Harry Birthbay!

Today is Ron's birthday. The schools were closed again today, so the kids and I had plenty of time to bake a cake, wrap presents, and decorate.

Although the box of decorator icing tubes claimed they were "perfect for little hands", Tyler had a little trouble making his letters clearly, and he still mixes up his 'd' and 'b' occasionally. His Happy Birthday turned out more like Harry Birthbay, but it was perfect. (He had a good laugh about it, too.) Danielle's backwards y was a nice touch, too. The cake was very colorful and looked great.

Thank goodness for Dollar Tree! When school was cancelled yesterday, I took the kids there to pick out decorations and gifts for Ron. They had a blast decorating and were very proud of their gifts for Dad.

Danielle picked out a puppy figurine to go with a dog figurine she bought him for a previous birthday.

Tyler picked out screwdrivers.

We had dinner out and enjoyed the cake for dessert. There was a lot of laughing and giggling. It was a really good evening.

Snow Day

School was cancelled for everyone today. We got a couple inches of snow yesterday morning. Overnight we got some ice, but this morning the sleet and ice turned to more snow. I took the kids out to play for a few minutes this afternoon. Here are a few pictures & a video.



1/2" of ice











An additional 5 1/2" of snow

What Was Lost, Now is Found

This summer the kids and I worked on journals. Each week the kids picked an activity to write about and then drew pictures to go with the text. By the end of the summer, these journals were filled with lots of great memories - trips to the fair, various summer outings, special family times - all written in their own handwriting, in their own words. Obviously these were important keepsakes to me.


We went to the library. There was a program. It was fun. It was about animals. - June 2008 [picture is of a flying squirrel]

Tyler's kindergarten teacher gave the kids a pack of homework to work on over the summer. They were also allowed to create a journal (we had already planned to do one anyway). If they returned any of their homework on the first day of 1st grade, they would get a treat. At the beginning of this year, Tyler took in his completed homework pack and his journal. The journal never came home.

I became frantic after his journal failed to show up after a few days. I talked to his first grade teacher and his kindergarten teacher. I even looked for it myself when I was in the classroom one day. We all came to the conclusion that it was accidentally thrown away. I cried.

It was several months later before I told Tyler it had been thrown away. Even then it was his darling sister who broke the news. He was upset but got over it much quicker than I did.

Yesterday at dinner Tyler told us he finished a journal he had been working on in class. He was surprised, though, because when it was time to begin a new notebook, his teacher did not give him the composition journal he brought in with his school supplies on the first day of school. Casually he said, "Instead, she gave me my summer notebook." I just about dropped my fork. I questioned him some more and then sent a hasty email to his teacher asking her to please, please send the journal home with Tyler if this was indeed THE summer journal.

We went to the spray park with Mamaw. It was fun. The water was cold. - July 2008

Tyler walked in the door this afternoon and proudly handed me his backpack. Nestled among the folder and papers was his priceless summer journal. I just about cried. I also received an email from his teacher, apologizing for apparently not understanding exactly what I was looking for earlier. No need to apologize. What was lost, now is found!

Politics According to a First Grader

I volunteered in Tyler's class today. This was my conversation with one of his classmates:

Boy: We watched Barack take the new job today and that other guy got fired.

Me: Oh, you watched the inauguration? President Bush didn’t get fired, his job ended. He served all the years he was allowed.

Boy: Oh. Will Barack’s job end too?

Me: Yes. He’ll work 4 years and then we’ll get to vote again. He’ll either get to work as president another 4 years or we’ll vote for someone else.

Boy: Well, if that old white guy is trying again, I’m always going to vote for Barack!

Finally - SNOW!

We finally got the promised snowfall. As of the last measurement, we had 5.75". Tyler's school closed early, so we made the most of it by playing in the snow this afternoon before the temperatures plummet. (Danielle is spending a couple days with Grandma & Grandpa R, so she missed the snow...this time.)

Here is Tyler's first snow angel of the season.

And while I have your attention, I'd like to ask everyone who reads this to take a minute to say a prayer for a little boy in our neighborhood. Alex is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. A couple weeks ago he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was in surgery for 9 hours this afternoon. I think this is every parent's nightmare, and I know if was my son, I would want the world to be praying for him. I know I'm not reaching the world, but a few more prayers offered on his behalf can make just as big a difference. Thank you.

Storm of the Season...

...Hardly!

Our news went crazy Friday evening warning us all of the impending white doom, mixed with a little ice. We were expecting 4-6 inches, so we dug out the snow boots and snow pants last night. Instead, we were disappointed to wake up this morning to a little bit of freezing rain, which didn't amount to much either. See, even our icicles were tiny little things. :( Boo.

Catching Up

Here are a variety of pictures from the past week or so. I'm sure you'll notice that the kids are in their pajamas in a good number of pictures. That's what Christmas vacation is all about, isn't it?! We had a really nice two weeks together. It was long enough that I actually lost track of the days a couple times. Everyone goes back to school and work tomorrow. It's always a little depressing to get back to reality, but there's something comfortable about getting back into a familiar routine, too.


Danielle and Papaw














Tyler got a crystal growing kit from my Aunt Barb for Christmas. There were several days between the first and last pictures. The boys plan to grow a geode next.



















Tyler used his Christmas money to buy a RC truck and another Nerf gun.













My Aunt Barb also bought Tyler a bubble gum making kit. Today he made sour watermelon flavored gum. It was more difficult to mix than we expected, but the kids loved the flavor. (See the Blokus game in the background? It is a really fun family game! We also enjoyed several rounds of Apple to Apple Jr. this week.)


We had lots of Nerf wars.

















Danielle sanded, painted, and glued together a bird house that was in her craft basket. This project spanned a few days. We also had a lot of fun making shrinky dinks. Thankfully they shared their paper with me so I could make some, too!


















Danielle and Erika.



















Danielle crafted some "clothes" for her Barbies from some pieces of felt that were in her craft basket. As you can see, she chose a peek-a-boo design.



















In between completing more projects with his snap circuit set and designing new marble runs for his Chaos tower, Tyler worked on several Lego sets. He still has a couple he hasn't finished. The truck had 1154 pieces in it. The castle had 973. The convertible had 931 pieces and was the only set Tyler has needed help with in ages.