Snow Day!

Snow Day, Snow Day……we played in the snow ALL day.

It’s frosty, snowy, and cold here….but we made the best of it. We all got bundled up and went out for a morning of snow playing.

Isabella had to copy her daddy, so she carried the shovel everywhere we went. Jacob on the other hand, was trying to explain to daddy that it’s easier with a snow blower (aka: the lawn mower).
Now, after the work was done….shoveling the driveway, the playing began….we went sledding. The kids loved it….Robb on the other hand, was a bit tired taking them up and down the hill.

We had a nice day, but for me…..bring on SPRING!

Baby it's cold outside! When is Spring?

Help, do you see the white flag waving, the smoke signals....anything! You wouldn't right now, because it's all WHITE.

It's been cold, wet, sleeting, snowing, and ice...since Friday. Therefore, outings have been limited to non-existent. To top it off, no school today. Usually would be fun, but given the weather report, we are climbing the walls.

Bad thing, it's not nice enough to even go sledding or build a snow man. This weather is not my favorite. Robb could live in this, give me sunshine 70's, green, and a breeze any day.

Going a little stir crazy here today, so I tried to escape...didn't make it far. To darn cold.














So, in an attempt for Isabella to keep the girly side of her and to keep up with her big brother she has decided that this is her attire for the day. She is wearing her purse that grandma gave her for Christmas and a tool belt with a walkie talkie in it. She must have this on where ever she goes, and from to time, she stops to pull out her cell phone in her bag and says 'hello'. Meanwhile, Jacob is walking around with a pad of paper and a pen telling me that Isabella is one of his 'worker guys' and she needs to get off the cell phone and get back to work.













It's all fun, but, I NEED OUT!

Enjoy your day and stay safe,

Angela

PS - No photos of Jacob, he is telling me, "NO PHOTOS MAM - I AM WORKING".

Getting ready to send the smoke signals out...

This is what we get to do at Grandpa's. Fun huh?

Having a rough time today explaining that we don't get to do this at home. I am about to raise the white flag.

Can you tell I got a photos editor for Christmas? I don't know how to use it one bit, but it sure is fun distorting all our photos. I am taking a class in March, so hopefully they will get better.

Enjoy you day!

Bitter or Better?

Today I was talking to a dear friend and we were discussing how often life is funny and at a very moment in time, something happens – a message let’s say directed at you and only you…and you know it happened just for you.

For example you are in your car and a commercial comes on for something that you have been thinking about. You get to work, you right down what you heard and make the call...then the ball gets rolling and the rest is history. It all happened because you were in the car, had the radio on, and listened to what actually was going out to the masses, but you know it was directed at you, so much so that you could have drove the car off the road.

Some would say it’s God, divine intervention, coincidence, luck, life, and so forth… That very message may have been on your mind, or sometimes that message will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. I have often found that our heart speaks to us in a very unique way.

So, anyway, this friend and I were talking and comparing our own behaviors lately (really complaining about the mundane things in life – pms, dishes, errands and so on) and the word forgiveness came up and do we really live our lives in that ‘forgiveness’ mode. Then all of sudden we changed gears a bit; how our lives are affected by forgiveness or lack of and then it hit me….she mentioned to me….Do you want to do/be BETTER or BITTER?

Aha, light bulb. I needed that message, clear as day there was a reason I answered the phone (if you know me, you know I screen most all calls and hate the phone). It was my plan today to get that phone call and have that chat, to wake me up a bit, pull me from this slump and to decide…..Better or Bitter!

I guess what I am really trying to say, had I not picked up that phone at that moment, I would have missed a message that I possibly needed to be reminded of. I think when we know better we do better.

Thanks friend – call anytime.

What kind of Art do you like?

Robb and I love art, we like to collect art work when we travel and hang it in our home. We don’t usually hang anything on a wall or sit it out unless it’s some kind of art work or framed photos or family and friends, not much into knick knacks. Therefore, our house can seem kind of bare, but each thing that is out has a memory/story or a just a laugh attached to it.

Now mind you, we are an average family with two kids and don’t have a shmancy house or live in a museum. As it turns out, we traveled much more together when we were younger and didn’t have any money, so when we get a chance to travel together now we try to pick up a little something from where we were to remind us of our journey. It’s our own souvenir of sorts.

Many of you who would step in our house and probably wouldn’t like our style or tastes, but as you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Our art work is from the unknown, most likely inexpensive, and hopefully from a street artist trying to make her next meal.

Last May we were fortunate enough to travel to China to adopt our Isabella. It’s a great place to find extraordinary art of any kind. Making this journey was a long time coming and for Isabella’s sake, we wanted to show her the beauty of her birth country here in her own home until she has the chance to experience it herself someday. So , we took it upon ourselves, to buy as much art work as we could and anything we liked. Well, we did….we came home with at least a dozen things that need to be framed and hung or put away for a rainy for Isabella.

Slowly we are pulling these pieces out of the closet and having them framed one by one. An art of its own and wished I knew how to do, because that in itself is a small fortune.

Well this particular piece, my favorite – took the slow boat from China and just made its way here at Christmas time. We have framed it and it’s looking for the perfect wall as we you read this. We love it. She is just the most precious little girl with all the hope in the world in her eyes. I took a picture of it, so I could share with you. It’s an oil painting from an artist in Shanghai, named Liyao Lin. Enjoy – the photograph doesn’t do it justice.

Looking for the Silver Lining...

Do you ever just have one of those days? You know the one’s….{insert self pity mode her}….where you feel like you are doing nothing but changing diapers, wiping noses and what knots, fixing breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, low and behold it’s snack time, then lunch time, wanting to take a nap so bad you are willing to sleep in front of the kids door so that they don’t escape, but you can’t or you won’t sleep tonight or get anything else done today (feel free to insert anything else in this list like not answer the phone so you can finish your project, if my boss yells at me one more time and so forth – I have been there as well.…) Well, I am having one of those days! Oh yes, I forgot to mention, while having this particular bad day, I accidentally (I say accidentally, because it should have been put away) ran into a toy yesterday and tore off my entire big toe nail on my left foot, so it’s throbbing.

Just when I thought I wasn’t going to make it and may have to step outside and scream (you know blow off some steam)…. I look down at our little boy’s face (as I am literraly grabbing the door lock to unlock the door) and he knew it… he knew I was having one of those days…and he says to me….”You’re my best friend mommy”.

Ahhhhhhh, I love it that I am still mommy. That just made everything better.

So I decided to find a silver lining in today’s events and moods:

1. It’s not Monday and we have made it ½ way through the week.
2. I have a best friend and he is really cool.
3. We made it through breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack, so there is no going back.
4. By the time my entire toe nail grows back, it will be flip flop season again and I am going for a pedicure.

So, I guess what I am really trying to say is…there really is some kind of silver lining in everyday (some days it just may be that you woke up that day)…it just may be the thought of not making breakfast, not changing anyone, your boss accidentally choking on her drink while at an important function making a fool of herself, or the phone lines going out so you really do get some peace and quite to get your project done, or simple little things like one of your favorite little people thinking that you do really rate as Number One. Find that silver lining in today, make a list, and sleep on it. It’s bound to get better.