Sled-scapades!

I have to say that I am fairly proud of myself at this point.  Against my better judgement (and that of the man in the store parking lot) I bought a sled for the kids on Wednesday.  There was snow in the forecast for Thursday and even though it has been as dry as the Mojave Desert here this winter I gave it a shot.  For some reason when weather.com forecasts 100% chance of snow I feel we've got a shot.  Luckily, they were right.  If they had been wrong I would have been pulling my children on the asphalt in the middle of the street regardless.  The female mini would have NEVER let me live it down and guilted me with her sad ass face to do so and I must admit I probably would have caved.  So I was taking a pretty big meteorological gamble with this purchase.  And being that snow isn't even sniffed in the forecast for the next two weeks it could have been a LONG go of it.  I envisioned actually having pulled them sans snow so many times that the cement would have eaten a hole through the bottom of the sled, rendering it unusable.  Fortunately this will not be the case as now they have a previously associated requirement for use of the sled...snow!

Honestly,  I was a little nervous about this next part.  I don't know where the thought came from but I foresaw pulling my kids in the snow to be a back-breaking experience.  I am so out of shape that I wasn't sure I would make it.  So I came up with an idea!  I figured, I have 2 kids at 30+ pounds each equalling roughly 70 pounds total...this is more than half my body weight...no WAY I could pull this sleigh alone.  Hubba is out of the question as he is away slaving at the salt mines.  There had to be another helper....THE DOG!  It was the perfect crime!  He's got tons of energy and as the 3YOG so nicely pointed out "that is what dogs are for Mommy...pulling sleds!"  This kid watches too much Diego!  So I get everyone bundled up, and ready for our arctic adventure.  An hour later we are ready to go.  I get the dog outside and bridled up and he is just fired up because he is finally going to get to go for a walk.  I first start out with the bungee chords.  HA!  That was a huge flop.  The dog looked at me like "You CAN'T be serious!"  The kids were yelling "Go Titin! Goooo! Vamanos!" and he just stood there heavily peeved, trying to bite off the chords.  I tried to coerce him and he snubbed me again.  So I moved on to a less rigid pulley system.  I found a really long rope to string through the front which I then attached to his leash.  I served as the go-between in the situation and let the horsey run in front while I ran in the middle to ensure that if the kids went flying I stood a fighting chance of catching at least one.  This arrangement he was ok with.  So we started to joy ride....

We ran while the kids launched over previously shoveled walkway piles.  They served as mini jumps for them.  They waggled on the ice, skid around corners and weeeeeeeed the whole way.  We sang "Jingle Bells" at the tops of our lungs (the neighbors must have LOVED us) and quickly changed the lyrics to a "one dog open sleigh."  Every time I looked back the kids had more snow piled atop their heads and bigger smiles atop their faces!  They both looked like they had just won the lottery.

At about a quarter mile I thought I was going to throw up.  This is the most running I have done in a looong time.  Mama don't run.  More of a water kinda gal.  And since having the kids well, let's just say when I run I don't exactly come back as dry as I left.  So I reserve running for times of emergency or immediately following a usage of the facilities.  I don't like to leave things up to fate.  This is usually the first ingredient in a recipe for disaster.  So needless to say I was a bit winded.  And being that the dog was pulling twice his body weight he was a little fatigued as well.  He started to sniff more and slow his clip to a mild speed.  No longer the "run like I'm being chased by a water buffalo" rate.  I then noticed a strong odor...clearly this little trip was taking it's toll on the poor pup.  The Titin Toots were killing me...being the go-between I could go nowhere for a breath of fresh air.  I was stuck.  He clearly needed a poop break.  This was my cue to end out little excursion and send this sleigh home.  The kids faces were bright red and I felt it was a respectable maiden voyage.  When we got home daddy came pulling in the drive only moments later.  We took another couple of spins in the "coupe."  I pulled them sans dog around the front yard.  Got going around a tree at a fairly respectable rate of speed and dumped the whole load.  They both went flying face first into the snow.  The 1st fall they thought was pretty funny.  The 2nd fall...not so much.  The Moose came up with a snow wash of the likes that I don't think I have ever seen.  Being the mean mom that I am, I tried to take a picture but most of it had melted by the time the camera was ready.  Hubba and I were laughing so hard it was almost mean.  Then I went to snuggle the little guy and he was back in the game.  Amazing what a little pity can do to a man.  Words to live by, no doubt!  

Post Snow Wash

Then Hubba took the reigns and led the princess down the street, around the corner and down a fairly good sized hill.  I've never seen this girl so happy.  She zoomed down with speed, precision and knowledge that she has the best dad who ever walked.  Metaphorically, a dad who would literally "pull her" through anything--it was quite a sight!  Leave it to me to spin a moment of glee into a serious life revelation...

All in all it was a great day.  I somehow managed to burn our crock pot dinner--don't know anyone in the free union capable of burning something in a crock pot but here I stand with my crown!  But we made our kids happy, ran the life out of our dog (he is STILL sleeping), I learned a little about physics, learned a lot about life and had the kind of day that I will look back on in 20 years and smile about.  As I was putting Mya to bed last night I asked her what she was going to dream about.  She replied "I am going to dream about all of the wonderful things we did today!"  Couldn't feel more blessed if I tried.  Happy New Year to one and all!  Much love, prosperity and health to you in 2011! 



                                                                                             Snow Angel :)



Let it Snow--Let it Go!

So today was the 1st day of legitimate, stick on the ground snow.  This came at a not-so-good time as Chase and I are both sick.  Nothing major, just enough to be irritating.  Also coming with poor timing is Hubba Hubba's memory lapse in forgetting to take MJ's car seat out of his truck and leave it for me.  And coming with even worse timing is the fact that today was the day that I had scheduled for grocery shopping.  All this to say is that I HAD to go to the store and the only way to get there was on foot.

So I wrapped up the littles as snugly as possible for 30 degree weather and got them both looking vaguely like the little brother in The Christmas Story.  At one point Chase DID look like a tick about to pop!  After I had decided there was no possible room for another layer on either one I ran as fast as a mom can run pushing two kids in a double stroller with blustery wind and snow pelting one's face.  We retrieved our essentials, looked at every toy and Christmas decoration in the store, ate a donut and headed home.

When we got back home Mya decided that this would be prime time to show her brother the Snow Ropes.  This is really his first experience in the white stuff and she really felt the need to indoctrinate him into the World of Snowball Fights.  I thought better of it for a moment as the mini is not feeling 100% but how does one drag a young boy from his very first snow day without feeling that pang of guilt?  So I figured a few minutes wouldn't hurt.  He was no sooner out of the stroller when his sister came up with guns blazing and launched a fatty right to his face.  There was so much snow he literally couldn't inhale without it going up his nose.  Had it not been for the snot melting it immediately he may have suffocated a little.  I quickly went into Mama Bear mode and scolded her stating that he did not know what a snow ball fight was, didn't know what the hell snow was for that matter and that she needed to ease him into the whole thing by teaching him how it goes and what to do.  She obviously missed the fact that boys don't necessarily come with genetic coding on how to snow ball fight.  So she went about teaching him the rules, all the while hurling snow right into his face.  I continue to rage.  He is trying to get the hang of it but due to the aforementioned "tick status" he was scarcely able to raise his arms.  With such limited range of motion he was forced to implement a side-arm type hurl which started to get him somewhere. 

While all of this was transpiring I started analyzing my anger toward the elder.  Is this right?  Does the baby always turn the mom against her 1st born angel?  Are these emotions fair, right and normal?  Once the Moose started getting into it and getting his sister in the kisser I found myself applauding him internally and saying "Ya! Take THAT!"  WTH?  This is my baby girl that I am rooting against.  Are you sure this is right?  And furthermore, why am I admitting to this?  Perhaps it is my eternal praise for the underdog that got me going?  Maybe a flashback from childhood where I was the recipient of freezing cold snow washes lit my fire?  I'm not certain the source--all I know is I was legitimately hoping for him to teach her a lesson in rosy red snow rashes. 

Then I started feeling bad about all of this and tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.  She really WAS showing him the right way to play the game.  Play hard or go inside.  And maybe, just maybe she kept pelting him front n' center in an effort to remove the double barrel snot guns that he was bringing to the game.  For this, I couldn't blame her as it was pretty gross.  Upon this realization I ran in to retrieve a Kleenex.  At least I would take this option out of the equation...

When I finished wiping him, a delightful surprise...I was now a part of the ambush!  I guess I never really considered myself a welcomed player in the game due to the size differential but I figured, why not!  I thought "This a prime opportunity to teach her about snowball fights and picking on people your own size."  HOW MEAN, right?  I am her MOM not her arch nemesis.  Where the hell is all of this coming from?  But when she threw the ball at me my only choice was to fight back. 

I point blank ranged her--right in the forehead.  Now mind you, this is light, fluffy, new snow so there was no injury and no need for you to call CPS but I was kind of shocked at my ability to make my own offspring cold.  I half-winced after the delivery and held my breath waiting for the response.  Much to my surprise (though I am sure not to many of you) she responded with uncontrollable laughter!  She was so pleased at my aim and fire that she rewarded me with giggles! 

So here I am trying to teach her the standard Golden Rule method of do unto others and it is simply falling on deaf ears.  Is it that I am old and unaware that, cold or not, snow is a damn good time?  I am trying to elicit a "think before you act" sort of lesson and instead I'm being met with the portrait of "Game ON!"  This brings me to the fact that I am constantly over thinking this parenting thing.  I'm so busy planning my next move that I don't live in the moment and respond like I would to any other human being.  If my next door neighbor would have come at me with this business we would have rumbled, laughed and brushed it off.  It made me realize that there are times to be a mom and there are times to remove the mask and just have fun with my kids.  At this point in my journey it is not coming so second nature.  I am needing to blog about it to see where I went wrong.  But my hope is that with time and practice I will learn to be a better balance of parent and pal.  It's going to be a loooong winter so I am sure I will be met with ample opportunity! 

Happy Snow Day to you all.  Hope you are gifted with the same chances to grow that I was!

Some pics of my "tick" :)