And he's off.....................again.

And he's off................again. Very thankful that the weather has cleared somewhat as Bob headed over to Seattle to catch a plane! He & two other guys from work are on thier way to Ames Iowa....not quite as warm as his December trip to Australia but I have to say it's kind of good for him to have to go somewhere just as cold as we are! They left extra early as they were somewhat concerned about the pass -"they" as in the guys he was going with...NOT Bob...he refuses to ever be concerned with little details like road conditions. Which kind of drives me batty but you do get used to it. So anyway, they allowed for lots of extra time which they did not need for the roads but apparently did need at the airport. They got there and were told thier flight did not exist!! So I looked up the credit card statement which verified that the price of 3 tickets did get charged to my account but somehow these tickets do not exist.....hmmmm. A lot of research and phone calls later and it all got straightened out but the moral of the story...there's a reason they tell you to get to the airport 2 hours early!! The reason for the trip? I think its some sort of GPS training seminar....but I could be wrong. Don't get the wrong impression, I do listen when he tells me stuff. I'm just easily confused:) The older kids deal with him being gone pretty well. They are of course busy with their own stuff and completely self absorbed in their own little world which apparently is common with kids that age:) Tyler complains and whines some, but Kenny...oh man. Kendra takes the opportunity to be Kendra! She stands by the window with tears rolling down her face watching him leave, which would be absolutely heartbreaking if it weren't so common. If there is ever a situation that may or may not have the possibility of driving someone to tears you can be assured Kendra will have hers running! She is more sensitive than all the other kids combined and twice as dramatic. The water works can be turned off and on at will and at completely random times. That being said though, the truth is she really is just extremely sensitive! The first couple weeks of school are always accompanied by lots of tears....she never wants to leave her mommy. Conflict makes her tummy hurt & I've seen her get teary eyed over tv commercials! - Almost reminds me of my little sister:) The good news - this is a short trip. Bob should be home by Friday sometime. They land in Seattle 11ish thursday night so I'm thinking rather than stay the night there, he'll probably show up about 3am on Friday. Hate it when he leaves but pouting and feeling sorry for myself hasn't seemed to help so instead we try to make the best of it. 5 nights of cereal, casseroles(which Bob hates) or other simple stuff for dinner that we just can't get away with when he's home! And just because no one will complain, I'm not even going to make my bed for the next 5 days either. And Kendras new kitty will probably get allowed into the house. And those are the silver linings we hang on to to make it seem not so bad everytime he leaves:)

SNOW SNOW GLORIOUS SNOW

It seems as though the weatherman has been teasing us for weeks with the threat of "the big one" this illusive impending snowstorm that it seems has been dumping on everybody else but us! We've been pacing back and forth from one window to the next anxiously looking for those dark snow clouds only to be disapointed by the big patches of blue sky. Ok, I should clarify that....the kids and I have been disapointed by the blue patches, Bob has been glaring at us everytime he caught us looking and telling us over and over (& over again) to "stop wishing for snow!" Apparently it makes his life miserable...well ya know, sometimes buddy you take one for the team.

Finally this morning it happened! We woke up at 6 to a very light dusting but it continued to fall and fall and fall......and guess what? Mr. Snow Scrooge himself seems to be enjoying the snow just fine!

He went on a local call this morning then suddenly ended up back at home....decided to do a bunch of phone calls & computer work from home then hooked up the sleds and went to go play!

Our friend Aiden was over today, he seemed to have a great time riding the sled with Kendra!

Aiden used to be scared of the dogs....now they're his best friends! He loves the fact that "Sami has the same color hair as me!"

Yes, that is pink on Tylers hat, sometime when you have three big sisters you just end up with a pink hat or purple mittens!

Our friend Luke, the michelin man! He LOVED the snow but did not want to keep his confining mittens on....didn't take too long before we had to go inside & warm his pink fingers back up!

Aiden loves to eat snow, He should be well hydrated today as that is what occupied most of his time outside, the hunt for perfect snow to pop into his mouth. He gave me a mini lecture this morning on exactly what kind of snow you should NOT eat....so he know's his stuff when it come to the snow eating business!

Preschool has been cancelled for tomorrow and all the other schools are on a two hour delay, so all fingers are crossed for a school closure by morning!!!

Forgetfulness!

When I look back over 2011 I'm convinced I've already forgotten more than I remember! How sad is that? My family will be the first to verify my claims that my memory is horrendous, and I think I've found a new excuse I'm going to try out. I think that the busier a person becomes.....the more they forget about what they've done? ya think? Maybe? As the kids get older and get involved in more and more activities, it means moms schedule fills up & up & up. And I hate the idea of just flying through one day after the other in a blur. So we've made a few ambitious resolutions for 2012.

One of course is the mandatory physical fitness/weightloss yadda yadda yadda....you know, the one you feel like you should make each year but in all honesty you're giggling inside going 'ya right!' So that is one....the other is to spend more time together doing simple things. It seems like any time the kids have a day off from school it's filled to the brim with catching up on house work and haircuts and dentist appointments and suddenly the time off is gone even faster than the regular school days! So here's to simple things....let the science experiments continue to rot in the bottom of the fridge and haul out monopoly. Let the laundry pile up a little higher and go to the park! Leave the dust to build up a little higher and paint some pictures...maybe even in the dust itself!

So if in about 6 weeks you drive by and our yard is looking abandoned, you can't see through my dirty windows, and my car looks like it's been out mud bogging, just know this. I'm probably watching a movie & eating popcorn with my kids. Either that or I've completely lost my mind from trying to be ok with the mess & I've locked myself in a small closet somewhere and am repeatedly banging my head against the wall.