You know that it's been cold when I caught myself thinking, " Oh it's zero degrees out. It's finally warming up!".
We've had highs in the negatives for the past three or four days, so zero is a welcome change. Brrr...
Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 18 degrees so I'm planning on getting school done as efficiently as possible, bundling everybody up, and going outside for some much-needed fresh air!
Come on my Texas friends...ya know ya'll want to come up here! :-)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Sherpas
We had a great time this afternoon exploring one of our favorite spots up here. It looks quite different than it did this summer. This was Aidan and my first time using snow shoes and we had a blast! Emma did beautifully riding in the sled behind the packmule...me, and Gianna was happy in her daddy's arms. What a wonderful afternoon we had! No one complained, not even once, not even Emma! :-) 
My Night Off!
Tonight is my night off. Once a month I meet up with the other Catholic homeschooling moms in town. We discuss the coop and other activities, we also just chat about whatever is going on. However, tonight I'm not at the mom's meeting. Instead I am snug in my house, eating pizza with four of the most dear people. We're watching "Going My Way" starring Bing Crosby and for the moment I like to think that this is as "racy" as life gets. Whenever the time comes for this once a month gathering I am always looking forward to it, but I have to be honest that when I looked outside and saw the snow falling it took very little effort to say, "I think I'll just stay home tonight".
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Hey, Who Turned the Lights Off?
Gianna has been very interested in lights lately.
"Momma, light on!" "Momma, light off!"
Nighttime has become extremely difficult for her. With these short winter days it is quite often that we are in the car after it is dark. It really troubles Gigi and we hear from the back seat, "Hey, light off momma! Light off!!!!! Light OFF!!!!!!!!!!"
She doesn't quite get it when we tell her she'll have to take it up with God if she wants the lights back on. You know the whole "And light became day and darkness became night" thing. :-)
"Momma, light on!" "Momma, light off!"
Nighttime has become extremely difficult for her. With these short winter days it is quite often that we are in the car after it is dark. It really troubles Gigi and we hear from the back seat, "Hey, light off momma! Light off!!!!! Light OFF!!!!!!!!!!"
She doesn't quite get it when we tell her she'll have to take it up with God if she wants the lights back on. You know the whole "And light became day and darkness became night" thing. :-)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Back to mourning. :-(
Well, this certainly wasn't the way we wanted to spend Christmas.
Wanted to update from afar to let ya'll know that we lost our baby on Christmas Eve.
We are all doing okay, considering, but would appreciate any and all prayers as we accept God's will in our lives.
Wanted to update from afar to let ya'll know that we lost our baby on Christmas Eve.
We are all doing okay, considering, but would appreciate any and all prayers as we accept God's will in our lives.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Mourning and Rejoicing!
The kids and I returned yesterday evening from an unexpected trip home to South Dakota for the funeral of my mom's cousin, Ruth. She was a young woman of 59 and was just found to have cancer when she went into the ER on Thanksgiving Day in extreme pain. Luckily we have a doctor and nurse in our family who work at the Mayo clinic and they got her in immediately. It was clear that there was nothing they could do and she was sent home to die. It all happened so quickly, yet it seemed to drag. We got the call last Sunday that she had passed away.
My mom had made it very clear that she more than understood if we couldn't make it to the funeral, but not going was just not an option. When I told most people that I was going to the funeral of my mom's cousin they usually had the reaction of relief...like, "Oh, good...I'm glad it wasn't anyone close"...probably most people don't even know their mom's cousins that well. My family, however, is different. Very different. My grandmother had 11 brothers and sisters. I was raised knowing 9 of them (one died in infancy, one before I was born). Some of my mother's cousins are my age. Anyway, we are all close. Just the way an extended family should be. Ruthie was a staple to our family. She attended every concert, every game, every family function, every Sunday "dinner". She was a wonderful, lovely, loving, joyful woman who I am so blessed to have had in my family. This Christmas will be very hard without her. She leaves a wonderful husband behind who has become so much a part of our family.
On the lighter side of things....getting to announce that we are expecting another addition to our little family during this sad time seems to make things a little brighter! In August (or July if things go the way they have in the past) we will be welcoming another little Jones into this house. This Christmas season seems to have a bittersweet feeling to it this year...mourning our loss, but rejoicing the blessing of this new life! Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel!
My mom had made it very clear that she more than understood if we couldn't make it to the funeral, but not going was just not an option. When I told most people that I was going to the funeral of my mom's cousin they usually had the reaction of relief...like, "Oh, good...I'm glad it wasn't anyone close"...probably most people don't even know their mom's cousins that well. My family, however, is different. Very different. My grandmother had 11 brothers and sisters. I was raised knowing 9 of them (one died in infancy, one before I was born). Some of my mother's cousins are my age. Anyway, we are all close. Just the way an extended family should be. Ruthie was a staple to our family. She attended every concert, every game, every family function, every Sunday "dinner". She was a wonderful, lovely, loving, joyful woman who I am so blessed to have had in my family. This Christmas will be very hard without her. She leaves a wonderful husband behind who has become so much a part of our family.
On the lighter side of things....getting to announce that we are expecting another addition to our little family during this sad time seems to make things a little brighter! In August (or July if things go the way they have in the past) we will be welcoming another little Jones into this house. This Christmas season seems to have a bittersweet feeling to it this year...mourning our loss, but rejoicing the blessing of this new life! Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A Joke For Ya'll!
Q:What do you get when a bunch of Texans move to Wisconsin?
A: A "Texas-sized" snowstorm!
We got 10 inches of snow over the weekend and it's been snowing all day. They expect up to a foot of snow before it's all over. Gotta love "lake-effect" snow.
Which brings me to my next topic. Driving in snow!
I've been away from this stuff for 7 1/2 years while living in Texas. This morning it was snowing. I checked the forecast and it said we were supposed to get 2-4 inches of accumulation. We have our Catholic homeschool coop every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month so it was on for today. I almost didn't go. Something inside of me said, "Stay! Stay home! Clean your home while you stay home!". But, I kinda figured that if I was never going to go out while it was snowing I may not ever get out all winter. So...we went. Bad call! I stayed through lunch and then decided to head. Pulling the little ballerina out of her class was hard, but it was worth it. The roads were horrendous. I was white knuckling it all the time, and I don't think the kids said a single word...if they did, I sure didn't hear them. At one point I remember praying that the light at the bottom of the hill would stay green because I was going through either way. Whoever planned a city in the north on a hillside was obviously delusional. The interstate looked like our alley, I could barely make out tire tracks and the bridge was worse. At one point I remember looking up and noticing that we were at the top of the bridge. I had no clue where we were, I was just following the little track in front of me in hopes that it would bring me to Wisconsin.
Although it was scary and I don't want to do that ever again, I'm sooooo glad we left when we did because shortly after that they closed the bridges and a lot of my friends got stuck in Duluth. I'm so thankful for being home tonight, and extra thankful because the concert Brett was supposed to be in tonight was cancelled. Yahoo!!!!!
This snow stuff is crazy! I just can't believe how much we're getting. The locals claim that we haven't had this much in a long time, but I remember some locals claiming that mid-80s was rare for October in Texas yet that seemed to happen every year we were there. :-)
A: A "Texas-sized" snowstorm!
We got 10 inches of snow over the weekend and it's been snowing all day. They expect up to a foot of snow before it's all over. Gotta love "lake-effect" snow.
Which brings me to my next topic. Driving in snow!
I've been away from this stuff for 7 1/2 years while living in Texas. This morning it was snowing. I checked the forecast and it said we were supposed to get 2-4 inches of accumulation. We have our Catholic homeschool coop every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month so it was on for today. I almost didn't go. Something inside of me said, "Stay! Stay home! Clean your home while you stay home!". But, I kinda figured that if I was never going to go out while it was snowing I may not ever get out all winter. So...we went. Bad call! I stayed through lunch and then decided to head. Pulling the little ballerina out of her class was hard, but it was worth it. The roads were horrendous. I was white knuckling it all the time, and I don't think the kids said a single word...if they did, I sure didn't hear them. At one point I remember praying that the light at the bottom of the hill would stay green because I was going through either way. Whoever planned a city in the north on a hillside was obviously delusional. The interstate looked like our alley, I could barely make out tire tracks and the bridge was worse. At one point I remember looking up and noticing that we were at the top of the bridge. I had no clue where we were, I was just following the little track in front of me in hopes that it would bring me to Wisconsin.
Although it was scary and I don't want to do that ever again, I'm sooooo glad we left when we did because shortly after that they closed the bridges and a lot of my friends got stuck in Duluth. I'm so thankful for being home tonight, and extra thankful because the concert Brett was supposed to be in tonight was cancelled. Yahoo!!!!!
This snow stuff is crazy! I just can't believe how much we're getting. The locals claim that we haven't had this much in a long time, but I remember some locals claiming that mid-80s was rare for October in Texas yet that seemed to happen every year we were there. :-)
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