ah snow days.  they're kinda the best, aren't they?  every single morning i wake up and wish so hard i could just crawl back into my cozy bed.  so when it finally snows and the school district finally decides not to be idiots and cancel school, i'm right there beside the kids celebrating.

steve and i ran around on thursday to pick up some snow gear for the kids so they could get out and play without coming in crying after two seconds because, "there's snow in my gloves/boots." plus i couldn't stand to see trent in the too small pea coat he's been wearing for two years.  (interpretation: too small; fits just right...if you need further explanation...just ask rachael.) so once they were all properly outfitted they never wanted to come in...it was bloody fantastic.  they sledded down our driveway for a while, and down the hill the neighbor guy makes every year.  he has a tractor and uses it to plow all the neighborhood driveways...then uses the extra snow to pile in his front yard and make a little sledding hill.  after that we piled into the truck and went to the park by the school for a bit. we had locked ourselves out of our house so we went to don and karen's to get the spare key.  perfect timing.  she was just making some french dip subs with the most amazing au jeux(sp?) suace.  i love that no matter what time of day you end up at karen's she just so happens to be making something delicious...and there just so happens to be enough for everybody.  my favorite is her response, "oh, i just decided to throw this together..."  seriously.  steve said, "glad we locked ourselves out."...we all agreed.

after getting home the kids stayed out sledding.  i went out too to help them build a little jump at the bottom.  cue neighborhood kids.  steve and i took turns shoving the kids down our driveway to launch them off the jump.  the littlest kids were the best...they caught the most air.  easton and graycie were a bit of a challenge, but they all had a blast.  we literally had a line of kids waiting to be shoved down our driveway...it was awesome. 

the next day amy and rachael brought their kids over to sled...same song, second verse...just a little bit louder, and a little bit worse. 

colton only went down on his stomach once i believe...he said it hurt his nuts.  sophie seemed to be happiest when i was taking her picture...pretty sure she cried or pouted the rest of the time...weird.  good times were had by all, until the next day when it all turned to ice and someone took a snowball to the face...still sad to see it go.

hello diana

Turns out I have a fan...my sister diana apparently loves my blog, so who am I to rob her of such joy? s'up diana?! Also recently found out that Mallory enjoyed it as well. holla back, mal! Two fans, makes blogging totally worth it. That and maybe  I've been a little jealous that rachael has been such an amazing and diligent blogger, journaling about all sorts of funny shiz her kids do and say. Aka...all the smack her kids talk. (hilarious).  so in true new years resolution fashion there you have it...i'm "bloggin" again. 

so to start, there is no way to recap what...9 months worth of stuff?  i coulda had a baby by now.  steve said no, so whatevs.  instead i'm just gonna go with what's most recent.  that being the hunting trip me, steve, easton, and tyson went on yesterday.  tyson was told by his father that he could take his bb gun next time he went hunting so he could "shoot ducks" and that was all he could talk about.  he asked me several times that morning, "mom, should we call dad to remind him to bring home some more bb's in case i run out, so i can shoot some ducks?"  no ty, pretty sure you have plenty.  ten minutes later, "mom, should we call dad and ask him when he's coming home, so i can get ready to go shoot some ducks with my bb gun?"  i swear this kid was more excited to "shoot some ducks with his bb gun" than he was on christmas eve.  i didn't have the heart to tell him, that there was no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that he would ever shoot a duck with his bb gun. 

steve finally got home from work and tyson was quickly ready to go.  when we got in the truck he told me jonathon (neighbor boy) kept looking at his gun..."i think he thought i was gonna shoot him with it."  we went over to don and karen's to grab easton, who by the way got his first duck and pheasant of his life this saturday.  needless to say...he's hooked.

 this is a picture from saturday.  steve, uncle ken, easton, and don.  those fools stayed out for 10 hours!

 we got to our first spot and started "hunting."  steve and tyson took one side of this little brush patch, while easton and i took the other.  (me being there simply to take pictures and complain about how cold it was.) turns out if there are coyotes around, chances are, there are no birds.  and there were two of them...coyotes.  one ran right out in front of me and easton.  i just stood there as it took off running, mouth open a little, just a kinda shocked like.  easton assured me he had his gun up to his shoulder with the safety off in case he had to shoot. and i assure you, that he did not.  i was standing behind him, and there was no raising of any guns.  pretty sure he stood there looking just like i did.  the other coyote ran out on steve's side.  bella took off chasing it and steve had to call the little hood rat back.  (she's kinda scrappy that one.)

so onto our last spot.  we all get out of the truck and the boys head over to a canal to sneak some ducks.  i think three got up and steve got one.  it landed on the other side of the canal so steve sent jett and bella over to get it.  they both took off running the opposite way of where the duck was so after a bit of coaxful yelling steve was able to get them heading in the right direction.  bella, actually using her nose was able to find it first.  but jett being the hunting alpha barreled into her saying "out of my way, female dog...this is my job" and took the duck from her to bring it back.  so into the water he goes...bella not far behind.  she is actually faster than he is and was able to catch up.  guess she felt a sense of entitlement cause she was determined to get a piece of the duck she rightfully found.  so the two dogs swam together with one duck in their mouths.  awesome. (bella prefers the leg)

when i asked tyson if he took a shot at the duck he told me, "dad forgot to take my safety off."  (sad face).  steve let him take a few practice shots and all was good.  crazy to think how big my kids are getting and the experiences they are having...here's to 2012 and hopefully doing a much better job of documenting these things.

the end.