Living somewhere as temperate as Seattle makes snow a novelty, particularly snow that sticks around for more than half a day. So taking pictures of it didn’t get old, even when being snowed in did.

Nate and the kids built a 6 foot wall of snow bricks.

and this is our entryway (see the purple and orange I’ve talked about? It has to go at some point, but I don’t have any color ideas), full of boots and coats.

So, I mentioned yesterday that I was doing some last minute Christmas knitting. I’d decided to make use of the pretty yellow Misti Alpaca laceweight purchased for my mom a year or so ago, and started an Angle Lace Shawl like the one I knit for Abby this spring. Well, it takes a LOT longer to knit than the Flower Basket, I now know. I’ve knit a Flower Basket in 16 hours, and while I thought the Angel would take longer, I also thought I’d have a shot at getting it done before Christmas.

Mom’s home now, and her shawl isn’t. But I’m starting the edging now, and we’ve chosen the beads.

That’s my pond, mostly iced over and having evidence of a visit from the raccoons.

Well, it was a busy week. We were snowed in Saturday to Saturday, and with my mom and brother visiting it was a lot of bodies/noise/activity in the house but a lot of fun. Here’s a collection of pictures from Christmas Eve. Under normal circumstances, we’d have been at my in-laws for a large re-enactment of the Christmas Story, but the snow kept us in for a very pleasant, low-key evening that started with some naps.

There was also some pretend napping

but that didn’t last long.

After dinner, we played Apples to Apples, a really fun party game while watching cars try unsuccessfully to climb the hill in front of our house.

After the kids were nestled, all snug in their beds, Nate and Sam watched Fred Claus in the basement while mom and I made bean bags for my juggling brother for Christmas. It was a last minute idea that came together really well with that fantastic flannel I bought last year.

To top it all off, it seems we were good this year because Santa came.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday/week. I’ve been knitting close to non-stop in an attempt to finish my mom’s Christmas gift. (I’m so close. I’ll post more tomorrow). I’m anxious to get Christmas all wrapped up and cleaned up and posted because I’m SO ready to move on to the new year and conquer!

That’s how much snow we have. I can’t remember ever having this much snow here. It’s beautiful, and I’d be completely happy, but my mom is planning to fly in this afternoon and we’re going to have to brave the roads for 20 +miles each way to get her. It makes me very nervous.

Our gingerbread houses were fun.

(And I totally blurred you, I-S-F)

They didn’t end up as ornate or colorful as in years past. The kids and Nate lost interest rather quickly, and I think it had partly to do with the fact that the icing was too stiff and hard to squeeze. I didn’t know that ’til later. Also, we were pretty tired. But the husband half of our internet shy friend was diligent for hours.

Nate made an aquarium,

complete with candy cane filtration and wafer cookie florescent light fixtures. And they’re even goldfish!

There were two kid houses going. The first collapsed before I got to see it.

The second was condemned and abandoned because apparently, the workers were leaning on it. They refocused their efforts on fort building in a bedroom.

I spent much of the night chatting with my internet shy friend and my brother, and humoring him with my pathetic solo attempts on the guitar. Tho’ I didn’t get any pictures of me playing, just my brother.

I don’t know why I’m even telling you this, it’s probably my “full disclosure” personality, and I have been laying off the guitar except for that night… but between that and my sudden decision to take on some Christmas knitting I’m having to rely on Aleve again. I ache.

Veronica had an unfortunate encounter with a shoveled sidewalk the other day. A well meaning adult tried to stop her sled at the bottom of the hill and sent her flying face first into it.

In person it looks much, much worse. She’s healing well though. We’re keeping it lubed with antibiotic ointment.

Lastly, Liv knit a hat with her handspun!

We’re so happy for her. And very proud.

Why do I continue to slave over an oven for a couple hours every year when the result is always architectural humiliation?

Because it’s fun. And because if you knew him, you’d know that he’s not trying to out do us, he’s trying to out do him.

Plus, it makes for good pictures and even better memories.

So, my internet shy friend and her family are going to brave the icy roads sometime today

to make gingerbread houses.

I’m baking. The first batch is used up, so I’ve begun the second.

And my ring is in a safe place.

See it? Antlers?

And I failed last night. It was bound to happen I suppose. I was super tired and forgot to bring in the hummingbird feeder. I hope they all survived, but we definitely still have some.

We spent 2 hours last night in the snow. It was so fun.

We’ve discovered that 4 people (me and 3 kiddos) can fit on our foam sled thing. Clark had a blast and walked his little self right back up the hill.

My two roller coaster junkies are also sledding junkies.

Nate stayed in. Clark watched the neighbor shovel his drive

This morning, it was a block party out front, and I saw from the window V shooting down the hill like a bullet, and missing by inches 3 different groups of socializers who weren’t paying appropriate attention. She took out one of their unoccupied sleds. Sent it flying. It was hilarious. Another time, she was flying down the hill doing 360s. Usually, that would slow the sled down, but this time it didn’t, and she was ecstatic.

So we’re laying low today. Watching the snow and eating. Once some chores are done, I hope to break out the spinning wheel and relax for a bit.

My elbow is killing me. I have to lay off the guitar for awhile, but it’s so hard when there’s so much Christmas music to be played! I only have another week or so!

(My little homage to Brandy. Right up there with “Are you kidding me?” And crap, I just remembered I have to be someplace tonight. Not a good day for that).

If I ever mention that I’m thinking about painting slat style closet doors again, (which I will, because the linen closet doors in the hall are still orange and purple), have me committed immediately.

Two ENTIRE days, it’s taken. TWO. ENTIRE. DAYS. With a ONE INCH brush. I definitely need to decompress. I’m feeling a bit wild eyed at the moment.

SO, what can we talk about? It’s after 5pm and all I’ve done is paint a couple of stupid closet doors? No.

It’s after 5pm and I have no idea what we’re having for dinner tonight because all I’ve done today is paint a couple of stupid closet doors? No. No. No.

Is there anything else?

Well, the Fitness Outlet guy that came to my house today to tune up my new, old elliptical and replace the 20 or so missing screws smelled really good and was wearing a crocheted hat. He told me that my Christmas tree smelled really good. (I smiled and thanked him, not mentioning that it is fake. Must have been the paint). Since we were on the topic of smelling good, I asked him what cologne it was. He said he gets asked that a lot, and it’s Avatar. I hadn’t heard of it, but not watching any TV or listening to the radio keeps me in the dark about a lot of things (I don’t see or hear any commercials, ever).

Cologne and perfume usually give me a headache and make me ill, but he really did smell good and it reminded me of the cutie longhaired guys I used to like/work with/hang out with when I was 17 and working in a pizza kitchen. So I was a little surprised when it was a cologne I hadn’t heard of. It seemed like they all wore Jaccard. Jacquard. I have no idea how to spell it. But I’ve heard of that one. Is it still around? I couldn’t find it when I Googled.

(Added later- Nevermind, I’m a moron. I think it was actually Drakkar, which to me sounds like Jaccard).

Those long haired boys always smelled good. What up with that?

I ripped and reknit the sock for Clark. I’m almost done with the gusset on the first sock. It’s cute and he loves it.

It’s been really cold here, so I’m having to actively thaw the hummingbird feeder all day. They appreciate it and hover around waiting for me when I take it in to melt it again. The part I don’t like is having to keep it in at night, and wake up at 5am or so to put it out for them for their first feed. I think I’ve blogged about this before, but the guy at the Wild Bird store said that first thing in the morning, after super cold nights like we’re having, they’ll use all their energy to make a B-line for the feeder to get the sugar, and if it’s frozen or not there, they could drop dead.

I don’t know if that’s true, but I don’t want some poor little dead hummingbird on MY conscience. So instead, I feel like an idiot waking up BEFORE the birds (haha) to put the feeder out.

Health Group- (since I missed it, again)

I’ve been doing rotten. I’m happy my elliptical is good to go, and I’ve been talking to friends about coming to exercise with me, since I have a little mini Curves going on downstairs.

I feel puffy.

That’s all I’ve got.

Wow, fifteen years. It’s so exciting! And I have my wedding ring!

I tried to take our picture this morning over Nate’s breakfast cereal, balancing the camera on a box of Honeycomb. It sort of worked. While Nate has a positively fantastic smile, crinkly eyes and everything, he totally freezes up in front of a camera and looks almost pained.

So I had to tickle him.

It didn’t work very well.

The grayscale helps to balance his shirt and tie with my pj’s and bedhead.

Happy Anniversary, babe. You walk on water.

Nate and I got most of our room painted on Saturday. It sure looks different, going from a horrible yellowish/greenish/brownish/orange to Spanish Bluebell trimmed in Cloud Blue. (My curtains don’t clash with the walls anymore, Hayden)!

It’s the only blue in the house (aside from our adjoining bathroom which you’ve seen many times. They’re different blues, but I think it works). It’s the only cool color in the house. The rest of our house, upstairs and down is warm, earthy colors. There’s a lot of varying terracotta, deep warm red in the dining room, I pulled tans and browns out of the brick in the fireplace downstairs as inspiration for the walls and cabinetry in the basement… There’s still the gawsh-awful-heaven-help-us neon yellow-sometimes-green in the entrance and hallway. That’s next to go. But it’s the only color, of course, with a two story dropoff in the stairwell, so I’m not sure how I’m going to do that. Especially cutting into the popcorn ceiling along the top.

Anyway, all that’s left to paint in the bedroom are the 4 closet doors (here’s 2 of them and yes, my bedroom really was that color. But I didn’t paint it).

and I need to finish painting the bedroom and bathroom doors. Right now the two closet doors on the tables (that are still in my living room) are drying from their wash-down. I’m hoping to get all 4 of them painted and rehung today (am I dreaming?) because tomorrow, I’m hosting a sit-down dinner party for some friends that are unexpectedly moving to California.

Nate’s making his famous clams. I’m really excited.

As mentioned earlier, I still have huge tables in the middle of my living room, as well as several half empty boxes of Christmas decorations (did you see the tree in the background? That happened yesterday afternoon).

I need to mop.

I need to pick up the 20 pounds of clams and figure out what else I’m serving.

I need to clean my house (nothing new there).

I need to do laundry (again, nothing new).

I need to redistribute clumps of kid-hung Christmas ornaments on the tree. (Bad mom).

Tomorrow is my busy week day, where I help in school for 2 hours, followed by my guitar lesson (crap, I need to practice) and then I was supposed to also volunteer at Math Club in the afternoon, but I cancelled because I’m totally hosting a dinner party and I have to be HOME for at least PART of the day or we’ll be eating McDonalds on plastic folding tables in my living room!

Ack!

So, I took a skein of yarn and a circular needle Saturday night to that client Christmas party I was telling you about (oops, I forgot to post Health Group on Saturday, didn’t I?) so I wouldn’t die of boredom during the ra ra’s and awards and such and started this…

Can you stand how cute that is? I had one skein of this Regia that needs two skeins for a pair of socks. It was in my discard pile (oh yeah, I didn’t tell you that I totally went through all my yarn and books on Friday while cleaning out my room in painting preparation, and divvied my yarn in half. I got one bin, and the girls got one bin. I also have a stack of books that are going away) until I realized it was boy appropriate (back to the Regia), and thought I could make cute little Clark socks. He’s very excited, and loves to try it on. I think it’s a smidge too small, so I’m probably going to rip the whole thing and add another 4-8 stitches.

And now I must go. Closet doors. Christmas boxes. Laundry. Guitar practice. Messy house. Dinner party.

I’m hosed.

PS- Ooh, ooh! Stephanie, guess what?! I have a Calcifer! He’ll be delivered on Wednesday morning. I can hardly stand it, I’m so excited. You should come over and see him. And celebrate with me.

What could be more fun than making free-form wreaths with friends, garden clippings, and sparkly stuff?

I’m having a hard time thinking of anything.

Mine aren’t done yet.

I’m planning to hang them in the three windows you see behind the couch in the first photo. I’ve always liked the way wreaths look when hung in front of windows or mirrors by pretty ribbon. If it works out, I’ll show you. I need to get them done soon so I can get that huge table out of the middle of my living room.

Clark and I clipped cedar and juniper yesterday afternoon. I made turkey soup and biscuits. By about 8pm last night, I was so tired I could barely form a coherent sentence, probably magnified by the fact that I did my sister’s ab workout in the morning. Holy cow, my back is killing me today. Not my injury though, it’s mostly my lateral muscles. My abs feel mildly fatigued. I probably need to work on form, or else my back muscles are that wimpy. And that’s a definite possibility.

Today, aside from finishing the wreaths, I have a playdate with S-I-L’s and cousins this morning, and I want to start cleaning my room so Nate and I can paint it tomorrow morning. Hopefully. Tomorrow night, we have a Christmas party to attend hosted by one of Nate’s clients. I didn’t have a lot of notice, so I have no clue what I’m going to wear. I’ll need to deal with that at some point.

Oh, and I need to buy paint.