Making snowmen (lemonade) out of snow (lemons)

Greyson and I decided to make the most out of this snowy OCTOBER day. We went out and got the pumpkins out of the garden (too bad they aren't ready - planted too late), built a cute snowman, and put away the hoses and outside furniture. Fun and productive!

Seriously?!?!?!???

Way too soon for this....

But on a more positive note - it was cute seeing this at the bus stop this morning.

Spring...is it for real or just a tease?

It was 65 degrees and beautiful(!) and we just HAD to get out and enjoy it. I think every Minnesotan finds their way outside on the first spring-like day of the year. Neighbors get reacquainted, bikes get pulled out, sidewalks and street shoulders are filled with people going for walks... it is an event!


However, after 10 years of this, I KNOW that this is just the "up" on the winter/spring transition rollercoaster and that putting away the winter coats, mittens, and hats would be foolish. We must keep them out for at least a couple more weeks.... But today, today was a long-awaited, beautiful day!

Enough already!

Even though it is only 13* outside, the kids were begging me to take them outside! So we all bundled up and ventured outside for a little bit. With the sun shining, it didn't feel that bad for about 30 minutes of play. I'm so ready to have winter over with though! The sun has been shining and melting the snow off a bit and it was even raining a little yesterday, but enough already! Madelyn has been asking about why the snow is going away. We have been trying to explain that spring is coming and God is going to wake all the animals and plants up again. I think she is still trying to figure that one out. It will easier as the leaves start budding. As you can see, the kids are also ready to get out and play with their outside toys. We could today because there is no snow or ice on the driveway today. It was kinda funny to put Madelyn's helmet on top of her hat, but if she's gonna ride her bike, I guess she needs both!


Here's Greyson in his car that he can't figure out how to push. He keeps getting his feet stuck under the car! But he does love to just sit in it and take the world in too.

Greyson loves to shovel the snow too. However, I guess it is just as fun to just push the shovel around too - seeing that there is no snow to shovel!

This morning Madelyn and I started some bell pepper, jalapeno, and delphinium seeds inside to plant in the garden when it gets warm enough. It will probably be another 12 weeks are so before we get put them in the ground, but hopefully this way they will have a good start. I have tomatoes and some other flowers to plant from seeds too. I probably wait a week or so and get those started.

Come on, Spring! We're ready for you!

Winter is REALLY here!

Well, there is no more denying it. Winter has shown us that it is really here with 0 degree temps the last week and about 6 inches of snow falling in last two days. I love it when it has first fallen - so crisp and white. After the kids woke up from their naps yesterday, I took them outside to play a little and they loved it. Greyson immediately started eating it and Madelyn was tromping everywhere she could to see the bootprints she left behind. This is the first winter that I can say I have been looking forward to. I'm looking forward to the sledding and snow angels and real snow cones.... The perks of living in Minnesota, I guess.