Yesterday my mom-in-law took the boys for the day.  It was So. Quiet.  I spent the morning fruitlessly trying to make some blog changes; oh, how I wish for knowledge!  I’m so un-tech savvy that it’s frustrating.  Blah.  I’m trying to add some buttons in my sidebar to no avail, amongst other things.

However,  I did spend a few good hours in the afternoon watching Cosby Show reruns-my mom bought a cd of the 6th season at Borders a couple of weeks ago.  I had forgotten why I loved that show so much!  What a classic.  We don’t have tv (well, cbs and pbs with the rabbit ears) so we don’t watch  many shows.  I don’t feel as if I’m missing out on much, but I would love to get the Cosby Show on dvd in it’s entirety!  Also, I started a new artsy project that I’m pretty pumped about.  I’m almost finished; once I can add a few final touches and take some pictures, I’ll post it.

Dad had to be *towed* out of a pothole yesterday.  Towed!  I swear, you could disappear into some of the potholes around here!  Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw.  That’s all we’ve done lately.  Here’s a picture taken last week.  Fortunately it’s rained a bit, so we’re a few inches lower…but can you believe this?!

Come on Spring!

Time to get busy. 

Just have to jot these down before I forget! Ry was full of funny stuff yesterday and I’m already struggling to remember. So here goes:

One of my favorite snacks is a spoonful of peanut butter with a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. Ry has a spoonful with me occasionally, but most of the time I just give him one chocolate chip on top. Yesterday I was feeling generous and gave him three. He looked at the spoon and exclaimed “That’s like a thousand chocolate chips!”

Sitting on the kitchen floor with an apple slice; “I have an idea! I will have a picnic by myself!”

“I’m a kid so I can go ’round and ’round in circles!”

“Momma, can I go to Grammy’s today?” (Nope, says I). “Ok. I will drive myself to Grammy’s house in momma and daddy’s car, and you can chase me in Nonnie and Papa’s car”.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Grandma M took both boys today, so mom and I dropped dad off at work and took off to Bangor in order to stave off the stir-crazies. Our day involved a Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee, a Cinammon Dolce Latte at Starbucks, and a plain ol’ Seattle’s Best at Borders. Hehe. I’m fully dehydrated so I’m trying to catch up with my water consumption this evening. (Keep in mind each stop was only one coffee shared between the two of us-we aren’t that addicted). We window shopped quite a bit and enjoyed a fun girlie day together. I’m so glad we decided to get out, because another storm is upon us meaning we’ll probably be socked in for a few days again. Highly likely that the guys will have another snow day tomorrow, leading me to believe that they might go to school clear through summer break…

Well, time to hit the hay. I have a good book to delve into, and ya know there isn’t much better than ending the day in a warm bed with a good read!

Saturday mom and dad whisked me away early in the morning on a birthday trip; it’s not until Wednesday (the bday) but the forecast looked decent so we decided to take advantage. My darling Erick watched the boys-I was ready to cover a good portion of the state, which would probably have driven the boys bonkers!

It was cold. After we hopped in the car we figured it was around 15 degrees, only to drive by the bank and realize it was a whoppin’ 3 Fahrenheit! It was beautiful though. These are a couple of pictures mom took out of the window on the interstate:

I have to say, though…I’m tired of the snow. It has been a lovely winter-the snowstorms have actually been beautiful, and it tends to hover above freezing quite a bit, so we don’t have piles and piles of the white stuff like we would if it were colder. Methinks, though, that I’m ready for warmer weather.

First stop was Dunkin Donuts, then onto Freeport. We browsed LLBean and hit up a fabric shop then shot on up to Bath. I have come to love Bath. They have a great downtown; good shopping and fantastic eats. I purchased a pair of earrings and a little bird figurine at Tintypes (a must stop), and we decided to eat at Beale Street BBQ, which was one of the most fantastic decisions of the day. I had the shredded chicken on jalapeño cornbread with fries. If I hadn’t of had my scruples about me I would have licked the plate. Seriously. It was that good. I tasted some of mom and dad’s beans and coleslaw, and I’m telling you-I’ve never been a coleslaw fan until last Saturday. And the beans…Oh! Serious kudos to Beale Street. I can’t wait to go back.

If that weren’t enough, we made a stop at Marnee’s and partook in some award-winning cookies. They are going to be featured on Rachel Ray this week; very cool. I had the chocolate chip and toffee cookie. Out of this world, people.

All in all, a culinary delight of a day!

Oh, but we did make a final stop in Wiscassett and visited Smitten and Rock, Paper, Scissors, another two must-stops of mine. And then ate Nacho Cheese Doritos on the way home. Hehe. Too full for anything else.

Well, there ya go. Another Plop…in goes a hairbrush, hand salve, and toothbrush holder. To the toilet. Compliments of Jack. Time to go!

I was considering blogging on laundry until I read the latest post from my dear motivator this morning…she beat me to it! It’s well worth the read if you need a kick in your pants. As for myself? I’ve tried the energy saving load after load after load, but I just can’t do it. So I shall be conquering my mountain and then doing a load every morning. Or two. Depends on how many times I have to change the boys’ clothes in a given day…

I’ve also decided I need more structure in my life. I’m quite the free spirit and have never been a scheduler, but it’s high time I get into a routine. Once Erick goes back to school tomorrow (snow day today!) I’m ready to give it a go. Anyone have a good routine going for them?

Speaking of snow days…WOW! I’ve never seen this much snow in my life. Easy seeing as though I’m originally from the southwest, but still. Heard this morning that December was practically a record for the great state of Maine; to give you an idea, in 2006 we had 3 inches in this area. December 2007? 42! Inches! I’m including a few pictures, taken this morning:

I feel a sudden urge to head outside and go sledding. If I had one, that is. I’ve never been sledding, although I tried skiing once; it was a 12 year old birthday present from my parents. And I nearly knocked myself out, missing one of those big ol’ poles that holds up the ski lift by mere inches. (My mind must have been wandering during the instructions not to hold your skis in a straight line unless you want to go really, really fast!) Blur, I tell you! Everything was a blur until I barreled into a snow bank and my skis popped off! Ha. Come to think of it, I was once trapped under a sailboat when it capsized during a windy day. So maybe sports involving any kind of moisture are just not my thing. I think I’ll skip the sledding and stick to a cup o’ joe by the fire instead.

I have to admit that today is the first time I’ve been irritated at the snow. It’s been falling steadily since, well…mid-November (albeit with a few breaks in between), but today it has knocked our New Years Eve plans upside down and backwards. We are left with a family eager to bust out of the house, and no help for it!

If it does decide to taper off, we’ll head to Freeport and partake in an LL Bean celebration. If not, I’m not sure. We’ll just have to get creative. In the meantime, I figured this morning would be as good a time as any to get some Christmas memories posted. There is a bit of a silver lining to this unexpected free time…

Nothing changes Christmas like having children that are old enough to be excited about it. I woke up at 5 am and was too eager to go back to sleep! Ironically enough, the boys slept in until a little after 6. Ry woke up and wanted to see Santa but had to settle for the loot. Erick and I bought the boys one co-present this year-a Little Tykes slide to help burn off the energy. Turns out it was a great buy. Since we will be in a house soon (Oh yes, we will!) Erick bought me a crock pot and coffee maker, and mom and dad gave us a Bed Bath and Beyond gift certificate. I decided to get creative for my hubby, and with dad’s help built a magnetic board for his classroom. I’ll post pictures of everything at the end of the blog, because I’m not quite computer-savvy enough to fit them in the midst of the paragraphs yet! All in all, it was a lovely day to celebrate Jesus arriving here on earth.

Hmmm…just checked the weather and there is a possibility that the snow will taper off soon. I best get myself to the shower just in case we can join in the revelry down south. I have so much more to post-I’ve been writing blogs in my head for a week or two; I think they’ll have to wait for another day, though.

Happy New Years Eve, and Be Safe!

(Papa helping Jack down the slide-he’s a pro now and can do it himself!)