"I did it!!!"

The kids have the day off from school (Actually, a 4-day weekend!), and we've just been hanging out at home today.  

We had waffles for breakfast.

The kids played in the snow this morning, and made tunnels in a big drift behind the garage.

They had waffles again for lunch. ;)

Annah has worked on a cross-stitched birthday card for her friend Ashley.  Her party is tomorrow, so she is working diligently to finish it.

Sylvia has been keeping Annah company and reading.

Caeden has been determined to beat this part of Super Mario Galaxy for a while now.  He has had some of us try as Player 2 to help him, but to no avail.  Today, he spent over an hour trying over and over to blow up all of those boxes!  And, finally, he did it!!  He was so excited, he jumped up and down yelling, "I did it!  I did it!"  Congratulations, Caed-bud!

High Honors

Today was the school Honors Assembly for 1st semester.  Annah was on the High Honor Roll.  The requirements for High Honor Roll are 6 A's and nothing lower than a B.  Along with their certificates, the students who received High Honors were given drawstring bags and a Subway gift card.

Although Annah was the only one in her class[room] that had all A's, there were a lot of kids on the High Honor Roll this time.   

Actually, all three of our kids had great report cards, as usual.  Sylvia also had all A's.  (Honors Assembly doesn't start until 4th grade though.)  And, Caeden had great improvement in the area that most challenged him last time--behavior and personal growth.  It was a whole row of +'s, which means "exceeds expectations."   We're proud of all of them.  

Finally Winter

In no way am I complaining, but it has taken winter a little longer than usual to get here this season.  The kids wished for a white Christmas, of course, but we have had barely a dusting of snow one time in the past few months.  Again, I am completely satisfied with that!  But, the kids...they have been waiting...

This morning while they were getting ready for school, Sylvia said, "Look out the window!  It's starting to snow!"   I'd thought the forecast was for snow this afternoon/evening, but it looked fairly serious about settling on the ground.  So the kids put their shoes in their book bags and got their boots on.

As we gathered in the entryway for our morning prayers, we thanked God for the pretty snow and asked his protection for everyone traveling in it this morning.  

They couldn't wait to rush out the door!  Then they felt the snowy wind on their faces and didn't want to turn toward me for a picture!  Brrr!

It does feel like the first taste of winter is finally here.

Here is reason #652 why I dislike our new bus-stop.  Before, we could wait until we saw the bus at the previous stop and then the kids could walk next door to our neighbors driveway and not have to stand and wait for the bus.  Now, we can't see the bus in time for the kids to walk, so they will have some really cold times waiting on snowy days--when the bus will probably be late, and they will have to wait longer, because they have a wonderfully cautious driver.  

I will be thankful because winter waited longer to come this year, and hopefully therefor will be shorter.  

They kids are really, really hoping for enough snow to play in.  Sylvia wants to "build an actual carrot-nose real snowman."  All of the kids treasure the memory of building the snow tunnel with Daddy last year, and would love to try it again.  

I really am glad to live in a place where we get to experience the changing of 4 distinct seasons.  Love it.

Sylvie & Sophie

Sylvie is our sweet little dolly girl.  She has always loved dolls, from the time she was big enough to pick one up and twirl her hair.  She loves all kinds of dolls--Barbies, Beanies, Webkinz, porcelain, Holly Hobbie, Littlest Pet Shop, Strawberry Shortcake... She likes them all.

Call me a mean mommy, but I have tried fairly hard to keep her from wanting an American Girl Doll.  I just cannot justify the ridiculous minimum cost of $100 for a doll, let alone the entire ridiculous obsession of the accessories and visiting the store for styling.  I may sound cruel, but it really kind of sickens me.  

Well, my doll-loving girl, was still drawn to the idea.  Fortunately, she at least somewhat shared the sentiment of cost appreciation.  When she saw the Target Christmas catalog last fall, she noticed their lines of dolls that look just like American Girls, but were about 1/3 of the cost.  So, she added one to her Christmas list.  Grandma obliged.  

Here are Sylvie and "Sophie" this morning.  She loves her.

RED Obsessed

I recently realized my favorite color is apparently red.  I looked around me and realized that I gravitate towards having red accents in my life.  In the house, I have my bright red shelves in the den, the kitchen is red (since 2003), and our bedroom has red.  My purse and hat and gloves are red.  My phone and iPad cases are red.  I tend to scrapbook with red paper and accents.  

When I came to this realization, I don't know how it wasn't more obvious to me.  Our wedding color was red.  I wore red for my junior prom and my senior recital.  I have chosen red over the years for important or prominent things in my life.  

I guess it's time to officially declare it: Red is my favorite color.

No Offense, Mom...

Today I got my hair cut.  I hadn't had it cut since last May, so it was very long and in need of some big-time chopping.  I had several inches cut off, as well as bangs cut in.  I knew the kids would notice right away, and they did.  Their different reactions were so funny.

Annah walked in from school talking about something and instantly gaped and said, "Oohhhhh Mommy, I LOVE your haircut!!!" and went on gushing about it.

Sylvia gave me a big hug and told me how nice it looked and sang a little song about how much she loves her mommy.

Caeden contorted his face in recognition of a drastic change, then went on chattering about school.  Later, I asked him to come sit on my lap.  As he wiggled and twisted around and literally kicked me in the face, he said, "No offense Mom, but your hair looks kind of weird."  I don't know how that kid has 3 girlfriends!

I should also say that Jeremy noticed it right away too, and commented that he liked it.  Whew.

Sharing the Moments and Memories

We live over 200 miles from both sets of the kids' grandparents.  That is one of the main reasons I keep this blog, but one set of grandparents doesn't have a computer or Internet.  So, I made a 2011 year-in-review mini album for them to have a little peek at some of the special and everyday moments we had last year.  

I really enjoyed doing this project, and I hope they will enjoy looking through it.  It only took me a few days to put together, because I had kept up with my photo organizing over the year, and I used stories right off the blog to print out.

Although I have done well with blogging and keeping photos organized and printed each month, I have not done much scrapbooking the past couple years--maybe 20 pages each year.  Doing this little project made me think about the ways I keep our photos and stories.  Maybe planning layouts for every special event or photo is not the best way for me, since I take SO MANY photos!

Then, the other day, I saw a post about Project Life pop up on Facebook, and I have been looking into it more seriously than ever.  I am now really intrigued about an easy, already organized kit that can be as simple or creative as I want it to be!  I'm very much thinking I will finally try it out!  Now, I just need to decide if I will start with this year, or go back and complete it with previous years' photos and incorporated the pages into my scrapbook albums...

LEGO Shuttle Launch

All three of the kids were playing with LEGOS in Caeden's room today.  They had built the space shuttle as well as a launch pad and mission control room.  I was able to be there for the shuttle launch and to record the entire successful mission.

Who let the dogs out?

Caeden is pretty good at the kids' new Wii game, Just Dance Kids.

What season is it?

More proof that it's been unseasonably warm for a long time now...My flowers are confused!!  I have a feeling they're going to remember this when Spring really does come, and they're not going to be too happy about it!