Whoda Thunkit?
If I remember correctly, my guys were out playing golf in December. We worried about the lack of snow and the potential for drought in the summer. Tony, my youngest, whose ancestors must have been polar bears, hadn't even gotten his winter coat out of storage even though he rides his bike to and from school every day.
Baby, look at us now! We call my hubby Forrest because he loves to plow so much, he does most of the neighbors and some of the street. Can you tell he also has polar bear ancestors? Oh, he was born and raised in Upstate New York!

Check out this view out my window:

At times, we couldn't even see the coffee shop! Oh, and Laura, that's my Thanksgiving tree. I always put it up for Thanksgiving. I leave it up as long as I can, until hubby notices it when driving up the driveway and takes it to the attic. Last year, it was February 27. So far this year, it's still there!

It was so cold that Arnie, who has fur so thick you can't touch his skin, played out doors while Linda, who is a princess, waited for him to come in and play:
He would scratch on the door and then step back and wait for us to come out. I finally got her to go out for a while by throwing treats out onto the patio, then in the driveway and finally, in the deep snow in the back yard:

Linda loved it! Every time I looked at her, she had a face full of snow!

Oh, and Lucy, here's one just for you: Our own version of Lap dog:Of course, the snow was too enticing. Andy and Kailyn dragged out my sled (Used once, remind me to tell you about that some day) and run to the local store to buy more. Our front hill is perfect for sledding, especially since we have great neighbors on the other side of the driveway whose yard flattens out enough to let you stop! Yes, that is Tony, the polar bear, pushing them. No, he doesn't usually wear shorts and yes, he did finally get out his winter coat. He just came from the gym.

Of course, when you have kids of all ages sledding, you get wet clothes and soggy mittens. My son, who is a typical male, found a great place to dry the gloves: On the candles on the kitchen light: Last Christmas, I was proud to hand out my hand knitted socks to my family members. I had been working on them all year. Of course, I didn't photograph that moment, nor the identical one the year before. All I know is that last year I handed out 14 pair as gifts and tucked four pair into my sock drawer. It was tight. I burned a bit of midnight oil in December to ensure everyone got their socks. This year, my goals are the same or loftier. I would like to complete 20 pair. So far, since it has been cold, I have completed three pair:

Hey, if the kids can do it, why can't I?

Because of our crazy schedules, Mark and I took advantage of our empty nest status and went out on Saturday night to celebrate Valentine's day. Chinese. I can never remember which dish is what. I can't tell a king kong from a ching chong or a ding dong. I always let Mark order. The only thing I can remember about Chinese food is to take your rings off before you go to bed that night. Luckily, I did.

Oh, and we had company, our grandson and granddog! This is JR, who is 14 and his dog, Max who is 6 months.

At least it's done snowing, but the temperatures make everything crispy. At night when I take the dogs out, I add another layer of clothes and offer them bribes of the highest caliber to get them to hurry. I was blog jogging this week and saw that Mary Anne, who lives in British Columbia, has Daffodills popping up! Could it be that we really will have an early spring? I'm excited. I planted hundreds of bulbs this fall, thinking one for me, one for the squirrels and one for mother nature...can't wait to see what pops up here!

It's been too long. I could go on for hours and hours...so much to share, but I have to put dinner on and make myself beautiful for hubby and that takes hours and hours each day!

Stay warm and stay safe. I'll be back soon!