Wordless Wednesday: I'm cold and hungry

Shoveling the roof

We have had record snowfalls to date which is okay considering it has been cold dry snow. Well, this week it has warmed up a tad (temps in the 20's vs. single digits) which means there is more water in the air and snow. Hence the roof snow load is getting heavier. Daryl was up on the roof shoveling snow off the porch overhang. A few roofs in town have actually collapsed due to the heavy snow loads. It's been crazy.

More snow...

And the snow just keeps coming. Almost daily a new storm comes in and blankets the already white city of Spokane with more snow. I have never seen this much snow here in the 15 years I have been living here. It's crazy. We have been staying home alot just because I don't even want to try to drive around with everyone else in these conditions. Needless to say, I have missed all the good "after Christmas" sales. I guess I didn't need anything that badly anyway.

Travel plans delayed

My sister and her family were supposed to come over Christmas day from Seattle. They were planning on spending the long weekend here in snowy Spokane. Unfortunately, the weather dictated otherwise. Seattle even had quite a bit of snow which is unusual for them. I think they even had a white Christmas. We have postponed their visit until next week. Hopefully the weather will be more accommodating.

Merry Christmas!

We awoke this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland and a very White Christmas. It was just wonderful. We spent the morning, just the Lohstroh four, opening gifts and playing with our new presents. Henry was most intrigued that Santa had come and eaten a bite out of each cookie and drank all the milk. It was really cute to see him so excited.

Later that day our neighbors, the Jones', and our friends, the Cassies, came over for an early dinner. All 5 kids had a great time playing with each other, which let the parents have some quiet adult time together. We even had a kid table for dinner, something I didn't think would happen for several more years. Yippee!

It was a wonderful Christmas day with family and friends.

Christmas Eve

We went to Daryl's sister's house for Christmas Eve. It is actually Daryl's mom's birthday too, so we do a birthday/Christmas celebration. It was a great time. Unfortunately the weather was just crazy. It snowed all day and night which made driving a bit treacherous. But we made it there and back in one piece.

Instead of having a traditional Christmas Eve dinner like we have in years past, we all opted to do appetizers instead. This way we could just nibble all evening long in between all the gift giving and games. It worked out well especially since the whole family is a bunch of "grazers" anyway. We had quite the spread of delectable yummies. I think I gained 5 pounds in one night. It was awesome.

Natalie and Henry had a great time with the family, too. They enjoyed playing with cousin Makenzie (9) and 2nd cousin Parker (6) and of course really enjoyed opening up all their gifts. The family definitely spoiled them once again.

Happy Birthday Mom and Merry Christmas Lohstroh Family!

Cookie Plate

My friend, Sunshine, has joined a mom's group and was kind enough to share a craft they had done for Christmas. It was making a cookie plate for Santa. We start with an inexpensive plate (I bought mine at the dollar store) and then you decorate with Christmas tags, cards, and/or wrapping along with letter stickers or whatever else you would like. I just laid out my design on the plate then covered the entire surface with Mod Podge. I think it turned out rather cute, myself. And it was a fun and inexpensive project. This would be great for kids to do also. Great idea, Sunshine. Thanks!

And the snow keeps falling

We had record snowfall the other day, and believe it or not, it has not ceased. It just keeps snowing. Craziness! We have over 2 feet of snow in the yard right now. Can you believe it? Our hill was finally plowed early Saturday a.m. but it has snowed a good 6 inches since then and who knows when the plows will be back. I'm starting to get a little bit of cabin fever as the kids and I have been home everyday except for once these last 6 days. Again, craziness. It is beautiful and oh so quiet, but I don't know if it will end. At least we are in for a white Christmas, which is always a treat.

Henry taking a break in the snow. It's hard work trudging through this stuff.

Our Juniper bushes look like marshmallows!

Winter Wonderland

The rooftops have quite a bit of snow!

My little wall-climber

For some reason, Henry has decided that being a gymnast is the thing to do these days. He is always doing somersaults in the front room and just the other day tried doing the splits. I don't know where he learned any of this stuff, but it's kind of cool. Then, of course, he had to show off and show us how we can climb the walls of the hall. Weird kid, but cool stuff.

Record Snowfall

We just broke the record of snowfall here is Spokane. The record was set back in the 1950's with almost 13 inches of snow in a 24 hour period. Well, today we broke that record. We got 17 inches! And it is still snowing. It's been unbelievable. We have been fortunate to have fairly mild weather for November and December with little to no snow, and fairly warm temperatures. Of course all that has changed. We have been enjoying very chilly temperatures the last week (single digits) but yesterday it warmed up a bit and started to snow, and it hasn't stopped. We have shoveled the driveway 3 times in 16 hours and are still having trouble keeping up. It is beautiful though. It makes me think we live in some resort ski mountain/village. It is so clean and white and oh so quiet. I guess I will just stay home and enjoy it. I have to actually since I won't be able to drive on the deep snow covered roads without getting high centered. It's crazy but cool, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Funny Faces

Christmas Cookie Exchange

A bunch of us girls got together this year and organized a cookie exchange. I have always wanted to do one and now I am finally able to. 10 of us baked 10 dozen of our favorite cookie, then met for a late lunch at one of the gals' home. It was a lot of fun having a girl's luncheon. We ate on china and then sampled all the different cookies. Then, when we left, we took 1 dozen of each of the 10 different cookies. We had a fantastic assortment of sweet treats without having to do all the baking. Cookie Exchange.....What a wonderful idea. I hope we do it again next year.

Progressive Appetizers

In July we enjoyed a Progressive Dinner with our neighbors. It was a lot of fun, so we decided we would do it again during the holiday season. We planned appetizers rather than a full course dinner, and then ended with a White Elephant Gift Exchange. We had a great time. It was fun to see all of our houses decorated for Christmas. We enjoyed a couple different appetizers at each house, and we had quite the variety, indeed. At the last house we ended with dessert and coffee. There were 5 houses that participated, and it worked out just fine. We did include the children, which is always challenging, but still fun. The only downfall was that the weather had turned bitterly cold with a fierce wind. We live on a fairly steep hill and the snow had melted during the day and turned to ice. We trudged from house to house being careful not to slip on the slick surfaces. Even though we are all next door neighbors, it made for a difficult commute to each house. All in all it was a great time and again, I highly recommend this event to anyone interested.

First sledding of the season

It started snowing Friday night, not a lot where we are, but just enough to cover the ground. Daryl took the kids out back on Saturday and went sledding on the hill. Henry and Natalie loved it. They were out there for a good hour at least. Even though there was not much snow, there was just enough for them to get enough speed and have a good time. Unfortunately, the weather turned cold. By nightfall it had dropped from a balmy 34 deg. to a chilly 10 deg. with a howling wind. OUCH! I thinking this cold weather is supposed to hang around for the next week. BRRRRRRR!

Jump and Bounce

Spokane has an indoor inflatable jumpy toy area which is great for kids (and adults) especially during cold weather months. It's called Jump and Bounce. The kids get great exercise and fun out of it. I have actually bought a pass because we will use it a lot. Henry and Natalie love all the different toys, they climb, jump, slide and bounce for a good hour and afterwards are ready for a nice long nap. If you have small kids (or even adult kids too) check out and see if you have one of these in your area.

Henry is a pro!

Neighbor Marissa and Natalie get ready to go down the big slide

Gingerbread House

Our family's annual assembling of the gingerbread house went fairly well this year. Of course I did most of the assembling (and decorating), but Henry helped quite a bit. He really enjoyed decorating the house. Natalie was more interested in eating the candy or destroying what was already completed. I don't have any pictures of the process, but the end result turned out pretty well, I think.

Wordless Wednesday: Amazing Gas Prices

Black Friday

My friend Elizabeth has been participating in the Black Friday shopping frenzy for the last several years. This year she wanted to go but had no one to go with. I told her I would go with her since I've never done the 4 am thing before. I really don't know what I was going to get myself into.

Well, after touching base with her late Thanksgiving evening, we decided to postpone our early morning venture until the day after Christmas. We looked at the ads that day and nothing really caught our attention. At least nothing worth waking up at 3 am to wait in line at 4 am to get into the store by 5 am. Yippee, I was able to sleep in on Friday. And I am Thankful for that.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice this year. I started the day by joining my neighbors and participating in the annual Turkey Trot at Manito Park. This was my first year doing it, but I guess it has been around for quite some time. It's a fun run, either 2.5 or 5 mile loops. We opted for the 2.5 version since I haven't been running (or even exercising for that matter). It was fun. A can of food for the local food bank serves as the entry fee for the run. This year was warmer than many as it was 40 deg. and no snow. Maybe that is why there were so many runners. It was like a mini bloomsday, I couldn't believe it. Once we finally starting running (after slowly walking for at least a 1/4 mile) the crowds thinned out and we were able to jog (or shuffle, as my husband puts it) for the rest of the course.

The run started at 9 am, and we were home just a hair before 11 am. Yes, we chit chatted with friends afterwards, thus the delay in getting back. Daryl stayed home with the kids because #1 he thought it would be too cold to have the kids out in the jogging strollers, and #2 we were planning on hosting the Lohstroh brood and he didn't think we had a lot of extra time in the morning, especially to do a fun run. As it turned out, I had everything done on time.

The table is set (for 19!)

We hosted Daryl's family for Thanksgiving this year, which consisted of 19 people. Not a bad sized crowd. It's fairly easy since I make everyone bring something. All I had to do was the bird, stuffing, sweet potatoes (which no one but my family eats, so I didn't make too many), veggie dish and the gravy. Easy schmeezy. To make things easier on myself, I prepped all of the food the day. I am totally doing that again. I also set up all the tables and place settings on Wednesday as well. Guests arrived around 2 pm and we ate at 4 pm sharp. It was one of the smoothest Thanksgivings (and family get togethers) that we've had. I am Thankful for that!

Two turkeys and a ham! And I still ran out of lumpy gravy!

All in all, it was a really nice day and we all enjoyed it.

Henry is excited to chomp on his leftover turkey leg!

Wordless Wednesday: Transcendental

Little Mozarts

Recently the kids have been fascinated by the piano, and the other day the two of them were playing a duet. They are both saying "cheese" to the camera since they think they are getting their picture taken. I wanted to call them my "little Mozarts", but all I could think of while filming was "concert pianists" (I was having a serious brain lapse). Aren't they cute though?

Our oven is out

And right in time for Thanksgiving, too. Perfect timing. I was going to bake the other day and when I pre-heated the oven I noticed it was flashing inside. At first I thought it was just burning off stuff that had dripped onto the element, but when I looked closely, it wasn't burning at all, but in fact "sparking". It looked like the 4th of July inside my oven! I don't know what happened, or how, but the element is fried. So we had to order a new one. I hope it comes soon as we are supposed to be hosting about 23 people for Thanksgiving this year. Yikes. Luckily, we do have double ovens so I have been using the lower one for my baking needs this last week. I have been spoiled though as I do use and appreciate both my ovens.

Back on the soap box

Again, the following contains poignant opinions. Read at your own risk.

Okay, Okay. After all my ranting and raving and venting over the election, I thought I had stepped off my soap box until I received an email forwarded from my auntie in California,. She, like myself, is on the more conservative ends of things and sent this message from David Letterman. You may have heard/seen it but honestly, today was the first time I was privy to it. Probably because I don't watch the news or read the newspaper for these very reasons. Anyway, I thought I would share it with you because I totally agree. And I swear I didn't know about the "ungrateful, spoiled brats" when I blogged it myself.

Subj: Written by David Letterman

No matter what your political convictions are this is an eye opener....What a thankless people we are!!!

David Letterman, on President Bush. (Surprising)

David Letterman wrote this; it's the David we don't often see....

'As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush, it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark.'

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?'

A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state.

F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the NewYork Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

-David Letterman

Happy Birthday Liam!

I hope you had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I'm sorry this greeting is late (but it's not as late your card, which by the way, I still haven't mailed). So I guess you can celebrate your special day all month long. I hear you have a couple of parties coming up? Very fun! I hope you are all doing well and again Happy Birthday.

Tag, are you it?

My friend, Julie, tagged me with this questionnaire so I am obliging and sending it on.

The rules: Remove 1 question from the list below, and add your own personal question to make it a total of 20 questions. Tag 4 people, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged. Whoever does the tag will have blessings from all.

1. At what age do/did you (wish to) marry? at 25 (has it been that long already?)
2. What color do you like most? I have always loved PINK and Barbie,too
3. If you can have a superpower, what would it be? To stop time, or at least pause it for awhile, especially during the good times!
4. What is your favorite past time? Sleeping! I don't get a lot of that at night. See question #17
5. Which part of you do you hate the most? My big ol' arms waving the double bye bye
6. When you get sad, what do you do? Cry. duh.
7. What book are you reading now? Read, moi? I don't think so.
8. If you win $1 million, what would you do with the money? Put it towards retirement since that will be all that I have (401k and social security? yeah, right)
9. What did you love the most about last year (2007)? The birth of my daughter, cliche I know, but true.
10. How did you get your name? I believe it was a toss up between Patricia and Margaret. They like old fashioned names, I guess.
11. What is the moment you regret most? No regrets actually. Of course some of the things I have done and said were not my finest, but still no regrets. We learn from our mistakes, right?
12. What type of person do you hate the most? Hypocrites
13. What is your greatest asset? Family, of course
14. If you had one wish, what would you wish for? That my children live long, healthy and happy lives.
15. How did you celebrate the New Year? That was too long ago, I don't remember. It must not have been very exciting or else I would know.
16. What tv show do you watch that you are embarrassed to tell people about? Although I'm not embarrassed by it at all, I watch Little House on the Prairie a lot! (it's on the Hallmark Channel 3 times a day). I think America needs to watch more Little House and humble ourselves.
17. It’s 2008. What are you looking forward to this year? Natalie sleeping through the night? Hmm. There is still a month and a half until 2009. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
18. Anything in your life that you wish weren’t so awful? Lucky me, all is going very well. I am grateful!
19. What’s the shallowest thing you intend to do this year? Get my toenails done for the winter (like anyone is going to see them, right)
20. What’s the meaning of life? 39 or is it 43? from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Someone please correct me. Remember, I don't read.

Now the fun part...I get to tag. Unfortunately, I only know 2 people that blog, one of which tagged me, so to Crystal, I tag you. To Deb, when you get your blog up and running (which I hope is soon), I tag you too. And to Holly, I think you should keep a blog and let us know about life in Ohio. Thanks to all of you!

'Tis the season for colds....again

Once again the family is down with colds. Daryl took Tuesday off to help recover (and help out with the kids). Henry was sporting a fever of 102 and just wasn't feeling like his usual chipper self. Natalie has a runny nose and a raspy voice but seems to be in good spirits. Me, well I have the worst sinus headache I've ever had. My darn head is about ready to explode. I can't think straight! It's a real bummer, but what are you going to do. I just hope we can all get healthly quickly so that we can enjoy life again.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Halloween (a few days late)

Thoughts on the Election

NOTE: The following contains opinions re: politics. I am writing this when I am passionate about the attitude of this country. Maybe I should wait a couple days to cool off....nah! Please read at your own risk.

I usually do not partake in conversations/discussions when it comes to religion or politics but this year I seemed to have been immersed in both quite a bit. Regarding the general election, I think I have been bombarded with more political discussions this go around than I have in the last 20 years (since I have been eligible to vote). My conclusion is this:

• In most of my discussions regarding this topic I have come to the conclusion that Americans are basically ungrateful, spoiled brats. We do not seem to ever be satisfied with what we have, but instead always want more. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. I was really getting frustrated when people were complaining about the "state of this country" and the economy, yet were driving their fancy cars to their fancy luncheons. These are the same people that complain about how much money they don't make yet buy brand new superfluous things without thinking about the ramifications. WHAT HYPOCRITES! I am totally tired of it all.
  
• Then, the worst is those people that complain about the government yet they don't even vote! Argh! We have this wonderful right (and privilege) in this democratic republic of ours, yet there are so many people that don't use it. Our forefathers and foremothers fought hard for this privilege and in this day and age, people simply do not seem to care. Do they know that our right to vote could be taken away? I say, if you don't exercise your right to vote, you should not exercise your voice to complain.
  
• I could go on and on with this political rampage of mine, but I will stop now. I just had to get a few things off my chest and vent. I am eager to see what kinds of responses I will get from this post, though.
  
• In closing, I believe we should all thank God and/or our lucky stars for being a part of country that allows us our freedom and our liberties. They should not be taken for granted, but instead we should be grateful for everything that we have and grateful for the lives that we lead. It can always be a lot worse.

So remember, exercise these wonderful liberties and rights that we have.....

GO VOTE!

Greenbluff

On Wednesday, the kids and I joined my neighbor, Lisa, and her daughter, Marissa for an outing to Greenbluff. The month of October is Harvest Festival. At 9:30 am we drove the 20 minutes to Greenbluff and met up with our MOPS group at Knapp Farms. The weather was beautiful. Blue sky and sunshine, but a bit chilly. The kids were bundled up as they experienced the "Punkin Chunkin" (an air cannon that launches pumpkins really really high into the air only to let them go kerplop into the adjacent field), the straw maze, the farm animals, and of course the pumpkin patch.

Little Pumpkin (Natalie) sits inside the tractor wheel

Henry driving the old tractor

We left our group a little early and headed to another farm. We went to High Country Orchards and had a delightful lunch as the kids played on the playgrounds and ran through the fields. Then we headed to Harvest House for some ice cream and apple cider (and a few pics with the pumpkins).

Sitting on the straw bales outside of High Country

These pumpkins are mine!

What I thought was going to be a quick outing to the farms ended up being an all-day field trip. The kids and I were exhausted when we got home around 3 pm. Just in time for all of us to take our afternoon naps. Yippee!

Marissa, Henry and Natalie going for a wagon ride