Check your calendar

'cause it's supposed to say May!

But, as you can see, the weather around here is failing to cooperate.

I took these this morning.

An inch of snow in the middle of May. Welcome to Colorado.

Rain Rocks

The other day I was feeling totally bummed because the weather was cold and windy.

We could not play outside.

I was letting the kids watch Thomas movies (thanks DVR)

and the sky got dark.

Really, really dark.

Instead of looking at it to see if it was GREEN, or checking for tornado warnings,

I let my kids look out the windows.

Tiger asked me what that noise was. I told him it was hail.

He told me it was rain rocks.

Marble sized hail and tornado warnings (that I missed) make for an interesting afternoon.

20-30 minutes of hail and it looked like winter again.

Though I think it snows here more in the fall/spring than it does in the winter.

On a happy note, the sun came out later and made it feel all springy again.

Today even promises to approach 70.

And here's the proof!

Proof for those of you not of my state that is, in fact, beginning to look a lot like Christmas even if the calendar still reads October.

FYI: I took both pictures w/o going outside. B.A.R. was kind enough to go out and use the snowblower to clean up the sidewalks, etc. It also snowed another 2+ inches after these were taken. Today it was nice and slushy and warm and about half of it melted. The roads were even starting to dry out in spots. Looking forward to a soupy/slushy Halloween.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

and it's not yet Halloween.

I see the snow as it fell

and now on the ground as well

And it's coverin' up all the leaves.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and not like Halloween.

I mean, with this weather what are you supposed to do to make Halloween an enjoyable holiday? I have some suggestions for surviving this year's Colorado Halloween

• Make a snowman and dress him up as a ghost.
• Use your jack-o-lantern for the head of you snowman.
• Use snow for the fake graves in your yard instead of leaves.
• Break out your thermal underwear to wear under your costume.
• Dress up as the old neighbor from Home Alone and walk around with a snow shovel and a trash can full of deicer.
• Dress up as Santa Clause, 'cause you'll fit right in.
• Be happy that your kids will get tired of being cold before their candy bags get very full.
• Smile and exclaim, "We should have icicles on Halloween every year."
• Put out your lawn Christmas decorations so that they see some snow this year.
• Organize a neighborhood candy swap. Everybody shows up in one location and you do all the candy swapping in 5 minutes and then you all go home.
• Put on your favorite Halloween (or Christmas) movie and boycott the weather entirely.

Just some suggestions to make your holiday a little more enjoyable.

Maybe we should celebrate Christmas this weekend, since the weather doesn't match the holiday, maybe the holiday should be made to match the weather.

With apologies to Bing

I'm dreaming of a fall-colored Halloween

Where the trees tops still cling tightly to the last few leaves

and children go trick or treating without parkas.

I'm dreaming of a cool Halloween

like the one we had last year. (minus the stitches in my finger)

Where the trunk or treat does not involve heaters

and the costumes are not hidden under coats.

Really, since we relocated to the great state of CO Halloween has felt more like January. With the exception of last year.

The first year B.A.R. was here by himself and watching it snow.

The second year it was 26 degrees or so for trick or treating.

The third year it was 15 degrees or so for trick or treating.

The forth year the weather was a pleasant 50 something and while I sat outside and passed out candy and B.A.R worked to remove a fuel pump.

This year is leaving little hope for a snow-free holiday.

Wednesday we had snow all day. Yesterday the 3-4 inches began melting and revealing all the ungathered leaves underneath. I have no doubt that the snow will all be gone by Saturday, but I am also sure it will snow again before next Saturday. Since when is Halloween supposed to remind you of Christmas?