Snow Day

Today was a SNOW DAY.

Here is the sight which greeted me this morning.

Although I've been told TWICE that sleeping right under windows is

bad feng shui,

I don't care.

I have lots of flying dreams and I think it's because I sleep this way.


I love the native Utah Gamble Oak, especially when there's snow on it's bare branches.

The shapes are simply . . .


I have a canyon community.

We represent the die-hards who go up the canyon
in ALL types of weather
and at ALL times of the day or night.

This is Charles.
Today he hiked to Squaw Peak.
A little white stuff didn't stand in his way.

This is Squaw Peak,
in case you don't do links.

Okay.
It's an abstract.

Photoshop helps you to see things you wouldn't otherwise see.

For example,
I wanted to see if today was just a black, grey and white sort of day . . .

. . . or if there was some color.

Bring up the color saturation of a photo and voila!

There definitely IS color and it turns out that snow has some awesome blue tints.

But I do like the canyon in it's raw format.
Especially in the winter.

There's a quiet beauty
which draws you in.

"Come on!"
cries Chica.

I'm on my way!

The Plug-in Drug

I did lots of things WRONG as a parent. Like, having a quick temper. Sometimes, a VERY quick temper. (I swear it was stress. I was a single mom running a child care center, worried for twenty years about the daycare going under - with good cause.) Anyhooo, I'm going in a different direction . . .

Here and there, I did something RIGHT.
Like, I limited television. Not total abstinence, mind you, but very close.

I know that it's hard to resist at times.
After all, it's the cheapest and most convenient babysitter in town.

However,
you get LESS of THESE kinds of activities when the t.v. takes over:

Dancing

(Arian & Leah)

Outside Play
(Arian & Leah, again.)

Creative Play
(Leah & Kelty)

Activities Which Take Concentration

(Kelty)

Projects Which Take A Very Long Time

(Arian & friend, turning my garage into a space simulator.
It took three or four years.)


After surviving a gzillion tantrums over my stance on television,
I notice that my kids are going in the same direction.

Tee hee!

Being at Leah's home,
I was reminded of the benefits of curtailing the use of the plug-in drug.

Creativity flourished.

These kids hopped all over the house, tied together.
It kept them going for quite a long time!
(Marnie, their friend, is the tall brunette in the middle. My daughter only produces blondes.)


And then there's DRAMATIC PLAY.

I enjoyed several fine episodes of theater productions and . . .

Dancing.

Put on the music and these girls dance their hearts out.

It's always different and always fun.

And then there's MAKING STUFF.

In this case, Avery made a rocket ship and it evolved into some spectacular dramatic play.

Here's Brinley with a snake she made from some clay I got at the dollar store.
ONE DOLLAR can go a long way!


Three cheers for life beyond television!
(and computers and smart phones and iPods, etc.)

In my last post, I neglected to add the shot of baby Reese, Leah, and Grandma Ginger, taken after her baby blessing.

She was blessed to become a peacemaker.

Leah is thrilled about that!

In Ohio with Baby Reese

This wee cherub - Ms. Resse - provided ample motivation to go to Ohio.

What is it about holding a baby?

Unquestionably, it enlivens the soul.

Perhaps all wars would cease
if every adult on the face of the earth would hold a baby for ten minutes a day.

What do you think?


All three of the elder sisters absolutely adore their baby.

The eldest, Brinley, is actually a first-rate mother's helper,

at the mature age of 8.

Leah bounced back from this birth like a schoolgirl on a pogo stick.
I had such a delightful time with her.

Here she is wearing a baby wrap made by my goddaughter Paige,
who happens to be Leah's beloved friend.

My job was to entertain the older munchkins and brush up on my cooking skills.

The entertaining part was hardly a chore!

These little gals are absolutely FEARLESS.

Miss Avery, age 5, will try anything. . .

. . . like rolling downhill at a terrific speed, collecting a face full of snow.


One evening, we headed to an indoor community pool with a lazy river.
I didn't bring the camera, so I'm recycling last year's trip to the same destination.
Is that cheating?

On a weekday afternoon, I had the privilege of taking the gals to Dr. JoJo, their pediatric dentist.

It was the first time for little Aspen and she wanted to hold my hand the ENTIRE TIME.

She had a very willing grandma.

Dr. JoJo has the world's best selection of prizes for brave little children -
about 20 drawers worth!

I felt honored that Brinley wanted me to join her for school lunch.

We did the exact same thing when Baby #3 was born.

Baby #3 is the same little tadpole who's leaning in towards me during this story time shot.

I absolutely loooooooove STORY TIME!

But when I was a mom, I remember executing merciless on-the-spot editing
when I was bushed.

Nowadays, I an stretch out those story books for a long, long time
. . . and enjoy every minute of it.


The three big sisters have been sleeping in one bedroom,
just like my kids did.


They seem to like being together at night and I relished getting to tuck them in.

Then, after the lights were out, came the very best part of the evening . . .

traveling to MAKE BELIEVE LANDS.

You can have countless adventures, as long as you have a
MAGIC CARPET!


I'm gonna miss those whippersnappers
their dear mom (especially their dear mom!)
the new baby
Kelty who arrived on Thursday to take my place.


Something I will not miss: the Ohio slate-grey skies.


Utah skies are full of drama.

In fact, here's the sunset shot I took twenty minutes ago, from the living room window:

Such exquisite beauty is a consolation. Sort of.