It's been snowing here for the last 24 hours...Oh wait, that's an understatement, it's been "Blizzarding" here for the last 24 hours. We currently have somewhere in the 20+ inches range of snow outside right now. I haven't seen this much snow around here since 1996 and before that, I think I was about 5 years old, it may have been 1981 or something?

The weathermen predicted this huge storm for the last few days and if the weather people around you are anything like the weather people around here, they are NEVER right. When they don't predict a storm, or tell us it will be rain, we get 4 inches of snow. When they predict a blizzard, we get an inch of rain...they got this one right!

I made sure to be on the safe side and hit the store on Friday on my lunch break to get the non-essentials! Everything you can think of to make almost every type of cookie on the planet and every junk food item that we might not have to make nachos, wings, you know, the very important foods you would need should you be snowed in. And yes, I neglected to get extra baby food, that is what a horrible parent and eater I am!!! Okay, we have plenty until we get unsnowed in but damn I felt like a big jerk when I got home, put everything I bought away and then looked over at where I keep Kai's jarred food and though, wow, didn't even cross my mind to make sure he had enough should we be snowed in for longer than planned...Thank goodness I do have some organic pears and bananas and some veggies and happen to be "culinarily" (I know, not a word) talented should I need to make him more food.

Anyway, the dog has been having a BLAST today. She and her little doggie friends have been out gallivanting, wrestling and whatever doggies do, in the snow. At one point we had 5 dogs in the front yard playing. I think all the neighbors needed to get their stir crazy pooches out of their hair. And at one point it was hard to tell who Lucy was since 3 of the 5 dogs were black labs! The snow got so deep at one point the dogs had to hop around like rabbits to clear it. It was quite amusing to watch.

All of our Christmas decorations that were anywhere on the ground are currently lost. Our poor little penguin was the first to fall victim to the snow. Then we lost the reindeer's head and I think the little snowman's hat is the last thing peaking out. I captured the covering as it progressed throughout the day.

Here are the decorations at 5am when we woke up:




Here are the decorations around 9:45am:



And finally, I can't even tell you what time this was, but the damage was done by then:



And finally, here is a shot of our little monkey out in the snow for the first time. He loved watching the dogs hop around and kind of got a kick out of the white stuff, but it's just too damn cold out. It's not usually this cold when it snows but it's staying put around 25 degrees and that is cold! So, our outing was short lived, but fun!

I've baked 3 different types of cookies. We're trying not to eat them all ourselves since they are meant for gifts, and I plan on at least 5 other types tomorrow. Woo hoo! Getting snowed in is fun, if not bad for your waist line! Hope everyone else is having a great weekend too.

Okay, I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me but I don't really care...You know what I hate? I hate parents who make it a point to tell you, "I don't let my kids watch tv" or whatever the restriction is on their children and television watching.

You know what? My kid is 6 months old and he watches tv. He loves Blue's Clues and Play with me Sesame and Barney and Ni Hao Kai Lan. And you know what? When I can sit him down in his chair and get 20 minutes of time to get things done while he's entertained, it is GREAT! And seriously, it's not like I'm sitting him down in front of porn. I mean, I don't know if you've watched children's programming lately, but it's pretty freakin smart. I don't see how it can be bad for them. I mean, they are teaching them things. Colors, shapes, how to say words in Chinese!! (which we'll probably all need some day soon when the Chinese take over - HA!)

When I was little the television was my baby sitter. I mean, it sounds awful but it wasn't that bad. Believe me, I loved it. I mean, I wasn't allowed to watch tv while doing homework or while we had dinner but I watched A LOT of television as a child, and as much as I'd like to think some of them were "educational", for the most part, that kind of programming didn't exist then. My earliest memories of shows that I watched were Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, The Electric Company, The Muppets to name the good one's. Then it goes down hill. I watched a lot of cartoons - Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Heckle and Jeckle, etc. I loved the Carol Burnett Show, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and to this day, one of my favorite shows is Three's Company. And I will defend my mom by saying she HATED that show and never allowed me to watch it. But let's face it, kids can kind of get away with things when their parents are at work or making dinner or what have you. And guess what, I didn't turn out to be some psychopath or numb skull from watching too much tv. I think I'm a pretty healthy, smart adult.

I think my child is going to be just fine and that watching television isn't going to make him some worthless bum! I mean, he seems to enjoy it and I can truly say that tv for children these days is a LOT better than when we were kids. I mean, our kids have their own channels dedicated to educational programming. When we were little we had to watch what was on and then wait for Saturday morning to watch cartoons.

What do people think they are gaining or doing for their kids by not letting them watch tv? Do you think your kids will be smarter than mine? Do you think they'll read more? I love television, but I also love to read. I read at least a book or two every couple of weeks. I also read to my kid. I believe there should be limits as they get older. Yeah, they can't watch 20 hours of tv in a day but in this digital, technological age we are in, how could you keep your kids away from it? One of our friends who recently had their second child told us that they didn't let their first child watch tv until he was 2 years old and now that they let him he's ADDICTED to it. I don't want that to happen to my child. I want him to know it's there and choose to watch or not when the time comes. I don't want a 5 year old that won't go outside because he wants to see this show that's on tv. I want a 5 year old that says, I've seen that, I know what tv is and I can come back to it any time I want. Right now, I'm going outside to play...

Anyway, rant over.The End...

So, I'm very proud of myself. This is one of the very delicious deserts I made for Thanksgiving! I made an upside down pecan pie (not pictured) that was just heavenly and I made this Four Layer Pumpkin Cake:

The picture from the recipe:




The one I made:




Not too shabby, huh? It was pretty tasty too but quite difficult to cut. If I ever make it again I will for sure only make it 2 or 3 layers...

On another note, I have a super funny, crazy, baby/music story. So, we try to expose the Boy to lots of different music (no country, sorry...). When Daddy wakes up with him they generally listen to music or watch videos. When we're in the car we listen to all kinds of music. When we're just chillin in the house we have music playing.

Well, a few weeks ago I was driving to my parent's house and Adele's song "Right As Rain" came on and his reaction was adorable! He was smiling, singing, laughing, kicking his legs. It was hilarious. So, when we got home that night I decided to see if it was really that song that made him happy. Well, I played it and we danced around and same reaction. He loved it! So I put it on a mix cd I made for the car and every time I play it he lights up.

Last night the drive home was horrendous. It was raining, there was traffic for miles. I was about to lose it and then the Boy started to melt down. After being in the car over an hour (what should have been a 30 - 45 minute ride) I did not blame him. He was SCREAMING, I wanted to cry because there was nothing I could do for him, nor could I pull over since I was in the 3rd lane on the highway in completely bumper to bumper traffic. It was not good!

So, my mom calls us in the car and hears him screaming and suggests, "why don't you play that song he likes, just play it over and over." Well, holy shit, it worked! As soon as it came on he quieted to a whine, by the second playing he was smiling and singing, by the third time he was quiet and by the fourth play he was asleep and we were just about home. My kid is going to be Adele's number one fan I think!

I swear, her voice has magical powers. I guess what they say is true, Music soothes the savage beast, or the savage baby, whatever you've got going on.

AND, on a side note that I didn't even remember until much later...When I was about 5 or 6 months pregnant I went to see Adele live. I wonder if there's any correlation. How crazy would that be? All in all, I'm so glad my baby likes music. I hope he continues to as he grows.