Snow... so close

Our family members up in Maryland are getting HAMMERED with a record-breaking "EPIC" snow storm, as they're calling it. I'm so jealous. I would love to have a "stay at home" type storm like that. Some of my siblings may see 25 to 35 inches of snow. How crazy is that? Again... so jealous!

We got rain out of the same storm. Lots and lots of rain. Flooding all over down here. Not in our immediate neighborhood, but nearby. The rivers and creeks are all overloaded with water. Overflowing banks all over the place.

I can safely say, I think we're out of the drought that crippled this area for the last 5 years or so.

I could grow cranberries in the BOG in my backyard. :)

Stay safe everyone in MD/VA. (and please send pics to this snow-starved Southerner. :)

Snow? Here in Waxhaw? Really

We'll see. I really hope we get some snow. They're calling for 2 to 4 inches. The kids are excited. I'm more excited. A kid at heart here.

This would be Cooper's 1st snow ever. Lots of pics to take.

Stay tuned.

3-DAY WEEKEND

Amen. No homework, no school activities. Just time at home with the family. Maybe a trip to the park(s) if my knee is in the mood. I'm limping around here and can't even keep up with the Octogenarians at our Saturday market up in Charlotte. Scary how much pain I'm in.

I have a Dr. appt on Monday with an Orthopedic Doc (the Dr. that performed Kelly's achille's heel surgery). Great Dr. I just want to be pain free. Since Sept I have been dealing with this on and off, more off. Lately, it's been more "on." I can't shake the injury. I guess I'm truly not in my 20's anymore. (Not even close to them...) LOL.

So, we have a pretty tame weekend planned. I'm looking forward to some down time.

Stay tuned on the knee prognosis.

BACK TO THE TAR PITS

The kids went back to school this morning. It was a great break for them. A bit long if you ask Kelly or myself, but a fun distraction for both Emma and Aidan.

Back to homework and the daily schedule that is the school week.

Bitter cold outside this morning on the bus stop. 18 degrees. Brr!

The lake (or pond... Pond would be good for you) at the front of our neighborhood has frozen up. That's a first for us here in our 2.5 years we've lived in this neighborhood. The kids will get a kick out of seeing that as they head off to school.

I'm sure I'll come home today and see some kids near the edge testing the ice. Brings back memories of Foxhill lake and Allen Pond.

Good stuff.

BACK HOME

It's always nice to visit family. The kids enjoy seeing their cousins and we enjoy seeing our siblings. Christmas 2009 was no different. We had a great time seeing everyone.

Cooper got to meet and play with Pepper and they both slept well after each day's outings. The kids fell into the same category.

We're home now, and enjoy the "home-ness" of home.

Emma is busily enjoy "Gretchen" (her American Girl doll) and Aidan can't get enough of the Wii games and DS games he got for the holidays.

We went to Target today for the kids so they could spend their gift cards they got from their Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents. Quite a fun day for both of them.

Happy New year to everyone and have a safe New Year's Eve if you're out and about.

BEST BEHAVIOR

Looking at the calendar, it's not hard to figure out why the 2 cherubs have been "extra" kind and helpful these past few days. Wish it could be year-round.

We'll take whatever we can.

AIDAN... my own personal librarian

Each weekday night, the kids have Reading homework. They need to read silently (or to either Kelly or me) for 20 minutes.

Emma is knee deep in "pre-teen" scary books... (Goosebumps and the like.)

Aidan is on a "Junie B. Jones" kick. Not my favorite. Her grammar is atrocious.

Anyway, each week, Aidan has "Library" and comes home with new books. They're usually about dinosaurs or bugs or creatures. Fact-based books. He loves them! Gobbles up the info in them.

Every once in a while, he'll bring home a book that he thinks I will like. BMX Bikes, Motorcycles, etc...

Last night he brought home a MOTOCROSS book that he wanted me to read to him. We took turns reading the pages, including the captions on the pics. He was enjoying some "Daddy" time and I was eating up the fact my boy still likes when I read to him. Good times!

Wonder what book he'll pick out for me next week?

SICK BOY and the SNOW DANCE

Aidan had a rough Friday this week. Stomach pains and vomiting. Kelly took him to the Pediatrician who ran blood work that showed his white blood cell count was high. Ruled out Mono, Strep, and Flu.

Didn't explain the abdominal pain though. So, off to the Hospital they went.

6 hours later, Aidan was home. Hungry and tired. More tired, but it was close. No appendicitis, fortunately!

Yesterday, he was pre-occupied with diarrhea. Not a cool thing to have at any age, but even tougher at age 7.

Last night, he and I snuggled on the couch and watched "The Santa Clause II." Cute film. He crashed though and was SO SLEEPY by 8:30am... (I wasn't far behind him.)

Emma, as we prepared for bed time informed me that tonight was a "snow dance" night. Sleet and possible snow was in the forecast here. So, Emma (pj-clad) was out in the front yard in the pitch black, cold evening, dancing her butt off.

Her handy foot-work did not pay off though. We only got rain.

Skunked again!

WEDNESDAY...

Kelly and I will be meeting with the manager of North Carolina's OLDEST Farmer's Market on Wednesday to talk about becoming a member. This market started back in 1935 and most of the vendors are 3rd and 4th generation artisans and farmers.

I'm quite pleased that they are so excited to have us join. "We really need a bread vendor," is what one of the Managers told me over the phone when I talked to her this past weekend.

This specific market runs year round. We usually hang up the pans and machines in mid-December and call it a year at that point. Not this year.

I'm thrilled that our customers in Waxhaw will now have a venue to keep enjoying our breads year round. I have had quite a few of our customers ask us, "So, how can we get your breads in the winter-time?"

I now have an answer for them. Hooray!

I'm also thrilled that a whole new customer base will be built up with this market being in the city of Charlotte.

The market in question runs from Wednesday through Saturday each week. Kelly will do the Wed and Thurs. markets with an occasional Friday thrown in there, and I will man the booth on Saturday.

I would've never found out about this market had Kelly and I not done the Tuesday market this past summer.

One of the vendors I became friends with is a 2nd generation vendor there. Through talking with her and having her sample our products, I asked about the market and she said she would see what she could do to get me in.

I owe her a lot of thanks! (and some bread, of course!)

Stay tuned. More info to come.