I'm Done

Today is Christmas Eve. We will not be going out to my parents to open gifts with my Uncle nor my cousin and her husband. We won't even see them until Saturday, December 27th. There is so much snow and a threat of ice looming that we are staying HOME. Have I mentioned that Jillian's school and my work have been closed since December 15th? We have had power outages at work and no busses are running up the hill to the VA anyway. 

My parents just got power back at 5 am. I know, all you Texans reading this would say, "Come on Down!" Guess what? We couldn't! Planes are just starting to take off from PDX today. Some have been stranded since Friday...

We have, however, been invited to go to Chris, Dawn and Owens house for Christmas Dinner tomorrow. We will be dining on Salmon, pork loin and a few other yummies. I am bringing a chocolate espresso bunt cake! We are so fortunate to have made such good friends so close in the neighborhood. It has been such a blessing in this weather!

Hope all of you out there are celebrating with your loved ones. We'll be kickin' up our heels tonight waiting for Santa. We even have Magic Reindeer food. (I'm guessing they are trained to sniff out food in the snow!)   

                                                     

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

No more snow, no more snow, no more snow...

So as of Friday all the snow had melted... then Saturday morning came. I know on Saturday we officially had 7" of snow. I think our house got a little more. All of it was nice fluffy powder, so no snowmen or snowball fights. It wasn't too bad... then Saturday night came. Waking up Sunday morning there was a 1/4" to 1/2" of ice on top of the snow. Once you broke through the ice you could get around. Snow shoes worked well to stable you footing. By the afternoon most of the ice had been broken through and crushed up with the snow. It wasn't too bad... Then came Sunday night. We probably had another 4 to 6" inches of snow when we woke up on Monday. All of it is powder so still no snowmen or snowballs. The above pictures were taken this morning and that was after I cleaned off the cars yesterday. Did I mention that we're expected to get 2-3 more inches today. I'll be shoveling snow today to try to keep it from melting and flowing into our garage. Who the hell wants a white Christmas?!?

She's Alive! She's Alive!

John took this picture of Missy while we were at Owens house on Sunday. She loved trotting through the snow. She acted about 5 years younger.
That afternoon she slept like a baby.

Marshmallow Igloos

On Tuesday, December 16th there was NO SCHOOL. Jillian and I made our way over to Owens house. When I asked Jillian if she wanted to drive she said," Mama, Owen walked to our house, we can walk to his, too!"
So, after slipping a couple times on our way over, we played for a while and did some projects. One of the fun projects we brought over were the makings for Marshmallow Igloos.
You only need 3 ingredients: mini marshmallows, white frosting and some foil. (Holiday sprinkles are optional.)
Set some of each in front of the kids and watch all the mini mallows disappear!
Jillian even tried her hand at Beaver teeth.
When they finished, Owens cat Lily sat and judged.
It was a good time had by all.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Jillian had her Holiday Concert on Friday, December 12th. The first part of the act was the class dancing around a Christmas tree to Holiday songs. The second part was standing in a row singing, "The Wheels on the Bus."
Her partner in crime, Owen stuck right by her side the whole time. They were all pretty cute. The backstage picture is of Jillian and her friend Julia!
After all was finished, there was juice and cookies for all. I am so proud of her! She did great. I may post the video, but as a proud mama, I was a little shaky because I was giggling.

Let it SNOW! (alright, enough already!!)

Snowmom's Log:  It has been 3 days since we have been stuck at home. Jillian loves it. Every night she says,"Mama, there's no school tomorrow. Can we go to Owen's?" 

On Sunday we walked over to Owen's house. Chris, Owen and the JT"S all walked to Starbucks  pulling the sled behind. It was kind of pointless because the wind was blowing so much the kids only wanted to be carried. When we returned, the kids played inside and we wound up staying for lunch. Lots of fun, but so cold walking home. 

Yesterday John drove to work and we went across the street to play with our friend Mira. In the afternoon, about 2 p.m. Owen and mom, Dawn walked the 4 blocks to our house. Everyone had a good time. They stayed for a couple hours and then carefully walked home. 

Today, I'm sure Jillian and I will walk to Owen's to play. Not a bad set up having your best friend 4 blocks away! 

Portland Public Schools are thinking about closing for the whole week. My work follows their ruling. It's kind of nice, but I think if I tried to back out of our driveway onto the street I may back into a neighbors car. Our street is just so icy. John says everything else is fine, but I'm not taking any chances! 

Today is all about art. How much can we do before we go crazy? 

I'll add pics later. We have a couple cute ones from Sunday!

Until next time...

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Jillian had a busy night tonight. We had to go to the mall to get some last minute shopping and told Jillian that she might get to see Santa. After a couple of stores, Jillian left Mama to shop while her and Dada went looking for Santa. She was very excited and patient standing in line and finally got to see him. They had a great conversation and told Santa she wanted a butterfly for Christmas. We then went to the mall play area where Jillian got to run around for 15 minutes and then eat a late dinner. When we got home there was ice cream before a very late 9:00 bedtime. Amazingly she stayed good for the evening with no fits.

O Christmas Tree!

Owen came home with us Monday night from school. It was Dawn's (Owens' mom's) birthday. I had offered to bring him home so his parents could go out to dinner. Jillian had already had a lot planned for the two of them: Eat pasta, watch Frosty and eat popcorn, and decorate the Christmas Tree.
Everything went pretty well. Owen and Jillian seemed to be getting along smashingly! Dinner was a success, and the popcorn was flying.
The two of them were so excited to hang the ornaments on the tree themselves. I think it was best expressed by Owen as he sat down on the couch to look at the tree, " It's Beautiful!"
We all had a good time together and would welcome the Tornado I like to call O.J. (owen+jillian) to come play again!

Make a Big Splash!

It had been a few months since Grandma and I had gone for a pedicure. We went last Saturday morning, December 6. Jillian usually comes along and puts her toes in the tub. This time she wanted to stand in the tub so she stripped off her pants and ran around the shop in her pull-up and a t-shirt. These women have known her since Jillian was 5 months old. She usually sits on my or Grandma's lap and lets us paint her toes, but this time one of the women offered. She sat still from Base Coat, to two color coats, and a heavy Top Coat. So patient this one...

She pranced out of there with a Dum-Dum sucker in one hand and Mao/Dog in the other! She made quite a big splash that day with the owner and the clients.

O.M.S.I. 11/29/08

The Saturday after Thanksgiving the family loaded up in the car and went to O.M.S.I. We arrived shortly after 9:30 and lasted till around 11:15. We had a lot of fun and Jillian even pet a lizard. Enjoy the photos!

Youth is Wasted on the Young.

We took Missy in to the vet yesterday and the doctor did a blood work up. When we returned to pick her up the vet said her blood panel was that of a 2 year old pup. So, really the only thing not going for Mis Dog right now is the old noggin.  She seems to be experiencing a bit of SENILITY. (she is 98 in dog years)  We were given a prescription for her Cognitive Dysfunction and a pain killer for the evening which may explain the 2 a.m. pacing and anxiety. The pain killer also contains a mild sedative! Last night was the first in about a week that we slept through the night. 

John and I were both relieved to know that we have a little bit longer with the old girl. After all, she is a member of the family. Not a Dog.