The Snow Storm that Wasn't

This week as we were preparing to head south for our midwinter trip, we were also preparing for an "epic" blizzard.

The weatherman warned of 24 inches of snow in less than 24 hours.  School was cancelled.  Airports were closed.   The city was shutting down and our trip was off.  Damn.

We decided to make the best of it and stock up on hot chocolate and baking supplies.

Walking home from school

We set our sights on sledding and snow fort building.

And we waited.

And wouldn't you know the blizzard didn't happen.  We got maybe 8-10 inches of snow, our first snow that was enough to cover the ground.  

Thankfully it was just enough for sledding and playing.  And since the subway and city was shut down until 9am we took advantage of some extra time with Charlie at home.

The snow is slowly melting as temps are well into the 30s now.  We're even expecting some rain in the coming days.  I wonder if this will be our only bit of snow play this year.

I know this might surprise you, being that I'm a southern gal, but I sure hope we get some more snow.  If it's going to be cold we might as well have some snow to play in, especially since apartment living means we don't have to shovel!

Hansie's Gotta Read

Long video ahead. You might not find it interesting but I need to remember that little voice of his.

   

 All the reading Freddie's been doing means Hansie's got to "read" as well.

More Skiing

This past weekend we headed to a small mountain just about an hour away.  Tuxedo Ridge has been recommended to us by a few skiers as a great place for novice skiers.

Breakfast!

It's our closest option and is a great spot for beginners.  It is tiny, just two double chair lifts and 7 trails, and with its proximity to the city it can evidently get rather crowded.

No one set an alarm but we got up when Hans got up about 7.00am.  Somehow were were in the car by 8.30am.  After stopping for donuts, parking the car and suiting up, renting skis for Charlie and me, and purchasing lift tickets, we were finally on the first lift by 10.45am.  Not bad.

The crowds did grow by midday and the lines for the two lifts did get long.  The boys didn't mind at all.

The lifts were a little scary...old and they moved fast.  The lift operators were some inattentive teenagers so that didn't help. Somehow none of us got taken out by a char or fell off the lift, but Freddie did have to ride the lit down after not hopping off.  He was surprised on the second lift when his skis didn't quite touch the ground and I wasn't prepared to prep him for it.  I gave a quick talk about just going for it and hopped off, but he didn't follow.  He was a bit panicky, but Charlie skied down and followed his chair all the way down talking him through it.  After he finally got up the courage to try that lift again, I actually found him to be super confident on the lift.  He seemed to think he could handle anything now.

It took a few runs to get them warmed up but both boys skied really well.  Hans is about speed and Freddie is about control.  Hans refuses to turn even though he is capable.  He wants to go straight down and will even head for the snowbank and trees in the hopes that you'll somehow agree to ski in the trees with him.

One day he'll decide he doesn't want to be leashed, but for now he just howls if he thinks you're slowing him down too much.

Freddie did not shy away from the steeper hills and was comfortable making his way down all on his own.  He would just go and then wait for me at the bottom.  He wasn't interested in me talking him through it at all.

Freddie could ski all day.  He'd be thrilled with being the first person on the lift and staying until the lift closes.  Unfortunately his brother doesn't have the same stamina, and he's not so keen on being left behind.

There were some tears when Freddie opted not to take a break that only a $4 Gatorade could remedy. He certainly pushed himself beyond his limit trying to keep up with Freddie.  Charlie ended up having to hold him in the lift line.  He was obviously tired but did not want to stop without his brother.

It's hard being the little guy.  Especially a little guy who decides he has to poop and wants to be taken home to poop in his own bathroom.  Yep, that was a fun 25 minutes spent in the stall of the bathroom with him.

We called it quits a bit before closing and were in the car by 4.45pm.  

Not too much traffic and everyone was in bed at their normal times.  Perfect weekend fun, if you don't consider the laundry. (Yes, I wash their snow clothes because between lunch and the bathrooms and leaning on every dirty car in the parking lot it is much needed!)

Conversation with Freddie

Monday after school conversation:

Mama: {After exchanging big hugs and kisses}  I'm so happy to see you.  I missed you today.

Long pause

Freddie:  I just missed you a little bit.  (said with a tone that definitely meant he was just saying that to be kind)

And then I felt badly for making him feel badly for not missing me.  Sigh.

**********

Sunday nights at our house always conclude with our reviewing what a great weekend we had and how nice it was to be together, to have Dada home with us, and how Mondays and getting back tot he weekly routine can be hard.  Although I know Freddie loves his weekends with us, the boy very much enjoys his own life, as he should.  Perhaps Mondays aren't really hard for him the way they are for me.

The Monday afternoon conversation continued so I could let Freddie know I am happy he doesn't miss me.  He doesn't need miss me, I only want for him to be happy and happy on his own doing his own thing. That's what Mamas really, really want.

This Mama gig is hard.  How do I explain my heart fully to a five year old especially when I don't even understand it myself.

Prolific Writer

Freddie writes all the time. About everything. Little notes. Short books. Labels for everything. This weekend I found this from when he was playing school...

You are "espose" to find 3 objects and weight them and record your work."

"Espose" is how he says supposed so his phonetic spelling is pretty close.

I also found this little gem, a 10 page book titled About Me.

About Me, By Freddie 

I like drawin'

I like paintin'

I like readin'

I like runnin'

I like baseball

I like buildin'

I like swimmin'

I like TV

And that is all about me.  The End.

Apparently we need to work on our pronunciation around here so he can improve his spelling!

Tape

Hans' favorite Christmas gift?  A few rolls of tape....

Zipline!

He didn't waste any time making good use of it.  He burned through a roll a day.

There will be more tape in his future, for his birthday perhaps.

Cabbage Casserole

I wanted to make a traditional New Year's meal with cabbage, but I am not a big fan of plain smothered cabbage and greens.  So Lizzie passed this recipe along.  Be warned, it's yummy and makes A LOT!  Also, processed cheese food, Velveeta, Rotel, and Jimmy Dean sausage were no where to be found in our neighborhood...shaking my head.  Somehow I managed to track down some appropriate substitutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Jimmy Dean Sausage
• 1 lb ground meat
• 1 large onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 can Rotel, drained
• 16 oz Velveeta
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbs flour
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Brown sausage and beef and drain.
2. Add chopped onion and bell pepper and sauté until limp.
3. Add cabbage and smother for about 25-20 minutes.
4. Add can of Rotel and 1 cup rice.
5. In a saucepan combine Velveeta, milk, and butter.  Whisk in flour.
6. Pour over cabbage and meat mixture and mix thoroughly.
7. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Jammers

I swear nothing is cuter than these two little tushes walking to swim practice in their new jammers.

Wild Kratts

The absolute favorite television program in our house is Wild Kratts.  In case you aren't familiar with it, I'd recommend everyone with young children check out the Kratt brothers on PBS.  The first two seasons are available on Netflix and a new season is starting up on PBS.  The boys were thrilled to learn the Kratt brothers are working on 26 new episodes, as was I since they pretty much know seasons 1 and 2 by heart.  

Before show Dunkin Donuts visit

Given how much they love the Kratt brothers I knew we'd be heading downtown to see their live appearance on Monday.  They have done a show at the Bronx Zoo before but we weren't lucky enough to get tickets for that event.  Thankfully I was able to get in on this one before the 6 performances sold out.  Yep, 6 shows sold out.  The Kratt brothers are the real deal!

Yes, we bought Wild Kratt gear.  

We were at the theater early enough to get a glimpse of the Kratt brothers arrive at the theater on their skateboards.  Rockstars.  The boys were pumped.  Seriously, their level of excitement reminded me of Disneyworld.

We had nice seats and got comfy before the show started.  The boys grinned from ear to ear through the entire show.  Freddie shouted the answers to all their questions to the audience while Hans whispered the answers softly to himself.  Opposites, those boys.

Definitely a treat to see some their favorite TV personalities.  Mama scored big hugs and sincere "Thank you"s out of the deal.  Big smiles all around.

Lovin'

Cannot get everyone into one picture, for obvious reasons above

• NYC museums and museum membership (don't think we'd survive winter without them)
• Prolific artists
• Math projects
• Speedo swim suits
• Requests for snuggle son the couch every single morning
• Fitbit challenges
• Trip planning
• Sparkling water
• Clearance sales

Skiers!

A waffle at the Hampton Inn can really make it a great trip for a little boy.

We made a trip to Hunter Mountain to spend some time in the snow and get the boys onto their skis for a bit.

Hotel breakfast is so exciting!

Using simply the level of excitement for staying in a hotel, I'd say the trip was a success.  The indoor pool put it over the top.

We drove up Friday after work, and after breakfast Saturday morning we stopped to rent skis for Mama and Dada.  The boys had all of their gear.  Although it didn't take too long we want to have our skis here for future trips just to cut out this step.  The really painful part was getting everyone geared up at the car before making our way over to the mountain.  I thought Charlie was going to just toss everything into the car and drive us straight home but thankfully he rallied and tuned out the whining and we finally made it to the mountain.

Walking in ski boots, carrying skis and poles, and keeping everyone moving forward is no easy task, but somehow we finally made it to the slopes before lunch.

Saturday's high was only 14 degrees so I wasn't so sure how it'd go, but it was sunny and beautiful and the boys lasted a lot longer than I thought.

It was nice to come in for hot chocolate and lunch, and very much felt like a treat for the boys.  We packed lots of snacks for lunch and the boys shared a pizza.

After lunch we tackled the lift and added to some length to our run down the mountain.  Hans insisted on riding with me which was not a good idea because I was not strong enough to lift him and his gear up into the seat next to me so I ended up dropping him as the lift was taking off.  The kids behind us we appalled, but Hans didn't seem to mind.  The lift attendant brought him over to the chair and hoisted him in next to me.  Thankfully that experience was enough that Hans agreed to ride the lift with Charlie the rest of the weekend.

Dada and Hans are behind us!

Sunday was a much better day after having gotten warmed up the day before.  Freddie was so confident and spent the entire day skiing.  He scarfed down his lunch in no time because he was so eager to get back out there.

The harness helped this year with Hans because he pretty much just goes straight down the hill.  Freddie takes his time down, making his turns and working around other skiers.

This weekend was so much work for Charlie and me.  It was exhausting physically and required a whole lot of patience.  Not sure where we were able to dig up that patience, but thankfully we did because it was really worth it.

We're planning on trying out a few more ski areas this season, but probably try to find things we can drive to for the day.  The crowds will most likely be pretty big for anything that close to the city, but spending the weekend near a mountain takes a lot of work and gets expensive.

Lots of work putting in a good day skiing!  Everyone slept really well on Sunday, and surprisingly going straight back to the weekly routine on Monday wasn't painful, aside from the mountain of dirty clothes.

The ride home