SNOW!!!

Today was the first snowfall of the season and it actually stuck! We've got about an inch out there right now and while it's not coming down as heavy any longer, it's still spitting. The kids were so excited when they came boiling in from the dining room to tell me that it was snowing. I looked out the front door thinking it was just their fantasy since they've been wanting it to snow for a week now. You can imagine my surprise when I found that it was true. I wasn't expecting snow until tonight. The children grabbed the door from my hand and went running out to dance, bare feet an all. Only Deedee stopped to grab any shoes but not only were they mismatched, but one was on the wrong foot. :D I love the memory of her twirling in the snow with her dress belling out around her in her mismatched shoes with snow falling softly on her hair and the biggest grin on her face. Too bad the camera's batteries are dead. :( Charles and James insisted on telling Patti, our neighbor who's youngest son has never seen snow but he'd already been out and about exploring. She laughed to see the kids barefoot, with no coats and the excitement shining in their little faces.



Carey and Charles' slow danced to Jim Reeves singing "He'll Have to Go". It was sweet watching Carey move around with Charles curled in his arms and his head reasting on his father's shoulder. Another missed camera opportunity. I can remember hearing him sing growing up. For some time, I couldn't remember his name although every once in a while a tune would flow through my head. I'm glad I rediscovered him.



Carey's bike has been stolen, right out of our front yard. >:( They took the bike lock with it too. My very expensive bike lock. :( Sigh... There was only an 80 minute window when it could have happened. Carey says it was there when he left for work 7 and at 8:20 Carey's bike helmet, which had been hanging on a handlebar, was found by the street. I thought nothing of it. Carey often does wear his helmet and I assumed some children had been playing with it, which is often the case. Even if it had entered my head to look at the bikes when the helmet was returned to me, I would have thought nothing of it assuming Carey had ridden it to work. It was until he got home that we discovered that it was gone. He's called the cops and he did have it licensed so hopefully it will be found. There are some features on it that come with having little ones and their paraphernalia (baby seat, trail-a-bike, etc.) that will help identification. Also, it was a vintage style bike and while they're sold locally at the bike shop, there still aren't so many that it will be hopeless. It's very distinctive. Carey was also smart enough to let the bike shop know in case someone tried to sell it back to them although, he forgot the pawn shop.



Kitty's new shoes have come in and they're adorable. However, they fit her better than I thought and I'll have to get her a new pair sooner than I planned (or hopefully find one of Deedee's old pairs). They're Elefanten, red corduroy with little turquoise hearts. I love them. I think the only reason they even fit now as it is is because European brands often run a little big.

We got a lot of boxes emptied today and got rid of some stuff. We can actually see the corner in the dining room again. Yay. I pruned the big tomato plant I hauled inside for the winter. It's looking pretty sad right now, but it's got some almost ripe tomatoes on it and that's what counts. Or, at least, I should say "did" have some almost ripe tomatoes on it. The Deedee hit again and denuded it of all ripe specimens. My cuttings are also doing well. This is the first time any of them have survived. One of them I replanted last week since it had some great roots on it. It even still has the tomato on it that it did when I accidentally broke it off of the mother plant. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet.

Carey and I watched "American History X" this evening. A very powerful movie, much better than I expected although, the ending caught me by surprise. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing? Bleh. While we watched it, I colored a large holiday picture. It was on the inside of the Land's End box that the boys' boots came in last week and I thought, hell, why not. It would help block the drafts in the front window, if nothing else. Even Carey got in on it and colored several items. Kitty also had to throw her two cents worth in and prettied up one of the snow hills. :D She was very proud of herself.

Carey got his glasses broken wrestling around with the kids. It's a good thing we have a good repair kit that also happened to have a screw that actually fit. He was lucky that they didn't bend any more than they did or perhaps they'd have snapped. He tried to yell at James about it until I reminded him that he should have taken them off in the first place if he was going to rough house with the kids. He knew better.