Smiley's New Word

We recently got snowed in. I mean, way in. We were stuck in the house from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning. I ventured out into the snow twice with Turbo - lots of fun! But mostly we were stuck here with no fancy 4-wheel-drive to haul our butts out of here.

I'm not saying I picked a fight or two with my husband, but I'm not saying I didn't either.

In those cabin-fevered 3.5 days, Smiley started using some new words. She said "turtle" while pointing at our turtle night light. She said "outside" when I asked her if she wanted to go outside... and then she learned the one word that will serve her well in her life with an older brother.

She said "mine."

And she said it with gusto, usually while taking a toy from her brother's hands and running in the other direction, shrieking with delight at her new skill.

I'm rooting for her.

It's All About Perspective

Last winter we had a little snow. Too little for any real fun, but we did what we could with what we got. For the couple of snow days we had around here, Turbo and daddy got all bundled up and walked around in the winter wonderland that was our neighborhood.

Those days were quiet and beautiful and very, very bright. Crunch, crunch, crunch goes the snow under the boots.

Infant Smiley and I stayed nice and warm in the house during those treks, and so it seemed only fair to greet the red-nosed lads with something warm to drink when they came back inside.

Hot cocoa for all. Yum!

Tonight, in, a-hem, late July, Turbo says to us as we're trying to get him to go to bed, "Can I have cocoa?"

Dad bends down and whispers in his ear, "Yes. The next time it snows you can have cocoa." Dad and Mom give each other knowing looks. We got this one, that's right. He'll probably forget about it by then.

2 seconds later...

"Dad! It's snowing!"

Um, no, it's not, but A for effort, Junior.