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Oh special day! It snowed!! Here!!! At our HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tucson weathermen/women had been warning us about this winter storm since Monday. Yesterday morning warnings were flooding the tv stations announcing “90 minutes until it hits.” “60 minutes until it hits!” “30 minutes!!” The countdown was on. The skies definitely looked ominous and the surrounding mountains were already socked in. News reporters were showing live video of blizzard-like conditions at the higher elevations. Even though it was still a pleasant 50 degrees out and according to the weather predictions I still had time before the storm, I opted out of my morning run with the kids. Being out in snow with kids in a stroller is probably sacrilege in sunny Tucson and I didn’t want any beef from passerby. We instead went to the library for storytime just after the “30 minutes and it’ll be here!! Don’t travel unless you have tooooo!!!!!!” announcement on the tv. Hmm, maybe this will be exciting.

We walked out of the library and it was raining. Humph. Boooring. I buckled the kids in, pulled out of the parking lot, and wham! The rain instantly turned to snow and it was a full on blizzard just like the weather peeps predicted. We made our way home as heavy wet snow quickly piled up on the hood of the van (how fun!). When we got home we ran around a little bit in the front yard yelling “woohoo!!!” and then raced inside to watch it come down.

The kids at the front door watching it come down

Could it really be? It’s actually starting to stick!!

Time to head out kiddos and enjoy the white stuff (like I really had to twist their arms, haha)

Ivan of course was trying to eat it. His mouth was open the entire time trying to munch on snowflakes that were pelting his face

Paul came home from work early. The snow stopped, then melted, then started coming down again way harder then before. It snowed until about 10pm

And this morning we awoke to this

Our front yard

Sunrise on Mt. Lemmon

When the kids woke up I nearly force fed them their breakfasts so that we could get outside before it all melted. We were out the door by 8:15am

All Silas wanted to do was make and throw snowballs. He probably made at least 500 while we were out. 😉

and Ivan just giggled at every one. Especially at the ones that were thrown at him

Beautiful snow-covered Catalinas

By 9am most of the snow had melted off the trees. We made up for our missed run yesterday and ran our usual 4 mile loop. Lots of people were out. By the time we got back home there wasn’t too much snow left and it was getting harder and harder for Silas to find enough to make snowballs with. By 10:30 it had disappeared completely.

posted by arr

We just returned from a short trip to Vegas over the weekend to hang out with Paul’s parents, brother Mark, sister-in-law Francine and nephew Luke. Being on the strip with two small children was interesting…mainly because of all the people. I realized I was a bit paranoid about losing them! We escaped to Red Rocks for a half-day and also got to show Silas the Hoover Dam (He’s super into dams these days. We’ve checked books out of the library about dams, built a dam out of rocks, dirt and sticks out back by the woody, and had heavy discussions about the 3 dams at Hueco and why one of them is destroyed and the potential correlation between that particular broken dam and the nearby boulder problem “Dam Buster.” Needless to say, Hoover pretty much knocked his socks off.) The best part though was getting the boys together with family. When asked “What did you like the best about Las Vegas, Silas?” he replied, “I really like hanging out with Grandma and Pap pap!!!” Word for word, that was his response. My sweet boy.

The view from our room in The Flamingo. No need to go out on the strip, we’ve got all the entertainment we need right here. A massive crane was lifting the big white tubular structures into place during our stay.

Good morning Ivan. Ready to hit the town?

First item on the ticklist: Flamingos, birds, ducks and fish at ‘The Habitat’ at The Flamingo hotel

Next item: The auto museum. Paul and I have decided to save up for one of these for retirement.

Next, Red Rock Canyon. Silas making a friend at the visitor center.

Ahhh, nature.

Silas getting his climb on

Pap pap and Luke

The boys looking all outdoors-y

Silas with his Grandma and Pap pap

Paul not being able to resist climbing rocks

Digging holes in dirt – the usual

Looking cute as a button – the usual

Time to hike back

Our final item on the ticklist: THE HOOVER DAM!!!!

He’s definitely impressed

On the drive home we passed through an amazing Joshua Tree forest at sunset. A very nice ending to a very nice trip. A big thanks to Mark, Francine and Luke for prompting it. Let’s do it again!

posted by arr

My baby is turning toddler…fast! Ivan is on a mission to catch up with his older brother as soon as possible. At 9 months he crawls fast. He eats fast. He transitions from laying down to sitting up to standing, fast. He tries to flip over and get away every time we try to change his diaper or dress him, fast. He gets angry when he’s ignored, fast (and does a classic “angry face” that we all love). He reaches for and grabs everything…EVERYTHING!!!, fast. And of course tries putting everything in his mouth, even faster. Gotta watch out for this one. 🙂

Don’t let this innocent smile fool you. He’s about to get into mischief. Fast!

But I’m just sitting here looking cute, mama

Hmmm, what shall I put in my mouth today?

Oooo, that looks good

A little leaf

Come here little leaf

I wasn’t trying to eat a leaf, really!

I much prefer rocks

…and dirt

…and…..walls?

(maybe this is where he gets these ideas from)

Hmmm, what shall I get into next?

Books!!!

I want to be a bookworm just like my big brother

Now on to the kitchen. Time for my morning towel-grabbing

Towels on floor. Mission accomplished.

Moving on: dining room. What sort of fun can I have in here?

Why, hanging from the dining room table of course (the boy can hang, but not yet walk. hmmmm)

Ahhh, time to eat. Finally!

Hey! Pay attention to ME mama. Not Silas, ME!

I said MEEEEE!!!

Ok, you asked for it. Time for the angry face

He’s just too much fun. LOVE it!

posted by arr

For as long as I can remember, Silas has always had a major attraction to dirt. Nearly every outdoor photo I have of him (in locations where dirt is plentiful), he has it on his face, covering his hands, under his fingernails, up his pantlegs, between his toes, etc. – unless I wipe it off real quick for the photo, or to eat sometimes…sometimes, or to go out to dinner in a public place afterwards. Where there’s dirt, Silas must play. He must lay down in it to play with his toys with his chin is resting in it. He must scooch around in it such that his shirt slides up to his armpits and his belly is exposed, making it oh so easy for the dirt to creep and puff and slide into every little crevice of skin and clothing. I had always thought that every kid went about their outdoor play like this. Getting dirty was just part of being a kid, right?

And then along comes Ivan.

Ivan. Little, innocent, cute, chubby-faced baby Ivan. THIS BOY takes his love of dirt to a whole new level.

It all started with him discovering he has a little pointer finger. A pointer finger is useful for doing things like picking and poking. So first he started picking and poking at the tiny pebbles and sand grains between the bricks in our courtyard. He would do this for a half hour straight, I swear. Cute. Next, having discovered the usefulness of his thumb in conjunction with the pointer, he started picking up larger pebbles and little rocks. Coordination. Impressive. After that, he decided that it really was way more fun to grab with his whole hand after all versus all that picking, poking and pinching nonsense. So he grabs just about anything he can get his chubby hands near, including and especially DIRT. Oh, and there’s just one small thing I forgot to mention: Unlike Silas at this age, Ivan puts everything, and I mean everything, in his mouth. And he’s fast. Wicked fast.

We are now thus in a bit of a predicament. We’re a climber family who goes climbing outside nearly every other weekend. We climb on boulders, which a lot of times sit upon lots and lots of dirt. And Ivan is now mobile on hands and knees and never at all interested in the toys we bring to the boulders for him to play with. He’s got only one thing on the brain: his true love, dirt.

So Paul and myself, being the resourceful parents that we are (when we’re really really desperate to climb and not wanting to worry about our baby choking on rocks and dirt), have the idea of putting him in his snowsuit that has the little rollover hand-covering-thingy’s so that he can’t grab anything. He’s safe now. “He has no hands” as we like to say. And this idea did actually work….for a little while anyway.

Ivan too appears to possess some resourcefulness of his own, as well as a little desperation. Picture this: Our baby, in his snowsuit, without hands, sprawled out on his belly like a starfish, face down, head down, mouth open, going in for a big luscious mouth full of good ‘ol fashioned Hueco-flavored dirt. Not so cute. Paul and I both see this simultaneously. I yell, Paul lunges, and before he can reach him, Ivan goes in for seconds. Fast, remember?

Meanwhile, Silas is getting a kick out of it all (probably impressed with his little brother’s ingenious technique of successfully getting dirt into his mouth). Ahh, what are we going to do with these boys? Watch ’em like a hawk, that’s what!! Anyone know where can I get a pair of those eyeballs that go on the back of mama’s heads?

Click on the picture to watch a short video of trouble brewing

posted by arr

posted by arr

So it pretty much hasn’t stopped snowing since we’ve arrived at Grandma and Papa’s house. This morning we measured 20 inches but like I said, it’s still coming down. Earlier today my mom, sister Katie and I (and Hazel too!) went out on a cross country skiing adventure. Love it!!!!

posted by arr

Digger Man invited Silas over to his house for a digger demo in the snow. This might perhaps have been the best day of Silas’ life. 🙂

Silas gets a real life digger demo, Ivan gets Aunt Katie’s hoody string. Life is good.

posted by arr

The day after we arrived in upstate New York we enjoyed Christmas again with my family. Silas ran wild with his cousins the ENTIRE day.

Storytime with cousin Carley, who only sometimes has to skip the hard words

Silas, Carley, Jacob and Jeremy patiently awaiting their presents

Ivan awaiting the wrapping paper

Silas and Jacob get diggers!!!!!!

Ivan scores too

posted by arr

A few images from our drive to Grandma and Papa’s house:

posted by arr

Turns out our trip north got delayed after all due to snow – but only for a day. Not such a big deal for our desert family whose been dreaming of the white stuff since November…at least. Paul and I headed out for a beautiful city run in some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen. We saw a city bus spinning sideways uphill and a variety of happy people out playing in it (sledding, mtn biking, walking dogs). My eyelashes were almost frozen together by the time we were finished! Then later in the afternoon we went for a walk with Pap Pap and Silas through the neighborhood. And Silas finished off the day with (can you guess?) DIGGING in the snow until his little toes and fingers were ice cubes. Once we got inside he ran into the kitchen saying “I need a heater!” 🙂

posted by arr