Snow Pictures and a LIttle Story Telling.

If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that big snow storm a couple of years ago on Christmas Eve 2009, the weather closed in and, well you might not believe it, but the world the Swinneys almost missed Christmas.

Oh, excuse me. Call me Sam Connie. What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a talking snowman human before?

O.k., so that doesn't really work so great and I don't exactly sound like Burl Ives. But just picture that first scene in the 1964 Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with the newspaper front pages flashing across the screen describing the terrible snow storm threatening to ruin Christmas...

Levi and I are usually on the up and up when it comes to weather. I mean, we have the Weather Channel app on his iphone and my itouch, after all. However, that particular morning Levi awoke with a "Holy crap...look at THIS..."

....thus showing me the HUGE pink/blue/white cloud moving across North Texas putting us right smack dab in the middle of a winter storm.

Our morning went on as usual and we stupidly thoughtfully drove way out in the middle of nowhere to visit Levi's grandma at the nursing home along with his sisters and dad. The snow had already begun to fall. Had we gotten snowed in there, I would have had roasted Levi Swinney for dinner instead of that Christmas ham his mom was cooking.

By the time we got out of the nursing home the winds were howling and it was a blistering winter scene. It was fun, sort of. That wind really ruins a good snow experience.

Not to mention the girls didn't have anything close to a coat appropriate for that kind of cold. In fact, it was on my to-do list for this week to get them new coats before the actual winter weather usually begins.

As we near grandma and grandpa's house the snowflakes just got bigger and bigger and bigger. You saw a couple of the snow pictures from yesterday's post and now you get to see the rest of story...







As you can see, they are sporting the oh so fashionable zip-lock-baggie-sock-mittens. Hey, they work, although some people thought differently. And your hands stay dry.

Notice how the ground is just barely beginning to cover with snow? Well it didn't take long before it accumulated enough to have some REAL snow fun. Luckily, Grandma allowed the girls to open two very important presents. And fate would have it that she bought them water proof jackets and boots! What a perfect gift for a snow day.

Jules' snow-angel.

Mia's snow-angel

After some good snow fun we decided to be irresponsible faithful followers of Christ and attend the Christmas Eve service across town. I had my reserves but when dealing with a group of people one opinion tends not to matter. So we skidded, slipped, and slid there and back. Here are a few pictures from that adventure.....

The white lines you see in this picture are sheets of snow being blown across the road and through air.

Upon our return home ALL of the previous tracks in the backyard were completely covered. It was like it had never been touched b/c it snowed so much. Granted, there was quite a bit of drift from the very strong and bitterly cold winds. So we were at it again! And of course, a few snowball fights ensued.


We usually drive down to my parents' Christmas Eve night when we are done at the Swinney's. Really, we should have stayed at the Swinney's but we took our chances and drove to our house. We passed over 20 cars that had slid off the rode and were i-witnesses to a mustang that lost control and managed to hit the left guard rail and spin around only to whack the right one leaving his car disabled on the side of the road. Poor guy. (as we drove right by him and waved....)

So we had Christmas morning at our own house for the first time ever. Levi and I have never been in our own home on Christmas morning. The girls had a fantastic Christmas and YES they got the pillow pets! They really are adorable and the softest things I've ever felt.

So I'll leave you with a few pics from Christmas morning...

Proof that Santa is REAL and a bit messy.

Snow message from Mia.

And so, the Swinney's did NOT miss Christmas. They opened gifts from Santa that morning and once the roads were clear, headed to their final destination to celebrate Christmas with Connie's side of the family.

The End (again)
PS I know this is not really a lot of snow but for us here in North Texas...this may be the only white Christmas we will ever see.

On the Night Before Christmas Eve....

Mia's parents (and Mia) finally mustered up the courage to remove the tooth that was hanging on for dear life.

Levi and I called Mia over so we could take a look at it. She came over but she shut her lips up tight. I laughed...and then again, told her to open up.

She pressed her lips tighter and backed up holding one finger up. "WAIT! I need to tell you something first..."

That is what the girls do to delay the inevitable...doing something they don't want to do.

"No, Mia. The jig is up. That tooth is coming out so open up."

Mia's lips just would not obey that evening so her evil wicked mother had to spank her leg despite the first five thousand attempts to comfort her in to opening up.

It was either that or we stick a crow bar in her mouth....you decide which is more humane.

And then she opened it about a quarter of an inch.

Real funny, Mia.

Once she finally opened it up we all winced in horror....it was so loose you could blow on it and it would fall out.

Mia ran and got a wad of toilet paper and gave it to Levi. She opened wide, Levi took hold of the tooth through the wad of toilet paper and lifted his hand up.

Mia sat there...waiting...wondering WHEN he was going to get it over with....

Then he told her the job was DONE!

He didn't have to apply any amount of effort...it literally just fell out.

She smiled the biggest smile of relief I've ever seen and was through the roof with excitement. It's funny to me now, as an adult, you just forget what a big stinkin' deal it is to loose a tooth. It is the tiniest little tooth ever.




We don't have any sort of fancy tooth pillow with a pocket that they sell (rolling my eyes). So, I left it up to Mia to come up with a way to leave it for the tooth fairy.

She decided that a ziplock bag with a Christmas tag addressed to the tooth fairy was the perfect solution.


So she placed it in the perfect spot and drifted off to sleep dreaming of the millions of dollars she would soon inherit.



Then Levi and I dug and scrounged until we found $4.

I was already in bed so I made him be the tooth fairy. Can't you just imagine him with a pair of wings, a tutu, and a magic wand.......

When she woke up she had not forgotten. She immediately looked under her pillow and realized that she had struck it rich. She was thrilled.


And then from that day forward she has smiled an impossibly big smile so as to make sure ALL could see the new hole her now missing tooth had left in her smile.

THE END

Gift Wrapping Ideas. SO FUN.

Some seriously cute gift wrapping ideas can be found HERE on my super talented friend Catherine's blog.

I'm going to follow her lead and I'll post pictures when I'm all done.

I don't know if I can make the hand-wrapped-poof-bow, though.

It might end up looking like a rat's nest.

And that would be nasty.

Katie's Blog.

Go to Michawn's blog HERE and read about Katie.

Then come back and go HERE and prepare to be amazed, changed, and devastated all at the same time.

I don't care if you ever read my blog again...read hers. It's what life should be all about.

Decorating HELP.

Two small projects in my future: Entryway and Guest bathroom/girls bathroom.

If I could give any advice to potential home buyers with children: Make sure you have a guest bathroom that the children will NEVER EVER use. Why? Oh, caked on toothpaste ALL over the bathroom, water 1-2 inches deep flooding the floor after each and every bath, mirror splatter painted with toothpaste spit, panties used and new hanging from the light fixtures, toys in places I never dreamed they could be, and let's not forget the occasional surprise....

...like, when your children never flush and a guest comes over. That's the best ever. Levi has spanked them for this and still just today I walked in there and what's that I see? I'm sure you get the picture.

....and like, when I empty the dirty clothes hamper and am confused by an overwhelming smell of urine...oh, there's a used pull-up in the very very bottom....that's what that smell is! Thanks Jules!

Oh, and if you are re-counting her age, yes, she's 4. Yes, she's a bed wetter. And, yes, she might be in pull-ups until she's 15.

Not complaining...just sayin'....

I know, you're thinking I have a lot more problems than not having an exclusively-guest guest bathroom by now, but let's stay on the topic, o.k.

And that topic is: What to do with the entryway and guest/kids bathroom?

Entryway as it looks right now:


Let's just say this isn't my style. At all. So, the question is, what do I do? I am looking through magazines to get ideas b/c I really like to copy other people's ideas. It's what I do best. Not sure I'm in love with that chair rail either. I want to display some family photos there and also have some function to it for guests..purses, coats, etc. I do have a coat closet but I think we will mainly use it for our own.

And the bathroom:



This is the new shower curtain I chose for the girls. I don' t want the bathroom to turn into a neon fest of colors. The rest should subtly tie into the shower curtain.

Checkout another lovely border!

So, any fabulous ideas swirling through your head right now? If not, do you know of a great magazine or website to get ideas? We like clean, and modern-ish. Don't forget, Levi is in the architecture business so unfortunately his opinion has to matter.