Winter arrives with a vengence

As I type, it's -1 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 20-30 miles per hour, as it has been doing since 4 AM this morning. It's the kind of day that makes us thankful for a warm and secure home. We're stuck inside as it's not the kind of weather we like to be out on the roads in, even Hem has no desire to be outside. Good thing I have an enormous stack of papers to work on grading this weekend. Yeah, right. I do have to admit, it is a bit cozy as Nate has a pot of venison chili in the crock pot, and the Christmas tree adds cheer to the living room. Plus, it makes the fact that we'll be in Puerto Rico in a little over a week that much more appealing!

Below are a few pictures from the week. Just this morning I learned what happens when I leave Claire alone with a box of Cheerios while trying to read email during breakfast.


Nate spent a morning hunting ducks this week on the Madison River.

He also managed to combine a trip to get our Christmas tree with a little pheasant hunting...how convenient : )

Thanksgiving Weekend

Somehow the week has passed without my posting pictures from Thanksgiving weekend. That must be because Claire got sick this week with a fever, and a sick child and working parents makes for major stress. Anyway, we spend Thanksgiving night in West Yellowstone on a mini-road trip. While we intended to cross-country ski while there, snow conditions and mild weather thought otherwise. We made the best of it by visiting the Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center, going to the park to swing (one of Claire's all time favorite activities at the moment), and swimming in the resort's indoor pools. The Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center takes bears and wolves that would otherwise face euthanasia and gives them a home, which they use for a basis for education and fundraising. Claire loved seeing live Grizzlies and wolves, and we had a treat of hearing the wolves join in quite a chorus of howling as we left. We had a nice night away--well, minus the fact that Claire was up at 3 AM jumping on the bed yelling "Wolf, wolf"--and a scenic drive there and back through the Madison and Gallatin River valleys. We wished for our fishing gear though; it was that mild!

Link to YouTube Videos

http://www.youtube.com/sjlagerwey

Claire got a new pair of shoes this weekend, and ever since we went swimming on Thanksgiving she's been obsessed with her bikini. Here's the outfit of her choosing today as captured on video. Sorry about the sideways thing...I guess the video camera doesn't work exactly like the digital camera.

Visit Flew By...

We had a nice, long visit with my parents over the weekend. They got to see Claire in action as a busy toddler, both the good and bad. We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving meal and lots of free babysitting. Nate and I actually had a night out on the town together, and since I had one day of meetings at work, my parents watched Claire all day Tuesday. The pictures in the slide show reveal some of her latest obsessions--torturing the dog, wearing my shoes (I finally hid my ONE pair of heels so she'd stop trying unsuccessfully to clomp around the house in them), her new personal chair, going to the park, and books! Great to see you mom and dad!

Visit From Grandma and Grandpa

Note to Self:

1. Do not feed daughter peanut butter and jelly in the backseat of the car as she enjoys nothing more than opening the sandwich and smearing jelly all over herself and anything within her reach.

2. Do not turn back on daughter while she is operating the salad spinner, unless you'd like to rewash the lettuce after it spins itself all over the kitchen. (Note to guests: maybe pass on the salad at our house, who knows where the lettuce has been.)

3. Do not expect daughter to enjoy a rare morning shopping trip to Target as much as you or somehow expect her to behave because you actually have a Friday off and some time to browse. Instead, expect that she will spend the entire time screaming to get out of the cart and flinging things you give her to stay quiet out into the aisles.

4. Do not expect daughter to go to heated, indoor swimming pool and actually want to stay in the water. Instead, expect that she will find trying to run around outside the pool with mom chasing her and life guard scolding mother much more amusing.

5. Do not expect that on a dreary, rainy Saturday the family can go leisurely browse at our favorite local bookstore. Instead, plan on mom and dad taking turns frantically looking at covers while the other parent chases daughter around the second story while she squeals in glee at the top of her lungs. (Note to other customers who thought they'd have a relaxing moment in the bookstore: sorry.)

6. Do not expect daughter upon arriving at park (where parents detour after bookstore in order for her to get some wiggles out) to want to even so much as walk to the slides or run around. Instead, she will want to swing--in this case, perfectly content to be confined.

Halloween Activities

We had a few fun Halloween activites this week--baking Halloween sugar cookies, carving a pumpkin, and meeting some friends for downtown Bozeman's treat or treating yesterday.



We've been having some very warm weather--up to 70 degrees, so I only put the top half of the costume on Claire. We actually didn't even treat or treat. Because she doesn't quite get what candy is, I thought we could put off eating mass quantities of it for one more year. While strolling the streets of Bozeman filled with all kinds of creatures and costumes, Claire was most interested in seeing dogs. We played at the park for awhile with some friends. Since almost every other kid in town was downtown trick or treating, we had the place to ourselves!