Snow Days

The month of March definately didn't come in like a lamb but instead roared in like a lion ...

We went to sleep on the last day of February ....

And woke up the next morning to a foot of SNOW ...

We spent the morning in out of the cold and turned the living room into a huge fort ....

Then the kiddos could wait no more ... 

and we headed out to the hills after the tractor plowed us out ....

Though it is beautiful ....

I am so over the snow and the cold ....

Instead I'm dreaming that spring will soon be here  ...

 Not long now ....

Though I did hear some horribly bad news about a huge snowstorm coming next week ...

Sigh .....

I'll just keep dreaming I guess :)

Storm Day Easy Chili

So it's been snowing here ....

AGAIN !

They actually called this one a blizzard ....

The kind where if you leave your house then you are CRAZY kinda blizzard !

The kind of day you need to make some comfort chili :)

This is the easiest chili recipe ever!

My former pastor's wife WENDY was sweet enough to share this with me. 

It seems like I've been making it once a week this winter.

The secret is making enough so you have leftovers for a few days.

I make a double batch, so if you don't want a lot cut this recipe by half.

First throw some hamburger in a frying pan.

The amount is totally up to you. Some people love lots of meat and others can do without !

Cut up 2 onions, 3 green peppers and you can use red peppers if you want, but I didn't have any today ..

And remember snow storm !! So not going to the grocery store anytime soon!

Brown your hamburger, then add your peppers and onions.

Then get your biggest pot and dump in :

2 cans of tomato soup

2 cans of mushrooms ( drain first )

2 large cans of diced tomatoes

2 large cans of red kidney beans

In the meantime, try not to look out the window at the freezing winter wonderland ....

Then throw in your cooked hamburger, peppers & onions.

Add salt & pepper to taste and depending on how hot you like it :

1-2 tbsp of chili powder ....

Mix it all together and let it simmer for hours ...

Since you won't be going anywhere .....

Enjoy :)

Making The Most Of The Cold

You may have heard we've had a little bit of snow here ....

So naturally I sent my oldest out in it ...

to go next door to the neighbors ...

because they offered homemade caramel corn ...

Perfectly good reason .....

Right ????

:)

Can anyone find Cooper ????

We are starting to experience just a teeny tiny bit of cabin fever . So the kiddos have been trying to keep busy  ....

Their favorite new game ....

Can we hit the target with the nerf gun  ....

This day the target was their gullible little brother's backside ....

They've been busy helping Mom out and keeping the Webkinz fed ...

School , School and more School !!

Does it ever end ?? 

I've heard it will once the flowers start blooming again ...

Which around here - is still many months away ....

Please don't tell my girls that they aren't getting spring break like the public schools get ....

Our little secret !

Puzzles are the new rage here ...

We've been putting lots of them together ...

Nothing says comfort on a cold day like fresh bread .....

If you can't beat the cold weather than join it !

That's just what we did .....

We dressed warm .....

And braved the cold for a few hours ....

I despise the cold ....

Could you guess ???

We've been ending our days with fresh popped popcorn !

No microwave stuff for us!

Always made by this handsome guy .....

I like him :)

A New Normal

We are starting on a journey of a new kind of normal ....

The kind of normal that is still pretty much the same ....

but yet it's not ....

Our new normal is us living without one of our babies ....

Someone who will always be missing from our lives ....

That memory , That hurt , That sadness  

 will always be there ...

It might not show ...

We may get really good at hiding it  ...

 We've been told by others who have buried their babies ... 

The sadness will never completely go away ...

It will always be there ...

We will just learn to live with it in our lives ...

But none the less ...

We will always be thinking about our baby boy ...

Life will go on ...

But it will be always there :

Someone is missing ...

SAMUEL 

If we didn't have other children , it would be so easy to curl up in a ball in our misery and pretend that the world is not really turning . That can't happen when you have kids . You must get up every morning and proceed with life ....

 Live through the hurt ...

So school must still happen ....

Extra math with Daddy in the evenings will be happening ....

Little monkeys will still find new places to climb :)

We must eat ...

So egg cracking will commence !

My first one ever where there was no yolk !

How weird is that ?

Nerf bullets will be chilled in the fridge ....

Why ?

I'm still not sure ....

When I discover the answer to that question .

I will let you know  ....

Little man will dance around in princess shoes ....

Just to get a reaction :)

Winter fun will happen ....

While trying to stay warm ....

Pooches will be spoiled ...

Happy 3rd Birthday Wags :)

My phone will be borrowed ....

And filled with 200 silly pictures  ....

Snow tunnels will be built ....

Naps will be taken ....

Puzzles will come together ...

Little brothers hair will be done for fun by big sisters ....

Why ?

Because the sisters are bigger and they can ....

Plus he has such beautiful hair ....

He's thrilled :)

Can ya tell ?

Laughter will be heard ...

Hubby and I discovered this little gem of a show...

It follows a Christian family who became multimillionaires with the invention of their duck calls ...

Very Redneck !

Very Funny !

If you have a squeamy tummy, don't eat while watching in case they happen to be cookin' up some squirrel :)

If your already sad with the happenings in your life ....

Which I am very much ....

I suggest not watching :

THIS!

Which I did - Mistake !

SPOILER ALERT :

Everyone dies !!!

Ok, well maybe two whole people make it through , but everyone else does not  ...

It's called Les Miserables for a reason ...

It's Miserable!

So again : 

If you want to be depressed watch this :

If you want to laugh :

Watch this !

And at the end of everyday  ...

Will be the darkness ....

Night time is the hardest ...

Maybe its because everything happened when it was dark :

~ The ambulance ride to the bigger hospital

~ The emergency surgery to save Samuel from being born 

~ The night my labor was stopped with modern medicine

~ The night he was born

~ The same night he passed away 

~ It was dark when John & I had to hand our Samuel to a nurse to take him to the morgue 

Or maybe :

Things just seem harder at night ...

Despite it all ...

Despite our sadness ...

Despite our broken hearts ...

Life keeps moving on ...

But please be patient with us ...

We are learning how to live without our baby boy ....

Grief has no indication of time ....