It's a Snowman kind of day

We've had plenty of snow to tide us over for a while.  30+ inches and it just keeps coming.  If you're into winter sports, well this is the year to really enjoy that activity.

I haven't done much this winter, other than shoveling and throwing some salt in our driveway.  My son wants to build a snowman but the snow we've had is so powdery, it's just not the right consistency for snowman making.  It's actually nice, I think.  But to a 2 year old, all he wants to do is make some snowballs and a snowman.

Taking a walk in the neighborhood

The small storm we got last night has sent us the gift of really wet, heavy snow.  Horrible for shoveling, but perfect for snowman making.  Oh boy, oh boy... My boy will be so surprised and happy.

Unfortunately he's spending his day at school, so hopefully they get to play in the playground and make some snowballs, or something like that.

My Earthkeepers



I bought a pair of snazzy boots through a friend's employee store, and I was first excited for the amazing deal.  But after having these wowzer boots, all I can say is WOW... what have I been waiting for all these years? Thankfully we are amidst another snowy day here in NH and I'm able to wear this boots for a 2nd day, and boy-oh-boy, my feet feel great! 

I've own a pair of snow boots since I was, say, 15 years old.  Back when my Mom would say: "Make sure you buy a size bigger because your feet are probably still growing."  And so I did, buying a size I thought my feet would someday fill. 

Fourteen years later, I still have those boots, and they're still as size too big.  So I went on a search for some decent boots that FIT and kept my feet warm and dry. 

I heard about these boots and I was immediately on board.  My feet could not be happier, especially when I'm scuffing through slushy snow on a day like today.

I hope to get possibly 14 years out of these boots, just like my cheap 'stormer' boots that I bought when I was 15.

Do you have boots that you love just as much?  Or are you still wearing old Stormers like I had been wearing.  If you are... you need to check into these Earthkeepers!  It's well worth the price!

The Friendly Neighbor

We recently inherited a new kitty.  She's a sweet little girl, about a year old.  She found our house the week of Christmas, and since then, she hasn't left.  I don't mind so much, and neither does my husband or kid.

We waited to see if a nearby neighbor was missing a kitty.  She was just the cutest thing, she must have a warm and loving home somewhere, right?

Weeks have passed and our cute little kitty has a new name.  We've named her Piper and it suites her just fine.  However she's developed another little thing... she's in heat.  Great. 

I knew this would be happening, as I had taken her to the vet a few days after she came to us.  Since we already have one cat at home, I needed to make sure things were going to be considerably healthy in our home.  Piper ended up being a very healthy cat, with some fleas, and hadn't been spayed.  So I knew this moment would come soon.  However, I hadn't really know what it was going to be like for us.

She howls and groans and moans.  It was kind of funny at first.  But we're into this a full week now and it's not so funny.  We're not sleeping much and have had to lock her in the storage room in our basement.  She's just SO loud.  If we leave her to roam in the house at night, she prefers to sit at the top of the stairs, maybe because it has the vaulted ceiling there, and howls, very very loud.  Very.  So we've taken some advanced measures and have even put her outside, just so we can have some peace.

Since she's an outdoor cat to begin with, she doesn't mind the outdoors.  So it's not a problem convincing her to go out.  But with her in heat, we're reluctant about how long she spends her time outside in fear she'll meet a friendly boy kitty.

Over the past few days she's met someone.  I've asked around and I believe he is neutered, but I'm just not so sure about that.  Piper still comes home and howls at night, so I'm hoping she's not expecting a litter.  In the meantime, she has this friend that walks her home and likes to peek into our home.

He's sort of a burly cat, with yellow eyes.  I hear he's a sweet boy... but I'm just not so sure.  I don't mind that she has a playmate, if that's what he is for her.  But I get weary about their activity.

To Snow... Or Not To Snow...?

Well... It looks like it's going To Snow.  Again.  Not just a dusting or a few inches.  The prediction is 15-20 inches.  Yup.  This is how our week is looking here in NH.  As much as I don't mind the snow, and don't mind driving in the snow... I think we've had our fair share of the snow.

Ice fishing, snow shoeing, and sledding, are just the few winter activities that families are gearing up for or have been doing for the past few weeks.  Unfortunately we haven't had much winter fun lately.  We do spend our time outside, my son loves to take walks in our neighborhood while pulling his sled.  He hasn't really learned how to enjoy riding in the sled.  I'm okay with that since most times he's asking to pull me along.  But he does enjoy pushing a shovel around in the yard and watch us clean up the driveway.

Most of our time is spent doing indoor activities.  Since my husband and I work full time during the week, we tend to look for low key activities with our kid.  He doesn't mind it that much either.  He particularly loves any sort of project. 

Painting is one of his favorites and loves to smear all the colors into a big blob in the middle of the paper.  Coloring with markers is his second favorite and that can usually hold his attention for quite a while.  We've tried watching some movies with him, of course they're age appropriate since he's 2.  But it seems any type of Pixar flick seems to hold his attention.  He recently enjoyed Meet the Robinson's.  I try not to use the tv as a babysitter with him, so we do try to do other things while the tv is on. 

He's getting really good with doing puzzles, the real kind and not the board pieces with knobs.  Those have started being too easy for him.  We have a few 24 piece puzzles that incorporate different Disney themes.  Of course they're from many popular movies: Toy Story 3, Mickey's Clubhouse, and Cars.  He loves them so much and they're really easy to do, considering the box doesn't show you what the puzzle should look like. 

One of his favorite puzzles is of animals, 2 pieces each, one is heads the other is tails.  The pieces are very large and easy for him to manipulate.  He learned how to 'do a puzzle' with this particular puzzle. 

Other than that, we may attempt to back or cook something fun.  But again, we haven't done much of that over the course of the winter, particularly because we don't spend much time at the grocery store.  But I'd love to rummage through the cupboards to see what could make a fun treat.  We have used my ice cream maker and have made eggnog chocolate chip ice cream, which was fantastic, if you like egg nog.  We then made regular chocolate chip ice cream.  My son doesn't seem to love ice cream as much as I do, but that's okay... I secretly want more for myself anyways.  He's more of a Popsicle boy. 

How have other families enjoyed their winter days?  Or are you enjoying summer instead?  If so... I'm jealous!

Holiday Shopping

I really do like shopping during the holidays.  But shopping with crazy shoppers?  No thanks.

This year I did most of my holiday shopping online.  Particularly through Amazon.  I tried to buy locally, when possible, and when the price fit my budget.  But unfortunately most of the items that I purchased online were a lot cheaper, and I was able to get free shipping.  How can you pass up free shipping?

With a lot of online shopping, comes a lot of packaging.  I'm trying to re purpose a lot of the boxes we are getting.  Thankfully, some shipments are coming in bags, so I'm not left with huge, over sized boxes. 

There have been a few days where my family would bundle up and trek out to the local stores.  It was nice to be out for the short period, enjoy the festive decorations and also let the kid enjoy shopping too.  He does enjoy it, believe it or not.  Although, I'm beginning to wonder if he enjoys the small treat he gets early in the day: Munchkins =)

Running outside Stonewall Kitchen

So we're officially finished our shopping.  Crazy, I know.  We have a few more presents to wrap, then we can sit back and enjoy the holidays. 

Have you gotten into the Christmas spirit yet?  Or are you dragging your feet with the holidays?

The Star

We picked our Christmas tree this year and it wasn't from a field where we had to cut it down ourselves.  I would have preferred that.  Instead, I made the compromise with my husband and agreed to buy a tree pre-cut.  Except we didn't go to the local store to buy one, we ventured to our local greenhouse and picked one there.

I know they were more expensive than what we would have paid if we were to cut our own, but I felt I was helping support our local community.  And they even gave us a 4.5 inch poinsettia plant.  All-right! (raises hand with a whoop)

We loaded the tree into the car and the three of us buckled up and headed home.  We were eager to start decorating, or trimming.  I grew up decorating, while others know it as trimming.  Either way, the job gets done and you can feel the festivities creep into your home.

We let our 2 year old son help decorate the tree by being part of the family train.  My husband would unwrap the ornaments, hand them to our son, then he'd walk them over to me.  He was careful to hold onto the hook or string.  And he was very careful.  Although he was also careful enough to examine each piece.  He grew tired of the decorating because his real excitement was for The Star.  He didn't understand that we waited to put The Star on top of the tree at the end.  He wanted to do it first.  But we wanted him to know that it was just as special as he had wanted it to be and we'd let him put The Star on at the very end. 

The Star eventually made it to the top of our tree.  It made his heart sing.  Afterwards, the three of us took a step back to admire our Christmas tree.  And then we made a family hug together.  My son was living in the moment and kept saying Again... Again... So there we were, giving a group hug repeatedly in our living room in front of our Christmas tree.  I'm sure if there were any neighbors walking their dog outside, they would have wondered what the heck we were doing.  But it was a moment that will last in my mind about our Christmas this year, and it's a reminder about what's important to me.

While The Star makes my sons eyes twinkle, I will remember the warmth from the simplicity while adding a decoration that I have taken for granted.  The holidays can be just another day to some, but not in the eyes of a child.  There is just too much magic in the air, you cannot ignore its purity.