Snowy slip and slide

400 N in Bountiful UT
Saturday January 21, 2012

Saturday Lars and I had planned on fixing a part of our fence that had blown over during the big windstorm in December. It was cold and rainy but we had the supplies and it needed to be done. So we set to work and worked until we were soaked and Sam had woken up from his nap at which point we decided to go inside, drink some hot chocolate, and warm up a bit. Once we had done that and Sam was settled, playing happily with Emma and Lilli, we went back outside to find a winter wonderland. We also found cars lining the streets, we have a corner home, and many accidents, both in progress and already happened. Our street had truly become a snowy slip and slide and many people were still trying to navigate it, despite the accidents on the street. Now I must say in their defense, before you come around the corner near our house you can't really see what is going on on the rest of the hill. They probably were quite surprised to see cars lined up along the streets, cars in yards, and people waving and yelling not to go down the hill. Unfortunately at that point it was probably already to late, you put on the brakes and begin your decent against your will. Thankfully people were finally able to get high up enough on the hill and low enough down to stop more traffic from coming up or down the hill. The severity of the situation can be viewed on this youtube video taken by someone 2 streets down from us. It was almost comical at first but then people helping those that had crashed or slid into yards and curbs were nearly run down but out of control cars. 

The snowplow was even having a difficult time making the climb up the hill. We watched wondering how this would play out. Finally after several failed attempts the snowplow began to turn around. Was he abandoning our street as a hopeless cause? And then he began to go up the street backwards, allowing the salt that shoots out the back of the truck to lay down traction up the hill instead of down. Another snowplow arrived on the scene and suddenly they were working together, one going backwards and one facing forward pushing the other along just to lay down that salt and make the road passable even for them. It was quite a scene and I am so sad we didn't get it on video. There were cheers and clapping on the street as the snowplow turned around at the top and finally cleared a path down the hill. Everyone waited, watching, as the snowplows made a couple of passes up and down the hill and finally the road was once again safe to drive on. There was, of course, clean up of the cars that couldn't be driven but everyone waiting was able to safely drive up or down the street. 

And then Lars and I finished the fence and drank more hot chocolate. It was quite a snow day. 

Fashion or clown

We are all familiar with the smokey eye look.

http://www.thebeautyinsiders.com/smokey-eyes-make-up-quickly.html

Well when I was waiting for my haircut yesterday I was flipping through one of the magazines they had out and came upon this, ummmm beauty.

As seen in an issue of Beauty magazine.

It is supposed to be the smokey eye but bright and fresh. I think it says "I'm dressing up as a clown" or "I've been in a fight with a clown"
Can someone really do this and think "Wow, I look smokin'"?! Sadly due to the power of advertising and media some poor girls and women will think just that. If they saw it on a woman walking around they would think it is ridiculous, put it on a model in a magazine and it becomes high fashion.
So, no more hiding those black eyes or dark circles under our eyes, from now on highlight and accentuate them! Makes life so much easier. (especially for us sleep deprived moms) Ü

January

January always seems to be synonymous with sickness at our house. I can't think of one January without at least 2 people being sick in our home. Nothing serious, just annoying viruses. Colds, stomach bugs, unexplained fevers.
This year is no exception. Emma had had a fever of about 102 degrees the last two days. She seems to be on the mend today but I'm on the watch for the next person. Thankfully, I don't get the illnesses myself, I'm too busy taking care of everyone else. When I get sick it's not good, nothing really gets done and I can't relax for thinking of everything I need to be doing.
All I can say is, thank goodness this January seems to be going a lot faster than last January, probably due in part to the fact that I have a baby this year and last year I was pregnant. Both of those events come with their own time warps. With pregnancy time slows way down, with a baby it's kicks into hyper-drive.
And seeing as its January and we are barreling towards February, I will be posting my annual tax post. Tax season is upon us!

Just for fun here is a picture of me and my new haircut. It was time for a change, my hair was too long and I didn't have time to dry, straighten, or whatever. With my thick hair, especially when it is long, it takes over 1/2 an hour to blow-dry. So this will be a nice change.

New addictions and fun surprises

I have a new addiction...Instagram. It is an iPhone app. It is kinda of a cross between blogging and Pinterest. It is a quick and easy way to post pictures of what you are doing or things you see. It has the ease of pinterest with the personal touch of blogging. I love it.

And speaking of pictures check out the beauty below. When we moved into the new house there was this ugly carpet downstairs but we figured it would do for now. But Lars pulled it back and found this fantastic old floor underneath. It was a great surprise, especially since so often during remodels the surprises are not fun and generally expensive. Yay for fun surprises!

A sense of accomplishment

When you have a baby sometimes it is hard to feel like you have accomplished anything, or to actually accomplish something. The day is filled with keeping the baby safe and yet providing them with a stimulating environment so they can learn the things they need to. It is amazing how much learning is crammed into our first two years of life. Not the point though. The point is that with a mobile baby the days are full of watching, teaching, and playing. (Which is wonderful, don't get me wrong) For some reason though my family also wants clean clothes, dinner, rides, etc. There is also my list of to-dos and projects needing to be done beyond the dishes and laundry. And we come to the point, it is often hard to feel like I've accomplished anything beyond the baby stuff. I know this stage ends and with him being my 5th I'm in no rush for him to grow up BUT today I actually did get to check something off my to-do list! Yay, it feels good to have one less thing on my list, though somehow 10 things have appeared to take that one tasks place. ;)
We moved into our house 4 months ago now and have had a pile of stuff on our back porch since then. It was mostly the stuff we realized we just don't need or want. It has been accumulating and each weekend we promise ourselves we'll take it to DI, a thrift shop, and yet it has sat, and worse, grown. Well my porch is no longer the embarrassment of the neighborhood! Yay!
So tonight I celebrate this one small accomplishment, tomorrow I will enjoy my baby and family.

He is so fluffy I am gonna die

Ummmm, yup, we got a new bunny. Okay, I swore I wasn't getting any new pets anytime soon but, well...look at that guy! He is huge and sweet and cuddly. We didn't go seeking him but when Lars called and told me about him I may have kinda told him not to come home without the rabbit.
His name is Chunky , following with our pet name theme thus far. In the past Chewy (still with us) Crunchy, Crispy, Carmel, Butterscotch, Licorice, Hershey, Furry Curry, Oreo, and Peanut Butter. And really, there is no other name that fits this chubby, fluffy, HUGE bunny as well as Chunky. (aka Chunk and Chunky Monkey)
He is about as big as Sam is right now, if not slightly bigger. As previously stated, he is the sweetest most cuddly thing. I'll get a picture of him laying in my arms on his back, almost comatose.
So the Andersen bunny haven is back in business apparently, and my Saturday this week will be taken making an outside pen where he can romp in the "wild".

Best friends

I don't know if I've ever written about Lilli's best friend. She and Jack have been best pals practically from birth. Jack is (for the next 7-ish months) the youngest child of our good friends. I would watch Jack to help them out sometimes and Lilli and Jack got along even as little toddlers.
They have done everything together. 4th of July breakfasts, preschool, and just spending as much time as possible together. They plan on getting married, and after the wedding...go swimming together. :)
When we moved it was so hard on them. Thankfully it isn't too far, but it isn't as close as down the street.
I don't think many of us have a friendship like this. I love watching them play. They can play for hours and never get bored. They pretend to be Harry Potter and Hermione. I love that they can play all day without ever once needing to turn on a movie or game.
They won't always be little but I hope they'll always be friends, no matter what, because friendships like this don't come along everyday.