Let It Snow, Let It Snow

There we are. Family pictures are so hard to get but here is a keeper.

Eating snow. for whatever reason, was fun for all the kids.

Seriously, this kid is so hard to photograph. Ugh.

Kinmans: Baylee, Remini, Lorie and Jarrod Kinmans pretending to not be freezing. Living in Phoenix, we don't see much snow. In fact, we see much of anything falling from the sky. For all that Phoenix lacks in winter weather, we can always drive a couple hours north and get all the white stuff we want. So after almost 5 years, we decided to take the kids up to Flagstaff to get our winter fix. To make the trip a little more exciting we cohabited with the Kinman Klan. Good Times.

The kids first reaction to the snow was very similar to a Christmas morning excitement. Squeals and screams of anticipation in the car driving up were fun to hear, but only for a minute. Prolonged car screaming is never cool, just a note to self.

As soon as we got there, and immediately following a conversation about who would bust their butt first, Ross fell on his bokahonkas. Don't worry, other than an injured pinkie and elbow, he was fine. The rest of us, however, grew pretty weary of hearing of these injuries all weekend.

The first day, we discovered a great sled hill. Well, it was great if you don't count Abbey and Remini's minor whiplash, and Abbeys face plant. Soon after this sled trip Abbey decided sledding was not her bag. We also made a small attempt to make a snowman. Eventually our efforts seemed pointless when our ADD crowd decided to just eat snow and climb wood piles.

The second day, we decided to actually leave the house and get some lunch. After 40 minutes waiting for a table and about the same amount of time waiting for our food, we were off to take some pictures downtown. The kids were pretty over the whole deal before we ever started, but I thought it would be nice to get a couple Weems family shots while I had someone there to help. Normally, our family shots involve me setting up the tripod and timer while hurling threats to my children to "smile or I'll spank" while trying to smile. So after some photo advice from Andrew to "suck your butt in Mommy!" I did my best. After getting home, I realized he was very right, profile shots are not for me or my bootay.

A Decade In Parenting

#1 Every kid needs a picture with antlers. #2 Durango, CO #3 Not real spiders #4 Partners in Crime

This morning someone suggested that I start a blog. That was my first clue that too much time had passed since my last blog entry. So, one of my New Year's resolutions will be to be more consistent with my blog. Here goes nothing. No really, I mean this resolution could be dead and gone within a week. I'm horrible at this stuff.

11 years ago I was in my early twenties. OK, maybe not too early, but not exactly late. I was young and fancy free. Not sure what "fancy free" means but fun to say and slightly poetic. We came and went anytime any place. Heck, we even bought a black convertible. Speaking of black convertible...I remember feeling so sick and miserable waiting for our fiance agent to work a small miracle with our income and lack of credit history. I had been feeling sick for 7 weeks or so, but I was pretty sure I had a bug. Who cares anyway? We are young and now is the perfect time to buy a convertible (at least this is what we told my parents.) Long story short, yep, I was preggers. Telling everyone was fun but met with several odd responses. My mom asked "how did this happen?" I was not sure if she needed me to answer or if she was completely caught off guard, but odd moment to say the least. My friend Tammy, with whom I saw almost everyday, cried. Not a happy cry, just a 'my fun time with you is over' kinda cry. Eventually, we all rolled around to the idea of my parenting a child. Scary for all involved.

After a long night of putt-putt and Mexican food on New Years Eve, I settled in for the night. We celebrated the big millennium starting, and we were thankful that we had power, water and our computers were all working. Around 1am is when my life began to change. After many hours of laboring, pushing and getting to see how the vacuum and forceps felt, my child was out. I can still remember starring in complete confusion and amazement at this perfect child that they pulled out of me. Wow, that beautiful baby was mine.

In just 10 short years he has said his first word, took his first step, made friends and advanced in his education far beyond expectations (obviously, from his mother.) I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for us. I love you Andrew!