A Cold One

I performed a very unscientific experiment today. I took a can of Coke Zero that started at room temperature with me to Rapid City. The temperature outside was around -10 degrees F. Wind chills around-20 degrees F. I left Sturgis for Rapid at 1:50 p.m. I drove for 25 minutes. I stopped at five stores for a total of 2 hours 15 minutes. The other 30 minutes was spent driving to get to the stores. By the time I left Rapid at 5:00 to come home, my Coke Zero was more than sufficiently chilled.

By the way, the wind chills will top out at -50 degrees F tonight.

Kaleidescope

I very frequently admire the way God brought together two children and two adults that are so similar. I am amazed at all the ways the children we adopted are so like us. But today, I abruptly realized, there is no way I could pass them off as mine. You see, when I play with Play-Doh, all the colors have to be kept separate. Or at least, I have to be able to separate them back out and put them back in the right cans. My kids immediately mash multiple colors together in what I like to call the hue, "Mud Confetti." It used to drive me nuts. Now I just divide the big lump into smaller lumps, and put it back in all the cans marked, Pink, Yellow, Green, and Black. I guess I'm mellowing out.

Disturbing Words from the Backseat

We are driving home from Spearfish. Both of the girls are buckled in their carseats:

1. J says, "Mom, let's play hide-and-seek! You count, I'll hide!" Then she makes me count out loud. To her credit, she hides under a blanket.

2. We were all singing a fun chorus of "If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands!" After the first round we always make up new things to do if you're happy. E suggested, "If you're happy and you know it burn yourself!"

To both of my children I say, "Uh, WHAT?!"

Kiddo Quotes

E pretend reading a book, "In a far away land, that wasn't very far away..."

E was pretending to watch J's baby. J said as she was picking her up, "E, thanks for sitting my baby!"

My One Liners

You know you've gained weight when your bikinis become thongs.

It's sad when I have to contemplate adding, "Take A Shower" to my to-do list.

When people say you should drink more to lose weight, I don't think they meant eggnog.

Happy Halloween. Or what we call--What my husband has to deal with on a daily basis.

The kids...

A family portrait...

Smiles and Laughter

I don't remember what she was grinning about, but she was definitely up to something. Maybe she was just excited she beat her sister in some fantasy race she had concocted. Much to the surprise of her unwilling challenger.