Endless Cabin Fever: Where's the Warm Weather?

Biking with the kids

It has been a long, cold, and snowy winter this year…and it doesn’t seem to want to let up. Every time the weather manages to show a tantalizing hint of spring, the threat of snow is back in the forecast within days. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for winter to be over! And each time the weather turns back to a wintery mix, my heart sinks. It feels like we’re caught in an endless winter and my family and I are suffering from a terrible case of cabin fever!

We have already started a spring/summer to-do list of everything we want to do when the weather is warm again:

• Hiking
• Mountain biking (and biking of any kind!)
• Picnics
• Swimming
• Water battles
• Learn to fly a kite
• Cookouts (lots of cookouts with friends and family!)
• Plant flowers
• Start a vegetable garden
• Camp out in the backyard
• Fishing
• And most importantly, absorb as much fresh air and sun as possible!

It is funny how getting stuck indoors (except for short outings) puts things into perspective and has made me realize how lucky we are when the weather is warm and sunny. No more lazing around the house when the weather is beautiful for this family! I hope to find any and every excuse possible to go outside this spring and summer with my kids. Even if I don’t have the energy to do much more than lounge in the sun and watch my children play, I’m getting out there and enjoying the outdoors.

Are you already daydreaming about spring and summer plans? What do you hope to do with your family this year?

When Mommy Grows Up...

The sky is the limit!

As part of a school project, my kids and I have been talking a lot lately about what they might want to be when they grow up. My son wants to design vac trucks (the bigger the better!), drive a school bus, and play guitar and keyboard in a band. My daughter, also on the band kick, wants to be a rock star, as well as design clothes and be a cook at a restaurant. It is so refreshing to see their youthful, innocent enthusiasm! For them, the possibilities are truly endless.

And then, my daughter innocently asked me this week, “What you wanna be when you grow up, Mommy?”

Laying aside the fact that I’m already an adult and thus have been ‘grown up’ for quite some time, I gave it some thought. I remember when I was a little girl I had a huge list of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 30:

• Publish a book
• Become an astronaut and jump on the moon
• Train to be the NFL’s first female quarterback and win a Super Bowl
• Dig up a new species of dinosaur
• Build a machine that could turn Monopoly money into real money
• Design and build unique houses for famous people
• Become a singer/songwriter/rockin’ guitarist
• Develop super powers and fight crime

With my twenties winding down, let’s just say I’m falling a little short here on the life goals! Publish a book? Well, I’m getting close with this one…if only I could finish one novel, instead of starting a new one every few months. My astronaut ambition? With the NASA cuts and the physical strain of the training, it’s not going to happen…unless I write it into my book, of course.

NFL’s first female quarterback? Again, the physical strain would kill me…if the opposing team didn’t do it first. A dinosaur archaeological discovery? Hey, this could still happen someday, just not before I’m 30. Building a Monopoly money converter? It’s a lucrative idea but quite illegal (hello, money counterfeiting!).

An architect for the famous? I doubt it, but I still hope to design my dream house someday. A music career? Nope, that’s not going to happen either…although the songwriter part is still plausible. And my super hero dreams? Um, this one is probably the most unlikely out of all of them (read ‘virtually impossible’ here)…unless of course, I get so rich from my books and songs that I can hire a team of scientists to make me Iron Woman.

All kidding aside, I think I’ve made progress, but my life goals are still evolving. Perhaps we never do actually grow up in this sense, no matter how old we get. Life is all about changing, growing, and reinventing ourselves. What is important to us now may only be a distant memory tomorrow. I think what I want my children to learn the most from their school project is how important it is for them (1) to find the things they love, (2) to keep dreaming big, and (3) to never be afraid to start a new dream.

Cat Got Your Pants?

Not the best shot, but caught him in the act!

I love my fur babies to death! They offer comfort, love, and companionship to me and the rest of my family. But they are so much more. They are actually a part of the family. And I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Just like my children, though, they know how to get into their share of mischief. In a recent post, The Cat’s Out of the Bag, I gave a prime example of how rascally my pets can be. One of my kittens, Mr. Fuzzy, has an unnatural attraction to socks. Clean or dirty, on or off your feet, he HAS to have them! Now that I know that he is the reason my house is constantly being decorated with socks, it’s actually pretty funny. I’m sure the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now, I chuckle my way though picking up socks and chasing the furry guy when he’s making off with another catch.

I have had cats that stole Barbie dolls, balls, pens, straws, hair ties, strings, and rubber bands, but a sock stealing cat? This is a crazy first for me! I had never imagined a cat could get so enamored with hosiery that he tries to steal them right off your feet. If anytime I had wished that I could read an animal’s mind, this is it.

The funny thing about fascinations, however, is they tend to fade and a new obsession often takes its place. Well, my four-legged sock thief has already expanded his fixations to include another piece of clothing—a much more important one at that: pants! Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, whenever a tantalizing sock is nowhere to be found, pants make an excellent substitute.

Yesterday, as my son and I were engrossed in his online class, Mr. Fuzzy jumped into my lap for some attention. He then proceeded to leap onto my son’s chair, slink his little body behind my son, and then pounce onto an innocent, unsuspecting pair of my daughter’s pants lying on the couch. With lightning-fast speed, he grabbed the pants between his teeth and took off at full velocity, the pant legs dragging underneath him!

In complete disbelief, I grabbed my cell phone and managed to take a single photo before he disappeared into our bathroom. What in world would possess a cat to steal socks and now pants?! We all know the old expression ‘cat got your tongue?’ But I think I’ll have to add two more expressions to my vocabulary--‘cat got your sock?’ and ‘cat got your pants?’—because there’s no sign that Mr. Fuzzy is letting up on his clothing prey any time soon!

What are some of the strange things your pets have stolen?

Mommy's Valentines

A valentine from my daughter

You are Mommy’s valentines;
Your sweet kisses fill my heart.
You will forever be mine,
For I’ve loved you from the start.

Your smiles brighten my day.
Your laughter lifts up my soul.
Your warm hugs take me away
And on the rough days, console

I’m not sure why God chose me
To have two children like you,
But I’m happy as can be
And feeling super blessed, too!

You are the best surprises
That I could ever ask for,
And each time the sun rises,
I thank God a little more.

I never knew love at all,
‘Til I held you in my arm--
Your bodies so frail and small--
And vowed to keep you from harm.

Right now you can’t understand
How much you’ve affected me,
But one day you’ll see firsthand
That you’ve set my spirit free!