Picture windows, Snow showers, playtime, Sunshine and Hail

I love picture windows.

I have one very large picture window over my kitchen sink, which makes making doing mountain's of dishes so much easier. In fact, sometimes I come up with dishes to do, in order to gaze out of it. Well, okay, not really..... dishes are torture.... but you get my meaning!

Today, when we woke up to get the kids out the door to school, this is what awaited me out my picture window:

(notice the mountains of dishes, from last night's family dinner with 30+ people, )

The view from my picture window, without the window in the picture: (sorry, I couldn't resist)
There were so many gloriously fat snowflakes, but alas, a photo just doesn't capture the elegance of the falling flakes or their size. They just kind of look like small blurs marring the photograph. Oh well. Kaelan and I spent at least 20 minutes snuggling and watching the snowflakes fall gracefully to the ground. It is amazing how many snowy days we have had this year, one is more than normal and we have had at least a dozen. One in March is especially unusual, so one has to stop and enjoy it when it comes.

After those 20 minutes, Kaelan got restless (a sad thing for moms, snuggling is the best ever, especially in the morning) and we got out some "moon sand" to play with while we watched the snow fall. He wasn't really sold on the texture as you can tell by the face he is pulling here:We made shapes (he calls circles "O's") and then I finally had him clean it up, because he didn't really want to touch or play with it much. That is what he is doing in the above picture (as I am singing the clean up song) I seriously LOVE the faces he made as he cleaned it up! Classic!!

We had just cleaned up and started coloring, when Ansel woke up. Kaelan was really "excited" to share with him...... Can you tell??!! (this is his "do something about this, mom" face)


Mom, quickly, got out the moon sand for Ansel to play with, and then all was well. But I just have to say, some pictures say it all. This following shot shows exactly how Kaelan was feeling about having any interaction with Ansel at all. WARY.... that is the word for it! Notice the slightly interested look on his face, at the sculpture Ansel is showing him. But, more importantly look at how tightly he is clutching his crayons to his chest!! HAHAHAHA! Wary..... Love it! It is the "I will look, but don't you come any closer!!" body language!




He was persuaded to, once again, touch the "moonsand" by Ansel, but I love the fact that he still thinks it is gross.... Look at this face he is pulling! He grabbed it, quickly showed me, and promptly gave it right back to Ansel. He looks like he is going to be sick!

Finally they settled down to their individual activities, Kaelan forgot that Ansel was right next to him and he finally started smiling again:

This is his "Lightning McQueen" face:
In case you are not a "Cars" expert, as I am (now that I have officially watched it hundreds of times). This particular Lightning McQueen "face" is in the beginning of the movie, when he is jumping over the wrecked cars in the race and the "twins" in the stands swoon at him. You will have to check it out, so you can see how EXACT this facial mimic is.


Kaelan didn't actually do much coloring, but he did enjoy checking out the pictures on each individual crayon and then stacking them on top of the moonsand lid.

Ansel's favorite activity was interfering with Kaelan's. Partly, this is because he just wants Kaelan to acknowledge his existence on a regular basis (...oh, say..... every 30 seconds or so) and partly this is because he gets such a good rise out of him.

See this angelic face?....... with a touch of deviousness? That is my Ansel.



The best thing about today was it's constant change, not only in our activities, but also in the weather. Springtime means change, and I think that today was a perfect example of how wild it can be.
First it snowed:
then it was sunny:

and then it hailed: (I just love how fast the hail falls, do you see it cascading down the roof?)

A close up of the hail:
(and then it was sunny again)
Now it is cloudy........
This was all in one day!! Never a dull moment in Oregon, or in the Severson Family!