Holy Snow!

We have had a little bit of snow here in New England. And, by little, I mean so much snow that I could easily lose my kids in it.

Before it got too deep, we had some fun playing in it. Since we didn't get a lot of snow accumulation last year, this was really Hannah's first time playing in the snow. If you click on the picture below, you can watch video of the kids sledding. I will warn you: there are a few seconds of video of the snow which I meant to edit out, but missed. It takes so long to compile the HD video that I'm leaving it for now. Hopefully Hannah's giggles make up for any momentary dizziness you experience. That footage was taken after the "big storm" on December 26th. It had warmed up to 50 degrees the day we went sledding, so we only had a few inches of snow on the ground.

Then came January. We got a few inches on January 8th, slammed with a foot and a half of snow on January 12th, more on the 21st followed by another 18 inches on January 27th. In total, the weather service claims we have had five total feet of snow. It's been wet, so I think we still have about 3 1/2 feet of packed snow still on the ground (not counting the drifts from the snow blower). We HAD an ice rink in the back yard, but there is so much snow, you can't even see it.

You can see the pictures evolve below:

Mike shoveling snow off the ice rink on January 9th

Snow accumulating on the deck as of 7am on January 12th. . .

Noon on January 12th. . .

8pm on January 12th. . .

January 28th. . .

Our lethal icicle, before Mike knocked it down. . .

The disappearing ice rink. . .

Unfortunately for Hannah, we now have too much snow to effectively play in. We went sledding, but it is exhausting to trudge back up the hill through wasted deep snow carrying a wiggly toddler. And, the last few feet of snow were so powdery, it doesn't pack well for snowballs or snowmen. Hannah is very upset about the snowman. Everytime she sees more snow, she asks Mike for a snowman.

As I type, we are gearing up for another 10 to 20 inches. Because of our location, we are on the edge of the "change-over to wintery mix". So, we could get 10-14 inches plus a few inches of ice on top, or two feet of pure snow. At this point, we are hoping for snow, because what's two more feet when you have already seen five total. Plus, snow is easier to clear than ice (so I've heard. . . Mike is the official snow blower operator).

Hopefully we'll see everyone when we thaw out this summer!

Love, The Trahans

Elmyra Trahan

You may or may not remember a cartoon in the 90s called "Tiny Toon Adventures". The premise was the next generation of cartoon characters went through "Acme Looniversity" to learn how to be cartoon characters from professors like Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. There was a character, Elmyra, who LOVED animals. Loved to the point of suffocation, capture, injury. She definitely didn't live by the motto, "If you love it, set it free...Let's just say that there is a striking resemblance between Hannah and this cartoon character. And, it goes far beyond the red hair. Hannah is a pet killer.

Okay, I can't say conclusively that Hannah killed Mikie's frog. On one of our recent snow days, I turned around to find Hannah shaking the frog tank. And, for an eight hour period after that, Flippy (yes, the frog was named Flippy) was floating belly up, twitching, trying to upright himself as he struggled to survive.

Mikie was fairly accepting of Flippy's untimely demise (I omitted the small detail that Hannah had been seen shaking the tank when I told him of the frogs passing). His only request was that we get a "guinea pig that's black and white and call him Rhino."

And so, we introduce pet #2: Rhino (or "Whino" for those of us who don't recognize the letter "R"). So, in addition to working full time and caring for two kids, I have another small mammal to keep, clean, fed, and healthy. Oh, and safe, which, for Rhino's sake, I hope to have greater success with than Flippy.

Love, The Trahans

Mom's Best Christmas Present Ever!

I have wanted a digital SLR camera since Mikie started running faster than the shutter speed on my regular camera. I had tried making the camera take multiple shots in succession in hopes of getting one good picture to no avail. Mike upgraded my camera for my birthday a year before Hannah was born which helped slightly. As Mike started playing soccer, my desire for a digital SLR camera grew. With very few ideas of what else to get me for Christmas, Mike broke down and bought me one. And, not just anyone, a Nikon D5000.

I am no photography expert, but, I am amazed by how much nicer my photos look. And, this is without me editing them, which, incidentally I can now do ON THE CAMERA, as opposed to uploading and Photoshopping for hours on end.

These are some of my favorites, mostly because they perfectly capture my kids' personalities. Alas, I can't take credit for them (the photos, not the kids), since Mike actually took all four of these pictures:

Mikie, full of love for life. . . Hannah, scathing mad when she doesn't get her way. . .looking cute as a button when she realizes others are watching and that she needs to keep up the ruse of innocence.So, if you like the photos on the blog going forward, you can thank Mikie. Because, until I find free time (ha ha) to read the fancy book he bought me to go with the camera, the credit for the pictures is owed more to the camera than the photographer.

Love, The Trahans

Diva, Thy Name is Hannah

Hannah is now 22 months old. And, with the attitude on her, you'd think she was 21 years old. More often then not, I find myself telling her, "Although you may think the world revolves around you, it does not. There are other people here." She usually responds with a scowl. . .I am convinced Hannah believes that everyone on this planet is here to serve her. For the longest time, she called Mike (and many other people) "Mommy". At first I thought, she didn't understand that Mike was "Daddy". I would ask her, "Where's daddy?" and she would look at me with this cheeky grin, as if to say, "I'm not going to tell you. You know darn well where he is." When Mike would come home from work, she would look at me and yell, "Mommy's home!" and run towards the door. If Mike was near the refrigerator she would yell, "Water, Mommy!" Mike would ask, "Do you want me to get you water", to which she would emphatically shake her head "yes". It quickly became apparent that in Hannah's mind, "Mommy" was synonymous with "servant".

In addition, Hannah yells/barks just about everything that comes out of her mouth. She walks into a room, and if you don't immediately acknowledge her presence, you here, "HEY!" Mike didn't notice her walk into the office one morning and thought Mikie was talking to him. He was shocked to see the little princess standing in the doorway.

While her vocabulary is becoming more and more extensive, her pronunciation lacks something. Namely, the letter "R". She has a terrible Massachusetts accent. I am trying to convince her that there really are 26 letters of the alphabet. Her favorite word (other than "no") is "mine". Everything is "MY TUCK" (my truck), "MY JUICE BOX", "MY WAH-DUH" (my water). If she wants me to herself, she will attempt to block Mikie by pushing him out of the way with her butt while grabbing onto me yelling "MY MOMMY." The only positive to come out of this possession is "MY BOTH-AH" (my brother). The majority of the time she adores Mikie. On her terms. If he comes in and gives her a hug, after three seconds of giggles, she ends up pushing him away whining. We frequently have to tell him to let go because Hannah doesn't want to be hugged. Poor Mikie. She wants to do everything he does. If Mikie has ice cream, Hannah wants ice cream. If Mikie is watching movie's in the car, Hannah wants to watch movies in the car. Conversely, she is already smart enough to know the routine. The other night, she was upstairs getting ready for bed, and ran to the top of the stairs and screamed down "NIGHT-NIGHT" at Mike and Mikie because they hadn't come upstairs to get ready for bed.

She loves a few things other than her brother. Elmo is a big favorite. When she was home sick one day, I turned on Sesame Street. I thought she was going to explode, she was so excited to see that Elmo was on TV. She kept running over to the TV and waving at him, petting the TV, not really grasping that he couldn't see her. She has an Elmo doll that she carries around. I got her Elmo slippers recently (since they combine her love of shoes with her love of a furry red monster). I asked her if she showed Elmo her slippers, and she marched over and waved her foot over the doll's head.

Speaking of footwear, the Diva is obsessed with shoes and accessories. She has at least six purses, but it doesn't stop her from marching into my closet and demanding to be given some of mine. She is equally possessive of my shoes. She prefers my flip flops (not thongs, she doesn't like them between her toes), slippers, and pumps. Zero desire to wear my boots or sneakers, although she LOVES to wear Mike and Mikie's sneakers. I hate to admit it, but she gets around pretty well in my high heels. For Christmas, Grandma Pookie got her a Princess Fiona costume, some necklaces and a purple evening bag. Our friends Matt and Catherine sent her fairy wings, feather boa, and wrist scarves. As you can see from the pictures, she was totally taken with her new appearance.Between the sassy attitude and the air of entitlement, I think we have a rough road ahead of us. I cringe less at the thought of college and more at the thought of how elaborate a wedding this one is going to want, assuming she finds someone she deems "worthy" of her attention.

Love, The Trahans