Rough Tackle

First, let me assure you that no one was injured during this video (although Ben rolling over his neck makes me cringe every time I see it!).  Eric and the kids developed this game. It's basically the first thing the kids want to do when he gets home from work.  After you watch, you'll understand why I prefer to stay out of it!  It's a wonder there haven't been more injuries!

Bye bye, Ty.

my favorite picture of Ty

In a strange and unexpected turn of events, we had a rough night after a really fun afternoon.  I had noticed Ty hadn't really been eating the last day and a half, but otherwise seemed ok.  Even this afternoon he was outside on the deck in his usual spot watching in the door to see what the kids were up to.  But once we got outside he was clearly under the weather.  We brought him in with us this evening for some extra TLC.  He was acting very strangely, standing and falling, breathing very hard. 

He got lots of cuddles and loves from the kids.  Natalie wrapped him in one of her favorite pink fuzzy blankets, and we headed upstairs for a bath.  He seemed to perk up a bit; his eyes looked better and his ears were up.  I thought this was a good sign.  We heard a crash just as Natalie was getting into bed and I thought he had gotten into something in the kitchen, which oddly made me happy because I was thinking maybe that was a good sign.  Eric yelled for me to come down and we held him tight as he took his last few breaths.  Our best guess is that he had a heart attack.  

Tomorrow will be hard.  There are two little people who think their dog is sleeping soundly downstairs, sick but on the mend.  He will be missed.  Ty was a good dog; so gentle with the kids for a high-spirited dog.  I can still remember our first meeting with him almost one year ago when it was really Ben who decided he would be the dog we brought home.  In the morning we will bury our friend.  Our kids' first dog.  There will be tears and lots of reminiscing about happier memories: how he insisted on flipping all his food out of his bowl before he could eat it, how quickly he could tear the cover off a tennis ball, how he could fetch until your arm was too tired to throw anymore, how he was so nervous the day we brought him home but how quickly he fit into our family.

Good bye, friend.  

Snow Party

Another day this week, another several inches of snow in the forecast.  And, again they were right on.  The snow fell and fell and fell and the temperatures rose into the 30s, just right for being outside!  All told, I would guess 6-7 inches ended up in our yard, maybe 8?  I'm pretty bad at guessing and I forgot the yardstick inside.

Just as we were getting our winter clothes on (which is quite the process for one mom and two crazy kids), we had a knock at our back door and surprise visitors...Aunt Beth and Jack!

Ben still a little unsure about ALL the snow

Jack brought Lucy to play, too!

the remains of our beloved dirt hill, the one place in our yard to sled ride

love.

Ben just wanted to shovel.  The whole yard.

then we went to the lake to sled down the dam...it's a big hill!

Ben still working at snow removal

and, remember Natalie's snow eating problem?  Still an issue.

She can't be stopped.

Uncle Ronnie came for one pass down the hill

perfect snow for building a snowman

Masters of Disguise

We are avid hide-and-seek players at our house.  It is a team sport, Ben usually just gets to hide or just seek because otherwise he loses interest.  Today we played.  I was seeking.  The kids were hiding together.  I could hear giggling coming from our bedroom (and the voice of a talking helicopter Ben has, which he was hiding with and pushing his "talk" button).  When I walked in the room, this was their hiding place.  They were both under there together, just as proud as can be of their spot.  (I should probably tell you that the blanket had been folded neatly at the foot of the bed, making it that much more obvious.)

Thank you, Mother Nature!

Much appreciated was the winter weather respite we got this weekend.  A full afternoon of playing outside in jackets and sunshine was just the cure for cabin fever.

Hard to believe that just the day before we were bundled up in winter coats and long underwear, playing in snow....

Snow!

We have had enough of being cooped up inside.  Today we bundled (the wind had died down enough, too), and headed outside to take advantage of the snow before this weekend's forecasted temperatures melt it all away.

Did you ever wonder what a Princess-wannabe wears to play in the snow?

Now you know.

snow angel

Ty was so happy for the outside company

East Coast friends...don't be jealous of all our snow!

Natalie has a snow eating compulsion.  She can't be stopped.  I have counseled her on 

selecting snow with no footprints, on choosing snow where there is no grass showing through, and still she eats any snow she can get her mittens on.  

shoveling it in

collecting ice on the trampoline

handsome boy

trampoline running is just as much fun in winter

but the falls are twice as hard

more ice collecting

the best part of snow play?  Hands down, great excuse to have hot chocolate!

Cookie Sunday

Looking for something to do on a cold, rainy Sunday we finally decided on baking cookies and turned to the pantry to assess our options.  We found a box of cookie dough that produced 2 different colors of dough.  We decided that this is basically edible play-doh, and created away!

ready for baking

so serious

Ben didn't really get it, but was having a great time flipping dough all over the place

We smashed all his into a multi-colored ball (just like he does with his play-doh) and produced the marble colored cookies below

you  might be able to spot Mickey, Minnie, 2 snakes, a bunny, snowman, heart, flower, football, and at least 3 mice.  Some of them are a little easier to identify than others.

Here's the bottom line: cookie baking is a success if it (1) passes an hour or two (2) at least one person gets to eat excessive amounts of uncooked dough--and in this case there were no eggs, so bonus! and (3) we haven't eaten too much dough that our appetite for baked cookies is spoiled.  Win, win, win.