Who Invented Coffee?

I'm not exactly sure of the answer and I'm not in the mood to research it. However, I do know that on some mornings I really, really appreciate his foresight. There are days I could probably give him a big smooch, but I'm quite certain he's dead. That fact puts my gratitude more on a philosophical level.

Instead, I'd suggest he be given the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. Under one condition only...



...he must share it with the guys who invented the espresso and the latte.

Have a fun, caffeine-filled day!!

My New Adventure

I've probably mentioned how things are a little busy for me and they tend to keep me away from my blog for long periods of time. Okay, you're right. I complain about how busy I am and use it as an excuse for not blogging. I confess. I'm not making any promises, but I am working really hard to blog more and complain less. Or sleep less and complain more. Or clean house less and complain more. That sounds like the best plan of all.

On with my story. I've taken on a new project. I started it in the spring and got lazy. So I started again in the fall. I'm lazy at the moment, but will pick it up again at some point. The new project is...drum roll please...lawn maintenance. A more specific description is something along the lines of flower bed reconstruction.

And knowing me you know I don't have normal projects. I decided to do something better described as extreme lawn maintenance. You've seen those Internet videos of people doing extreme sports such as sliding down a mountain on a dinner plate in a Speedo or launching themselves into the heavens using a wrecking ball and a seesaw.

I guess I must have recently partaken of such an influential piece of visual motivation when I trimmed a tree in the backyard. Tell me what you think, please.


You don't think I went too far, do you?

Always be Prepared for Any Situation

As a mom, I strive to be prepared for every situation. For example, I've never left the house without a completely stocked diaper bag. Nevermind, bad example. I'll rescind that one in case you've spotted my van rapidly traveling toward home with a nekkid child wrapped in a bunch of fast food napkins.

Before I drift off subject again, let me tell you how totally prepared I was for this wonderful snowfall last Thursday. I'm sure you've noticed in the video and pictures already posted there are a few areas where I lacked.

Sadly, the Bigs did not have waterproof shoes.

Nor did they have hats. Thanks CC for calling me down on that one...Ms. Snow Expert! Even if we did have hats and scarves they would have been promoted to snowman attire anyway.

They didn't have parkas, or whatever those big plastic-y looking stuffed coats are called.

We didn't have an ice scraper to get the windshields clear. Then again, barring an emergency we were not about to travel on the roads. Who around here is prepared to drive in this stuff?

Despite all of this, I am prepared. I can prove it!

We have a sled...a real, live, honest-to-goodness sled! Unfortunately we have no hills.

We used our imaginations.

Creativity is Fun

There are always some things that one must do with snow. One is to make a snow angel. We didn't. The kids had no proper clothing to survive a dive into the snow with our accompanying colds and coughing. Not to mention I liked the pristine beauty of our untrampled yard. It's very picturesque in a suburbia ranch neighborhood sorta way.

Another must do is build a snowman. Our neighbors did a great job. They built snowmen. Normal looking ones with coal (or charcoal, or rocks based on availability) and vegetables used as facial features. How very Frosty-ish. You're half expecting one of them to jump up and exclaim "Happy Birthday!" Okay not really, but you get the point. They're normal looking snowmen for a general population not accustomed to building such creatures.



Like this one.


And this one.

This one.

Yes, even this one.

Now to our pristine yard. Remember it? I stepped gingerly around and took pictures of it for my own personal imaginary postcard, then went to take a short nap. I'm sick and must get plenty of healing rest. When I awoke I noticed the snowman haven our yard has become. All four boys (yes, even the tall 40-something one) took part in recreating the suburbia ranch neighborhood version of Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Bill Watterson is considered a genius in our home, and his books are part of our Classic Literature collection.

So enjoy our lifelike recreation of his work as it transformed my lovely winterscape.

Still Photos of the Great Chill

Here are some sights from around the ol' homestead.


The front of the house looks so pristine and, well, inviting. I just want to run though the snow making tracks and messing up the beauty of it. Actually, I don't. The kids wanted to. I made them play in the backyard until I had enough pictures to satisfy my OCD-ness.

Here's a side view from the street. I'm not usually a fan of River Birch trees, but this look may change my mind. Now that I've given it some thought I still don't like them much. But I guess it's okay to like them a small fraction of the time...maybe one three hundred sixty fifth of the year. Snow years only.

This is the view from the end of the driveway. The barbed wire fence is so pretty covered in snow. I think it would be absolutely gorgeous if it were a wooden rail fence. Maybe I'll build one for the next snowfall. Oh wait...it's not our fence. The property owner behind us put it up. Probably to protect his property from our boys and dog. He may not like it if I took it down and built a different one. Too bad because I really did want to build a fence and would have started first thing tomorrow morning. Yep.

So this is the beauty that is our snow day. I'll post some more pictures soon. I have many, many, many to sort through. Unfortunately its become apparent that my old computer doesn't like my new camera. The complaining, fussing, griping and moaning it does over the size of the files is getting on my nerves fast. Of course the Babiest forcing size D batteries in the DVD drive doesn't make it want to strive to please me either. I'll work as fast as it will let me to put more pics up!

My Resurrection Post--AKA The Great Snowball War of 2008

Okay, weather like we have been seeing today in South Louisiana is just not normal. If there's ever been a reason to revisit my long forgotten blog this is it. So here we go.

By the way, I know you're on the edge of your seat wondering where I've been hiding out. I'm not going to bore you with how busy I've been (at least in this post) but will explain everything later. I know you're hoping it's much later!

Anyway, to the subject at hand. The Great Snowball War of 2008, which never actually took place. The Bigs were so busy and worked so hard to create fortresses to protect themselves from the impending war that they never actually got the chance to have the war. Just a few stray shots here and there during construction.




They quickly got too wet and cold to stay outside. We're just not equipped for this type of precipitation. A trip inside, a break with a snack and a change of clothes and they were off again. I'll make another post for those still shots. In the meantime enjoy the video and ignore the gravelly voice. I'm trying my best to get over this nasty cold but my body has other ideas.