very rare weather phenomenon

A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.

Unlike snowballs made by people, snow rollers are typically cylindrical in shape, and are often hollow since the inner layers, which are the first layers to form, are weak and thin compared to the outer layers and can easily be blown away. Snow rollers can grow as large as a foot in diameter.
The following conditions are needed for snow rollers to form:

• The ground must be covered by a layer of ice that snow will not stick to.
• The layer of ice must be covered by wet, loose snow with a temperature near the melting point of ice.
• The wind must be strong enough to move the snow rollers, but not strong enough to blow them too fast.
• The ground must have a slope, at least where the snow rollers start rolling.

Because of this last condition, snow rollers are more common in hilly areas. However, the precise nature of the conditions required makes them a very rare phenomenon.  This information came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 


Snow rollers might be rare, but we had 'em at our place.  Brent headed to his office Friday morning after a couple of inches of snow whitened the ground on Thursday night.  He called me and told me I had to come see "hundreds of snowballs" at his office.  I loaded up the kids, grabbed the camera and headed out the door so Lucas could see them before he went to preschool. 

I wish I would have used something to gauge the size of the snow rollers for the photo... The one above, in the lower right, was easily 12"in diameter.  You can see their unique, cylindrical shape.  

In the twenty or so minutes we looked at them and took pictures, I saw several roll away.  They looked so light.  Brent inspected one and said it was hollow, just as the NOAA information indicated.  

These pictures were taken at 8:30AM.  By 4:30PM, two thirds of the snow rollers had rolled away.  

blocks

Lucas builds.

Hannah tears down.

Then chews on the rubble.

preschool update

We had preschool parent/teacher conferences a while back.  I'm not going to lie - I was a little nervous.  It was our first child's first conference.  I didn't know what to expect and wondered if my sweet little boy was the same at school as he is at home?  Or did he have his mom wrapped around his finger? 

The good news is {while he might have me wrapped around his finger} he is doing really well at preschool.  He plays well with others, listens and respects his teachers, can recognize almost all of the letters, does well at writing his name (for a four year old) and can count to twenty.  Phew!   We, oops, I mean HE is doing great!  (Let's be honest, it does feel a bit like an evaluation for the parent, too.)

Brent and I must have told him twenty times that night how proud we are of him being a good friend and student.  I don't think you can tell a kid you are proud of them too much.  Like, how can you have too much love for your children?

In other preschool news there was double-header field trip a couple of weeks ago.  First stop was singing and delivering Valentine's to the nursing home. 

Second stop was the quarry.  We drove past Daddy's office to get to the quarry and Lucas was telling all of his buddies in our car about it.  The temperatures had been warm the day before and the day of the field trip.  While this was great weather for the kids to be outside, it made for a very muddy mess. 

The kids each got to pick two different rocks to take home.  They loved diving in to get one!

This was the picture of half the preschool class - Lucas and the girls!  The other boys were all in the other photo, but I just thought this was cute.  They are some sweet little girls in his class!

*For the record, I picked up Jonah and Charlie at daycare before we went on the field trip.  It was like having triplet four year old boys.  Whew!  That was a little more work than I bargained for, but a fun field trip.


The last part of the preschool update was the Valentine party. 

definitely his favorite 'center.'

singing a song about love and making a heart with his fingers.

carry the valentine relay.

playing drop the handkerchief. 

Jonah picked Lucas.

Lucas picked Charlie.

fun!

with his loot.

ISU basketball

We are so thankful to live close enough to take advantage of many Iowa State events.  We love it!  Being Cyclone fans is a big part of our life in this household.  A couple of weeks ago Brent called me about 4pm and said he'd been thinking about going to the basketball game that night against Kansas State.   I said sure, let's go, but what about the kids?   The game started at 8pm... {which is past Hannah's bed time}... we wouldn't be home until after 11pm {which is way past Lucas' bedtime}.  We decided to give Lucas the choice - knowing he would fall asleep on the way home and this was a special treat.  Hannah spent the evening with Papa Steve and Lucas didn't hesitate for a second - he chose the Cyclone game! 

warming up.

content.

Mom & Lucas.

Funny story about the Skittles box on my knee in that picture...

Not very long after tip off Lucas was asking for a snack.  :-)  He was excited for M&Ms but when we got to the concession stand they were sold out.  The concession worker talked Lucas into Skittles, even though I tried to talk him out of it {because I secretly wanted popcorn}.  So a package of Skittles, bottle of water and $7.50! later, we were back in our seats.  Lucas didn't want the green, yellow or orange skittles.  Only the red and purple.  I paid $3.50 for a normal, gas station sized package of Skittles and he only wanted two fifths of them!  Made us laugh. 

At on point in the game Iowa State was trailing by 14 points and with just seconds left on the clock it looked like we had the potential to win!   Have you ever heard of Hilton Magic?  It is real.  It is loud.  It gets your heart pumping.  Lucas was jumping UP and DOWN on the seat, cheering and clapping.  Royce White hit the game winning jumper with 1.8 seconds left in the game.  Hilton Magic is alive and well! 

Celebrating a Cyclone victory! 

snowman

Between loading corn trucks at the farm a few weeks ago Lucas, Daddy and Ethan built a snowman... and had a snowball fight.  It was a great snowman!  The arms are tree limbs, the hat came from Ethan's truck, the nose is a bottle cap and the eyes are shotgun shells.  A little bit redneck, huh?  I was impressed with their creativity. 

otolaryngologist | tympanostomy tubes

We learned some new vocabulary in the last couple of months. 

Otolaryngologists are physicians trained in the the medical and surgical management and treatment of patients with diseases and disorders of the ear, nose, throat (ENT), and related structures of the head and neck.

Tympanostomy tubes (ear tubes, ventilation tubes, pressure equalization tubes) are tiny cylinders, usually made of plastic or metal, that are surgically inserted into the eardrum.

After poor, little Hannah fought a nasty, nasty ear infection for six weeks and tried out five antibiotic treatments, we saw the first vocabulary word and had the second vocabulary term inserted.    

So many fun things to play with...

... and discover in a hospital. 

Everything went smoothly and recovery included lots of rest and cuddling. 

my sweet Valentine x 3

When we bought Cars 2 Valentine cards, it was pure glee for Lucas.  His preschool teachers recommended doing five cards at a time.  I was naive.  Anytime I've had Lucas write his name on a birthday or get well card to someone he has done it without question.  The first night we pulled out the Valentine cards he had to look at each.and.every. card and see all of the characters before getting started and find out who was getting Lightning McQueen, who was getting Finn McMissile, etc.  Then, it was like pulling teeth to write his name on five Valentine cards.  I looked at Brent and told him "this is your fault."  {School was not Brent's priority as a child and spelling and writing were definitely at the bottom of his list, so I jokingly blamed him.  The truth is, I didn't like homework or studying either.}

Thankfully, we just needed to get in the groove and we knocked the preschool and daycare Valentine's out. 

Mr. Valentine

If Hannah would have "helped" all of the Valentine cards would be in the trash.  Or the toilet.  She loves both spots for random items... like mom's shoe, Brown Bear book, sippy cup... you get the idea.  {We try to remember keep the trash can locked and the bathroom doors closed.}

Regardless, I have two sweet little Valentine's and one sweet big Valentine.

look who's talking...

Hannah has two new words: hot and owww.  Added to her list of mama, dada, uh-oh.  At her 12 month check up, her pediatrician said she would be happy with five words by 18 months.  {Five by 13 months isn't bad}  She also shakes her head yes and no, particularly when we say "no" to doing something she shouldn't be.  :)  If you tell her it's time to get a new diaper she will start walking to her bedroom.  I would love to believe that means she will be easy to potty train.  I have a feeling it will be the opposite when the time comes!

*****************

Although we have no clue what she is saying, sometimes she will get right into Lucas' face and blabber a whole bunch, then use some hand gestures and blabber a little more.  I wish I could document it... it always makes us laugh, Lucas especially. 
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It was one of those nights that we didn't have much motivation for supper at our house.  Trying to decide what to eat, Brent asked Lucas if he wanted a hot ham & cheese sandwich.  Lucas likes ham sandwiches, but this would be his first with this special recipe. 
"Lucas, my grandma used to make me hot ham & cheese sandwiches.  They are really good," Brent told him.
"Gramma Connie?"
"No, my Grandma.  Gramma Connie's mom.  You don't know her; she lives in heaven."
"I will meet her when I get to heaven," Lucas said matter of factly.  But then it occurred to him "I won't know her." 
"She will know you," Brent assured him.
"Yeah, when I get really old I'll go to heaven."

*****************

"Lucas, there is pee on the toilet seat, go clean it up," I instructed him.
"Why is it there?"  he wondered.
"Because you peed on the toilet seat."
"Oh."  He goes to the bathroom and comes back. 
"Did you clean it up?" I asked.
"Yep, I used the blue towel."  I laughed and laughed.  Then I immediately put the blue towel in the laundry; it was the hand towel in the bathroom.  I didn't tell him to use toilet paper, I assumed he would - never safe to assume with a four year old.  :)

I told Brent this story and he laughed, too.  His comment, "well, at least he told you he used the towel."  Point well taken.

wrestling

There were no wrestlers in my family growing up.  My big brother was a fan of WWF on Sunday mornings.  The old-school WWF with wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Macho Man Randy Savage.  There was usually some sort of experimenting with moves on the little sisters in the house, too.  That was my wrestling experience as a child. 

In high school, I only recall going to one wrestling meet.  My biology teacher was the head wrestling coach... I think he might have offered extra credit if we went to the meet.  I'm sure I socialized through the whole meet and probably didn't watch more than three minutes of the whole thing.

When Brent and I were dating, we attended a lot of Brian's high school athletic events and I learned a lot about football, wrestling and track & field.  I remember cringing at some of the wrestling moves thinking he was going to break a bone or become paralyzed by some of the twisting moves. 

Two years ago my nephew, Nick, started wrestling in the "little kid" tournaments. We went to a tournament locally and were proud of him for his effort to not get pinned. We went to the same local tournament a few weeks ago and he's come a long way in two years, considering his dad was the one who would jump off the couch for a "clothes line" move.  Nick won his grouping {okay, I still don't know all of the terminology}.  But it was really cool to see him pin TWO of his three matches!  Lucas was watching from the stands, cheering for him to "pin' em!" 

{photos are from my phone... very blurry.  sorry.}

The champion and his medal.

Lucas was in awe of the medal.

He asked Nick and Abby, "Will you come watch me wrestle in a couple of years?"

I see a lot more wrestling meets in my future... I think I'd better get a good cushion for the bleachers.  I look forward to it! 

talent show

We had a talent show at our house recently.  There was an invitation, assigned seating, admission charge {$1} and a wristband.  The show was put on to music.

It was a packed couch.

Even Handy Manny came.

Only two pictures because I was a stagehand in the talent show production.  I can't even describe the excitement Lucas had for the talent show.  From the moment I mentioned it to the 90 minutes later when Dad pull in the driveway Lucas was bouncing off the walls.  Daddy was a good sport and even shelled out the big bucks {$1} for a ticket. 

The talent show, like our music dance parties, are almost daily requests at our house :) 

"A playful path is the shortest road to happiness."

on the home front

The kids were in good hands while we were in Vegas.  I loved getting messages and text pictures.

Making a paper chain to count down the days until Lucas' birthday.

Lucas tells me he and Hannah were building a tractor line...

They've got tools so something must have broke down. 

{There were no injury reports so my assumption is the forehead band aid was for an imaginary "owie."  We go through a lot of band aids at our house.}

All of the pieces of the nativity were in funny places when we got home.

Baking cookies.

The kids had a fun time and so did mommy & daddy.  The welcome home hugs were AMAZING!

Hoover Dam

While in Vegas, Ben, Trista, Brent and I rented a car and drove to Hoover Dam. 

In 1930, construction began on the Hoover Dam, the largest of its kind at the time. Despite the remote location and harsh working conditions, it was completed in less than five years -- two years ahead of schedule -- and well under budget.

The dam is named after America's 31st president, Herbert Hoover, who played a large role in bringing the nearby states into agreement about water allocations, settling a 25-year controversy. The dam has been called Boulder Canyon Dam as well as Boulder Dam, but Hoover Dam was reinstated as the official name by Congress in 1947.

A total of 21,000 men worked on the dam with an average of 3,500 and a maximum of 5,218 daily, which occurred in June 1934. The average monthly payroll was $500,000.  The official number of fatalities involved in building Hoover Dam is 96.

A National Historic Landmark, Hoover Dam is the highest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere, standing at more than 725 feet above the Colorado River. With 17 generators producing 4 billion kilowatts of electricity a year, it also is one of the country's largest hydroelectric power facilities. Operation and maintenance of the facility are solely supported by revenue from power sales.

Completed in October 2010, the Mike O' Callaghan -- Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge offers spectacular views that were once only available by helicopter.  Located about 1,500 feet south of the Hoover Dam, the walkway on the bridge is approximately 900 feet above the Colorado River.

Visitors can go from Nevada to Arizona after crossing the 1,900-foot-long bridge. The construction of the bridge came to mind in the 1960s, but didn't actually happen until 40 years later. This bypass was created to not only reduce traffic, but also to protect Lake Mead and the Colorado River from hazardous spills and explosions.

Very large Channel Catfish in the reservoir.

Ben, aka. King of the Mountain.