Adventures of Corey and Kya

This morning, Corey took Kya for an off-road wagon ride down to the creek.
Meanwhile, I was at the house wondering what on earth was taking them so long.

The answer: fun

Corey packed along the camera and snapped more than 80 photos.
I added "buy ice skates" to my to-do list.

it snowed.

Last night and today it snowed a little. Maybe an inch or so? I know that is not much (especially considering our snow last year) but it was just barely enough snow for some fun.


Funny story:
After church and brunch, we got home and I unpacked inside while Corey and Kya played outside. Corey thought it would be great fun for Kya to sled down the little hill behind the garage (shown above). He put her on the sled and sent her off. Within a millisecond, he realized that the light layer of sleet and snow was super slick and Kya was in for the ride of her life. He said it was like the scene from National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. So, the worried father sprinted after the sled and dove after it as it was sailing down toward the steep bank (drop off) to the tall grass below. He caught her just in time and I am happy to report that she is still in one piece with all limbs attached. Thank goodness.


Kya got a few more sled rides but this time we made sure mom was at the top of the hill and dad was at the bottom to play goalie and catch her. She giggled the whole way and we heard many "mo mo" "peas peas" "go go" [more please go].

snow bunny 2011

I figure that if we have snow mid/late April we might as well enjoy it.

I introduce you to: Snow Bunny

Kya got to meet the snow bunny after her afternoon nap.

I am happy to say that most of the snow is melted  and spring might actually join us here in North Dakota ... but sadly the bunny is on his way out. Corey said his ears are now looking like floppy arms. Poor thing.

Our Little 8 Month Old

Just eight months ago little miss Kya was born. It was snowing. A lot.

Today it snowed. A lot.

Kya and I saw no reason to not go outside and celebrate her 8 month birthday.

She giggled.

... and then she fell over (face first) in the snow ...

Then she wasn't too sure she thought the snow was quite as funny.

She gave it her best angry face.

And then we played some more!

A long winter

Another five inches of snow fell over the last day or so, which means Corey got to take the snow blower/thrower out for a spin.

Corey and I decided we'd like to try "life without cable TV" ... so last week we had it disconnected. As of today we have a whopping one channel. Apparently we can connect an antenna (little bunny ear style) to the TV for some free channels, which we'll definitely be doing. In all honesty, I'm rather enjoying life without cable. I've realized that background music is much less of a distraction than TV!

We just started a six-month subscription to Netflix (thanks Jesse and Megan for the gift!) which is proving to be a great service. We've already watched one mailed DVD and one movie over the internet, on my computer. I was pleasantly surprised that the nearest Netflix distribution center is in Fargo, so our movies are delivered in one day.

Today we took a drive out to our land in the country ... it was white on white with spots of brown trees. In most places it was hard to see where the sky met the horizon. I waited in the (heated) car while Corey went exploring (and taking photos). It was a hoot watching him try to run though thigh-deep show – in jeans and tennis shoes.

Needless to say, we're still deep in winter here. More sub-zero temperatures on the way next week ... which means more sewing for me.

Less than 54 days until our due date!

Gone. And a winner!

The snow is gone.

Every last pile, ball and flake. All gone.

There are even little blades of green grass starting to grow.

It's been a fast journey and fun game. 

I'm actually surprised that it only took 16 days for our mountains of snow to melt away.

Nobody picked today ... or yesterday ... or tomorrow. But, my Grandma Katy's friend, Cricket picked Monday, April 20 - so I made the executive decision that she is the winner! Congratulations!

Going ... going ...

Not quite gone but the snow is definitely going down. 

With all the melting snow comes lots of water. It's draining quite well.

Wow, check out how low the snow level is! I took the April 9 photo yesterday after work and shortly after that, the temperature dropped down below freezing, so it looks the same today (so far).

Snow be gone

We're in for some big changes the next few days. Almost 70 degrees of change. It was -17°F this morning and it's supposed to be 50 next week. That balmy weather will melt our snow drifts in no time. So I figured I better get out in the back yard and document it while it's still laying around.

Speaking of the -17 temperatures today ... I wore a skirt today and forgot that I needed to fill my car with gas on the way to work (stupid, stupid, stupid). Well let's just say that I'm still trying to reestablish movement in my ankles. I swear they were frozen stiff. 

I think the snow looks like sparkly sand. It is so deeply frozen and packed down from the wind that I was able to walk on 4-foot high drifts without sinking in. Pretty cool.

Speaking of freaky snow drifts ... this is the south-west corner of our yard. The wind made the snow drift like this. It's crazy what a fence will do to a snow drift. The white fence at the back is seven feet tall, so that's some serious snow. By the way, check out all those tracks in the snow. Apparently we had some sort of critter in our back yard. 

My bird bath and some plants that have seen better days.


Another hot of the bird bath. And more neat snow formations around the base.

Critter tracks. Any guesses?

Waiting for spring ...

---

Corey's hair only has five days left! He is shaving his head on Feb. 17, in support of the St. Baldrick’s foundation, which “is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research.” Corey is trying to raise $700 in donations before the big day.   Every little bit counts. Thank you so much.

Snow fun!

With six inches of new fluffy snow and a beautiful sunny and warm day (high of about 15º) we decided to try our luck at sledding. The hills in west Mandan were the perfect spot. Corey picked out a steep area to sled down, which worked perfectly because there was a paved walking trail near it that we could walk up to get back to the top of the hill. It was a very steep hill which made for some crazy wipeouts. The best sled was Grandpa's old toboggan, which easily fit Caitlyn, Corey and I all together. 

My mom (ReNay) was our photographer, stationed at the bottom. The sledders included Corey, Caitlyn, my dad (Don) and me. Grandma, Grandpa and Ronda stopped by to check out the action and make sure we weren't getting too crazy. Dad was the best sledder, going the farthest and wiping out the least. Caitlyn and I topped the wipeout charts ... apparently I had a hard time keeping my feet in the sled - I guess I got scared.

I made a video of some of the best photos and action sequences. I'm rather surprised that we all ended the day without any serious injuries.

enjoy :)

One blizzard and lots of cookies and few reviews

Today we baked sugar cookies at Grandma's house. My sister Caitlyn, Grandma, Aunt Ronda and I had a blast baking and decorating all the cookies. We made cookies shaped like trees, wreaths, gingerbread boys, Christmas light bulbs, stars, boots, candy canes, mittens, and snowmen. We're officially ready for Christmas now. yum.

The weather is helping us get ready for Christmas too - for a white Christmas that is. We're forecasted to get a wild and crazy blizzard this weekend, starting this evening  – with lots of snow and lots of wind. It will be getting very chilly too - a HIGH on Monday of  negative 10. burrrr. This storm is supposed to be even worse than the blizzard we had last month.

My parents fly in next week for their Christmas stay in North Dakota. I hope the storm isn't so bad that they can't fly in. It will be great to have them here.

The A Christmas Story play we went to last Friday was awesome and so funny – just like the movie. Some scenes I liked better than the movie version!

Last night Corey took me to the Nutcracker ballet. I'd never been to the Nutcracker or a ballet so I don't have much to compare it to but it was beautiful and magical to watch. I didn't realize that ballerinas actually work poofy tutus! neat.

A new recipe and snow totals

Total rain fall = almost one inch
Total snow fall = over 9 inches
Total muscle soreness from shoveling the ice and snow = priceless

food that heals the body: Pumpkin Spice chocolate Chip Muffins

Sooooo good. yum. I maze one batch of these this morning (so I could give a few to my neighbor for helping us clear our driveway) and then I ate a few and brought a few to work and poof, I'm already down to four. I might have to make another batch soon. Get the (SUPER EASY) recipe here. I've been slowly moving my recipes over from the "old" site. They will now live at this site. Once the page is more complete I'll post a nice big link on this Bison Girl Blog site.

enjoy.

I'm already off work for today ... nice short snow day of work :)

Snowed in.

I put my morning off to good use ... I started the shoveling effort for our front driveway and porch areas. 

This is what our porch looked like this morning. When the snow fell, it was quite windy so the snow ended up forming lots of drifts ... some very deep.

Nice new fluffy cushion on our porch swing. 

Somewhere under all the snow is our street and a sidewalk.

My trusty blue shovel had its work cut out today.

I quickly noticed that I was the only one out "removing snow" with out one of these. I gotta get me one of those.

The "after" porch photograph.

Our neighbor gets the "Neighbor of the Year" award - he offered to use his snow blower to clear off our driveway :) that made me very happy. I'm baking muffins to repay them.

The TV is running a "most schools and businesses are closed, no travel advised" message across the screen. I hope they cancel work this afternoon. Corey made it to work safe ... although he's one of two, out of 40 or so in his area that made it in so far.

My first Snow Day!

School is cancelled today. Work is cancelled until 10:30 am. 

I've never had a 'snow day' before ... even thought this one is only for 2.5 hours, it's still pretty exciting.

SNOW!

"ice, ice, baby." This is what we woke up to ... delicate layers of rain, sleet, hail and snow, all turned to ice. lovely, just lovely.

I got home from work safe and sound today. They told us to leave early since the roads were getting pretty slippery and the visibility was decreasing. I'm not sure what lane I was driving in (nor did anyone else on the road) but I got home, and for that I am thankful. I took these photos upon my arrival. I braved the blowing snow to take them, so I hope you all thoroughly enjoy them.

I think I need to get out my snow boots ... these rubber ones got very chilly. burrr. cold toes. burrr.

This poor little pumpkin is wondering where October went.

Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

I should mention that we're still in a blizzard warning and the storm is far form being over. Good evening to quilt.

Click here to view some snow photos from around North Dakota (via the Bismarck Tribune Web site).

Update: 5 pm

Good thing I'm not planning fleeing Bismarck today - the interstate and highways are closed going north and west. It must be getting really bad out there. I hope my husband gets home from work soon.