Alas

Winter continues here in Idaho.  It's been snowing snowing snowing all day.  Thankfully, we spent a good part of yesterday when it was clear outside.  It *may* have taken as long to get everyone outfitted and ready to go and redressed after and random gloves and stuff put away than the time spent outside.  I packed as many tissues in pockets and tromped out with everyone else. 

It was the first try for the boys snowshoeing.  Sweetheart mentioned the night before going up to the mountains to try it, but I suggested for a first outing, it might be best to stick to our pasture and the neighbors'.  We did and I'm glad.  Pumpkin was hooked in a took off like a duck to water.  Poor Dumpling's boots didn't fit right in the snowshoes.  Sweetheart spent a looong time trying to strap him in while I chased Cupcake all around. 

I made "roads in the snow" as she called them and she mostly stayed in them.  She's so light she doesn't sink much.  Once Sweetheart gave up he grabbed a snow saucer.  We tried to put Cupcake in it, but she was too small to hold on.  Instead, Dumpling hopped in and Sweetheart dragged he up the pasture.  Pumpkin blazed his own trails and Cupcake walked in the path made by the saucer, or was carried.  Walking in snowshoes carrying a two year old is interesting, and short-lived, especially uphill.  ;) 

Once we got going everyone had a delightful time.  We tromped all over and had such fun.  We looked at animal tracks in the snow and studied how the trails they made.  The sky was a bright blue and the temperature warm enough.

I think the boys favorite part may have been coming back inside afterward and warming up by the fire with the donuts I had baked.  Everyone slept really well last night for all the sunshine and exercise.  It was my best night's sleep since getting hit with this cold.  It is slowly improving and I am glad it's not getting worse, but I am still ready for it to be done.
~
On another note, it had been so nice to move things up to the attic.  Having all my craft supplies and shop supplies in one place is so great.  The added bonus is that our bedroom is finally coming together.  It had become a sort of bedroom/office/craft area and I hated it.

Now, it just has the bed, our dressers, two chairs, the pellet stove and my hope chest my Dad and I made when I was in college.  There aren't even any stacks of books left.  If you know us, you know that's a huge thing.  ;)  It's a huge room that has three windows, plus one in the closet, oddly enough.  Now, it feels so light and airy. 

The only problem left really is the colors.  Oh my, the colors!  Ever wondered why there aren't any pictures of that room--or any of the bedrooms--on this blog?  Simply put, they are all ugly. 
In just our room we have Smurf blue walls, ivory baseboards, doors and windows, and a muddy mustard color ceiling with about two inches of white where the mud meets the Smurf. 

Let's add to that the fact that all the colors are peeling off the plaster walls and ceiling.  And shall I mention the holes every six inches in the ceiling? What about the various cracks in the plaster?
 
Yes, I know you were thinking a paragraph back that I should just get painting, weren't you?  It's not that easy.  There has been a two year debate about what to do with the really bad walls.   Drywall? Replaster? Matches? (That one's for you, Dad.)   I think the plan now is to vacuum (!) off as much as possible, patch the cracks and spray drywall mud all over and texture it.  It's what the neighbor who helped Sweetheart with the drywall finishing in the attic thinks would be best. 

It'll get done.  Just not as soon as I'd like.  Well, we're two years behind that schedule already.  ;)  I had no idea...  All the neighbors who saw the condition of everything when we moved in are amazed at all Sweetheart has done.  Not bad for a tech guy from the city!  Really, he is pretty amazing.