More Winter

Spending your first 5 years on the coast and then moving to the center of a massive continent means you get to have lots of first when you are old enough to remember them.  This week S got to catch falling snowflakes on her tongue for the first time and I was so glad I was there to see that moment of pure joy and discovery. 

(somebody tell me why this picture rotates itself and how do I fix it?)

J, on the other hand, is still struggling with winter. He still refuses to wear a coat or mittens or boots. He claims that coats are “too puffy” and that his hands are afraid of the dark so that’s why he can’t stand to wear his mittens. Sometimes I CAN get him in a sweater, but that’s about it; sigh. One particularly cold day, on the way out to the car, he just sobbed, “Can’t we move back to San Diego?”

Saturday at 3 am when I was up comforting S after a bad dream, I was thinking about what I’d like to do with my Saturday. I planned an outing to the Cove for snorkeling and a brisk walk, then breakfast at the Brockton Villa. In the afternoon I planned to sneak over to the temple for a session while the boys took their naps. I asked myself why it had been sooooo long since I’d made time to go to the temple. I miss being there a lot. Now, remember it was 3 am. Finally it registered that 1,385.4 miles exist between me and that temple and I live in South Dakota now; so disappointing! I think we are putting on a pretty good face about liking it here, but lots of days, at least the kids and I, wish we were home on the warm beach again.

Inspite of being REALLY far from the beach, we had a pretty fun Saturday.  J did finally get out in the snow for a little bit after S peaked his curiosity with the whole eating fresh clean snow thing. There were nice big slow snowflakes falling, and he caught a couple of on his tongue.  Later as we drove to the museum, he let me know each time he saw a snowflake…”hey! Mom! I saw a snowflake! Hey! Mom! I saw a snowflake! Hey! Mom! I saw a snowflake!“ like a broken record.

At the art museum S met a real artist. She was very excited when she discovered that this lady has been an artist in New York City for a long time, and now she’s also got a job as a cowgirl in South Dakota too!!! Now if she would just marry a prince, have a bunch of cute little babies and become an astronaut, she would have lived out all of S’s top 5 dreams.

S is always saying things that crack me up.  The funny things she told me this week were:
“I like to make my lollipop lick my tongue.”
“The cinnamon toast caught my nose.” (like something catching your eye, only you smell it.)
“Adults are so big that even with pixie dust they need water wings to help them fly.” (creates a funny mental picture doesn’t it?!)

We were in Utah for Valentine's Day for my brother's mission report.  (Don't be offended if you live in Utah and didn't know we were coming or get a visit.  We were really only there for a very short visit.)  We didn't leave here until after school on Friday.  I’m so glad that we waited until after S’s Kindergarten Valentine’s Day party before we left. There are some things that you just can’t go back and do again and S was completely thrilled with the whole concept of Valentine’s Day.  She made lollipop flowers for her friends (and brother and cousins) and couldn't believe how many valentines she got in return.

And here she is wishing you a happy belated Valentine's Day too!