of the shoveling tomorrow.

I wanted to have one fancy meal while we were all snowed in, and with Hope and Billy here, the time was perfect!

Introducing: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic by the Barefoot Contessa. Click here for the recipe.

OH. MY. HEAVENLY. STARS. That is all I have to say about this recipe.

Well, not really. I'm going to keep talking about it. It was really fun to have Hope in the kitchen with me because she is just getting her (cooking) feet wet, so to speak. (Yes, I know I am too) Hope was my Sous Chef and also prepared a side dish of potatoes for the meal.

The recipe has a few steps, but trust me, if I made it and it was THAT dang good, as it was, you can easily make it too. Honestly, regardless that I made it, (it wouldn't have mattered who made it), tonight's dinner was in the TOP 10 of the best meals of MY LIFE. (I know I tend to be a little dramatic sometimes, but this is serious!)




It was one of those times that once the food hit the table, there was silence for about 10 minutes while everyone GOBBLED up the goodness, not even able to take time and savor it.

And then after dinner, great news- Joe's work is shut down tomorrow. Yippee!!!

Joe and Billy ran up to Home Depot (only a mile away) this afternoon for plumbing supplies and had the store to themselves. There were literally 3 workers hovering around them giving advice. Obviously that never happens on a normal weekend. The roads were still covered even though the plows had come through several times.



Happy Super Bowl Watching!!!

Snowmageddon- Part 3

Our foray into the snow mid-afternoon yesterday-

In front of the townhouse, standing in the road/parking lot


At this point the plow had made 2 runs -



Hard.

Work.
Of course the plow came by again right after this and pushed it all back....

The final total for our town was 32.4 inches. If Hank ran out our back gate right now...well, he couldn't. It is much taller than him. Joe walked (barely) back there- it came up to his waist.

More later.