Hummingbirthday and Primitive Fun

The Mayor celebrated his 39th birthday yesterday and his mama made him these awesome hummingbird potholders. The hummingbird potholders go nicely with the hummingbird tattoo the Hobbit Wife gave him for his birthday (she paid for it, but let a professional do the needle work).

The Mayor has greatly enjoyed storing food outside in the snow. There is nothing quite like grabbing a shovel to dig up a vat of meatballs that you buried a couple days ago. There isn't much snow left in the yard, but the Mayor is going to keep living like a caveman as long as possible.

You can file this under "Things They Don't Teach in Food Handling Class."

Waning Snow and Waxing Normal

After two weeks of crazy snow, we're starting to get back to a semblance of normal. A week ago, we were doing crazy things like getting a pub lunch delivered to our house on Monday.

The melting snow created our own mini polar ice.

Now we're doing normal things like eating a LEGO pub lunch,

pretending to be pillows,

and celebrating the one-year anniversary of Lee's miraculous repair by Grammy!

Seimi and Eejee taking shelter from the rain in the remains of the snow fort.

The mail was delayed due to the snow, so Valentine's Day LEGOs were assembled a few days late.

Seimi and Eejee playing board games.

Normal is nice!

Snow's Zenith

We woke this morning to find the snow was deeper than ever, although the temperature is beginning to climb, so today is probably the beginning of the end.

 Lamp post with a funny snow hat.

Somewhere in this corner of the yard is Bookie's ruler, buried far above the 12" mark. We have over 15 inches of accumulated snow in areas where we haven't trampled it down.

Here's a time-lapse video of us building a snow fort and then having a snowball fight.

Getting the Sons of Thunder into position for a photo.

Posing with the completed snow fort!

Rosy cheeks after playing outside.

It's currently rain mixed with snow, but it's been a fun Staycation/Snopocalypse while it lasted!

Snow Thriving!

The snow has continued to fall and we've been enjoying being snowed in. We got lots of cooking ahead done (below is a picture of a pot of soup cooling in the snow on Friday night).

Snowy morning views.

We've been hovering between 8 and 12 inches of snow, depending on where we are at between snowfalls.

Footprints out to the hummingbird feeder.

Lots of inside time to read.

Here is Doggy Lee reading alongside Seimi.

Lots and lots of screentime - we moved the computers from the Mayor's shop into the corner of Ela's room.

Nice and cozy!

 And of course, lots of opportunities to play outside in the snow.

Snow jousting!

Snow Coping

We have been enjoying the break in routine. There are some things that we are enjoying more, like screen time.

There are some things we are enjoying less, like Costco shopping. Here's Eejee, braced for the refrigerated section. As a side note, it was actually a lot warmer inside the refrigerated section than outside!

We got a long series of dentist appointments taken care of today. The Mayor got bored in the waiting room and started performing "Stand By Me," using a stuffed toothbrush as his dance partner.

The reaction from the boys.

Happy Snow Days!

The residents of Michael Delving were pleasantly surprised by actual snowfall starting on Sunday. The weather apps tend to overpredict snow through the winter, so it's fun when there's actual snow accumulation. We kicked things off watching the Super Bowl; the Mayor is clearly entranced, as he only rarely gets to watch football on TV. Ela got cozy and got her hair played with.

 The lack of preparation meant that there were some hand-me-down snowsuits, such as Eejee wearing Ela's old suit. 

Sons of Thunder Snow Fight!

Ela's stylish snowman

Playing in the backyard

Making snow candy

Our resident hummingbirds have been enjoying regularly restocked, warm nectar in the feeders.

The Mayor coming inside from changing out the feeders.

Even the chickadees and junkos have been getting in on the action as we put out bird seed for them.

Here's Eejee's played-out aftermath - happy snow days!

Aeolian snow sculpture next to the Mayor's shop.

Boookie giving the Mayor a ride on the sled.

Mush, Boookie, Mush!

Ela's turn on the sled

Seimi's turn on the sled

And last but not least, Eejee's turn on the sled.

Hyah, Daddy, Hyah!

Ang-shent civilizations

Amidst all the ancient world information that swirls around Michael Delving, historians will want to remember some civilizations that haven't made it into the history books yet:

• E-lympians. Not to be confused with Olympians - this is a completely different and unique civilization that was discovered by Seimi
• Brosians. Frequently spoken of by their discoverer, Seimi.
• Tectunic Sharks. Not tectonic - tectunic. And they aren't sharks - these are regular people. This civilization was discovered by Seimi and gifted to Eejee.