Wintry Wyoming Weather

Right now there is absolutely no snow on my grass, since it has melted away (much to the boys' dismay). However on our weekend trip to my parent's house in Wyoming there was plenty of snow, fog, and frost. It was so foggy during our stay that there was one day where we didn't see the sun at all! So of course I had to take advantage of it and snap some photos.

Here is a picture of a silo in the snow as the fog was clearing.

We don't usually get frost as heavy as they do in Wyoming. But then again, they spend a lot more time below freezing than we do! So although I think the frost is beautiful, I don't really want to see a whole lot more of it!

I love the way the frost outlined everything... seed pods, leaves, and limbs. Poor cold trees!

Isn't the frost gorgeous? It makes me feel all wintry and ready for Christmas! All I need now is some hot chocolate with a candy cane in it- yum! Well, I guess I will have to soak up as much of that wintry feeling as I can from these pictures, since we will be leaving in a little while to spend our Christmas in Arizona.

But then again, maybe warm weather, palm trees and cacti are not such a bad thing after all. Check out the first part of our drive home from Wyoming back to Utah... talk about scary.

We made it home just fine, and hopefully we won't encounter any weather and roads like this on our trip to Tucson!

Airplane and Hay Rides

Last weekend was our family Christmas party. We had a blast! My entire family made it to my parents house (so there were 26 of us) and we had a great time together. My little family didn't get home until Monday afternoon. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I taught preschool at my house. Needless to say that with everything going on and my body busy making a baby, by Thursday I was toast.

After a slightly more relaxing weekend, I have finally had time to download all the pictures, and post some of the highlights of our trip to Wyoming.

On Saturday morning my two boys were thrilled when Grandpa announced that the weather was nice enough to go for an airplane ride. They think it is so cool that Grandpa is a pilot and works at the airport.

So in no time we were off! Here is Eli with his headset on.

Initially I was going to let Honey Daddy go alone with the boys, but Eli was being a bit contrary so I went to help referee. I am glad I went because I don't think I have ever been on a ride in the winter and it was beautiful!

Both of the boys had a great time and both got to spend some time in the front of the plane with Grandpa and Daddy, as well as in the back with Mommy. I had a fantastic time watching the scenery and taking pictures. Here is one of the best self-portraits of Jonah and me that I have ever taken!

It was so fun to watch my boys in the airplane. They loved watching the scenery, "helping" Grandpa fly the airplane, and talking into their headsets. They were so stinking cute!

As if that wasn't fun enough, only a few hours later we all got to go on a hay ride and help my sister and her husband feed their cows. My sister lives on a ranch not too far from our parents, and she was happy to oblige when I told her my boys would love a tractor ride some time.

Little Eli got to ride in the cab, and my sister assured me that he was definitely driving the tractor all by himself! She would tell him that she needed to turn the tractor and he would respond by saying, "I do it!". What a funny boy!

Jonah meanwhile, had a great time on the hay wagon with his cousins, throwing hay to the cows.

The boys even got to help feed the horses, and Jonah got to go on a little bareback horse ride. It was awesome! My boys were loving their time on the ranch.

After feeding the horses, Jonah got to help drive the tractor while Eli drove in the Ranger (ATV) with Honey Daddy and I. We all had so much fun!

So now I guess it's a toss-up as to whether my boys would rather be pilots when they grow up, or live on a ranch and drive a tractor!

Who knows? Maybe our unborn daughter will end up being a pilot, since she has already had two airplane rides and she isn't even born yet! I guess only time will tell.



Looking for some fabulous blogs to link up with? Visit A Beautiful Mess, Supermom, and Parenting by Dummies.

Buzz and Bear-Bear Hit the Fan

And now a blog post about another bear.  :o)

Eli also has a teddy bear, who is named Bear-Bear. Eli is really more of a blankie boy, and he has names for several of his blankets. But he wants to be like Jonah so badly! So when Jonah plays with Teddy, Eli will get out Bear-Bear and play with him.

When Jonah and Eli play together, I can often count on Jonah to let me know when Eli is doing something he shouldn't. The other day Jonah came running out of his room and told me that Eli was throwing Bear-Bear around and Bear-Bear was stuck. We have been working on NOT throwing toys, so I had a talk with Eli about it. Then I went into his room and saw where Bear-Bear ended up.

Not only was Bear-Bear up on the ceiling, it seems that Buzz flew up to save him and got stuck too!

The sight of these toys up there just made me laugh, so I had to go get my camera and take a picture. That Eli! What a character.

The Tale of Teddy

You may remember that my very first blog post was about Teddy. Jonah loves his blue bear SO much. Teddy has been around for a very long time and been through a lot. You should go read that post again to get reacquainted, but just to jog your memory, here is one of the earliest pictures I have of Teddy with Jonah.

This picture was taken before Jonah was even a year old. Even then he loved Teddy. I can't get over how soft, clean and fluffy Teddy looks!

Then when I wrote my last blog post about Teddy it was in June of 2008. Here is what Teddy looked like then.

You can see that he is not so fluffy and definitely looks well loved. Teddy has been Jonah's companion for the past two and a half years. Teddy goes with us on long trips and is always there to keep Jonah company in bed at night.

Lately Jonah has been begging me to put some more stuffing in Teddy. Apparently Teddy was getting a bit too flopsy for Jonah. I can't say that his assessment was wrong. Here is a picture I took of Teddy the weekend before his minor surgery.

I realize now that I should have washed Teddy before I re-stuffed him because he is a bit dirtier than usual in this picture, but at least it shows you how loved he really is.

In case you can't tell, Teddy had absolutely no stuffing left from his neck down to his legs. Don't ask me where it went!

So I finally picked up some batting so that poor Teddy could sit and stand up again. Jonah was really excited that I was going to make Teddy less floppy and more fat. He watched as I carefully opened up the seam in Teddy's back. Then he even helped me stuff in as much stuffing as we possibly could. Then I sewed Teddy back up.

Here is Teddy post-op.

Jonah is really impressed with all the things that Teddy can do now! Teddy can sit up by himself. Teddy can stand on his head! Teddy is much more huggable! Jonah LOVES that Teddy is no longer squished flat.

I am glad that I finally got around to Jonah's request. It really made him happy. Jonah made me laugh when he told me that Teddy is no longer bossy now that he is stuffed! How funny is that?

Next Teddy needs to take another spin through the washer. I hope it doesn't compact him too much!


Looking for some fabulous blogs to link up with? Visit A Beautiful Mess, Supermom, and Parenting by Dummies.

Fur and Feathers by Janet Halfmann

One night Sophia is awakened by the howling of the wind. Her mother suggests they count the animals in her picture book and Sophia soon drifts back to sleep. That night Sophia dreams that the wind blows so hard that it takes the fur and feathers right off her animal friends!

Watch The Trailer Now On YouTube: Fur And Feathers

To help out her animal friends, Sophia offers to share her clothes with them. But her clothing doesn't work well for the animals and they think they look terribly silly!

Sophia can tell the animals are unhappy and disappointed. But what can she do? Then Sophia has an idea. She remembers her grandmother's sewing basket, which is filled with feathers, furs, pins and sequins. So she offers to sew each animal the right coat.

 The animals line up to explain to Sophia what kind of covering they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish and Snake need scales, but Fish needs slimy ones and Snake needs dry ones. Sophia has to figure out what materials to use to make the appropriate coat for each of the animals, and as she does she adds her own special touch to each coat.


My two little boys absolutely LOVED this book. The story of Sophia helping the animals find the right coverings was engaging and had even my two-year-old spellbound. I have read it to the boys numerous times and it is quickly becoming one of their new favorites.

Not only was the story wonderful, the illustrations were a lot of fun and my boys even laughed out loud at some of the pictures, like when the animals had on Sophia's clothes. They loved the special touches that Sophia added to the animals coverings and the mystery of whether or not Sophia's dream could actually be real when Sophia sees a polar bear at the zoo with a heart over its ear.

As a librarian, I loved that my boys were learning about animals while being engaged in the story. Jonah was interested to learn about why all the animals needed different skins and I am planning on using this story in the co-operative preschool that I help teach we start our units on different types of animals.

If you are looking for a fun and educational story for your children, this is one that they will love. So add it to your Christmas list! I was pleased to discover Janet Halfmann, who is a wonderful author as well as illustrator Laurie Allen Klein. Together they make an award-winning team, as this book recently won the Gold Moonbeam Award for best preschool picture book.

I am excited that soon I will have the opportunity to review another of Janet's books as well as host a giveaway! So watch for that in the near future.

I was provided a complimentary copy of Fur And Feathers for review by Sylvan Dell Publishing. This review is my opinion of the book and others may have differing opinions.

Quiet Moments

Before I had kids I don't think I realized just how LOUD my house would become. Do you ever have those days where your kids are SO LOUD that you feel like your brain is going to explode? What's up with all the YELLING inside the house?

I had reached the point of TOO LOUD for TOO LONG this afternoon. After warning the boys numerous times that they were being WAY too loud, I finally sent them both to play separately in their rooms. That should take the volume down a bit, right?

Then as I sat down in the living room, what do I hear? The boys are yelling back and forth to each other through the heating vents! It made me want to giggle and sigh all at the same time. I guess some days you just can't win.

But are the days where you stumble upon the perfect, magic moment. Like the other day when the boys were being so quiet that I went to check on them and see what they were doing. This is what I found:

Jonah and Eli were sitting on the couch together, and Jonah was reading Eli a story. They were smiling and giggling together and it made my heart happy. My camera happened to be on the end table, so I unobtrusively got out my camera and took a few photos.

I don't know about you, but photos of quiet, happy moments like this make me smile and help me get through loud, crazy days like today.