Fun in the snow!

I'm not much of an outdoor person in general, but definitely don't enjoy a lot of outdoor activities in the winter! But, when my friend Naomi called and suggested we take the kids sledding I was all for it. We're sick of being stuck indoors and it sounded like a fun afternoon. It was cold, but sunny. So we drove over to some hills beside the river. The girls had an absolute blast!! Taya was going so fast on her first run that she bumped pretty hard into the frozen hay bales lining the gate at the bottom of the hill, but she shook it off and got right back up on the hill. Then Chloe decided to try the "jump" someone had built into the hill. Chloe went sailing over the jump. She went one way and her sled went the other way. EEK! This sledding is a dangerous sport. My hands got so cold I thought they were going to fall off! I didn't have any snow pants and wore my cheap little gloves. The first time I went down the hill I had to use my hands to stop me and my gloves got cold and wet. From there on I was pretty much miserable. I stood around like a geek with my hands in my armpits, but they never really did warm up. Oh well! It was worth it to see the girls having so much fun. What a great afternoon!

Is it spring yet?

It's been awhile since I've blogged! I've been sad and out-of-sorts lately.

First, Corey's grandma (his mom's mom) was diagnosed with inoperable cancer the end of January and given 6-12 months to live. I've been worried about her and don't want her to be in pain. I'm not very good at dealing with death. All of the deaths I have experienced (three grandparents and my mom) have been sudden and somewhat unexpected. How do you say goodbye to someone when you know they're going to die? I don't know how to handle that.

Second, my dear friend will probably not be able to adopt her sweet little girl from Russia. I won't get into details, but the process was halted over something stupid and idiotic. An interpretation of an event that is not accurate or true. How do you deal with that? She loves this little girl so much and now she will not be able to bring her home. So much time, money, and love put into the process. How do you fight that? I don't know how to handle this.

Whatever else is going on, though, and however bad I feel, life seems to march on. You still have to work, go to school, and support your kids. Here's a quick summary of events over the last month or so. After we celebrated Chloe's birthday party, we went up to our nephew's to celebrate his 14th birthday. He was excited to get the rather "out-there" shirt we bought him with a skeleton on it. I guess things change as you get a little older:) Chloe then celebrated her birthday for the third time at Space Aliens with a few friends from her kindergarten class. She had so much fun spending time with her friends. The girls played games and enjoyed pizza and ice cream. We went to the play "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" at the Sauk Rapids Middle school. It was a two-person play with lots of acrobatics and hilarious stunts for the kids. Chloe had gone to the play with her class a few days before we went as a family, but she was just as excited to see it the second time. She kept saying, "Mom, this is a really good part coming up." Taya danced in her first dance competition the end of January at St. Cloud State University and her team won 1st place! She was so excited and we were so proud of her and all the work she has done. It was really fun to watch her team dance! The girls had a Valentine party at school and Chloe was proud she could write everyone's names on their Valentine's.

Winter can end now! I know this is always the time of year that the kids get sick of being cooped up indoors. They seem to fight more and everyone is on edge. We just want the snow to melt and to see the sun. Well, hopefully spring is right around the corner. We'll keep our fingers crossed!