Thursday, March 22, 2012

i love butter

I am determined to raise girls who are not afraid of butter. With all the challenges that face them, I don’t want them to have to waste their energy on butter angst. Everywhere I turn, there are butter substitutes, diet regimens of dry toast, and errant comments about the caloric dangers of butter. If my girls can continue to taste the treats that make them happy with as much joy as they have now, unmarred by guilt or fear that the bite will ruin their beauty, then I feel I have done something right. And if, somehow IF! I can help them to transfer all the energy they might spend hating their own bodies or feeling guilty about what they had for lunch? Well, with all of that energy, world, watch out. My girls are taking over.

i love this paragraph... the original post can be found at this site

Thursday, March 8, 2012

snow skiing with mommy

my family grew up skiing ~ we started around age six and went every year until college.  it's something i have always wanted to teach our children.  wednesday morning after breakfast john david and i helped little man into his first pair of boots and skis from the rental shop.  after a rough 15 minutes we got on the lift and headed to the top.  the slopes were nearly empty!  little man fell getting off the lift but he had a great attitude.  after a few instructions we started slowly down ~ he fell about five times ~ but we laughed and i kept it upbeat.  the third and fourth time down he was moving along great!  we graduated to the harder beginner slope and even went down the intermediate several times before his half day session was up.  john david and the girls called on their way to the lodge; we stopped and waved half way down so they could see his improvement from the morning. 


after lunch at the lodge it was sweet m1's turn on the slopes.  instead of a quick lesson on the flat ground at the bottom (i learned my lesson from the morning) we headed straight to the lift and talked about what to do while riding up.  m1 fell also her first time off the lift.  she struggled a bit at the top so i let her put her skis between mine and hang on to my waist from the back.  luckily we made it down without falling!  instead of the nice big *s* turns that little man learned quickly, she just wanted her skis pointing down and decided that falling when she got going too fast was her better option.  she got upset because i would not immediately take her to the intermediate slopes.  finally she learned how to make some turns and more importantly stop so i thought she was ready for a harder slope.  just like little man she did great by the end of our time.   john david and the children showed up a few minutes before the slopes closed so they could see how she was doing.  they both want to go again next year! 
it was so fun spending undivided attention with each child!  i was able to do one black diamond run before the day ended which was nice after spending all day on the easier slopes.  but it was a little scary also since i had not been on skis since little man was born. 

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

snow tubing

tuesday morning was snow tubing day!  last year nana was with us so she and m2 sat together at the bottom and watched.  this year we thought m2 would like it.  she went down one time in a tube attached to mine ~ it was a little fast for her and she was less than delighted at the bottom.  john david sat with her for a few runs and then it was my turn.  little man and m1 had a blast!  after about an hour the sun started slowing the track down so i convinced m2 to try again ~ this time she wanted to go by herself.  oh, my.  at the top we all five got side by side but before we went down, one of the children started screaming her head off.  a worker picked her up and tried to comfort her and when it was time for us to go she quickly put her in the tube and shoved her down the hill.  oh, my.  i was in the lane beside her and could only see the top of her hat.  at the bottom john david jumped out and grabbed her to comfort her.   she was content to sit in the snow at the bottom and play until our time was up.  maybe next year! 

 little man
 m1
 mommy

 john david and the children
 m2 by herself 

 happy to play at the bottom in the snow!

on tuesday evening we went back to chris and christy's home to enjoy dinner with their family.  so nice of them to host us twice while we were in town.  it was a school night for their kids so we had to make it an early evening.  but we still had a wonderful time enjoying their company!  plus we needed to rest up for skiing tomorrow!

Monday, March 5, 2012

sunday and monday

on sunday we went to covenant presbyterian church, where john david attended while in college at james madison university.  john david's college roommate, chris, lives in harrisonburg and his family attends church there still.  although we only see chris and christy (and their four children) once maybe twice a year, we always just pick right up where we left off.  they are such a great family to hang out with.  we had lunch at their house and then the children enjoyed playing all sorts of games ~ basketball, tag, games on the wii and even some made up games.  later in the day we enjoyed a new park before heading back up to the cabin at massanutten. 

the original plan was to ski with the children on monday but little man started throwing up around 10:30 pm and continued to be sick until 2:30 in the morning.  i spent most of the night washing sheets as he moved from bed to bed.  we decided that it would be best to wait until another day and let him rest up.
watching cartoons
we woke up to an inch of snow monday morning and the forecast was for it to continue through the day.  i was a bit bummed since this would have been a great ski day!  but it ended up being for the best we would discover later ~ with schools out it seems that most people rushed to the slopes to enjoy the day off.  john david took the girls out so that the sickness would not hit everyone in the house and he said that the slopes and lodge were jam packed with people.  after lunch the girls built a snowman... our first of the season and it's march.  crazy!
by monday evening little man was much better and no one else was showing signs of illness.  yea for whatever little man had not attacking everyone else ~ especially on vacation!  we went to sleep early anticipating a wonderful tuesday. 
friendly but loud woodpecker near the deck

Sunday, March 4, 2012

how not to begin a trip

i am usually packed for a trip or at least know what i am taking days before the actual departure.  grocery lists are made, clothes picked out, toiletries packed.  not this time!  busyness has been such an enemy lately!  saturday morning we woke up early and started packing... from scratch.  the only thing already pulled out were three sets of ski pants and long johns.  the children started pulling together socks, underwear and a few things they wanted to take in car.  i had forgotten how much room winter things take up!  our goal was to leave at 11:30 and we pulled out of the driveway at 11:35.  at the third stop light m2 said, "nobody buckled me in".  i turned around, looked and yep, she was right!  pulling into a parking lot i quickly buckled her in and checked to make sure little man and m1 were tightly strapped in also.  i noticed m2's shoeless feet, "where are your shoes?"  she did not know.  "did you take them off already"?  oh, no she declared, "i never put them on".  good thing to discover while 15 minutes from the house and not three hours.  we turned around, got her shoes and pulled out again.  about three stop lights away again and little man said, "the basketball, we forgot my basketball and the cabin has an outside hoop".  i looked at john david, were we really going to turn around for a basketball? apparently we were.  an hour later and we were really on the road this time when m1 said, "m2 did you forget your nostril?"  m2 starts to get weepy, "mommy m1 asked if i forgot my nostril.... and i don't even know what that is". 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

following directions

apparently when the directions say to cook the squash and carrots for eight minutes they don't mean leave the room and actually cook them for ten.  

Friday, March 2, 2012

what happens in vegas...

john david had a great year with his company and qualified for a sales trip to vegas.  we flew out early sunday (2/12) and returned late on tuesday.  (worked out perfectly with our upward games on saturday and practices on wednesday).  nothing prepares you for how busy and big everything is out there.  we were on the 81st floor of the cosmopolitan... here is the view looking down.   they were at 95% occupancy... you would never know the economy was hard hit by the amount of people visiting. 

 grand entrance ceiling of the bellagio

 no i have not and will not ever gamble~not my thing
 cirque de soleil ~ beatles: all you need is love
 seriously amazing show.  one of the most fascinating things ever. 
i had forgotten how much i love beatles music until this show. 
out of all the places they could have sent us this was not my first choice.  i am very conservative (shocking i know) and was not sure what to expect.  we were traveling with five other reps from this area who we knew well and as a group we had a great time.  the accomodations were the best we have ever seen (and they will not be replicated on our dollar) and the show was outstanding.  and don't even start me on the food...