Let it Snow!

Well, it's awfully cold here in Minnesota these days. We had a couple inches of snow on Saturday and then an inch of ice on top of that. Ethan told me on the way to school today that he can skate on top of the snow. "Dad didn't believe me until I showed him."

This is Ethan at breakfast. Usually a couple frozen waffles and an egg, fried over hard with a broken yolk.



And here is my Gracie. She got contacts last week, and I'm guessing she's clocked upwards of 3 hours putting them in and taking them out. And by that, I don't mean she's messing with them all the time; I mean it takes her many, many, many tries to get them in or out. She is pleased to have them, though, and she's persistent. I know she'll get better. We go back tomorrow for a check on how they're working out. Maybe they'll have some tips for her.




I am not a primper. Unfortunately, I don't primp my girls nearly enough, either. Grace survived her young childhood fairly intact, but I know I could have done better. I know there were many summer days when I just didn't even comb her hair. I just don't like doing it. Not for myself and not for my kids either. This morning I took this picture of Gertie trying to capture her morning rat's nest.



I feel like I've never seen anything like the hair that she wakes up with. It adds a good 6 inches to the diameter of her head space. My sister Julie says she remembers Grace's hair being like this. I must have erased that from my memory, along with all other bits of unpleasant parenting experiences. Anyway, this morning I gave Gertie a bath and had the time to fix her up a little. This means that I combed her hair. I started to think about it, and I hate to admit (but I feel like public confession is good for accountability) that I haven't EVER done that before. It isn't as bad as it sounds (I hope) because she's got this curly hair, so it doesn't look like it needs it so much. Well, needless to say, it was a bit on the ratty side, but she sat still and seemed to enjoy the whole thing. She's just begging for a little primping. I promise to try to work it in a little more often. Here is the end result:



Well, I can't seem to get in the Christmas mood so far this year. I knew that this last weekend would have been the best weekend to decorate, but I just didn't want to do it yet. Really, I don't feel like doing it at all. Seasonal decorating always feels more like work to me than fun. I know the kids love to get the boxes out and dig out their favorites, and I do feel badly that I'm not too excited to do it. Maybe we'll have to get it done this weekend and that will put me in the mood I'm looking for. I don't think I am Scroogy about Christmas in general; I do love Christmas. It's just that so far I don't feel like baking or buying gifts or getting cards out.

Okay. That does sound Scroogy. I'll work on that. I don't feel like that's like me.