A garden full of flowers: Winter Blues

Oh Winter - what a WINTER you have been! Storm after storm after storm bringing feet upon feet of snow. As soon as some of the snow melts, another storm is right behind it bringing more. Utah actually had a snow day which very rarely happens up here. We need the water so badly. People need the water. Animals need the water. Plants need the water. Our environment needs the water. I love snow. I enjoy cold. However, I am suffering from MAJOR cabin fever. For a few weeks I was pretty depressed. I was in a major funk and it has taken a lot of sugar and positive self talk to get out of it. We are still knee deep in winter, and I am still struggling a bit, but I'm trying to focus on the positives. For one, more storms mean less inversion which means cleaner air. Another positive - I love sleeping in a cold room under the covers. I have such a hard time sleeping in our hot house during the summer, but cuddling under the blankets in the winter is soooo cozy. The snow really is beautiful. Sledding, skiing, snowmen, and white mountaintops are only things found in the winter. There is a time and a season for everything. Winter is mother nature's way of telling us to rest. It is out time to slow down and take it easy. Winter is the time to cuddle under a blanket and read a book. It the time for warm bubble baths, spending time playing board games with family, and watching movies with loved ones. I'm trying to remind myself to just take it easy and enjoy this season for what it is. However, even though it should be a time to rest, there is ALWAYS something keeping us busy. Here is a look at many of the activities we have been busy with over the past month:

Its so weird going swimming when there is snow on the ground. However, our rec centers are open all year!

We had our annual New Years Eve party complete with a costco sized box of poppers and balloons filled with money! Our real tree was dead and crisp as burned bacon, but it made it!

Sometimes when one is stuck inside the house for days one goes a little crazy

Our city does an amazing job at snow removal and keeps our roads very nice. I usually wait until the snow plows come around before driving, but once in a while you get stuck in the middle of a storm. Luckily we were in Jason's truck at this time but it was scary!

Wesley's snow monster

Every other week I help in Blake's preschool class. I love watching him in a different environment.

Blake got this Pickachu for Christmas and it took us almost a month to put together. I did the body and Chase did the head and tail.

Blake loves this bunny.

A local weather man came to Wesley's class and they were featured on the evening news!

Blake's teacher sent me this picture. Each week they have different activities that correspond to the weekly theme. For winter week they had a block of ice the children could play with. Most of the kids would come and go, but Blake spent his entire free hour chipping away at the ice and was very fascinated by it.

A new exhibit at Thanksgiving point just opened up - the Butterfly Biosphere. Its not as exciting as the other parts of Thanksgiving point, but its a fun thing to do on a cold winter day!

After Blake turned five we decided it was time to upgrade his toddler bed. He has been using this cute Thomas the Train bed for years. I had a hard time getting rid of it, but he is growing so fast and needed a bigger bed. We gave Blake Chase's old bed (a twin size car bed), and we got Chase a new loft bed.

I don't let my boys use my tub very often, but once in a while I'll let them use it. It really is the perfect place to relax in during the cold winter months.

Winter is also a good time to upgrade furniture! We bought a new couch, new decorations, and I put in new white curtains. The white curtains make the room so much brighter which makes me happy! I love it.

before

after

Blake had a royal ball at school one week. All the kids came dressed up in their best royal attire (princess, kings, knights, and even dragons). Blake wanted to dress up at the King of America. They had a feast for the kids where they all learned table manors. Blake came home with his cute fancy goblet and silverware and showed me how to behave at the table. I had never seen that kid behave so well at the table before!

I recently introduced Blake to my old "Pretty Pretty Princess" game. This was one of my favorite games as a child, and Blake seems to equally love it. He wanted to play it over and over and over again. I told him he could say, "Handsome, Handsome price" every time he won.

The city right above us on the mountain has been HAMMERED with snow.

Winter is for cuddles.

I enrolled Wesley and Chase in our community after school Ski program. A charter bus picks the kids up from local schools and takes them up to the mountain for ski lessons. It is so convenient and the boys (especially Chase) absolutely LOVE it .

Janurary is Pinewood derby time. Poor Chase didn't place last year (but Wesley did), so we tried extra hard to beef up Chase's car so he would at least place. The boy's troop has so many kids in it that they compete on a den level, and then the tops compete together. Chase's wolf den is HUGE and has a lot of competitive dads. His didn't make the top three in wolfs so he didn't go on to finals, but Wesley's did again. Poor Chase - loosing builds character but I felt so bad for him!