Owl cupcakes

By now you may have noticed I haven't been able to do more than short little posts here and there this year. Here's another one ...

Aren't these cute?! My neighbor Christine made them for her daughter's recent birthday. I think she found the idea on Pinterest because Christine loves the site as much as I do. I'm posting the picture here so 1. I remember how Christine did it when I go to make some and 2. So I can pin this image on my little birdies board. 

We've got a pair of Barred Owls that like the woods at the end of our street. I love hearing them call back and forth at dusk and then a little later before midnight. Joseph did NOT like hearing them at first but now it's all cool and he can step out of the house when it's dark. I would have thrown Joseph an owl birthday party but the idea didn't fly with the boys.*

*Go ahead and groan ツ

We're like Mayberry, with a twist

It's the craze that's sweeping the nation! 

With our friendly neighbors, kids playing in the street until dark, the moms at home with the children — you would think we're back in the 1950s. Especially now that we're all hooping it up. That's Christine and Mavis in the picture above. It's good exercise while we're watching the kids. Guinevere and Sophie have been practicing their tricks too. Will's just about got it.

Now I can get in on the action too! Thanks to my cool friend Nichele, I have a brand new hula hoop all of my very own. Yep, she makes hoops. And teaches spin classes and writes about health. And a million other awesome things like make wine and drive an Alfa Romeo. I said she was cool.

So come on over, grab a hoop and hang out with us anytime. 

Donna Reed pearls and aprons optional.

Trying something new

So Sunday, our neighbor Will had already cut down one tree in his backyard but didn't want to put his toy chainsaw away. Sadly for us, our beautiful dogwood tree did not survive last summer's heat. Cutting it down is now off the to-do list. 

Manly men! (That's Chris holding the chainsaw.)

Whoa! A safe distance away, our little manly-men-in-training watched in awe.

After watching all the men have a turn, I decided I wanted to try something new. 

Guinevere then wanted a turn. I'd like to think I had set a good example that girls are capable as boys but she's still at that age where she knows no limitations. Here's hoping she keeps that spirit for as long as possible. (YES, she is wearing safety glasses. YES, that is her daddy helping her. YES, he knows what he's doing.)

This is how WE do it

I live on one of the best streets in the whole US of A ... seriously, other folks are jealous of my neighbors (as they should be). Friday night I was down at one end of the street celebrating the end of the holidays into the wee hours. Sunday night, roaring bonfire at the other end. Doesn't everyone have a bonfire when it snows?

Don't you just dig this flamed fire pit? Designed/made by neighbor Shea.

Neighbor Mavis pulls Will and Moses in the sled as her daughter Guinevere follows. At this point, the flakes were really coming down. Of course the Scullys would have the most rockin' sled.

Joseph takes a turn with Will. Both were in their PJs when it started to snow. Oh well, we threw warm clothes over their PJs and headed outside to play.

After it snowed a good bit, the fun ended and the sky send down freezing rain instead. Which made our nice, fluffy snow very crunchy for the next day. Too crunchy and hard to walk on. You could skate on the road with just your sneakers. So instead of building snowmen, the kids spent more time sledding.

You know, you can slide down a hill on just about anything ...

Joe after his turn down the back alley in the kayak. There was much fun with this. My action shots turned out lousy but all the little and big boys had fun taking a ride. 

I know folks up North have to laugh at our panic over a few inches of snow. But what really got us all worked up this time was the ice ... snow and ice are not common events so we do not have the driving skills needed. Everything closed Monday and barely started to open today. Heck, I may still not leave the house Wednesday. Thankfully we did not lose power and weren't stuck home alone. I'll weather any storm with my great neighbors!