Posted on

HBHQ Gets Snowballed

You’d think that we’d never seen snow before the way that we’re celebrating it here…or at least the way that Maggie is celebrating it. Yesterday morning she woke up early and started poking Barry in the nose insisting that he get up. When he’d finally wiped the sleep from his eyes and wandered down the hall after her, she ran up to the window looking into the back yard and yelled at the top of her lungs “NOOOOOOOOOO!!” (which translates into snow)

So we piled on the layers and went outside and Maggie was in heaven and so was Sparky. Sydney, on the other hand, had to take a moment to herself before she got off the back stoop and when she did she too ran around like a mini snow plow. We frolicked in the back yard and I demonstrated my best pitching stance while hucking snowballs at one of the big trees in our yard. Barry informed me that I may or may not have some serious skills when it comes to my pitching of snowballs.

That afternoon when the Little Miss wanted to go out again, I was smart and brought my cup of tea to enjoy because I learned earlier in the day that Maggie just doesn’t get cold. Period. When I was pregnant with her I was constantly warm and often light-headed because I was so hot, and now I feel like I know why. The child does not get cold ever and poor little me does. So, I brought my tea and kept it close by for occasional sips while we rolled out a couple snowmen.

Today when we woke up to more snow, I found that good snow really does make a difference when it comes to rolling snowmen.  The snowfall from last night just wasn’t as good as that snowball material the other day, but we made do and put together a mini snowman.  The squirrels didn’t seem to mind, and immediately stole his entire facial structure. Poor guy.

The prediction is for more snow to dump tonight and all day tomorrow. That’s fine, I guess. We’ve been busy inside also.  Mostly in the kitchen baking breads, muffins, chili and other snow-related things. I can do this for a while longer and can battle the cabin fever by going outside and making forts, but I’m slightly excited for it to melt. Then we can crack open the windows and welcome nicer weather.

But until then, we’re going to be watching the “NOOOOOO” fall from the sky and work on perfecting the best drying techniques when it comes to our jackets and hats. It isn’t so bad. We had our yearly snowy visit from Chach, she is fearless driving her little car in this weather. I’m a wimp; however, we did go across town yesterday just to get out of the house. I decided I didn’t need to do that again, at least with the predicted snow coming.

And aside from cooking and watching the snow fall, we’ve got other indoor activities to do. For example, reading the paper and making sure that we haven’t missed an important story. Maggie, like her dad, likes to read the advertisements. [B-mills edit 1/17/2012: “That’s how you know where the best deals are.” ]

Most importantly, we’ve got a new game that we can play all hours of the day: “Night-Night”. Maggie invented it and I’m almost certain that this game is just part of the developmental process. She loves bossing us around while piling blankets on our heads insisting that we go night-night. She also loves to pop up and yell “Morning!” to whomever is playing with her. Every once in a while I only wish night-night time was as simple as a pile of blankets and a simple “night-night.”

I’ll give it a try here and see how it goes.

Night-Night.

Posted on

Brothers

A number of years ago Barry’s uncle made him a copy of all the home movies from his childhood and I think it is one of those gifts that just keeps getting better and better over time, especially since Barry is now a father and The Little Miss sometimes does things that are just oh-so-Barryesque. One of my favorite snippets from the home movies is of Barry eating grapes, while holding an entire bowl full in his hands, and he complains to his mom that Brian, who snagged one, was eating his grapes. Classic.

But one of my very favorite parts (aside from Barry rolling over his cousin’s head) of Barry’s Childhood Videos, so appropriately named, is of Barry and Brian playing with their red wagon on a blustery fall day. After Brian had pushed Barry down the hill and through the field a number of times, he’d finally had enough. Pretty soon you see a angry little Brian hollering from the top of the hill and then the camera cuts to Barry yelling back for Brian to come back and play. The whole interaction is hilarious and adorable at the same time.

So when Barry and Brian get together now, sometimes isn’t too hard to see some of those dynamics, personality traits or jokes that have carried them into adulthood shine through. Brian isn’t necessarily stealing Barry’s grapes and Barry isn’t making empty promises about pushing his brother in a wagon, but they still like to banter and play together….even after all these years.

Plus they like Foreigner, remember?

Posted on

The Moosehead Crew

Seeing as it has been almost two weeks since we rang in the new year and we finally just put most of our thank-you cards in the mail, I figure now is the appropriate time to fianlly get the pictures up from our New Years weekend.  For nearly ten years now a group of our friends have been getting together to celebrate New Years and what follows are photos of our most recent celebration at The Moosehead Cabin. We’ve gone to The Moosehead three times now and since we’re growing in numbers, either by significant others or babies,  and bursting at the seems of the cabin. Some of us wondered if this would be our last year at The Moosehead, it is time for us to find a bigger house. 

Traditionally the boys go fishing (really a booze cruise) and the ladies go to a local winery for a tasting. The rest of our time is spent playing board games, cooking, avoiding the mud during Sardines, walking to the nearby park, and lounging around. This might have been one of the first years that we’ve struggled to make it to midnight and some of us didn’t. This also marked the first year that we’ve had babies along for the ride. 

The same stories get told, but new ones get created as well, and we all can chime in on specific ones. On our last night we sat around the dinner table telling stories that pretty much NOBODY else would think to laugh at the right parts, but we were all busting our guts.  We’re definitely all adults, with adult jobs and lives, but it seems that our weekend at The Moosehead lets us all unwind and kick our feet up for a moment our two.