Winnter Wonderland to Slushy Wonderland

We awoke yesterday morning to a snow-blanketed Rochester. Simply beautiful. I love that feeling (regardless of age) when I first wake up in the morning and note the blinds are letting more brightness through than the time of morning warrants. And then , to open them and find that, indeed, it was not sunlight causing the brightness but a fresh coat of snow! In yesterday's case, the coat was VERY VERY thin, and melted rapidly But the ambiance of snow falling lasted all day long. When slush resulted, Jackson decided to put on his new rubber boots from Gma Lynette and stumble around in the yard (stumble is the best you can do when your shoes come up to your knees!). I tried to get a shot of one last remaining leaf pile with snow atop it!

Kicking...

...and a kicking and a kicking. Somebody is a little ramunctious tonight. It's SESAME! Sesame is our in-utero name for the soccer pro inside me. We got it from a description in week like 5 or 6 of the size of the fetus being that of a "sesame seed."

Do you think the hyper nature of Sesame tonight could be the result of the left-over-Halloween-candy-sugar-rush I am feeding him/her?

Wait. Hold the train. That reminds me... Have I mentioned that during the ultra sound last week, Scott and I asked to NOT know the gender? And that we (or rather "I" as the next sentence details) did an ultra-disciplinary job of looking away when the technician told us she was going "down there?" And that Scott claims he "SAW SOMETHING" during a mini peak session? Hmmm. Clearly, still no guarantees (who is my husband now, DR. Arthur?). But let's just say Scott feels confident enough that he's been focusing his name-hunting efforts on the "BOY'S" lists. We'll find out on the day of delivery if Scott's siting was accurate! The anticipation is great, ain't it?

Trick or Treat, Tree Planting, and Adopted Mom in Action

My adopted Mom, Becky, came for a visit this weekend. She reminds me a lot of Mom, in that she jumps right into whatever we are doing. So when I called her on last Thursday, the night before she arrived, and asked her to pack any safari tour guide kind of clothing she could dig up, she arrived without disappointing!

Jackson was the cutest giraffe ever. Scott was the most handsome elephant ever. I was a pretty knock-out lion. And Becky was leading the pack in her tour guide attire. We were quite the Motley Crew on Halloween night. (Bare in mind, Scott and my Halloween costumes were purchased only hours before-hand and consisted of those cheap plastic noses. We tried!).

Becky even was a good enough sport to accompany us to a small little Halloween party that night, hosted by Troy and Marie, friends of Scott and mine from his work. The picture with the kids below is the whole bunch. As you can tell, the house was full of energy, as we ate, chatted, and the kids asked every few minutes, "So, again, how many pieces of candy am I allowed to eat tonight???" It was awesome.

We also got the chance to plant Duncan's tree, a dogwood similar to the one planted by my girlfriends in Columbus at the Park of Roses. It was a GORGEOUS day here on Saturday, and Becky was such a spirited contribution to the whole process. We blew bubbles and sprinkled fun rose petals (with Becky's inspiration) as we silently dedicated the tree. It was really nice.

I will spare you the long list of REALLY GREAT things that got done in and around our home with Super Becky in action. Let's just say that when I puled in the driveway from work Monday (she didn't fly out that morning till 12:30, so she had the morning on her own in our house), Becky was outside raking leaves and when I entered the house, it felt like a cleaning lady had been through. There's the phrase "outstaying your welcome." With those kind of selfless services, Becky can outstay her welcome whenever she wants to! Ha.

Below is a smorgasboard (sp?) of pics from the weekend. Good times.