requiste bunny love

Here are our requisite rainy Easter 2013 photos.  YOU ARE WELCOME!

Oh, and meet Harvey - he's quite the prim and proper bunny rabbit gentlemen.. He keeps his legs properly crossed and reclines just enough to look like he's ready for a front porch heart to heart.  He just might put his arm around you. I think Harvey sort of channels Mr. Rodgers cardi & sneakers with his patterned vest and bowtie, don't you? Don't you want to be Harvey's neighbor?!

Here's the only family photo we got. It seems right. No one looking (but Harvey!! AHHH!) and NK refusing the photo despite coaxing from all of us.  

Like the heathens that we are, we didn't make it to a mass (or a service or whatever your church calls it), but we DID manage to put on Easter outfits (well, on the kiddos anyway) and conduct a family egg hunt and lunch. Since our little church closed last November, we haven't quite been able to bring ourselves to find somewhere new.

crazy hibachi :: 'merica

I would NEVER deny my little American children such an experience!

What is it about hibachi restaurants that makes me think AMERICA (___ yeah?).

Would traditional Japanese chefs give Benihana the thumbs up?  Because I am pretty sure the beating heart our chef crafted out of fried rice was P-A-REEETTTY amazing.  

i swear i didn't lie

I do have 10 posts in my queue.  I guess I need to figure out the whole "scheduling a post" function of blogging (NINE YEARS LATER), huh?  You know me. I write. I hit publish. There is little planning to this ole lifestyle blog of mine. I DO WHAT I WANT.

AHEM.  Anyway, this post is not about THAT.

It is about the seemingly simple but oft impossible requests of Nate's teachers for holiday parties at his school.  In their defense, I don't think they are intentionally asking for things that are all that difficult; I think maybe I am just INEPT when it comes to providing classroom treats. 

Exhibit A: Last year, Ms. Janice asked for individual ice cream cups with wooden spoons for a party. Valentines? Easter?  I don't even remember.

My mind immediately went this direction:

YES.  I literally could taste the wooden spoon on my tongue (Correct usage haters of the word literally SHUT UP). These kids would KNOW good, old fashioned grade school cafeteria-style ice cream cups.  Except not.  Because after two Krogers and a Walmart visit, it was determined this no longer exists. (If you have seen them or anything similar, DON'T TELL ME.) Instead, there was some Blue Bell option for like $3 a cup with a little NOT RETRO utensil.  Disappointment. 

Exhibit B: This year, Ms Dee Dee asked if, for the classroom St. Patrick's Day party, I could procure mini-cupcakes....so the kids didn't get hopped up on the sugar of a FULL cupcake. 'You can get them at Wal-Mart,' she said. No. No you can not. Well, perhaps at a WM fancier than mine? (Again do NOT tell me if you've seen them there!) I loathe setting foot in the World of Wal so this was fine. I sent Karl on a mission to find some at the fancy Kroger. Success! But only one box of 12 left. 17 students in the classroom. Damn. We bought them anyway and found a matching 12 at another Kroger (not the first second one we stopped at that had zero mini-cupcakes but the SECOND second one.).  DAMN YOU MINI-CUPCAKES, I WILL FIND YOU.

Aside I: And for those of you who would suggest I should just order them from a bakery, yes, maybe I should have done and saved myself some sanity that but bakery = $1.25/mini-cupcake and grocery store = $2.99/box of 12.  For a group of 17 kids who will probably just lick the nasty icing off and definitely NOT appreciate bakery deliciousness, grocery store it is! 

Aside II: For those of you that would suggest I just buy the REGULAR SIZED cupcakes and stop THE MADNESS (and all this yammering on), you do realize I am somewhat of a people-pleaser, right? And also a scooch of an over-achiever? (No? You don't get that?) 

Aside III: And for those of you that would suggest I just make mini-cupcakes... well.. ha bloody ha!  You don't know me very well!

MOVING ALONG... TO EASTER, THIS YEAR.

And Exhibit C: Nate's teacher requested we buy (and fill) four "large" Easter eggs. She even sent home a note with a drawing of a large-sized egg so we could have a guideline. Now, I love Nate's teacher with my ENTIRE heart. She is wonderful. But after some furious texting amongst the classroom mamas, it was determined that neither Wal-Mart, Target, the Dollar Tree or Walgreens had any large-sized eggs remaining. THE HORROR.

I took a trip to Target and I found these guys.  They're medium-sized AND already-filled with candy (sorry parents!) eggs for $1/each.

SOLD.  I bought them. I only felt slight guilt. TEACHER FRIENDS, help me out - is close good enough? Are future big-kid school supply lists going to be the bane of my existence?

Some of the mamas definitely found the LARGE eggs.  Thankfully, this one was filled with stickers and tattoos.  

If this sounds complicated and ridiculous, well, I kind of think it is! I don't really enjoy driving around looking for specific items. I want to (as mentioned) DO WHAT I WANT.  I'll still share with the class!

In reality, though, I have to do it like once a year and, in his case, the parties are pretty minimal and always have something healthy in addition to the dreaded candy (that I usually toss after bedtime; wasteful perhaps...but not worth the fight of having it around). Honestly, I think the whole classroom party thing is more of a big deal when they are little-ish (speaking from NOT experience here) cause I can't imagine a bunch of pre-teen or teen parents picking out/crafting Valentine's or staying up late filling The Perfect Easter Egg.  (Yes? No? I imagine it being more like STOP TEXTING AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK GOD DAMMIT at that point.)

I definitely have been loving all the internet fuss about this post and agree with a lot of it, particularly the food related points. I especially agree with her ADDENDUM at the bottom. It's hard to say 'ENOUGH candy' to your child in a public setting when all the other kids are indulging. 

I will stop blathering now and say HAPPY EASTER whether your baskets are filled with Large, Medium OR Small eggs... glittered, plastic, real, stickered, money-filled, candy-filled or none at all! YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT. 

this is cute, right?

 

I have 10 posts scheduled for the next 10 days RIGHT HERE ON THIS BLOG.  

I know, right? 

GETTING MOTIVATED.

I am still editing some of them. 

In the meantime, enter our giveaway! 

It ends on Wednesday. 

Stay tuned for posts here, yea? 

1..2...3 FUNNY

For your Thursday entertainment:

1. Nora has been facetiming Elmo lately.  He seems LESS than pleased.  

 

2. Nora and her friend Waverly feeling the love on the swings. 

 

 3. Alternate title: COME GET MURDERED.  or perhaps MURDER WITHIN. 

Jumbled

THIS is a recent conversation with Nate:

Nate: Mommy, what should I kill the droids with?
Me: Kill them with kindness. 
Him: Nah, I think I have some grenades.

THIS is an example of a hand drawn Ninja Turtle mask, drawn with a blue marker just minutes before we left for the park.   



THIS is an example of what a soccer game in sub-zero temperature (OK fine it was like 34 but there were snow flurries!) does to a little boy who no longer naps (not even when he had the flu). 

GLORIOUS. 

To celebrate nap time, we hit up Playtime Pizza (Chuck E Cheeze on crack) on Saturday night. 

It. was. intense.

I'm an extrovert of a person but I don't handle that type of stimulation very well.  I needed to crawl under my covers, have a beer and listen to the silence (ok FINE I watched some bad TV and surfed Pinterest and Instagram). 

THIS is an example of a sweet girl who did not want to get out of the bath.  Can't say I blame her. 
 

She's been very talky as of late:  Mama, Dada, Nate, KIX, COAT, SHOES, SOCKS.  SHOES. BOOTS. SHOES MAMA SHOES.  Coat.  SHOES.  WANT DIS.  WANT DIS.  Eh eh eh eh.  SH-oooo-zzz.  (This is what shoes sounds like.)  She says several more words and phrases that ONLY a doting parent might recognize but the above are all pretty clear to everyone.  Additionally, she often strings together entire paragraphs of gibberish.  THIS makes us joke about how she sounds like the little Asian ladies at the nail salon.  It's pretty amazing. 

THIS is some yellow!   I've been working on my living room - you can see the full room here. 

Mostly, the days are passing quickly and I need to carve more time to record them!! 

we've made it to day 28

Courtesy of NatalieDee.com

Too dramatic?  

we've made it to day 27

Day 27 =

• Sister birthday - she's inching toward 30. 
• Cancelled soccer practice b/c of standing water on the fields; the cold wind was enough for me to want to cancel (though I don't think I can say that out loud as the coach, right?  My four and five year old players must be HARD CORE and never cry on the field, right?  Riiiiiight.) 
• Kindergarten tour (ew)
• Preperation for NK's combo 15/18 month doc appointment & vaccinations since I completely forgot the 15 month appointment.  Oops. 
• A call from school b/c Karl forgot to Sharpie label Nora's string cheese stick.  (Really when the phone rings with school's number a STRING CHEESE LABELING is not the first thing I think is happening!)
• A failed website target date for a client at work (Mostly my fault-ish?)
• An evening event at work tomorrow AND I have NOTHING to wear.  I feel a little end of February shopping spree coming on tomorrow morning!  Suggestions?  PIKO?!?!?  

Now, go brush your teeth and snuggle under your covers to watch Pretty Little Liars (Season 2, Episode 7 - what?  just me?).  It's time for BED! 

we've made it to (highly embarrassing!) day 20

Day 20 was not without its moments of peril.  

Ahem.  

Like when I picked the kids up today (after driving in the oh so lovely sleet) and was trying to get both of them and all their bags, coats, hats and lunchboxes out of their respective classrooms (we have a routine - I get Nora first and she and I walk across the hall to Nate's classroom to collect him) and Nate's preschool teacher said to me, "You're leaking" and, unthinking, I put a hand to my, uh, boobal area and awkwardly stared at my own chest for waaaaay too long before I realized she CLEARLY was talking about Nora's school bag, which was, in fact, leaking water from one of her sippy cups through the bag and onto the floor and NOT (so, so not) my boobs, which don't even produce milk anymore. Thankfully, we both looked at  each other and burst into laughter. Then, I turned about 8 shades of red and almost died of embarrassment.  Then we laughed some more.  (We laughed so loud Nate grabbed my arm and loudly whispered "BE QUIET MOMMY!" like a little angsty teenager.)  I think my face might be flushing right now as I tell you... followed by some more (only slightly deranged) laughter and maybe some more blushing.  Clearly, more sleep is needed.  JAYSUS.  

we have made it to day 19

For this week's Get Out of February Free activity we made mud pies. My child, who for the most part doesn't mind getting dirty, OBJECTED to touching the dirt (we had to water it to make mud).   I insisted he do so and provided him with some latex gloves (which we somehow have a whole box of - either from Nora's birth or from an emergency grocery store trip after the last time I got jalapeno juice in my eye... I can't remember). 

Anyway, all systems GO.   MUD PIES!! 

NK had less fear of the mud and dirt and put a big spoonful in her mouth. 

We dropped the gloves after a while:

So some one else had to try them out...

Together, busy at work...

The activity didn't last QUITE as long as I had hoped.  HOWEVER we then spent the next hour filling latex gloves with water, tying them up like balloons and throwing them at things to make them burst.   Now THAT was good times.

We are getting close, friends!  (To the end of February!) 

we have made it to day ten

Bam.

New, fun profile pic.

It was really FREAKING cold that day.  

(Thanks, as always, to the lovely and talented Christen Byrd for the photos.)

Photo for a little project Amanda and I have been working on (in our spare time!).  We are working on getting, like, words and photos on this site by March 1.  HOLD YOUR BREATH PEOPLE.  We have four kids, two husbands, three pets and four part time jobs (and some volunteer work here and there) between us.   

This is Amanda.  She's nice. 

We spend a lot of time saying (and emailing and texting), "We should do this!  NO!  We should do THIS!" 

You can totally tell we are freezing our asses off, right?

Karl also has a little project he has been working on as well.  You might notice they are related; we have a lot of cross-over consulting going on over here.  You know, again, in our spare time.  It's like, "Hey, can you change the baby's diaper? And, also do you like this image?  Can you help me write a product blurb/edit this image/build a launchpage/create a Facebook post? Oh, and don't forget to pick up Nate at 4:30 from your mom."    

THIS IS WHY WE ARE CRAZY.

(We will, uh, sleep when we're dead, yeah?) 

We have no idea what we are doing but it is FUN.  

we've made it to day six

So, it's six days into the dreaded month of February and we're all ALIVE AND WELL.

Day 1 started with a funeral (a sweet neighbor) so that wasn't so good.

But, since then, we've all been healthy (it's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE... one month later) and (relatively?) happy!

We even did some grooming!  (When you spend two weeks in pajama pants with small people coughing and sneezing all over you, grooming takes a back seat.   You should see my eyebrows.  They are still not recovered.)  

Nate's hair was OUT OF CONTROL in his eyes so we took him to get a cut and the stylist (do they get that title at the kiddo salon?) convinced us to get NK's mull trimmed as well.  We opted OUT of the first haircut package that comes with a commemorative lock of hair (I find this creepy).  For the record,  I have trimmed the back of her hair a few times but this was her first official cut - complete with clips and a blow dry.  Fancy, right?    



Let the H2T (head to toe) posing commence:

 Here's the back?  What do you think?  A little Twiggy-esque? 

 Moving right along....

NOT amused

Hanging out in the hallway with all the doors closed listening to the sweet, sweet January lullaby of tornado sirens.  I am not amused.

thems the breaks :: flu edition

Well.  It happened.  Our house was infected with the flu.  Well, half our house anyway.  (Thankfully, the dramatic half - me and Nate.)  We are hoping the Tamiflu (which costs millions of dollars and does seemingly nothing) helps to spare Karl and Nora. 

There's not a lot to say about grown up illness that is funny.  I definitely was at about 20% for about 5 days.  ALL I could think while I laid there moaning and shivering was PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let the kids get it.  I would call Karl at work and he'd be all, "How are you feeling?" and I'd be all, "IT DOESN'T MATTER.  The kids can not get THIS."  

I quarantined myself to the bedroom and by the end of the week we thought for sure K and the kids had gotten a pass-go-collect-200-dollars pass.  I was even attempting to enjoy my time alone (fever or not!) in bed by watching the entirety of Season 1 of HBO's Girls in one day.  But the flu is a tricky beast.  Right when we started to get a teensy bit confident, Nate woke up with a slight (very slight) fever Friday morning and I knew that was it.

It was so much harder than my worst nightmare about it.   Having a sensitive kid and having a sick kid don't mesh.  I am not downplaying the illnesses of the non-sensitive kids (some kids just sleep when they're sick, right?) but after hearing MY HAIR IS TOO HEAVY 14 times, I honestly wasn't sure we were going to survive.   (He also mentioned (several thousands of times) I DON'T LIKE IT. I DON'T LIKE IT and, once, oddly, MY TOES HAVE SPARKLES AND THEY HUUUUUUUUUUURT.) 

At one point, he was sitting on my lap in the bathroom crying and I'm pretty sure my heart shattered (a little piece fell off for sure), when he asked me if he "had gotten old" and was he going to die.  I MEAN REALLY.   What do you say to that?  For the record, I told him he was still 'new' - his word for young - and he was going to be fine.  (Not long after that we called our amazing ER pediatrician friend Jon to help talk us off the ledge of actually taking him in.)  

I haven't been to work in upward of forever and we still can't go to school tomorrow!  I know it's all thems-the-breaks kid but JAYSUS MARY AND JOSEPH MAKE IT STOP.  

weekending with the weekend

We made some copies of action figures:

Took a car nap or two:

Karl and I snuck away all day Saturday to go to the horse races in Hot Springs to celebrate a friend's 40th.  We won ZERO dollars betting and spent much more eating the famous corned beef sandwiches and drinking delicious bloody mary's.  I attempted to go out afterwards with the group but couldn't make it.   Day drinks aren't all they're cracked up to be these days, eh? 

Nora Kate attempted her first bike ride. 

We texted silly pics to far away family. 

We drank a little coffee. 

We bought a birthday gift for a friend (had to try it out first, make sure the webage worked):

"We" insisted upon spending our Sunday evening in this fancy getup (over our clothes).  Perfect for family dinner on the floor! 

Now the kids are in bed and I'm settling in for MASTERPIECE THEATER!  (So on the Downton bandwagon.  After a day of NFL playoffs Lady Mary and Mr. Crawley are a welcome change of pace.)

I have a little Sunday night anxiety going on so I'll leave you now to snuggle under my covers and pretend I don't have to go to work tomorrow.   

survival mode and champagne chardonnay

In no particular order, for your entertainment...  (or, really, for my own recollection)

We bought a new, smaller (cheap!) table.  We started to assemble it and it was missing so. many. pieces.  Took it back and splurged on a new, smaller (expensive!) table and some new (non-fabric -hooray for easy clean up!) chairs.  We're continuing the Great Purge of 2013 (we even rented a storage unit and filled it) in anticipation of (maybe?) selling our house.  Really, we have no idea.  We continue to look but nothing seems to fit.

Arlo (yes, we still have the dogs) continues to escape out of our backyard once a week or so despite our best efforts at repairing the fence OVER AND OVER AND OVER (and putting additional fencing inside the fencing).   Our neighbors (miraculously) continue to bring him home (though he just sits in the carport when he gets out so I don't know why they bother).

I was out of work for the break and yesterday my boss welcomed me back from 'vacation.'  HA!  Seeing as someone in our house was ill (I STILL feel subpar) or without power for the duration of the holidays, I had to laugh at her usage of the word vacation.  (Dear God, when can I have a vacation!?!)

Nora just got two new teeth (the vampire ones!) which explains her recent night-wakings and crankiness.  Remember how I said she was SUCH AN easy baby?  I TAKE IT ALL BACK.  She's like a little teenager in a 15 month old body!  She's obsessed with shoes and coats and clothes (but still straight up refuses bows and headbands).  I need to dedicate a post to her - her antics are HIGHLY entertaining as of late.

Nate continues his football obsession, though, recently, he has also been obsessed with pretend cooking.  I give him flour, sprinkles and various other ingredients from the fridge.  It's SERIOUSLY messy and SERIOUSLY disgusting (think sandwich meat meets orange juice meets water meets christmas sprinkles meets shredded cheese meets chile seasoning) but HIGHLY entertaining to watch.  I make Karl dispose of these little projects as I fear my gag reflex could not handle cleaning out some of the pans (they always go in the fridge to 'cook' when they are mixed).  I like to think it's a BONUS for when he arrives home after a long day at work.

Karl and I tried to go on a one hour sushi date while our 16 year old (boy) neighbor watched the kids.  Nora was already asleep and we set him and Nate up with some video games.  45 minutes and three phone calls later, we threw in the towel. (Picture me wine-gulping at the table - HA).  We did have several follow up drinks upon return (once Nate cried himself to sleep and we cleaned Nora's soaking wet (& later vomit-covered) sheets!).  GOOD TIMES!

We caught someone (a kid - seriously) trying to break into Karl's truck at 6:15 on Sunday morning.  The driver's side door lock is jacked up and it looks unlocked - clearly tricked this kid who set off the alarm and furiously pedaled away on his bike when the alarm went off.  Little did he know we'd be awake at 6:15 in the AM - though I'm not sure what good it did as he was halfway down the street on his bike by the time Karl got out the door.  MORE GOOD TIMES! 

We did NOT go to Tulsa for New Years as planned (See all above bullet points - you get the idea of the atmosphere around our house lately!  SURVIVAL MODE PEOPLE.)  But I did make Karl go get some champagne (actually it was something extra FANCY called Chardonnay Champagne because real champagne makes my head hurt simply by looking at the bottle).  We made it to midnight and played our favorite NYE in the City Game - Gunshots or Fireworks!?!? 

I have so many things I want to do in 2013.  My friend Amanda and I are working on a new little project/venture (in my spare time, right!?) and I can't wait to share all the details with you guys! We're having a photo shoot this weekend so details will definitely be sooner rather than later!!  Eeek!

gratutious snow photos from down south

Destructive yet pretty:

Attempt #1:

One of our favorite neighbors,  Mr. Joe and Ms. Doris, provider of MANY vanilla wafers (for NK) and many bank suckers and candy (for Nate), had their grandson in town from Mexico.  He had never seen snow.  It was awesome.   There was a not-intense snowball fight which, despite his 17 year old cool, I believe, he enjoyed immensely.  I forced him to take this photo so I could print it for his grandparents (I know, such A MOM move).   BUT COME ON:

She can't help The Cute:

 Snowman #2.  Much better.

Late night snot removal (steam shower) resulted in my eldest falling asleep on, uh, clearly NOT MY CHEST (or even really in my arms) because HE TAKES UP MY WHOLE BODY.  That foot down there on the right?  His.  How is it almost the same size as mine?!

My mind has already forgotten that I didn't feel 100% at this time.  SNNNNOOOOOW!! 

you guys. seriously. christmas was horrible.

Officially...Worst. Christmas. Ever.

Not in like the grand scheme of life but in the grand scheme of Christmases I have experienced in my 30 plus years of Chritmases, this one... JAYSUS. 

Mostly, I slept through the 48 hours that made us Christmas Eve and Christmas day, shivering crazily beneath piles of various blankets until it was time for my next dose of medicine to make me sweat it all out, gulp down some purple Gatorade and start the process all over again.  (Mostly hovering in the 100-1 range but topping the charts at 102 sometime in the wee hours of Christmas morning - who even gets a fever that high as an adult?  Maybe people do?)

I really thought Christmas and I had a truce going on in 2012.  I was a good little holiday girl - sent out the cards on time, had a lovely little cookie (&wine) party, made the neighbors little gifts, PUT UP A TREE.  (And, to be clear, enjoyed it all.)  I EVEN thought for a minute I might be swayed to be on Team Christmas as an adult after all...until THESE SHENANIGANS.   

Look, I'm not trying to BE DRAMATIC (clearly I am; no one has ever been sick before) but I think I was awake (like out of bed) three times Christmas Eve and day.

I attempted church Christmas Eve. (Fail; was back in bed within the hour.)  I also attempted to watch Nate (and Nora of course) open Santa gifts Christmas morning.  I am not going to lie to you here (sorry kids!) - I don't really remember this.  I know Karl dressed me in heavy blankets and planted me on the couch and that Nate was really, really excited but that's all I got.  (In case you were curious,  he received an Aaron Rodgers Packers jersey.)  My last words croaked as Karl hustled the kids out the door at 8 a.m. Christmas morning to go to his moms.  "Take some pictures."  Here's what I got.

(Right.  You are seeing NO pictures there.)

His dad came over later.  I slept.  Here are the pictures from that:

(Right.  Same same.  Nate got a scooter! I think.) 

Around 5 p.m.  Snow and sleet and ice are all happening, mostly with the ice.  Please remember this is technically a Southern blog and the South = unequipped to handle significant ice or snowfall (fact).  Our power went out we all panicked (read: I roused myself to put on pajama pants and tennis shoes and a snow hat!) and headed over to Karl's mom's house for lights! food! warmth! more christmas! (or, more sleep if you were in my situation).    One hour later her power went out.  Our neighbor texted - our street/house had been restored.  (He also unplugged our failed Christmas crockpot dinner and fed our dogs - thank you neighbors!)  Unfortunately, K's mom lives down some pretty steep roads and it was solidly sleeting/icing (apparently you could hear the trees snapping all night long - I slept through all that nonsense) so Karl decided it would be safer to stay.

We did not realize we would not be able to get out.   We had no milk and one diaper (PREPARED!) and they received an estimated power restoration time frame of 7 to 10 days.  

Day after XMAS:

I'm alive.  These tree branches, not so much:

Street to the left  (Apparently there was a firetruck trapped sideways somewhere behind these trees): 

Street to the right:

While he may NOT remember to take any photos of YOUR BABIES AT CHRISTMAS, Karl is kind of stellar in a crisis situation (deliver your babies unassisted, get you home safely in a blizzard - BACK OFF in the case of the zombie apocalypse please and thank you.)  

He hoofed it up this hill alone and found a random stranger (now friend?) to drive him to our house (they also dropped several other new friends off at various places).  He got our truck, parked it at the top of the neighborhood and we all hoofed it out in our pajamas.  (Ok FINE I was the only one in pajamas; Karl was in appropriate snow pants and boots.)   First trip - me and the kids; second trip - inlaws and their dog, sister-in-law and her 7 year old. 

We all squeezed in to our teensy, cozy house, ate a meal and crashed - well, Nate and I crashed down the street at our neighbors house.  (Due to the number of people to beds ratio in the house.)   Today,  we got sister-in-law's car out and the inlaws scored a hotel room for a few nights, so it's just us snuggled up warm and feeling thankful to be with power. 

And, honestly, even though it kind of sucked (Let's face it - sleeping through Christmas when your kids enjoy it most?  That kind of blows.) - in retrospect, I can't complain.  My fever is gone, everyone is safe and my kids are warm.   There are still 1,000s of people without power in Central AR (with crews working day and night to restore since Christmas day) so, if you are in AR and know someone who is cold, invite them over or bring them some warm food.  (If you are cold and reading this, this is your invite: COME OVER.)

Oh, and don't worry, I DID leave my sick bed long enough to iphoto shoot the children in the snow.  Images to follow... it's not every day we get snow MUCH LESS A WHOLE FOOT OF IT!   Nora's first snow!  Snow people all around!

That turned out much more lovey dovey than I intended.  Guess there is still some Nyquil pumping through this blood after all! ;)