A whole lotta buildup for 5 minutes of not much

In case you hadn't been watching the weather, we just got a whole bunch of snow (again). It was about 12-14 inches but was dry and light so not too bad. It had started late Friday night and snowed during the day on Saturday. I went out today to start the process of getting us out, working my ways towards my neighbor's driveway. He has a bobcat (think of a small vehicle with a bucket on front) so he (like last time) used it to clear out our road out to the front road. Maybe a half mile or a little less.

I was able to clear out our driveway enough to get the van out and see how the main road was. It had been plowed but was not bare, something that will be interesting to see in the morning. It is supposed to refreeze tonight and possibly tomorrow night.

We ended up getting out of the house and heading into the real world. We got a snack then got some groceries at 'mal mart' then went home.

So all this snow reminded me of our last batch of snow and taking Landon out in it. We had no real need for proper snow pants or boots for him so we weren't really prepared. We figured we would figure out something to put him in to take him outside and see the snow. We got the little blue 'tights' that we had gotten him over in Russia. We put some wind pants on him then wrapped his legs in plastic Walmart bags (trying for water protection). We put his heavy jacket on him and the hat we also got in Russia. It was a little bit of effort to get him into all that, plus getting our own outfits together. We went out the front door and played in the snow a little before heading back in. The snow was a bit too deep for him to walk in so playing outside wasn't much fun for him. He started to get snow in his 'pants' and he was ready to go in after 5 or 10 minutes.

Here is Landon while getting ready with his plastic bag pants.

Outside in the snow

As a point of comparison of our odd weather here, just last Thursday the weather around here was nice (in the 60s) and Heather took Landon outside for some fun. It quickly got cold around here on Friday, though.

Hopefully next week won't be as cold as it is supposed to. We might get some snow on Wednesday and possibly more next weekend. Yikes, not too much fun. Maybe I should go out tomorrow and get a proper snow shovel.

I like big (trucks) and I cannot lie ...

A few more weeks and a few more things going on. Landon has continued to do well other than a little sickness here and there. The 'usual' cold type stuff in the winter, though it does seem that he recently got a stomach virus thing. He seemed to be feeling pretty much OK and was active, but his diapers were a little different and more frequent. Anyway, we are a little surprised that he hasn't (knock on wood) had more issues between daycare and being this time of year.

It has been almost 1 year since we got his referral, which was not too long after we switched from siblings to a single child. I think that this Wednesday would be 1 year since we switched to a single child. Wow. It's funny how back when we were waiting, it didn't seem 'real' since we were just waiting. The trips over there seem like they were quick, and afterwards it still didn't sink in. Now that we are here so many months later, we are just in such a good routine that those events seem like a distant memory.

My parents got Landon a little backpack for him to use. Heather put some things in it for daycare use during church and he certainly liked wearing it around. A few times he has been playing in the living room with it on, making sure that you don't take it from him.

Here he is on his first day going to church with it on. He looks like such a big boy here.

The other week I got him a little outfit that was 75% off at Target. It was so cute I had to get it and it only cost a few dollars. Not an everyday outfit but worth every penny. There is a little black jacket that goes with it but he wasn't wearing it at the time. Landon likes to briefly stand still for a picture and then starts to move towards you before you take it. He wants to see the picture that you took.

On a different subject, last week marked my first week as a student at VCU. I had orientation the week before and then classes, not that there was much going on since it was just the first week. It is very odd for me to be back in a large school. The community college I had been going to had a small campus and I did most of the classes online. Very different feel to it. It is also much different than Virginia Tech, where I had started my college life so many years ago. Large rural campus to large urban campus.

It was funny at orientation seeing the kids that were there with their mothers or both parents. I remember doing that. It's a nice campus and easy to walk around to the buildings near me. I am a junior so pretty much all of my remaining classes will be in the single building for the school of business. There is a parking deck across the street that I will use so I won't be going across campus much if I don't want to. I look forward to trying to keep my grades like they were at the community college, something that I think I can do as long as I put the effort in.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

I came across the pictures that I mentioned a long time ago I would post, regarding our 'bear-y' unwelcome guest a few springs ago.

Heather and I were sitting in the living room watching t.v. one afternoon. I thought that I heard something but didn't really think about it. We had the bird feeders and sometimes the birds make noise or fly into a window. I got up to go into the kitchen to put away a plate and looked into the back yard. Imagine my surprise when I see a bear outside, sitting on his/her rump eating away at the bird food in the feeders.

I called her over since it isn't something we normally see. We started watching it and I got my camera. I took after my father a little, I guess at first I just opened one of the windows in the morning room to get some good shots with. The bear didn't seem to mind us, though. I then proceeded to go out to the screened porch, open the door there, and take some more. I had a telephoto lens so didn't need to get close, but the bear was still only about 15 feet away.

The bear kept working on the food in the feeders, but later on made it's way back into the woods. I was annoyed that the bear bent the main pole in the feeder system, meaning I would have to buy a new one. I bent the pole back up and hung the clear plastic feeder in the above photo. I put a little seed in it, as I felt bad that the birds wouldn't have any. Heather and I were heading out to hockey, I think. It seems that the bear came back later in the evening, as the dome feeder was missing. Not just off the feeder setup, but I couldn't see it around the yard or in the woods.

The next day I ventured into the woods down my trail, looking for the feeder. I found it about a hundred yards in the woods, close to my trail. It had been licked clean and had some big claw marks in it, but was still good. Earlier that day I had gone to the bird store to get a new feeder pole and dome feeder, but now I could take that replacement dome feeder back.

So, kind of exciting but fortunately the only bear we have seen here. We still get the deer, turkey and sometimes a fox. I actually saw a funny thing last week. There were some hunting dogs in the woods somewhere (hunting dogs can be used during deer hunting season) and I saw a single turkey running in the opposite direction about 10 feet into the trees. Kind of funny watching a turkey run fast like that.