More sledding!

We have so much fun together as a family. I love it! Today we found a new sled hill behind our house. Everyone was very brave and had a great time.

Surrounded by snow but still panting. I don't think Winnie knows what it means to be cold.

Dylan being a goofball!

Drew and I on a run together. I'm very impressed with Holli's photography skills!

Get out of the way Chewy! Drew and Dylan on a run.

Saturday!

Oh boy! Saturday was full of FUN! We started the day off with a Breakfast birthday party. I think that is such a great idea and may borrow it this summer! We then headed to the dog park without the dogs. We did have our sleds! The dog park has some pretty nice sled hills. After sledding we went to the Rec Center for rock climbing and swimming. We were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Dylan is ready for sledding!

Holli and Drew breaking the sound barrier!

Holli making her way up the rock wall.

Ringing the bell at the top!

Dylan making his way up the wall.

Today we're taking it kind of easy at home. We'll head out back for a few runs on the sled.

Room Sharing

Holli and Dylan recently decided they want to share a bedroom. Yesterday, Dylan and I got to work rearranging things. We made the pink room the bedroom and the blue room the playroom. Dylan doesn't seem to mind sleeping in a pink room. Last night was their first night together and they did great! Hopefully this will last a little while. I think it will be easy to keep the bedroom clean so we'll only have to worry about the playroom. None of us like to clean so the fewer messy rooms the better.

Home of Hope

Apparently I've been snoring for the past few nights. Maybe I have a cold coming on? Drew is a light sleeper so this is a problem for him. The kids offered for me to sleep with them so Daddy could get some sleep. Sunday night I slept with Dylan (he says he never heard me snore).

Normally Dylan sleeps with his door open but since I was in there he wanted the door closed and all of the lights off. I woke up in the middle of the night freezing. We don't use the heaters in the kids rooms very often because they cost a fortune and we have a wood stove just outside their rooms. With the heat off and the door closed his room became an ice box. All I had to do was get up and turn on the heat but I didn't want to get out from under the covers. So, I continued to be cold the rest of the night. In the morning I got up and poured myself a cup of hot coffee. (I always get the coffee ready the night before and set the timer so it's ready as soon as I get up.) I told Drew how cold I was last night and feeling sorry for myself.

Later on that day I was reading the blogs I like to keep up with and came across a website for an orphanage in Malawi. Malawi has had a special place in my heart ever since visiting there 15 years ago. This orphanage cares for over 600 children who have no parents and no family to care for them. I was beginning to feel less sorry for myself... I could have just turned on the heat. Who knows how many have been abandoned and are living on the streets or in a dump?

After I warmed up Dylan and I jumped in the car and headed to the store to make a care package to send to the Home of Hope in Malawi. We got band aids, antibiotic ointment, Tylenol, soap, tootsie rolls, silly bands and workbooks for the kids. When we got home we looked through our books and picked out a few to add to the box. Dylan looked in his closet to see if he had any shirts that he could send but he couldn't find any. He tried.


We had fun putting the care package together and it felt really good. Hopefully we'll do more of these. I think it's good for our kids to know what's happening in other parts of the world and it's not the end of the world if they can't have a candy bar or new toy. Holli and Dylan do go to bed hungry sometimes but it's not because we don't have any food... it's because they chose not to eat what was offered.

Good Reads

I've recently started to get back into reading. After having kids it was hard to find the time to sit down and read. At night I was too tired and during the day I was busy with the kids. Last fall I joined a neighborhood book club. This got me reading again and I love it. I also recently got a Kindle which I love. The Kindle makes it so easy to get new books without waiting. I also really like not having old books sitting around. There are a few books that I like to keep but for the most part I just don't like the clutter.

I wanted to share a couple of books that I really enjoyed. If anyone else has a book recommendation I would love to hear it.

City of Thieves is a great story that takes place during WWII. Not at all a boring history book (sorry, Dad). I don't think I would have ever picked this book on my own but it was chosen for book club and I loved it.

My Mom suggested the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series a few years ago but I just recently started reading them. I've been reading this series in between my book club books. I think there are 11 books in the series and I'm on number 4. These books are so fun! Precious Ramotswe is such a fun character and is always making me laugh.

Happy reading!

Snowdown 2010

A blast from the past. Last years Snowdown Cat Costume Contest. Snowdown will be here in just a few short weeks. We need to come up with a winning costume.

Happy New Year!

Wow! It's 2011 already. 2010 was a busy year... we moved back to Durango, bought a new house, Drew went back to work at LPEA. We were all happy and healthy in 2010 and I hope 2011 is another great year.

We spent New Year's Eve with some great friends. We had a Studio 54 party and it was so much fun!