Let It Snow!

It's here! Our first big snow of the season! Last night we got about 8 1/2 inches of snow and today we are expected to get another 3-6 inches. It's not very cold...just above freezing, so I dont know how long it will stay around this time. It's already starting to melt and it's only 8AM. But it sure is nice to get some moisture. I vision sledding, snow men, snow angels, and snow ice cream will be in store for the day! Pretty soon I need to go out and knock as much snow off of the tree so that the branches dont break. (No, I didnt wait for it to get light enough for pictures.) Stan and a friend from church are out elk hunting this morning...hope they get one!

Oh...and yes...school is running on time as usual. Are you kidding? If school closed everytime it snowed here we'd have to go to school all summer to make up for snow days! This is our 4th year up here and the school has never closed for the day. Never. There has only been one delay. Our first year up here there was one day where we started school at 10:00AM because it was below -20 degrees...yep...negative twenty...and the building needed time to be able to get warm enough. And if you're wondering about recess...kids just put on their snow clothes and go on out. The school rule is that if it gets below 10 degrees the kids stay in the gym for recess.

Last night church was at our house and we'd already started getting some snow...about 3 inches or so. All the kids went out and made some snowmen (after the snowball fight of course). But like I said...it's not that cold so they started melting and drooping. This poor guys looks down on his luck. We'll have to go cheer him up...after a bowl of hot oatmeal!

Better get going. We've lost power some during the night and the lights are starting to flicker again. Dont worry...we'll be all roasty and toasty, with or without power!

Birthday Girl

Ok, so I went ahead and put away the Halloween costumes...after they sat in my bedroom floor for weeks. But here are some pics we did take in honor of Halloween. All four of us girls had these teeth in one day when Daddy came home from work. He laughed and said, "So I take it Nana sent a package?" Yep! :o) Jake didnt get any teeth...and he wasnt sure what all the fuss was about.

Now for the birthday girl...I cant believe my baby is 9! She's getting so grown up, despite the occasional Hannah Montana mannerisms ("Momma say what?"). This year we broke free from the 3 year stint of doll cakes and ventured into other things. She decided she wanted a dog face for a cake. A black dog. Black. So, being the good and venturous mommy that I am...here's my stab at a dog cake (maybe I shouldnt have said "stab"). Go ahead...laugh! I did. Oh and you should also know that her second choice of a cake was a pink flower. Hmmmmm.

And here she is opening her gifts. She also got money (she's saving up to get her ears pierced, much to Daddy's dismay). This picture just really cracked me up...was she checking to see if it's real or not?! Bwaaa Haaaa Haaaaaaa!!! (Actually, she'd just gone on a field trip to the local bank so she was testing what all she'd learned.)

Remember that BLACK cake? But of course...black icing = black teeth and lips. Well, I guess at least they brushed their teeth REALLY well after eating the sugary cake! I dont mean just brushing of the teeth...I'm talking scrub-the-living-daylights out of those pearly whites! You know me...always looking for a plus side. Oh and something I learned...black icing = purple tongue. Go figure.

I'll try to get a new slideshow link in the sidebar started for November/December soon.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is half days here, so I get the pleasure of dropping everything in the middle of the day and load 3 kids in the rig, run to town, drop one off, and come back home (or try to beat my last record time at the grocery store so that I can get back, get the kids fed, put the baby down for a nap, and not be late for tutoring). I complain but I guess secretly I don’t mind so much because I get an extra half day with my little girl!

I get so tickled at the Kindergarten drop off routine. Parents and day care providers show up with their appointed children. The kids run around the school yard for a while until the adults have them go get in line. The line forms on the sidewalk and there’s a little wooden fence right next to it to keep kids off of the landscaping. The kids line up along the fence and the adults line up in the grass, just off the other side of the sidewalk…each one standing across from their child. So now we have 2 lines! And I’m just waiting for someone to start yelling, “Red Rover, Red Rover!” But no one ever does.

The parents smile with pride at their big girl/boy going to school…and scold them when they climb on the fence or push in line (I’ve actually learned a few kids’ names this way because of the repetition). Some parents know each other and they visit, oblivious to anything around them…including their child who is climbing in the fence which makes all the other kids want to climb on it too because so-and-so’s mom lets them do it. Some parents stand all rigid and look like they’re on a mission. Some stand nonchalant like they’re just too cool for school. And then there’s the rebel parents who refuse to stand in the parent line like the others. They are sure to stand a few feet away…two or ten…or even all the way across the school yard so that they are the first ones back to the car. The men are the funniest. They feel kind of awkward being there but they secretly really like it and are resisting the urge to run thru the leaves with their child.

Shortly, someone from the school comes out and leads the line of kids to their appointed classroom. After the parade of waves and kiss-blowing the parents and day care providers flood out from the school.

Halloween Pictures!

Here they are:

















What? You can't see them? Oh...we must be having some technical difficulties....


Oh who am I kidding?! You cant see them because there are none! Yes, we're horrible parents who withheld Halloween from our kids. No...actually the kids were still sick...or at least some of them were. Now those kids are well and other's are sick...and so is mommy (gives new meaning to the phrase "I dont care who started it, I'M going to finish it"). It's such a vicious cycle! Someone get me off this roller coaster!

But thankfully we're past the stomach bug part (Lord willing!!!!) and on to some kind of viral thing. You hate to say it's just a "cold" because then it sounds so minor. But a near 15 month old with a cold isnt minor at all. It's just plain crappy! And it's even more crappy when he got it from the other child (not to mention names but it starts with a J and ends with an -essica) whom I'm always yelling to "cover your mouth!" or "dont cough/blow in his face!" or "dont put his toys in your mouth!" And it's even more crappy when you've seen nothing but sick kids for 2 weeks (it's only been 2 weeks? seems much longer). And it's even more crappy when you've got the very same cold because he likes to lovingly share his pacifier with you by taking it out of his mouth and shoving in yours whether you like it or not. And yes, I said "crappy" so dont tattle-tale on me! If the kids read this, I'm in trouble! And yes, I'm whining shamelessly. And yes, I know you're not supposed to start a sentence with the word "and." What was this post about? Oh yeah...Halloween. Sorry, no pictures. The End.

P.S. So, how long did you wait for the pictures to "load" before you gave up? LOL!

What A Week!

Warning: If you have a quick gag reflex do NOT read this post. (I figure all two of my readers wont mind!)

Well, a week ago today everything was going well. The kids were healthy and happy. The air was crisp and the leaves were beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow from fall. It was the last day of school for the week because of teacher in-service stuff. Such a happy time.

Now, a week later, I’m cleaning up throw-up from the 4th child because the kids have been good little helpers who shared and shared alike…the stomach bug. The good: it seems to only be a 24 hour bug. The bad: well—you know—throw-up. The ugly: one exhausted mommy. I am also thankful that we’re getting it over with and not dragging it on for weeks and weeks (praying there’s only 1 round per child…and that Stan and I don’t get it). And I’m thankful that they weren’t all 4 at the EXACT same time.

As I was cleaning up the latest round this morning I guess I went into auto pilot (or dementia). I reaffirmed to myself that there’s no way I could be a CSI. I mean, I was pretty good at keeping the contamination from spreading to the rest of the crime scene (although I didn’t always watch where I stepped…but I won’t go there). And I’m pretty good at analyzing the evidence (note to self: remind Jessica to chew her food better). However, I have too hard of a time keeping from adding my own contamination to the current crime scene. Ever since that first pregnancy the whole gag reflex thing has been an issue. I’m sure it’s something I could overcome if I wanted to and tried really hard. I’ll be sure to put that on my list of top 10 things I want to accomplish.

From Baby to Little Boy

After bath.

Day after bath.

After Daddy.

Mommy wept.

(For more pictures of this event, go to the Sept/Oct 2007 Slideshow link on the right.)

In Perspective

If you haven't already seen this...



(This is called "New Again" by Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, with scenes from the movie "The Passion.")

Whiskers

No, we didn't get a cat. We got stitches...or at least Rebecca did. As Rebecca told the ER doc...she was standing on a rocking horse sideways (the horse was sideways not her) and she fell off and her tooth went thru her lip. And, as she said, "Well, it was Jessica's idea."

It wasn't real bad but she had a little gash on the outside of her lip that didnt look so great so we took her to the ER. She got 2 stitches and was so brave. It broke my heart to watch but we made sure Jessica was there to see it too...just in case she had any more of those "ideas." (Which it wasn't the first and I know it won't be the last...but like all good parents, we just cant miss a chance to put the fear of God in our kids...yes, I'm being sarcastic). That was the quietest she'd been all day and I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Maybe it left an impression...for at least an hour.

So anyway, Rebecca says she has "whiskers like Daddy" now.

Bi*ker Ba*bes (and Dude)

(had to edit the title to keep it from showing up on inappropriate searches)

We had a very fun visit from Stan's aunt Debbie and uncle Mike. [a.k.a. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jessie, according to Jessica...Little Jessie. I guess it's only appropriate that this Aunt Jessie is the sister to Uncle Neck. (B-pa, you have some strange siblings, ya know!) If you come to our house, you're likely to leave with a nickname coined by the infamous Jessica.] Anyway, Mike and Debbie (er, I mean Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jessie) are in the process of roaming the country on their hog. They were in Idaho and so they came on up to see us and got to stay a few days! Of course the girls had to check out the bike:




And had to don the customary b*iker duds:




Being the lame mom that I am, I didn't get my camera out until the last day but Aunt Jessie promised to send me some she took on hers when she gets home...whenever that may be! She got some cute pics.

We had a good time and I hope they made it down to where there is some warmer weather. We tried to talk them into going on up into Canada but Debbie was already uncomfortable with the fact that she was closer to the north pole than the equator. Maybe next time. Here's the little b*iker dude:

School Days

School days are here again and we've survived the first week! (I had full intentions of posting after the first day of school but it seems I wasn't as prepared for this crazy year as I thought I was). Rebecca is doing great in K this year and seems to be really enjoying it. On the first day of school when I asked them how it went Mackenzie said "Third grade is kewl!!!" and Rebecca said "We got chocolate chip cookies for snack!!!" Rebecca has been reporting to me every day what they have for snack...but I have to dig for other details like...what she learned that day. I hope third grade stays "kewl" for Mackenzie...she wasnt too impressed with second grade since they actually had to do work and didn't get to play as much (that's actually what she said last year).

Ok so...no, mom didn't cry. Rebecca didn't cry, and she loves riding the bus. Mackenzie predicted that Rebecca would have to go to the principal's office the first day of school (gee, thanks for the torment, big sister) so Rebecca was very relieved to get home that first day without going to the principal's office. Jessica seems to be in hog heaven with sisters gone. And I think I'm going to have to duct tape Jake to a chair...that's legal, right?