Snowmageden

We've gone from seeing trees covered in these 

and playing in stuff like this

to seeing trees covered in this

and playing in stuff like this...

Welcome Snowmageden.

Thirty, I repeat, 30 inches of heavy, wet snow in 48 hours. To say it was a tad bit of a shock is an understatement. It was also a cruel reminder that we own zippo snow clothes for the kids. Well, they have snow gear at school - although Cole is wearing Pearl's old pink boots, poor kid - but not at home. When the pleading to go outside and help Dad and Blu shovel our massive driveway got too much, I decided to venture out and find boots, snow pants, and mittens. Apparently everyone else had the same idea or the stores figured it would be a warm, dry winter like last year because I had to go to four stores before finding any snow pants or boots. And let me tell you, I paid a pretty penny for the only snow gear in town. Unfortunately after selling my first born child to pay for her and her brother's boots, I didn't have any money left for me.

But on the bright side, the kids finally played with the snow toys I bought last year for too much money.

Screams, tears, tantrums, and a whole lot of "no's" later, we finally managed to get the kids all bundled up to go outside. Am I the only mom who feels like it takes just as long if not longer to find and then get boots, snow pants, socks, mittens, coats, and hats on as it does the amount of time the kids actually spend outside?

 

Thinking back, I'm really glad Blu didn't require bundling up to play in the snow. Her first snow, I might add too. 

Ugh. Those are big paw prints. 

And if one day of Snowmageden wasn't enough, when we woke up Sunday morning, we were greeted with this scene.

It snowed and snowed and snowed! Jeff spent over two hours shoveling our driveway, the sidewalk, the neighbor's driveway, and his good deed for the week the church's sidewalks. So, in his words, "all the old ladies could get out of their cars." I need to buy him a plow for the 4 wheelers or a new house with less driveway.

Glad I'm not a dog who has to pee outside with snow up to my woman parts. 

For the record, Snowmageden was really a beautiful sight to see. Until we had to leave the comfort of our warm house.

It might be a long, white, winter wonderland around here.

I am the BESTEST sister in the world

Yep.

You read the title right. 

I am the bestest sister in the world.

Just ask my now old-geezer brother, Jesse. He turned 30. He's old.

He got the BEST birthday present ever. 

Any guesses?

I'll give you a hint. I bought it at Tai Pan Trading. But I did wrap it in manly duct tape.

Oh, oh, what is it? The suspense is killing me!

See that face. Yeah. That's the "I have the bestest sister in the world" face.

Boom. An entire cookie jar filled to the brim with soft, cinnamon-sugary, Snickerdoodles. My brother's favorite. 

And he says I never make him cookies anymore. 

Oh. And you do realize you have to share with your favorite and bestest sister in the world, right?

Zombie Apocalypse

I assure you, I do not dress up for Halloween.

Oh sure, as a kid it was great knowing I'd get gobs of candy. And my mom always helped us with our costumes, sewing many of them herself.

But truth be told, Halloween just isn't my thing. I'm more of an Easter bunny type. And we won't even start on Jeff's Halloween views (can we just say never dress your child up as a star, especially when he's old enough to know he's going to get beat up with that costume). But I work in violence and injury prevention. We deal with all kinds of nasty, mean, harsh, unimaginable stuff. We're all a little twisted from working in areas like suicide, homicide, child deaths, car crashes, brain injuries, abuse, domestic violence, etc. Halloween becomes a bit of a coping strategy for our staff. That, and we are bound and determined to help the rest of our bureau understand what we do and that we really are the BEST and MOST FUN program around! Each year we come up with a game of some sort, that has a sick twist to it. And every year I bow out of dressing up... not because I don't like fun (stop laughing), but because Halloween just requires so much effort. And since I work with the media, I just know the one year I dress up, there will be a huge murder or crash or something that sends the T.V. stations to my office. 

Until this year.

We decided to have a Zombie Apocalypse. 

It was EPIC. EPIC!

We all agreed to dress up as zombies and even dedicated an entire staff meeting to going over in graphic detail, proper zombie attire and makeup. We practiced our zombie walk and a small, very well-known Halloween dance. Uh, hum, Thriller maybe? A few weeks prior to Halloween we hung posters up all over the office to get people talking. It was so funny having people ask us (some with a little fear in their voice) what we were up to this year. We have a bit of a reputation. 

  Thanks to Jeff's generous donation of one of his work shirts and a $2 zombie makeup kit from Walmart, I was ready for Zombie Apocalypse 2012. Everyone looked AWESOME! Freaky, but awesome. And we stayed in character too, although once you made eye contact with someone it was a total loss! We "zombie blitzed" all the programs in our bureau, handing out trivia cards about our program which we later drew for prizes. There were more than a few screams and people running down the halls to get away from us. It was hilarious! I wish I had video of everyone's reactions to our entire program swaying and limping and gurgling down the halls. 

Our Division Director loves Halloween but was at a conference for the Zombie Apocalypse. And I wouldn't give away our secret, despite her pleading. So we decided to break into her office and get a group picture. We missed you Teresa!

Then! Then! Yes, we topped the zombie blitz. We did a Thriller dance with music blasting up and down the halls. It was beyond funny! Everyone was laughing and taking pictures of us. I have to admit, I was really, really glad I wasn't a bum this year and dressed up. It was epic!

Pah-lease! Happy colors and happy thoughts to combat the zombie apocalypse? Come on Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity Program! Like that is going to deter us!

Be prepared for Halloween 2013... we're already thinking of next year and it will be totally unexpected for us!

Halloween ridiculousness

This is the ridiculousness that happens after a Halloween parade at school and trick or treating around the neighborhood. Oh, and the trunk or treat and Ruby's birthday party. But still! Who is seriously going to eat all this?

Every year our daycare/school has a Halloween parade. It's mass chaos as 65 kids and their parents frantically try to get in costume minutes after naptime, delaying snack time (very big deal for some kids, like Cole), all while trying to control the kids excitement and for some fear of what's to come. We walk around the building showing off our cute kids. And every year I keep thinking, there's not that many people who pass out candy. Um, do I have to tell you to look at that picture above again?

Traditional family photo. I'll fill you in on the zombie look later. 

Pearl and her friend Audrey. They were both so excited to have "twiner" costumes, even though Pearl was a peacock and Audrey the Queen of Hearts. 

Cole figured out what was going on pretty dang fast. And he got a lot of Aggie cheers with his costume.

Love Cole's face here! 

After surviving the daycare parade, we stopped by Jeff's office to say hi. Jeff found a head set to complete his Coach Anderson look. And with Fern by his side, they made quite the pair. 

(remind me to download the picture off of Jeff's phone someday)

Jeff told me that if we showed up in costume to Chipotle, we could get $2 burritos! Sweet! I didn't have to cook or do dishes and we ate in plenty of time to go trick or treating. 

First stop, David and Vickie's house!

Man. We look awesome.

 

And we're off. I'm go glad it was gorgeous weather... and that my kids are happy just trick or treating around the block and not the entire city. 

 

Cole refused to go up to the door until he saw someone with candy standing there. Funny kid.

 

Even Blu got in on the Halloween action. Inadvertently, but still. We got home and Jeff said she was dressed up like a lampshade. Poor puppy. I wish Blu was a little more "trust worthy" when it came to walking. Like, not passing out from lack of oxygen to the brain because she's pulling so hard or freaking out because not everyone wants to stop and pet her like she's their best friend. Maybe next year.

I told you this was ridiculous. These two pip squeaks better not get their hopes up that they can eat all this candy themselves. 

Happy Halloween 2012!