Sledding: Take Two

As you might remember, our last sledding experience (in Wisconsin) was a disaster.  Once down the hill for each was more than enough.  When we finally got enough snow to go sledding here, I wanted to try again.  There's a medium-sized hill in the park behind our house so I posed the idea to Nora (I wasn't going to get them all ready to go in all that gear if she wasn't even willing to try) and she was surprisingly excited.  I told her that this snow won't blow up in her face, which was why she didn't like it the first time.

I started off just pulling them in the sled around our yard -- last year, even this produced a crazy amount of tears.  They loved it so I pulled them across the park to the hill.

At the top of the hill and ready to go down!

This was about two-thirds of the way.
The hill is on the left hand side of the picture.
Looks small from here but I can definitely
say I got my work out in just pulling the
kids there and back.

We went down the hill many, many times
before the sun started setting which forced
us home.  Still smiling after shows how
much she loved it this time!

Pit stop to make snow angels on the way home.

I even got in on the action.
Haven't made a snow angel in years.

Then Milo laid down and tried it.
He had no clue what he was doing, he just
knew that Nora and I were laying in the
snow and he wanted to have fun too.

I don't have too many pictures of them sledding because I took them by myself.  I'm hoping the weather cooperates tomorrow so we can go again.  She's already asking to go again and to bring Daddy next time.

Photoshop Class

Photoshop seems so foreign to me.  It might as well be in Japanese.  I tried to figure it out on my own but it just wasn't working.  I wasn't good at it so I didn't have to motivation to play around.  And honestly, part of me thought you should just take good pictures and then you wouldn't need to edit so much. 

This year, I made a list of things I wanted to work on/towards in 2013.  Not resolutions, just small goals. Similar to the picture a day (Through My Picture Window -- missed only 11 days... not bad!)  Learning Photoshop Elements was on the list.

I still wanted to give it the good college try so Dan gave me the kick in the pants I needed.  He signed me up for a Basics of Photoshop Elements class through the park district.  He even downloaded the free trial of the latest version for me.  Good man, right?  Right.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to fiddle with it since the class (which has totally changed my mind -- editing, especially if you take good pictures... is worth it) but here are examples of a few that I've putzed with.

Before

After
I didn't learn much on how to color correct after the
first class but I did take out whatever that was on the left.

Before

After.
Played with the coloring and keystoning
(the first picture almost looks crooked
because of the door frame.  Don't worry,
I'll take care of that.)

 And last but not least --

Before

Take it from ok to great.
I also took out some chapped
blemishes around his mouth.

I obviously still need much practice.  The program is capable of soooo much - more than I'm willing to do.  I edited the last one a couple of weeks after the class ended and had to check my notes more than once... ok, way more than once.  I'll be ordering a highly recommended "how to" book on amazon because I know my notes won't help if I don't look at it for another month.  But I'm learning!

One thing checked off my Goals of 2013 list waaay sooner than I thought.

Lots & Lots

Our poor kids have been deprived of snow this year.  You wanna know why I know?  I mean, besides the fact that I've seen green grass all winter long until today?  Because every time we'd get a dusting of snow, Nora would proclaim how much show it was. 

She was in for the surprise of her lifetime when she woke up to four inches of snow this morning.  "Lots and lots of snow, Mommy!"  So we all went out to shovel and play.

What child doesn't sample the local
cuisine?
Just not the yellow snow, kid.

uh... not so sure.
Every time he'd get snow on his face he'd come to me with
the most still expression and grunt.  He wanted me to
wipe it off of him.  Yet he continued to try it despite my
best efforts to have him not to.

Pausing to look at the plane.

The street always looks so beautiful
with freshly fallen snow.  

Catching snowflakes.

On the hill checking out the geese that had found a
resting spot in the field behind the house.

Tromping through the snow.

After an hour of being outside we finally convinced her
to come inside for a snack.

Rite of Passage

From what I've heard, boys getting stitches is a rite of passage.  It eventually happens.  Some sooner rather than later.  I think Myles might be on the sooner end of the spectrum.  And something tells me for this kid - ALL BOY - it might not be the only set he gets in his youth.  But for now, I've had enough and this wasn't even all that bad.

So let's start from the beginning.  We're eating breakfast and Myles decides he's done so turns to his belly to slide out of his booster seat like he's done hundreds of times before.  Except this time, things went wrong.  His slippery little fleece pjs missed the lip of the chair and he slammed down on the arm of the booster right on his lip.

A view of it as we waited in the pediatrician's
office.  I cleaned off what I could before he
waved me away.

The pediatrician felt it was right on the border of needing stitches and being alright after the swelling went down.  She said she would have used glue if it was a straight cut but glue doesn't work well with jagged cuts like he had.  She called another doctor at the practice in the room for a second opinion (the beauty of a group practice).  The second doctor agreed that it was a close call.  They both suggested I watch it for the next couple of hours, icing it on and off during that time, and if it doesn't look better by noon to take him to Northwest Community Hospital's Pediatrics ER.  So we headed back to Lindsay's, where Nora was staying, and stayed to play while we kept an eye on Myles' lip.  Still wasn't looking better by 11:30 so I took him to the ER.

He thought he was the bees knees with
his ankle bracelet on.  Pointed it out to
all the nurses that came in.  

Watching Thomas while we hurried up and
waited.

Numbing solution being applied.  It had to
stay on for 15 minutes.  Talk about hard. He
tried ripping it off numerous times.  Not to
mention the amount of drool the numbing
produces which makes the tape less sticky.
I continued adding more and more tape to
the side of his face to keep it on.

While waiting for the "twilight sedation"
to kick in, he became completely obsessed
with the red glow of the monitor stuck on
his toe.  He continued to point at it and say "toe".

Sedation in full affect. He didn't care what
the doctors did - and that was the point.

All stitched.  Just three.
(the room was dark -- we all thought with
the sedation meds and no nap he would
definitely fall asleep but he proved us all
wrong.) Had to use the flash which
is why he has the stoner look.
"Bright."

A better look at the cut, post stitches.

After leaving the house just before 9, we
returned home around 5 to my still very
full cup o' morning joe.

And even with no nap and stitches, he
was immediately back to his old antics. 

Side note: The ER nurse asked me if we'd been there before because Myles looked familiar.  I told her no, but I had a feeling we'll be back someday.  I'm hoping for nothing too soon but with this stubborn,  no-fear boy, I think it might be inevitable.  Even Grandpa apologized for laughing when I told him because in his words, it seemed pretty typical for Myles.

She's Three

This little sweetie is THREE today. 

Three.  

Three!  

It sounds so much older than two.  Two still sounds like a baby but three... three is a little girl.  And a little girl she is.  A little girl who loves all things sparkly, princesses, jumping, books, pink, her baby, Guy, and blanket, and most of all her Daddy, Mommy, and brother.  She has a loving and gentle heart and is growing all too quickly before our eyes.  

We had a small party today with Gram, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Katie, and Uncle.  This was the party that almost fell apart the morning of.  Mother Nature had plans for an ice storm which changes plans when you're traveling but the grandparents braved the roads and took trains to give hugs and kisses (and presents!) to Nora on her day.

25 balloons is a great birthday morning
surprise for a three year old.

After lunch we started opening presents.  One of her
first presents was from "Uncle"
(She calls her Uncle Greg simply Uncle).

To say his present was the present of
the day is an understatement.
Cinderella glass slippers with a small heel.

She immediately took them for a spin.
They tap.  She loves that.
She didn't take them off all day.
Took them off for a bath but put them
back on for bed.  That's right - she's
even sleeping in the shoes.

A Rapunzel dress to play in!
Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie!

Gum!

And tic tacs from Grandma Grandma.
"I'll put these in my purse."

Her cake was sparkly!
Of course.
hmmm... whose fingers got into the
cake... Myles.

Time to sing!

 

She started singing along towards the end.

Make a wish.

This little dude got messier with the cake than he did
for his first birthday when we wanted him to get messy.

 

But what kind of party would it be if you didn't get a little messy?

Happy Birthday to you, our three year
old princess.