Cabin fever...

We have had below 0 temps for the last 3 mornings and the highs maybe 15 or so.   To say we have had our fill of the cold is an understatement.  Love the snow (when it's not frozen solid) but the bitter cold can now leave and it wouldn't hurt our feelings.

Some people have kept themselves busy to fight the cabin fever that has set in.  There has been lots of fort building going on.  I had to hide a few blankets just to have something to wrap up with on the couch in the evening.  It's a little hard to eat at the dining room table when all the chairs are part of the fort you know.  There was even an attempt to camp out in the creation one night but that only lasted an hour before the floor got way to uncomfortable for the girls liking.

Lots of crafting, game playing and working on puzzles have been going on along with a bit of quilt finishing.  Em has been dragging around her finished polka dot quilt the past two days like it's been sewn onto her some how.  It's her favorite by far.

Especially since it has bunny polka dot fabric for the binding.  Two of her most favorite things.  Can it get any better than that?  Em thinks not.

~*~

It's cold...

It's cold outside.  0 degrees this morning.  I'm going to stay inside all day and keep myself warm.  Maybe I'll work on my little pile of blocks that sits patiently just waiting to become a full blown quilt.  I might even throw in a little hockey time (finally!!!) on the TV in between.

~*~

Winter...

Beautiful sunsets

and spectacular hoar frost that looks like winters leaves.

~*~

Weekend...

This weekend was no ordinary one to say the least.  

It started out pretty good with having great friends over on Friday and enjoying the whole afternoon with yummy food, laughter and good ole' hanging out with each other.  A fabulous way to start the weekend in my book.

Then the evening came.  Glenn came home saying "something is wrong with the truck".  Fabulous!  Just what anyone would want to hear.  After a long phone call with my brother-in-law who is a master mechanic and who can figure out exactly what is wrong with your vehicle just by asking a few questions and listening to the absolutely moronic sounds that you can make while trying to explain what is going on with your vehicle (he's never been wrong so far), he came up with one of two things.  Battery or alternator.  Fabulous again!  Especially since my most talented brother-in-law lives a 1200 miles away from us.  (Note to self, I must convince him to move near us one day.)  Dollar signs were running through my head and made me sicker than a dog so I went to bed early.

The next day after debating if we should go to the mechanics on Monday, I decided I can do it myself.  And save a lot of money.  So one battery changed and still having problems, the alternator was bought at the parts store with minutes to spare before closing.  More phone calls were made to my fabulous brother-in-law to go through the run down on how to tackle the alternator.  The next day the alternator was changed with a wee bit of help of a mighty nice friend (who helps with all our (my) weird projects around here) in less than 30 minutes.  Next time I'm doing it all by myself, serious.  Piece of cake!  I'm not even waiting for Glenn to get home.

So now that all of the necessary things have been completed on this fine and wonderful Monday (dinner is even complete), I will be hunkering down in my craft room so that I can start working with this wonderful stack of fabric that has been staring at me for a whole month now.  I think it's time well deserved.

And yes, I am tooting my own horn.  I know my Dad is looking down at me right now with the biggest smile on his face.  Heck, I'm pretty pleased with myself  at the moment.

Toot Toot!!!!

~*~

Love it!!!

The girls were able to get out and do some real work on Tuesday with the snow that fell the day before.  They just had to be patient long enough for the snow to melt just enough so it would start sticking together.  It was pure torture.  But once they got outside they were busy little bees working from lunch time till the sun went down.  Dedication.  Pure dedication to make up for lost time in their eyes.  They were making the most of the time that was in front of them.

At bit of rolling here.

Making things just right.

And before long, a pretty substantial snowman was in the back yard.

He's thinking about why people find it so funny to throw his DNA around at each other.  Yeah, the girls read too much Calvin & Hobbes.

Then there was the one that got caught in the quick snow.

They worked their little hearts out until there were a good five or six snow "creations" all about the yard.

So here we are with today.  We got a another inch last night.  Not much more was to be expected.  One trip had already been made to shovel the driveway and sidewalks.  And we thought we were done.  Then as soon as we got inside, took all the warm clothes off, things began to happen again.  There's more out there now than what came down last night and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.  The girls asked for snow and they are getting it now.  I must admit that I'm loving all the pretty white stuff all over everything right now.  I could sit for hours just watching it.

To say the girls are slightly excited right now is an understatement.

~*~

Distractions...

We have certainly been distracted here today with the beautiful snow that is falling outside.  School work isn't getting accomplished as fast as it normally does.  And going to bed late due to watching Downton Abbey doesn't help either.  :)

There's a few peeks outside to watch the birds gather in the trees over in other yards.

Checking to see how much "powder sugar" is covering the trees.

Watching it accumulate on the other side of the craft room window.

And every once in a while I will go to the back door, open it and just stand there to watch it fall and listen to the snow hitting things as it comes down.

So peaceful.

 I will have to focus later today as to which one of these pretty fabrics will be the backing of the two small little projects that I started the other day.  I'm only giving myself a couple more days to have them finished.  I've got more things to do on my list.  :)

It's so hard to stay focused on snowy days.  At least for me.

~*~

Lists...

Every once in a while I sit and think about how I want things to happen around here.  It usually happens when I get away from what works for me and things just get a bit wacky through out the day to day happenings.  

Lists are very important for me.  I admit it.  They keep me sane, whatever that may be for me.  They let me breathe.  Without them I feel scattered and often think about what did I actually get done for the day.  Then that just gets me thinking if I really accomplished anything for the day.  Makes me a bit crazy.  It's a vicious cycle to deal with.  Especially for me when I get so many things running through my head all at once.  It can get pretty wild up there.  There are pads of paper, strategically placed, just waiting patiently around for when the craziness strikes within my head.

So after dealing with that craziness here lately,  I pulled my trusty notebook out from the pile it was sitting on top of and started jotting down what I wanted and needed to get done for myself.  There is something about seeing things written down for you to see.  Kind of holds you accountable in a weird way.  At least for me.  So with the list right in front of my face, I went to work.

I cranked out a little blanket for my niece that she desperately needed for her princess "baby".  You should have heard that sweet little voice asking if I could make one for her.  Yes, I melted.  And then to hear her squeal when I said yes, I melted again.  I could just squeeze her in a big ole' hug.

Then I started working on a couple of small projects that may just be presents to be put away for next Christmas.  I know, CRAZY!!!  I was feeling pretty dang great about that idea!  I may just stick with it.

Then the big thing on the list.

Learn how to properly use this contraption below.  I've always dealt with point 'n shoot cameras.  Nothing of this caliber.  Poor thing has been sitting around since August when Glenn got his new camera.  Just patiently waiting for me to get my act together.  I would move it out of eye sight so I wouldn't feel so guilty about not using it.  I swear someone would sneak into my craft room from time to time and move it back just so I had to look at it.  And then it would get moved out of sight again.  Back and forth, back and forth.  So I had to stop this messed up little game.  I suspect that there is a sneaky little gremlin in this house that is pretty happy right about now.

So today is the day when I take at least an hour a day and put it into becoming friends with this new fangled thing.  Glenn was even kind enough to take some books out of his collection for me to read and work with.  

I even came up with the wild hair idea to get up waaaaay early tomorrow in the crazy single digit temps and try to get the sunrise at one of my most favorite spots about an hour away.  To say that Glenn is super excited is a bit tame.  He loves doing insane things like that.  He thinks he may have a new photography buddy here.  We'll just have to see how tomorrow pans out.  I just haven't told the girls that they will be getting up also to tag along with us.  Aren't I a nice Mom!

~*~