Snowy Weekend

All of last week the weather people were predicting snow for Saturday.
All of last week the inches predicted kept increasing, starting with 3 inches, then up to 6 to 9 inches, a foot, and then late Friday they said that it could be as much of 2 feet of snow in some places.

And just like that we were under a ‘winter storm warning’ and then a ‘blizzard warning’.

And silly me was not believing that we would get that much snow thinking for sure these weather people were overestimating the snowfall amounts. Ha! Let’s just say I was wrong!

The snow started flying late Friday evening, and the winds picked up with more snow all day Saturday. Everything was canceled or closing: no high school hockey game for Jake, no hockey tournament game for Drew, the Mall of America closed early, my gym closed, the busses stopped running, the airport closed, and basically the entire storm area came to a standstill.

So instead of the busy day that we thought we were going to have, we ended up literarily snowed in. We used this unexpected free time to do a little more Christmas decorating, did some cleaning, and watched a Christmas movie with the fireplace going! I love ‘snow days’!

(The snow drift was up to my kitchen window!)

Pete went out 3 or 4 times to snow blow and shovel snow off the deck. All said and done, we have close to 2o new inches of snow!!

The first plow didn’t even come down our street until last evening. Such a welcome sight!!

And with all the snow yesterday, today’s Viking football game was rescheduled for tomorrow so they could get the snow off of the dome. But they weren’t able to get this done in time. This morning the weight of all of the snow ended up collapsing the dome. Unbelievable!!

(Photo from Michelle G. )

 And in other non-snow related new; Drew received "player of the game" at this mornings tournament game! He had 2 goals and 3 assists!! I am so poud of my boy!

It was a nice weekend, snowy and all!

The Very Best Sugar Cookie

I found this sugar cookie recipe many years ago in a Martha Stewart magazine and have been making these for almost 20 years. It is the cookie that family and friends all request that I make each year, and I do. I think it is the touch of brandy in this recipe that gives it such a wonderful taste. (I usually triple or even quadruple this recipe.)

Ingredients:
!/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ t baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons brandy
½ teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugar together. Sift dry ingredients together, add to butter mixture and beat well. Add egg, brandy and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Chill dough at leas 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes and put on baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely and decorate.

Oh Christmas Tree

It is a tradition in our family that we always put up our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving and this year this tradition was extra special because Tyler was home for the weekend from college.

We set up the tree and put up the garland and beads and then my favorite part begins- time to hang the ornaments.

Once upon a time (19 years ago and before kids) our tree was filled with matching ornaments and was ‘perfectly’ decorated. Our Christmas tree today is what I would call eclectic and filled with memories. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!!

I have many favorite ornaments and these are some at the top of my list.

This ornament we got as a wedding gift and is special because it is the first ornament of our family.

I also have many Snow Baby ornaments that are dear to my heart. My Mom started giving me one of these ornaments each Christmas after Tyler was born because he was our snow baby. (Tyler was born just days after the Halloween blizzard of 1991 where the Twin Cities got hit with over 30 inches of snow. We were snowed in for days!) Here just a few of my favorite Snow Babies.

This ornament is one I gave to my Grandpa his very last Christmas with us and always brings back bittersweet memories each year I hang it on my own tree.

One of my favorite traditions that I started with my boys when the were babies is that each year for Christmas I get them an ornament that says something special about their year.

For example one year for Drew it was a cruise ship. (The vacation where he falls out of bunk bed, breaks arm, needs surgery, we leave vacation only a couple of days in to go home to have surgery done, vacation. :)

And for Jake one year it was a Harry Potter ornament. (This was the year he was in 1st grade and read those books and literally couldn't put them down!!)

The year we got our first dog, Comet, each boy got an ornament like this. This one is Tyler’s.

These ornaments get wrapped and put in their own ornament box for them to hang each year. And for someday for them to start decorating their own trees with.

But I have to say when I look at my tree, my most favorite ornaments of all are the ones made with my boys own hands. The ones they made as young boys at school and wrapped and placed under the tree as Christmas presents.

My tree may not be perfect in the eyes of most- but to my eyes... it is the most perfect of all!

Never Thought

I never thought I would see the day….

Jake is in a class in school called DECA which is a business and marketing class. They had a competition/ presentation to give on Saturday and he needed to dress in business attire. And he actually asked if we would buy him a suit!!

My middle boy is wearing a suit!!! And doesn’t he look good!

A Favorite Birthday

Thursday I celebrated my 42nd birthday. It was a great day doing some of my favorite things... going to the gym, lunch, shopping, fitting into a favorite pair of old jeans, a favorite birthday cake from Wuolette Bakery and even a middle school band concert! :) Friday evening some of my favorite guys took me out to dinner to Melting Pot! Love that place! It was a great birthday and I truly feel so blessed!

Serious stuff here!! :) This picture totally makes me laugh!

My mom shared with me a conversation that she and my Dad were having that just made me smile. My Dad asked my mom how old I was going to be on my birthday. She told him 42. His response, "How did she get so old?" Ha, ha!! Love that! :) I do remember when I was younger thinking that 42 sounded old! But now I have to say that 42 doesn't feel old at all!! :)

let it snow

Yesterday morning we woke up to a glorious sight.

Snow.

Our first snowfall of the winter season.

Simply beautiful and breathtaking.

There is something so magical about waking up to all that fresh snow that has fallen over night while the world is sleeping.

When the snow finally stopped falling last evening, we had a good 8 to 9 inches of powder fluff.

Drew went out with his dog to play in the snow for a bit.

These pictures have me chuckling, because I think that only in Minnesota would you find kids in shorts, a hoodie and boots…playing in the snow.

And today, with a bit warmer temps, the snow is slowly melting. Which is ok, because soon enough we will have another magical, winter morning.

a birthday weekend

This past weekend we celebrated two birthdays.

Tyler, my oldest, turned 19 on Saturday!!!

Drew, my youngest, turned 13 on Sunday!!!

All three of my boys are teenagers now, which is SO completely hard for me to believe! It really, really does not feel that long ago that we were celebrating each of their first birthdays!

(Drew at one year old.)

(Tyler at one year old.)

As much as I miss those days, I am so extremely proud of the young men they are becoming! They each have so much character, intelligence, humor, and caring hearts!

The weekend started Friday afternoon, with me driving to go pick Tyler up from college so he could come home for the weekend. I love that time when we are driving home and we have that time to chat and catch up on everything- with no distractions. Love it!

That evening Tyler and I headed to a MN Wild game. Which gave us more time to visit. :)

Saturday was Ty’s birthday. Did I mention he turned 19?!?! :)

In the afternoon, we had some family over to celebrate the November birthdays: Ty’s, Drew’s, and mine.

My mom surprised me with my favorite homemade birthday cake, a Cannoli Torte. I will have to share this recipe soon- it is so good!

Saturday night I started making cinnamon rolls for Drew's requested birthday breakfast.

Sunday was Drew’s birthday. Did I mention he is 13?!?! :)

Drew had 6am hockey on his birthday which he thought was unfair.
We turned the clocks back on Sunday, which resulted in Drew having a 25 hour birthday. This he thought was very fair!

That evening we went out to Osaka Japanese Steakhouse. This place is so fun, the food is SO good, and there is a ton of entertainment. Plus, you get to wear a cool mask when they sing happy birthday!! :)

The weekend was fun, busy and blessed! And we were so happy to have Tyler home for a few days!! How many days until Thanksgiving break??



wordless wednesday

I was driving in my car the other day and noticed this up in the sky. I just had to stop and take a picture with my phone! To me it looked like a cross in the sky. Beautiful!