Damn snow ruined my plans

9:00 am: I herded the girls into the car and head off in the snow and ice for school.

9:05 am: AFTER we get to school, school is cancelled. Damn.

(I was supposed to go to my Mom's to help her put up her tree. She lives 45 minutes away on a big hill that doesn't get treated except with sand in the winter.)

I now have the girls, which was not the plan. Mom and I would have had no problem getting the tree up as long as the girls weren't there. Double damn.

So, we sat in the house, unable to really go anywhere because of the road conditions. We watched the birds....

...and played hide 'n' seek...

(She thought I couldn't see her. Maybe she isn't as bright as I thought?)

Male house finch and chickadee flying out of frame on the left.

The wren, again. I love their colors, their almost round bodies, that jaunty eye stripe.

"Can't a girl get a fur coat around here?"

Can't seem to get enough of my chickadees. And if you look closer, you can see snow falling on the bottom right part of the photo. Have I said already that I love my camera?

Time to pull out the big guns...when in doubt, make chocolate cake.

Lorelei helped with the icing. And she actually put more on the cake than in her mouth.

Word of warning to those of you with kids: Fall asleep on the couch in a fit of boredom, and your kids may just do this to your shoes:

Isabelle" "Mommy, I was practicing my knots!"

But damn, she put like 17 knots in it!

And finally, a cautionary tale of shopping with young children who didn't get a nap:

A little background...Geoff has finally received the advance for his book. He made me swear that I wouldn't reveal how much. (Good grief, honey. Don't you trust me?) So let's just say that Christmas will be good this year...maybe our best ever.

Anyhoo, after receiving this, Geoff cut us loose and since the roads were dry the girls and I went shopping. I wasn't really in the mood to, but I had to get out of the house. We went to the local Kohl's, and the girls love the double carts they have, so two kids can sit in them at once. Well, there were no double carts, only singles.

***Enter chaos***

The girls fought. They threw punches. They screamed. They refused to listen. They lay on the floor refusing to move.

I have never seen them like this. Even on their worst days, I can get them to at least see reason. Not today.

But all of you would be so proud of me, if you could have seen me in action. I could have turned into one of those "Wal-mart Moms", you know the ones, who hit their children in public and scream. But I actually saw the humor in it. At one point during Lorelei's attempt to reach optimum decibel level, Isabelle belted out, "Mommy! Take a picture of her!" And I broke into hysterical laughter. It was so damn funny. And it only made them madder. And I laughed harder. (think that maybe Isabelle will be a Blogger someday?)

We left the store as fast as I could get out.

I won't be taking them shopping again until they are 30.

And now, I am off to take my "brainwashed, institutionalized, schooled" mind to go do some online shopping, because I am all about "mindless consumerism".