Flat Stanley ~ Snow Sports

It's all Dorothy's fault!

After reading on my blog that Flat Stanley is visiting, my BFF Dorothy e-mailed me and suggested that we take him sledding or skiing since we have all this snow in our 'neck of the woods'.

Knowing that Shelby will love this, especially since they all went skiing and sledding over New Years, we decided to "take Flat Stanley skiing"! We quickly discovered that his stance and abilities are better suited for snowboarding than for skis so Grandpa got him a bright orange snowboard. He had a blast as you can see here...

Snowboarding can be tricky, but even an Arizona kid can ride a sled without any lessons or experience. Check this out!

Just wait until I show you where Flat Stanley went today! He has to get back home soon so we've been making sure he's having a memorable time here.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Silly Days

  Bev 

Blinded By The White!

For years we have collected magnets as souvenirs. This is the only "collection" that we continue to expand. They are small, relatively inexpensive, and come in so very many unique designs. Often, we will choose a pin or patch or decal that offers the best reminder of a place and then Rich will make it into a magnet. Over time, as you might imagine from our many travels, we have amassed quite a collection and the vast majority of them resided on our refrigerator.

This week, we decided that the magnet collection had overwhelmed our entire little kitchen. After considering a couple of ideas we opted for two large magnetic white boards hung on the wall in Rich's workout room in the basement. (Don't you just love the paint color he selected for that room? I sure do! You may notice that it's nearly the same color as the one I selected for this blog background...but, I digress...)

Back to souvenir magnets...  Can you imagine? With these covering every inch of it, we could hardly tell what color our refrigerator was anymore!!!

But now, every time I turn around from the counter or sink and experience the shock of this bright white expanse, I'm nearly blinded!

Obviously, not everything was relegated to the basement display though. Would you like to see what made the cut?

Our grandkids as infants, of course; the G for Grandpa that Shelby gave him for his birthday last October; a decal saying "I've Been EVERYWHERE" that we picked up in Spokane, WA on the trip in June 1998 when I completed my quest to visit all 50 States; and a photo of the kids and me at Chicago's Lego Land this past summer.

Our grandkids again, of course, in these darling flower framed photos that were taken several years ago; a pair of American flags that came on decorated brownies; a photo of Rich, Greg, the grands, and me taken at Chicago's Navy Pier in July 2006; a Kindergarten project with a handprint blowing a kiss for Grandparent's Day that Shelby gave us; a favorite photo of Sandee pulling Jackson & Dylan on a sled across our golf course taken in January 2003; a photo I took in our bedroom a year ago of the JOY pillow and rose; and, naturally, a Colorado magnet with a Columbine painted on it.

To your great relief ~ and I understand completely ~ I am not going to describe each and every one of the magnets that have been moved. I could, however, since each represents a tale that Rich and I could tell. I have decided to post these closeups though so that you too can enjoy this special collection of memories.

Lovin' Life ~~ Collecting Memories

  Bev 

We Have a Visitor...

He arrived on Monday and we are so excited that he will be here for a week! Let me introduce you to...

Flat Stanley!

Shelby's class recently read the Flat Stanley book and she chose us for him to visit...what an honor! We have thoroughly enjoyed visits from Flat Stanleys a couple of times before. I was happy to see that he wore a heavy sweater, long pants, and shoes because it is VERY cold here and he traveled from Arizona where the winter weather is so much warmer.

Last evening I hosted my Hand 'N Foot card group...seven of my bestest friends here in our neighborhood. Since it's nearly Valentine's Day, I scattered little Disney Princess Valentine cards on the snack table.

But not until Flat Stanley got to meet and visit with all of the beautiful 'Flat' Princesses...

This may well be the highlight of his trip!

Lovin' Life ~~ Havin' Fun With It

  Bev 

Happy Birthday, Bella!

Yes, we remembered that today is Bella's 7th birthday. I will confess though, if Shelby had not been looking at my last several blog entries while we were on the phone last night...well, I just don't know. When she got to the one about us forgetting Dora's birthday, she just couldn't imagine how that could happen! That's when it clicked that today is Feb 8th...Bella's birthday.

And here she is, earlier today, wearing her tiara from their joint "Seven Years +/- One Week" party last Tuesday.

After their normal kibble breakfast this morning, Rich is offering them a special birthday egg breakfast! Dora does not like to sit, but just look at how patiently Bella is waiting for that favorite treat...

The following two photos were taken the same day as the ones of Dora that were posted nearly two weeks ago. This was April 28, 2004, just a couple weeks after we brought them home to live with us.

The photo on the right is the other half of the one where Dora was still afraid to go down the steps on the deck. This one shows Bella taunting her, challenging her to come on down and play already! They have had a couple of those "conversations" today, as usual.

Lovin' Life ~~ With Our Girls

  Bev 

Snow ~ Winter's Gift To Me

While many, if not most, folks who live in this area are wondering why they live in this cold, white, wintry area of the country, I am counting this winter as a gift from nature. I love snow; I have always loved snow.

When my kids were little, a window in our living room looked out at our driveway. A favorite memory from those dark, snowy winter evenings is of glancing up from time to time to see their beautiful little faces, bathed in the glow from the lamp beside the chair they were kneeling on, looking out as I shoveled the snow from our driveway.

When we lived in southern California, I really missed the seasons. Luckily, we skied which meant that we would drive up into the mountains to enjoy the snow. After moving back to Illinois, it was difficult to fully appreciate the beauty of the snow from my desk in the office where I worked and it was always dark by the time I left there.

All that to say, I had wished that this would be a very snowy winter since I'm now retired and home to enjoy this wintry landscape every day...and that wish has certainly come true!

It snowed a bit overnight and through the early morning. It's warm though, in the low thirties, so we just got back from taking the girls for a walk down our street. They were so excited! On the way back, Rich walked them through the mounds of snow on the sidewalks. And here they are...

Just look at all the snow caked on their fur...it took a lot of toweling to get them dried off because those clumps of snow had turned to ice when we got inside.

And now...for your viewing pleasure...here is a short movie of Rich with Dora & Bella leaping through the deep snow. He is such a great dog dad; The Girls were so excited and energetic out there that it was obvious they were loving this.

Lovin' Life ~~ And This Snowy Winter

  Bev 

Chicago Blizzard Photos ~ Again

The Chicago Blizzard of February 2011, yeah, yeah, yeah. When all was said and done, its 20.2 inches has been labeled the third biggest snowfall in Chicago history with January 1967's 23 inches and January 1999's 21.6 inches taking first and second. Perhaps y'all have heard enough about it but I'm not quite finished sharing photos with you.

The first three were taken of our back yard Wednesday night. I thought the light interestingly illuminated the shapes of the drifts. In the center photo you can clearly see the area where the wind flattened the snow between our deck and the first of the undulating drifts. In that same photo, all that remains of Rich's attempt to walk across the golf course are those two indents where he first stepped into the drift. The winds that had continued throughout the day had completely filled in the spot where he stood.

 

Thursday morning, like around 8 a.m. or some other ungodly early hour, I took this next photo trying to capture the sparkles on the snow when the temps are several degrees below zero, which they were then. Many years ago, before we were married, I picked Rich up at the St. Louis airport after his red-eye flight landed and we drove to Jacksonville just after sunrise on a snowy sub zero morning. All the fields we passed, for all those miles, sparkled like millions of diamonds had been scattered across. I'll never forget that splendid sight! I took lots of photos yesterday morning trying to capture those sparkling pinpoints of light but this is the best I could get.  

The sun and shadows yesterday morning made for other beautiful sights too, like this view looking across our neighbor's back yard.

Early afternoon, when we were leaving for an appointment in a neighboring town, these were taken of Rich in our driveway and of our front yard completely filled with snow.

When you see the enormous hills of snow piled up by the plows, it becomes clear why this is such a problem for the city where there is simply no place to put this much snow. Here are views of plowed snow piled along our street and the street coming into our development...

By the time we returned home, a tunnel had been dug through the snow to clear our sidewalk up to the front door. Our niece has commented that her boys would have loved to play in all this snow so they will surely get a kick out of seeing just how deep it is in our front yard. My brothers used to dig igloos in mounds of snow that they shoveled out of our folks' driveway...I wish they and all of our little ones could be here to create such fun memories out of these snow mounds!

Lovin' Life ~~ And All This Snow!

  Bev 

Blizzard of 2011 ~ The Day After

Remember the photo taken from our front door last night that I posted earlier today? Here is the same shot taken this morning after the blizzard that dropped 17.4 inches of snow out here that was sculpted by 50+ mile per hour winds.

What a sculptor that wind turned out to be! Something had to be done about all this snow piled against our doors because the girls needed to go outside this morning. Rich had shoveled a small area just outside the front door but that wasn't good enough for Bella...yikes!

During the night, the wind had pushed the patio screen door across the side of the patio door that opens and the space between the two was packed with snow. That meant that the patio door could not be opened until that snow was cleared or it would all fall into the family room. Rich had to tromp through the snow to get to the deck on the back of the house and clear the way to the door so that he could clear that snow out from between the doors...for Bella. He is such a great dog dad!

In this movie, you will hear Dora barking in the background as Rich shovels the snow away from the door. Bella joins in when Dora starts again near the end.



This short movie is of Dora & Bella playing on the deck, giddy from all the activity and snow.



Rich then thought he might take a stroll across the golf course...he didn't get very far. For those who don't know, he is 6' 3" tall, so he was standing in a few feet of snow.

The real heavy snow removal was done by this guy though...

So, thanks to him and the sun, our driveway looked like this by mid-afternoon...we are so lucky to have all these amenities where we live!

Lovin' Life ~~ And the Day After the 2011 Blizzard

  Bev 

The Storm Last Evening

Okay, right off the bat I'll admit that the professional weather forecasters were a bit more on target about this winter storm than was my prognostication. Are we done with that now? Did I eat enough crow for y'all?

The National Weather Service is reporting 16.4 inches of snow at Romeoville and 20.2 inches at O'Hare Airport...and that my dears is a lot of snow!

These two photos were taken about 10:30 last night. The wind had packed the snow in beautiful patterns on the window above our kitchen sink.

Taken from our front door, the snow was really piling up on that side of the house. There is a sidewalk between those yew bushes. Note the trunk of the tree too...when I post today's photos, this one will give you some perspective.

I'm posting these very short movies because they show the whirling, swirling snownados (another of my very own words...I'm so proud) or cyclonic snow at the beginning of the storm. Those winds exceeded 50 miles an hour at times, roaring around our house all evening and into the O-Dark hours of the night. So you can just imagine the drifts that resulted from that much snow blowing at those wind speeds in the shape of these snownados. Throughout the late evening, we also experienced thundersnow with lightning...a very rare occurrence during blizzards that only happens during the very worst of winter storms...making for a fascinatingly fabulous blizzard here!

Lovin' Life ~~ Reporting the Weather

  Bev 

Birthday Bash For the Girls!

Today we had a luncheon party for The Girls to celebrate their "Seven Years +/- One Week" birthdays. Dora turned 7 a week ago today and Bella will be 7 one week from today. Typically for her, Bella sensed that something special was happening today and was extremely animated for at least an hour before Marianne arrived to celebrate with us. Of course, when she gets like that, Dora gets wound up too.

Marianne's attention to details, such as this, has made her such a favorite with them. She brought the Happy Birthday tiaras for them to wear on this special occasion. She also brought some "yummy" liver treats from her favorite dog bakery for their dining pleasure.

Here they were earlier, excitedly watching and awaiting Marianne's arrival.

Rich and Marianne wore tiaras too, of course. No, Rich is not harming them; he's just trying to get them into the picture.

For our shot, we finally just picked them up and held them...our sweet birthday girls! By the time we finished lunch, the snow was coming down, just as predicted, so Marianne had to head on home.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Celebrating "The Girls"
  Bev