Snow Day(s)

Baby It's Cold Outside

Dear Weatherman:

Thank you for granting our secret desires to have ice and snow today. School was cancelled as we wished. The kids got bundled up and played outside until their cheeks were rosy red. Eddie and I got a chance to catch up on projects around the house. I was feeling a peace about a clean house, dishes that were caught up, clean bathrooms, and laundry that was in progress. The kids and I made sugar cookies and then we had dinner and took baths. Now the kitchen is back to piles of dishes, the counters are a mess, and there are crumbs all over the floor. Why is life an endless cycle of making messes and cleaning up, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Not only did school get cancelled on Friday, but Bro. Bailey who is in the Bishopric called Friday morning and recommended that we postpone the Pinewood Derby that was scheduled for Saturday morning. This was good news, again we had more time to catch up on our own projects and relax, but I also had more time to get the Pinewood Derby event planned, since I had only known about it for three weeks and really had not started working on it seriously until last week.

Then, we received an email on Saturday night letting us know church was cancelled Sunday morning. YEAH! Can I just say I love snow days here in the south were the city shuts down when we get 2" of snow.

During our free Sunday the kids played, messed up the house, make necklaces, played, messed up the house, worked on 100th day of school projects, played, messed up the house, worked on Valentines.
Sincerely,

Citizenship Award

Brian brought home an invitation to attend an awards ceremony at school. He would be receiving a citizenship award. Then, with the impending storm coming they sent home a note saying the ceremony would be rescheduled to Thursday instead of Friday. I didn't look at it closely but assumed they meant next Thursday. Eddie took Brian to school today, and they walked into the auditorium a few minutes late and the awards ceremony had already started. Just as Brian took his seat they called his name to come up and received his award. I had planned on being there, but I am glad that they made it and that Eddie was still there when he was presented his certificate.

Babies and Blessings

The phone rang shortly after midnight today. It was one of the husbands who was in my last Bradley class. His wife had been in labor all day and he was wanting some advice. I could hear her in the background, and judging by the details he had provided along with the sounds she was making, I told him that it probably wouldn't hurt to head up to the hospital and see what progress she had made. It took me awhile to get back to sleep, I had to fight off the urge to go to the hospital and help.

I checked on them after I got Brian off to school and they had a long night with virtually no progress. I had to take Emily to school, and take care of some things at the office before I could commit myself to anything else. I was glad at this point that I had not spent all night at the hospital. I had never even planned to go to this birth, and I wasn't being paid. But, I am drawn to birth and I can't help myself.

About 10:30am, I called and checked with them, and they would like me to come. I spent a couple of hours with them before lunch and she made great progress and was now 8cm. I met Eddie for lunch, fed Danielle, picked up lunch for the waiting dad, and returned to the hospital about 2:00pm. The next 1 1/2 hours seemed to drag on and on and on. I didn't see any end in sight, and was beginning to second guess my decision to be there. Long story short...she started crowning on the potty, and the baby was caught by a nurse right outside the bathroom door. HA HA HA, the doctor had just been in their room. It was 3:45pm and she was ready to wrap up her day, and wanted to get things moving. The mom wouldn't cooperate and the Dr. got mad and left. Baby was born at 4:04pm. Serves her right for being a jerk.

The evening was busy too. Eddie rushed home with all the kids after work. I had dinner waiting, and he grabbed it and flew out the door to cub scouts. I fed the kids, and got them ready for bed, and then we had to go back to the office, because Eddie forgot a paper that needed to be signed so we could be added to the account at the scout office. While I was there I also looked for Eddie's cell phone. I had talked to him at the office before he left, but when I called him on the way home he didn't answer. When he got home he didn't have it. So it had to be in the car or in the office. I called it a few times in the office, while sitting in the car and out in the parking lot. No luck. We started to head to the church to get the paper signed, when the phone rang, it was Eddie's cell phone, but a lady was on the other end. She asked if I was looking for the phone. Yes, I was. They had it at the Kroger fuel center on Colonel Glenn. I was in shock! Eddie had stopped to fill up the car with gas on the way home and he must have dropped it. But somebody had actually turned in a brand new iPhone?? I told Eddie later when I returned his phone that he must be living right, because that was unbelievable. I know that our Heavenly Father does bless us when we make good choices in our lives.

A Natural

On Saturday, Eddie announced to the big kids, "get your shoes and jackets were are heading out..." Danielle comes to the front door with her jacket and her blanket, so cute. How do we get the others to be so obedient?

Emily had her second gymnastics class today. They worked on skills so they could get stickers on their progress chart. Coach Nick came out after class and told me she was a natural. She is very strong and has no fear!

I asked if he remembered her brother from camp this past summer. He said, "yes, Brian. We agreed that they may look alike, but the similarities stop there.

In other news, I registered my second baby for Pre-K4 today. Where does the time go? We are hoping that she gets into Fair Park, in Mrs. Kriz class where Brian went.

Fun Stuff

Yesterday was MLK day. Brian was out of school on Friday and Monday. We were able to do some fun things.

Emily started her new gymnastics class at River City Gymnastics. She is in tiny tumblers II. She was a little uneasy about it at first, and I think she missed her friends from her Little Gym class. But once we got out of the car, all was fine. She did great, and had fun. I was a little uneasy about taking Brian and Danielle to sit for an hour while Emily was in class, but they both did fine too.

After class we met daddy for lunch I drove through the line at Chick Fil A, and then when daddy got there I went inside to the neighboring Panera Bread. I love having these two things close together now. It is easier to please everyone.




After lunch we decided on the zoo. We didn't have anyone to go with us, but we had fun all on our own. It was a pleasant day, not to chilly. They are continuing to upgrade the zoo, and it will be nice when it is all complete, but there were some roadblocks on our usual route. We timed it so we could pet the elephants, we also saw the giraffes, and learned that the grizzly bears hibernate in the winter even in Little Rock. Our usual last stop is to feed goldfish to the fish and the cute monkey.




The exit is stragetically planned so you must walk through the gift shop. This is always exciting with three kids in tow. Today I must have had a moment of weakness, because I let them look. That was my first mistake. Brian had picked out a toy at the dollar store, but Emily had not found anything. There is not anything at the Zoo gift shop that is a dollar. She found a pink, sparkly polar bear that she really wanted, it was $6.00. NOPE! Then as we are walking out to the car, she lays on the guilt trip, really thick! But I didn't pick anything out at the dollar store, and then...remember that time when you won a ball for Brian and I didn't get anything. I almost turned around and bought it, but then I rememebered I had three kids with me. Maybe Cupid will bring it for Valentines.

Now that Eddie is the Webelos leader and I am the cubmaster, we are responsible for the Pinewood Derby at the end of the month. Eddie decided to help Brian build a car too. Normally boys start in Cub Scouts when they are 6, but in the LDS culture they don't start until they are eight. Brian picked out a design, and today daddy is helping him cut it out, sand it, and paint.

Library, Martial Arts & Horse Racing

I really wanted to go to Oaklawn today to watch the horses race...

Eddie had already made plans to take Brian to a martial arts class. We had talked about enrolling Brian for awhile, but Eddie did not want a traditional karate or taekwondo class. He had recently discovered this class near our office. It was perfect, until he received his new calling as the webelos leader which meets on Wednesday evenings as well. They also have a Saturday class, which is hard because we have so much to do on Saturdays, and sometimes unavoidable conflicts.

Brian and Eddie went to check out this class, and I decided that I would take the girls to the downtown library storytime, since we would be down there anyway picking up our raw milk at the Little Rock Food Club.

After class and the library we met back at the house. I pitched my horse racing plan. Although we had so much to do around the house and the office, all work and no play sure wasn't any fun. Plus they were having .50 corn beef sandwiches and .10 drinks, we couldn't pass it up!

We headed down to Hot Springs for the 1:00pm post time. It had started raining, but we did have umbrellas. Once we made it inside and found a place to sit, the third race was about to start. We took the kids out to the edge of the track so they could see the horses up close. Eddie got some drinks, and then I went to stand in line forever for corn beef sandwiches. Of course I picked the slowest line too! We finished up with some ice cream for everyone.

By now I was interested in the horse race, and started to look at the racing guide. They had .50 trifectas. I read the names of the horses to the kids, and let them pick their favorites. Then I put together a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place horse for each person in the family. We placed our bets, and waited for the race to begin. When it ended we were so close...but it wasn't meant to be.

But now I was excited, just one more time, this was the last race. I used the same strategy, placed our bets, and waited for the race. This time, the numbers Eddie had picked won!! But there was a challenge on the field. After waiting and waiting and waiting, they made the results official. One of the horses had bumped another and it changed the standing. It was to good to be true. Eddie claims that he is not lucky, and never wins.

It was a fun family day. We ignored all of the do to list, and made time for us.

Allowance

Yesterday during FHE we rolled out the chore chart. The best part? It was not "our" idea. Yep,the kids wanted to earn allowance, after watching an episode of Arthur.

Day 1--Started off with a hitch (read sarcasm here)

Brian wouldn't get dressed, then his oats got cold, then he had a meltdown! To make up for not being able to get stickers in the getting dressed, no whining, and being respectful categories, he decided to brush he teeth as we were walking out the door.

I hope day two goes better.

The Big Show

Today was Emily's last day of her Jazzy Bugs class at The Little Gym. They ended the semester with a show for the parents. It was very cute. They showed off their gymnastics skills on the uneven bars and the balance beam. Then they did their ballet and tap performances. Emily is very strong and I think she will be a great gymnast. She had a hard time with the tap dance part. She complained about her shoes hurting every other week, (on the other weeks, she would tell me she couldn't dance because her heel slipped out.) She loved the idea of being a ballerina and loved to watch herself twirl in the full lenght mirrors in the dance room. Regardless, I think both the gymnastics and the dance helped to improve her coordination. She had a great time and really enjoyed classes. Any free time they had during their class you could find Emily doing this.

They always started class with a cute song, introductions and a trick. Emily is showing off her forward roll.

The uneven bars were Emily's favorite part of class, she is doing her tummy roll.

She did a great job on the balance beam too.

This was the ballet dance, Emily here with her friends, Madison, Rose and Bella

I love this picture, it perfectly captures what Emily loved about being a ballerina

We didn't get any good pictures during the tap dance, she just stood there, then she got mad and then wouldn't even smile after it was over and she received her award.

So I will finish with these cute before pictures of my beautiful ballerina

I think we will try a gymnastics class at River City Gymnastics and see if this is where her interests as well her talents lie.

Project Update

Did I mention that we are still working on the new wood floor that we started the beginning of November? Before we left for Colorado we had finished all the way to the laundry room door. We decided late in the project that we would also put wood down the hallway. Before Christmas we had pulled up the carpet, ripped out the baseboards, and cut the door jams up in preparation for putting down the wood. We still had to paint walls and glue down wood. We finished that part this weekend. So here's what is left.

• Repaint/Buy new base (some got broken when it was taken off.)
• Caulk
• Grout transitions between wood and tile
• Tack down carpet transitions
• Get the glue off of the wood

I just hope we can finish before my mom comes, at the end of March!

Check Back Soon

I have lots of cute posts and pictures from December, but due to lack of internet service and computer troubles, they have not materialized yet.

SNOW (Ha Ha) Day

I guess the Little Rock School District really wanted an extra day of holiday vacation. I was awakened at 6:00am this morning by my phone ringing. An automated call was alerting me to the school closing. We knew there was a possibility of weather, but there had just been a small flurry before we went to bed. I figured we were in for a snowy day. I got out of bed to survey the situation. I looked out the window...this must be some kind of error, the roads were dry, there was no snow, there was no ice. It wasn't even picture worthy. So just an extra day off for the kids, mom on the other hand still had to work at the office. Which meant that all the kids got to go to the office with me.

Brian made a fort with the floor mats.

Home Sweet Home

It was a long drive home. Once again we had to contend with weather. We spent about 5 hours driving on snowy roads and it slowed us down. We stopped in Oklahoma City, and rested for the night. The room was dark and quiet, and there were blackout curtains on the windows. I guess we were tired, because when we woke up it was 9:00am! We hit the road after a quick breakfast. We arrived in Little Rock about 2pm.

It is nice to be home, to be in our own king size bed with our own pillows. If only I didn't have to unpack the suitcases, put everything away, find homes for all of our new things, and put away the meager Christmas decorations. Any volunteers?

Date Night-- Downtown Denver

After breakfast we made a loaf of wheat bread, which is one of my New Year’s Resolutions. I want to make our own bread this year. It turned our really good and the kids liked it too!

Then we had to make a run to the mall, Eddie and Grammie needed a few things at Sears. We also had lunch, rode the Santa Train and I won a bouncing ball from the “grabber machine”, which was pure luck.

I had a terrible time deciding on where we should go to dinner for our special night out. My mom was going to watch all of the kids, I think this is the first time we have left Danielle, so we could have dinner by ourselves. I really wanted to go downtown. I have been enchanted by downtown Denver for years. I wanted a good steak place, and really it didn’t matter how much we spent. We don’t go out that often, so a splurge once in awhile is OK. But I didn’t want to spend a ton of money and not get a great meal. I finally decided on Sullivan’s and made an early reservation, so we would be home before Danielle got fussy. We had an excellent dinner, there was no one out. We practically had the restaurant to ourselves, the waiter was very attentive, and we were able find a place to park, and the roads were not crowded. We decided on Baskin Robbins Ice Cream on the way home. It was the perfect evening.

Once In A Blue Moon

You have heard the phrase “once in a blue moon?” But do you know what that means? Honestly, I hadn’t until tonight! However, I learned from Wikipedia that a blue moon, (which really is not blue) is a full moon that is not timed to a regular monthly pattern. Approximately every two and a half years there is an extra full full moon during a month, and that extra moon is called a blue moon. This year the blue moon occurred on New Years Eve, and was also accompanied by a partial lunar eclipse. The next time that this will happen is in the year 2028.

We had planned to go to dinner tonight, but didn’t decide on a place early enough to get a reservation, so we figured that tomorrow night will be less crowded and more enjoyable.

We spent the morning over at Stephanie’s house. The kids played great and Stephanie and I were able chat, and catch up. Later on my mom and I strolled kid less around Costco, since there is not one in Little Rock.

P.S. This post was supposed to have been made on 12/31/09, but due to the lack of internet access, I was using my iphone and apparently it did not save this post.