Ice Storm

I'm a crazy weather watcher, so I knew this was on the way. And having been through the 2003 ice storm, I knew what to expect. On Monday, the kids and I shopped for food and snacks to last through the week.

Tuesday morning I wasn't expecting to go to work. Fortunately, my driver (aka my boss) was able to fetch me. Who am I kidding? I was a little disappointed since I had planned on lounging in my sweats while finishing Breaking Dawn. But who can argue with money and a little adventure? Our trip home Wednesday night took us over a tree that was on top of a van and power lines.

Luckily we haven't lost power. But as you'll see on this crappy little video, I'm not sure we're totally safe yet. The video doesn't quite capture the eerie feeling of the trees swaying in the wind under the weight of all the creaking ice.

I keep venturing out in my tank top and flip flops (don't worry, Belle yelled at me for not wearing a coat) to marvel at the beauty and destruction. It's absolutely amazing.

How Strange

This dog had somewhere to be and was not the least bit amused by our pointing and laughing.

Happy 2009!

I hope everyone has a super 2009! If you're a resolution maker, good luck with those!

Christmas 2008

It doesn't matter how much we cut back, presents - much like rabbits - tend to multiply when kids are involved. We're at a really, uh, let's call it fun place with the kids and the whole anticipation thing. Even so, Ava managed to fall asleep in record time on Christmas Eve. (Think Belle's huge birthday cake had something to do with that. Mega sugar rush turned into mega sugar low pretty fast.)

We spent the morning at home. In the pm we went south to the in-laws where we ate (a very late) brunch, opened gifts and shot some hoops.

The ultimate bed head. Belle's dino roars and walks. It's not annoying at all.

This is Ava being so excited that she can't contain herself. Guitar wasn't such a hit. The Wedgits were.

Belle encourages Luke to open his gifts by threatening to open them.

Luke demonstrates not sticking out his tongue - his latest obsession.

Wade and Lou (brother-in-law) helped Steve (father-in-law) hang his basketball hoop. Here they are burning off some of those Christmasy calories.

Belle turned 5!

We did the low key birthday thing for Belle's fifth. For her birthday lunch she chose Hananoki - our favorite hibachi place around. (They have killer Fire Scallops. By killer I mean they'll burn off every last taste bud on that tongue of yours.) And at the last minute she decided to go with a Cold Stone cake. It was a good thing she switched gears because I was having a heckuva time winning a Mario cake pan on ebay. The only request she had for her party? A pee-yaw-taw.

Blowing out the candle. See that cake? It weighed 7.5 pounds. Red velvet cake + sweet cream ice cream = way too yummy.

She finally got the princess gown she's always wanted. Thanks Aunt May& Uncle Lou!

The pee-yaw-taw.

Scooting back for 1/10 of a second to show off her take. You may notice that Ava is fiercely protecting her pile.

Holiday Traditions

Every year, my Gran purchased ornaments for each grandkid. She sent mine to me when I grew up and had a family of my own. Looking at all the old ornaments was so much fun that I decided to keep the tradition going with my kiddos.

Every year around this time the kids get to pick an ornament from Target or somewhere. This year we decided to do something a little more meaningful. We went to The Mad Potter where the kids got to choose an ornament and paint it. That was my first Mad Potter experience and it rocked. We will definitely be going back, most likely without an uber tired two year old (talk about a bull in a china shop).


In addition to the special ornaments, we typically make quite a few. This year we're working on lots of felt trees. The idea came from these cute, but ridiculously overpriced garlands.


We also love advent calendars. The kids have been getting the Playmobil advent calendars for the last fiveish years. This year we grabbed the Pirate version, which contains many, many small parts that hopefully don't find their way into Luke's grubby little hands. And now that I think about it, I'm not sure what relevance pirates have to Christmas, but I'm not going to spend much time worrying about it.

I happen to fancy the Starbucks version. Last year I bought all the remaining advent calendars on super clearance and since it wouldn't be good for those yummy chocolates to sit for an entire year, we ate them. In about an hour. This year my advent calendar is full of Dove chocolates.

What traditions do you guys have?

Truancy Intervention

On Friday a letter from Ava's school showed up in our mail box. A bit excited, I ripped the envelope to shreds. Ava has been (or maybe she's done now) taking tests for the gifted program that begins in third grade. This is new territory, so I'm not sure about the process, but delivering the results via letter makes sense.

Unfortunately, the contents had nothing to do with such test results. No, instead it was notice that if my lovely child is late once more I will be going to court. Nice. I know she's been late. I didn't know that she'd been late five times (and except for the time I locked the keys in the running car that was blocking our other vehicle, she's only been 2-3 minutes late) and that six equals legal intervention.

Now, say what you will about it being our responsibility to get her there on time. I get it. However, I wanted her to learn about natural consequences. When you throw yourself madly about the floor and refuse to dress, walk or talk, you have to sign in at the front desk - and here's the kicker - all by yourself. Who knew the natural consequence would be for me (Wade might participate at some point, but for now it's me) to attend truancy intervention meetings once a month at 7:45 am.

Knowing this was a problem prior to receiving the letter, I'd been racking my brain for ways to get her going in the morning. Seven seems a bit early to develop a coffee habit, so I opted for the one thing that consistently gets her attention. Money. She gets fifty cents for going to bed without throwing a fit the size of Texas and fifty cents for being in the car ready to go at or before 7:30. It's working.

After getting over the initial shock, I'm kind of looking forward to hanging with the other delinquent parents.