Skiing! (or "skeeting")

We took Oliver to Snow Creek in Weston, MO last weekend for his very first ski lesson. None of us had been there before, and I have to say, their ski runs looked much hillier than I expected them to be, considering it's Missouri. Anywhoo, we decided to spring for a 1 hour private lesson for O in preparation for our first ever family ski trip to Colorado - happening THIS weekend! We tried to set Oliver's expectations very low - saying things like, this is just so you can practice walking in the heavy boots, and trying on the skis, etc, etc. He has been so excited to try "skeeting" as he calls it, ever since he saw commercials for the Winter Olympics that started airing way back in early January.
One hour is a looong time for a 3.5 year old to be slugging it out in the slushy snow, so all things considered, he did really good. There was maybe one episode of tears, but in the end he was smiling and so far he is still saying he is excited for "skeeting" in Colorado. Cross your fingers!

Before the lesson!

Doin' the slip n' slide.

Making his way down the hill.

Musings on a winter's day

Sitting here looking out at a foot of snow dumped all over the landscape, it's hard to be excited about the everyday routine around here currently. But, I suppose I should really be thankful that I have a routine to be so "blah" about. I have a great job, I have an amazing family, I have a super awesome all-wheel drive vehicle that maneuvers through the snow as deftly as Julia Mancuso (see how I worked that Olympics reference in there)! So, I will try not to complain about the snow too much. But, with snow, comes sickness. Every year. And this year it has hit us all. Oliver bore the brunt of the germs, but we've all been brought down by the stomach bug making the rounds, and most recently by a cold of some sort, which gave Oliver a super-high fever for 3 straight days before he finally was able to kick it.

Somewhere under all that is a kid about to go sledding.

Snow days also bring out some weird sort of need in me to find a creative outlet. I mean, I AM left-handed, so I'm totally just channeling all of those other super-smart, creative types, like Van Gogh, Einstein, Diane Keaton, Bill Clinton, etc....where was I going with this? :) Oh, yes: Crafting. I got a wild hair that our dining table needed an "update". So, I scoured the internet for DIY blogs on how to strip and distress wood to achieve a natural, weathered, driftwood-sort-of-look. Did I succeed? Um, ehh. It took WAY longer than I thought it would, and my environmentally-friendly techniques touted by those shabby-chic bloggers were a total bust. So, multiple stripping, sanding and staining attempts later, below is the end result. I think I like it better than the before. You  may like the white better, and that's okay. But I will just tell you, 3 year olds are hard on white surfaces. As hard as Bob Costas' eye infection is to get rid of (yeah, okay, that Olympic reference was a bit of  a stretch).

Table "before"

"During"

"After" 

Blessed be the patient husband who lives with newspapers strewn about underfoot and fumes in the air for days and days.

Happy Valentine's Week! Love your loved ones this week, and all weeks. XOXO!