still winter

Just stopping in to say hi.  I have nothing brilliant, funny or wise to share tonight.  I'm just. plain. tired.  I've been falling asleep with Juniper at night and it's like I've been hit over the head with a baseball bat.  I just can't get myself back up for a date with my late-night hobbies.  I've been doing all the leg-work on our house which would normally get me all fired up to have a big project, but right now I'm in a funk.  Maybe it's because spring seems to be one-step-forward and two-steps-back.  Snow melts, then we get another eight inches.  I love snow.  But right now, I'd really love some mud.  In the meantime, I spent what could arguably be part of Juniper's college fund to get myself a contraption I'd been wishing I had for the last 3 months:

Can you say, "Heaven?"  Heaven.  

I have two rules about winter: 1) If you're going to live where the temps get below freezing, you better have some friggin' snow.  2) If you have friggin' snow, you better enjoy it.

:: Last week we put on our tourist hats and took Juniper for a "sleigh" ride on the refuge.

Turns out, we were two days too late for the sleigh and got the bumpy wagon instead.  Still, awesome.  

Juniper kept trying to climb out of the wagon all the while saying, Ott, ott, ott...  (Ott = elk, obviously.)

  There was a pretty nippy wind that made her eyes water, but she hardly noticed.  

::  Juniper's nanna braved her first-ever airplane flight to help with the new baby up in Montana, then came down to see us for several days.  It was *wonderful*.  

  We did a little wildlife watching and between here and Montana, I think my mother-in-law saw damn near every large mammal we have in this region (except for hibernating grizzly and black bears, of course).  Around the corner (so to speak) from our soon-to-be-home, there is a little herd of mountain goats who winter on the rocky slope above the highway.  

 I can never get photos of these guys because I don't have a telephoto lens.  Used my mil's camera for this one.  

Also, checked out a herd of big horn sheep.  

 Again, mil's camera.  

::  We celebrated a birthday in our house.  I love when this day comes because my man has to stop teasing that I am the old geezer of our relationship and we spend the next eight months in the same age category.  By his request, I made my step-mom's lemon poppyseed cake.  

Juniper was enamored with blowing-out-the-candles.  She was too young to appreciate that ritual on her own birthday, but by the end of this night she was blowing out candles herself.  Also, she officially ate sugar for the second time.  But this time, she was bigger and smarter and learned to ask for more cake (or rather, point excitedly and say, Mooore?)  and for the next several days we had to sneak cake while J bug was in the other room--or else share.

      

:: First pig-tails.  (She pulled out the hairbands and tried to feed them to Osa shortly after this photo was taken.)  

:: Evidence of what my family does when I leave them alone for half a day.  

:: The growing collection on our windowsill.

'Night.