Blizzard of 2016

There was a big snow storm this weekend in New Jersey, with record snowfall recorded at Newark Airport, as well as in Baltimore, and I think, Washington, DC, too.



An enterprising neighbor made this awesome time lapse video.

The photo you get...

... when you ask the kids to pose so you will have a keepsake of the super gigantic snowstorm, which was probably - but not definitely because we're still waiting for the official totals from the NWS - the biggest snowfall ever in your town in the history of ever, and while you are taking the photo one of the three kids gets bored and walks off so they aren't even in the photo, and the other two are actually posing with their arms around each other and smiling right when your husband decides to use his brand-new snowblower for the very first time which you probably don't need me to tell you this last part, but he does not even one little bit know how to use.

CLICK.

This post brought to you by dumb stuff my kids ask me to do

I used to make my kids a nice, hot breakfast every morning. Eggs, pancakes, waffles. They woke me up at 6 a.m. every single day, so what else was I going to do between then and when we left for school at 7:45?

Now, they sleep until about 7. And they eat cold cereal for breakfast. While I'm not entirely happy about this change of breakfast menu (the artificial ingredients! the sugar), I am entirely happy about sleeping an extra hour.

At breakfast today the first-grader was enamored by this extra-large flake in his bowl of frosted flakes.

I argued I wasn't even sure if this flake was particularly an outlier.

He begged me to take a photo.

So I did, because if there's one lesson parenthood has taught me it's to pick your battles.

And if there's a second lesson of parenthood, it certainly would be that what delights my child pretty much always delights me as well.

And if there's a third lesson, it would be that I won't feel guilty about the sugary cereal for breakfast when they're all grown-up.

I hope.

Magic Marbles

I've been on a bit of a cleaning and organizing kick lately. The youngest is six now, which means whole categories of baby, toddler and little kid stuff can be taken to the curb one and for all.

The amount of space this is clearing for giant Lego structures and lacrosse sticks is welcome, as older kids have as much crap as younger ones, it's just different crap.

Among the many things I found when cleaning up the kids' rooms, were these three marbles. If you're seeing this photo and asking, are those ordinary marbles? The answer is yes, yes they are.

But once upon a time, they were magic marbles. I forget the exact circumstances, but as soon as I saw them I remembered how these were the most prized possession in all the land. Now, I ask the kids, "anybody want these?"

And they answer, "Nah, We don't need any marbles."

And here I am again, providing one of my many mom services, to save and cherish the memories that even the kids have forgotten.

But don't get me wrong - I cherish the memories. The marbles are happily nestled in the giveaway box.

Kids and Cats

One of my kids favorite things to do is visit Green Meadow Farms in New Jersey. It's a petting zoo and a guide takes a group around to visit the animals one by one. It's only around for a month in the fall and a month in the spring. We are twice-a-year regulars.

At the end of the tour, there are kittens and puppies, always different breeds, and these are for sale. The kids of course really beg us to buy one, like there's a chance we might, which there is not.

But their look of pure delight with the kitties makes me wish there was a chance they might get to have one as a pet.

But my real reason for posting these is that when I was looking back at our Green Meadows pics, I saw this hilarious one.

I am not quite sure what's going on with the cat, but I am sure I love it.