when old man winter brings a few inches of the white stuff in mid-april we snowdeals don’t complain! oh, no! we make lemonade from lemons ( to mix a metaphor, badly ) and build a snowman!
one wonders, though, if this is the last the old man has in store for us. i recall four years ago he stopped by and dropped 8 inches on us in mid-april.
elder cheeseheads will tell you that you’re ill-advised to put the ice scraper away until june.
whether you’re almost seven or thirty seven(ish), there are few things more fun than finishing up swimming lessons to find that it’s still snowing in a freak mid-april storm and that there’s enough snow on the ground to build a snowman when you get home.
and between then and now on the trip home you and a friend ( and your poppi ) have time to sing all the songs in the johnny cash children’s album while it’s cranked up to 11!
wow. i thought after losing his first and second teeth in quick succession, we’d have a brief break before odin lost his third. much to my surprise after odin awoke from his nap, he excitedly came downstairs to reveal that a mere one week after losing his last tooth that he had lost another!
i sure hope the tooth fairy is prepared for another visit!
since she brought one sacagawea gold dollar coin for his first tooth and one two dollar bill for his second tooth, odin is really wondering what she will bring for his third tooth. although it would be super cool, i’m guessing she’s probably not bringing a three cent piece ( i had no idea they existed until i saw this ).
who knows what he’ll find under his pillow in the morning….
i came back from a recent trip to find this nice article on odin’s cross county ski club clipped from our local newspaper and posted on our fridge. if you happen to have a child in the picture and didn’t see it the first time around, i think this is probably from the march 15th edition.
i wonder how that photographer ever managed to wrangle such a nice shot out such an unruly group of kids 🙂
almost a month to the day after the tooth fairy made her first visit, odin lost a second tooth!
of course it’s all very exciting because odin really, really wants to know if she brings a gold coin for every lost tooth, or just the first.
we’ll see. who knows, maybe this time she’ll bring a funky two dollar bill.
wow, that permanent tooth is really coming in fast!
as is quickly becoming tradition in our house, odin put his “milk tooth” in a special little box for safe keeping until being tucked under his pillow.
we’re all amazed the tooth fairy has, so far at least, been able to remove the box and place a gift inside without waking odin from his sleepy slumber.
[ outtake. odin doesn’t really go to any great length to hide that he’s reeaaaallllyyyyy bored of his poppi taking pictures of him and his tooth! 🙂 ]
and so, a few months ago, it came to pass that we brought the brother of dearly departed Truck The Cat ( who stayed Too Long in Our Freezer ) into our home ( interestingly, even though i am very allergic to most cats, i’m not allergic to ragdoll cats despite their contested status as a hypoallergenic breed ).
ragsy has been a fine edition to the house and gets along with pushkin quite famously, though, we’ll see if things stay harmonious after pushkin realizes that ragsy may now be odin’s Favorite Pet!
( note: ragsy is looking much less fluffy than he did 4 years ago because of a recent grooming ( aka shaving ) that removed knots in his coat which stymied any amount of brushing ).
why do i think ragsy may be odin’s favorite new pet? in addition to patriotic bicycle snow tires and winter riding gear for christmas, odin also really, really really wanted a pocket watch, which santa graciously delivered. for months we’ve all been waiting for odin to choose just the right picture to put inside. and what did he choose?
a picture of ragsy.
don’t tell pushkin.
i’m once again reminded how time flies. it seems like just yesterday that i was lamenting almost being done with another season of cross country skiing lessons. and maybe the day before yesterday was the last day of lessons last year. ah, the bittersweet moment of celebrating the last day of lessons since it means that winter fun is almost done and spring is to be sprung!
it was a pleasure and a privilege to be asked again this year to take a group photo of the crew. see if you can spot odin “hamming it up” for the shot. like father, like son 🙂
odin sports his new toothless grin.
an action shot without poles! this is a lot trickier than it looks with kids of varying proficiency going up and down the ski run. bonus points are awarded for not running into the guy the camera.
the older kids and The Young At Heart played a round of “tag”. odin eyed it with interest but passed this year. i’m sure he’ll get in on the action next year.
after and hour or so outside, it was time to go inside for a wonderful potluck including hot chocolate to warm the bones. odin and a friend are sporting the f excellent commerorative hats given out by the fine folks at mt. borah who help organize and sponsor the lessons.
and as if that wasn’t enough fun, then it was time for a bonfire with s’mores!
i have no doubt, with an ending like this, that odin will happily be back next winter for another season of lessons!