Playing in the Snow: A Glimpse of Us

The snow has arrived. The weather is pretty chilly. However, I am not sure you are going to hear any complaints from our crazy crew.

While I still rather dislike being cold, these boys we are raising are going to be full blown winter loving kids.

I mean, seriously?! This kid is laying face down in the snow. FACE DOWN!

They all just bundled up and stayed out there for awhile. Only to be joined by me for a quick photo session.

Even Bean got in on the action. This is the first year he is really big enough to go out there with just brother supervision. He loved it. We had to bribe him with hot cocoa to get him to come in. We pretty much had to bribe all of them with hot cocoa.

Pretty sure this snow shovel is three times his size. That didn't stop him from pushing it around the yard.
 

When they all came in with rosy cheeks and cold noses, they shed all of their winter gear into a giant heap on my kitchen floor. I stood their looking back and forth between the huge mess on my floor and their happy faces. I decided, who the heck cares about the mess. These kids are creating some pretty amazing memories. Memories of time together.

Memories of growing up where it snows.

As a momma, I couldn't ask for more than that.

In a Nutshell: Not Ready

Thursday last week I came upstairs about mid morning, passed a window and then gasped.

"Is that SNOW???" I horrifyingly thought.

Why, yes, yes it was. Ugh.


I was warned it snowed here. Snowed a lot. Snowed early. Snowed for months. I thought I was prepared. Alas, I wasn't.

The snow continued all day. What started with a dusting and ended in a good white blanket of snow.

I was too in shock the first day to pull out the kid's snow clothes (at least I had some right...well we were missing one pair of snow pants and a pair of gloves, but we improvised). Instead we cuddled inside and had popcorn for lunch and grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner.

However, the next day when the snow was still liberally covering the ground, I couldn't hold them off any longer.

That much snow and you have to try to make a snowman.

Obviously the boys and their friend were undaunted by the snow. In fact they were ecstatic.

When the snow melted by Saturday they were a little bummed. I could with confidence tell them that the snow would be back.

Welcome to Idaho. Welcome to a long winter!!! I am gonna need warmer socks and some long underwear.

Little Man Winter Hat Tutorial

Every Little Man needs a rockin' hat to keep his head warm and toasty. Tired of the same old plain $1 beanie you find at The Mart? Sad because you don't know how/don't have the time to knit an awesome one yourself?

Well friend, this tutorial is for you.

Simply take yourself to The Mart or any other place that sells these for a buck or two.

Gather your fabric paint, freezer paper, old t-shirts,  and embroidery floss...

Decide what you want on your tough guy's hat. I picked a skull and a random number.

Trace those onto the paper side of freezer paper.

Cut out your shape with a razor blade/exacto knife. Then iron on your stencil where you would like it. Keep in mind to leave room at the bottom for your t shirt strips.

Paint. I use Tulip permanent fabric paint. Apply a couple of coats. Allow paint to sit for about 30 minutes. Remove stencil, carefully since your hat will stretch. Then let your hats dry for the recommended time (about 4 hours).

Cut strips from your t shirts, mine ranged from 1/2 to 1 inch.

Once your paint has dried. Pin and sew your strips on. To help the whole rough and tough look, use a variety of stitches and let it get a little wonky. As you sew, stretch your hat slightly so as to not loose the stretch of the knit. I also bought an adult sized for my boys, but their heads are huge. I would just recommend buying the hat a little big.

Continue to add rough touches by stitching on x's or straight stitches with coordinating embroidery floss. The more random the better. 

Now plunk it down on your Little Man's noggin'.

And you will find they can be cool and warm at the same time...hehehe.

Linking up here:

30 days: Pity Party

Kojo Designs: Fun Friday Finds

Fingerprints on the Fridge: Feature Yourself Friday

Creation Corner: Friday: Linky Party

Blustery Day and a New Camera

We had a blustery "snowy" day a couple of days ago. We didn't get tons of snow, but nevertheless the boys wanted to play in the snow. We bundled them all up and headed out. They were super cute to watch and it gave me time to try out our new camera...I am still pretty much just using auto function so nothing fancy, but you don't really need fancy with boys as cute as we have.