Proud Moment

I know that my husband did want this posted, but there are no pictures. But Drew managed to have his first need for the plunger last night. I must record all important moments to remind him when he gets married!

Dirt Cake

Scoggins - we haven't forgot you or your dirt cake. Dirt cake was good and only lasted one day.

Ally wants to know if Trip has learned about boyfriends because she is about ready to move on, but we want her to stick with a "good" boy!

Snow - Enough

I know that my blogging has been sparse lately, but my head hurts, school is crazy, there is tooooo much snow and it is cold!

We have only had 6 FULL days of school this month - 5 no school days, and a couple late starts or early releases. You can imagine what the indians are like in the classroom! We haven't been in school this week due to another 8 inches on top of the 10-12 that we had (and didn't melt yet). There is snow everywhere. Piles and piles and you can't even see around the corners. The stupid weatherman is predicting more snow, but hopefully this will be light. He did say we were in for another batch early next week with some ice to start it off again. There is already 2 inches on ice on the road. My van doesn't stop or start the way it is.

Soapbox: Supposedly the county, city, state whoever is "out" of snow removal money. This seems to happen every winter about the begining of February. HUMMMMM I see a pattern - put more money in your budget. So their solution - only work during the day and take over 2 days to get to some of the roads. Which doesn't allow us to have school since the big yellow bus can't get down the gravel roads. I think they have only been through our subdivision 3 times since Sunday. ARGHHHHHH

Valentine's day was filled with antipication of you guessed it - more snow - not much though. We enjoyed our heart shaped pizza, jello and brownies. The junior high kids at church set up a FREE babysitting night on Friday which we took full advantage of. Ally and Drew loved it too. (This was our Valentine's picture at supper but I missed the heart when setting up the camera.)


Conferences tomorrow night, wedding coming up, stuff to buy and stuff to get done - pray that we will keep God in the center through the business of our life!

My Princess (and the Muskateer)

It has been a crazy weekend with just business and not much news. We did take the kids to the Veggie Tales movie this weekend. It was pretty scary. Our kids watch several Disney movies with "bad men" in it. They usually just have to close their eyes for a second, but this seemed to be a little too much for them. Drew kept telling us afterwards that it had scary rock men.

Rachel's wedding is coming up fast. I pulled out Ally's dress to check for any alterations that might need to be done. I actually had to have her breathe in to zip it - ribs in just one spot!

Drew is insane and wakes and sleeps "muskateer." This boy has quite the imagination. I picked up a Mickey Mouse - Three Muskateer video last week. Now we have "sword" fights with the bats. We save princesses (or stuffed cows).

Ally has been dancing and loves to dance with her Daddy.

I Want to Cry

Today was looking to be a great day - 2 hour late start! That typically means that we can take our time getting ready. I like to get to school a little bit early so I can get some stuff done. Well that didn't happen.

I got the kids ready. We even got a good breakfast! The van was pack full of backpacks, snowpants, boots, extra shoes for me, my bag, lunches, purses, cell phone, etc. I got in to start and pull out - no such luck. Click, click, click... Jason had just called and was close, so I tried him but he couldn't get to me for half an hour then I notice the low tire as I am walking to the neighbors to hope that Ryan was still home. Nope, I try Jeff, nope. Then Stu answers and comes over immediately, but it still won't start.

I guess I am trying to dig out the truck in my skirt from underneathe the 13 inches of snow on top of it with a good layer of ice. Ryan comes back home and backs it out for me since it was buried in - who thought when we bought it we would have really needed the 4-wheel drive???? We got it out and Jason was finally home. Then he noticed the that window wasn't quite up and he couldn't get it to stay up - what?!?!?!

SO in the end we decided to put the kids in his car and he would take us to school. Carseats out of the trunk, buckled in, kids in, truck unloaded and my stuff moved for the thrid time. Getting into the car, my cell phone rings and tears come to my eyes - Graf.

You got to be kidding - stay home the secondary roads are too bad - school is canceled. Kids out and stuff unloaded (for the 4th time) to the house to stay. Jason is off to work.

Results are In!

If I were to guess about how much we got, I would say about 12+. The picture below is Jason blowing it out the 3rd time. The snow plow had just come by giving us a 3 foot drift in front of our driveway. We got another 5 inches after he did this. It stopped snowing about 3:00. I think the snow blower was our wisest purchase this year!


The kids headed out with the neighbor kids while their mom and I talked - watching her husband clear snow out. Drew wasn't being very cooperative in getting his picture taken. He was more interested in putting the snow where I didn't want it.

And to top the day off - I just got a call for a late start tomorrow. The county pulled their snowplows at 4:00 and won't be out until 4:00 a.m. We are expected to get some good winds tonight to blow it all back in the roads. Our snowplow hasn't been back since 8:00 this morning.

Snow Day Activities

Aunt Jane would be very pleased! During snow day #1, Ally was messing around on the piano when I decided to get the lesson books. We talked about how to sit at the piano and how to hold a bubble in our hand. We talked about space and line notes, high and low keys, black and white keys.

We learned where F and G were on the piano and on the staff. She worked on her first song - not a real exciting one, but she can do it by herself. You can hear her throughout the day go over and play her song.

I wish I knew how to teach my own daughter effectively - any tips? I will be so much cheaper than finding another teacher!

Start the Snowblower Up!

When the weather guy says that you will see about 10 inches of snow, but somewhere close to us could get up to 20 inches - you know it's gonna be fun! I hate all these 2-3 inch snows! I finally got the big one that puts us at home except for the crazies that have to go to work!

Jason blew the driveway last night with less than 2 inches on it. The big snow was comeing after midnight and produced a little less than an inch an hour. He worked on the driveway about 5:30 and by the time he got in there was another 1/2 inch on it. He just left for a meeting at the hospital and there was a solid 2 more on it. Will the trash guys come today?

We are suppose to get it steady until this afternoon which then I will pull out the ruler and see our totals! I haven't seen a snow like this since my senior year of high school or maybe I just don't remember it since Iowa State wouldn't have canceled classes for it!

Super Bowl with an Added Bonus

You would think that winter was never going to end around here. We can't seem to get a BIG snow, but these 2-3 inches pop up about every other day it seems. Another storm surprised us on Saturday morning. The kids were thrilled since it was perfect to play outside in with Ethan. The fun stopped ebruptly when Drew got a snowball in the face.

It was fun to see my cousin Matt and girlyfriend Ashley. Ashley was a hit with Ally since she pretended to be princess Jasmine with her. She let Ally put make-up on her and paint with her new glitter pens. On Sunday Ally wished that she could call Ashley and tell her that she could come over anytime and play with her - let Ashley know Lou!

Sunday night we got a really big surprise snow storm. In some places they got 12 inches of snow in about 4 hours - we only got about 4. It was insane but didn't stop our Super Bowl fun! We got a babysitter and her awesome Dad dropped her off so that I didn't have to trek out in the crazy snow. We made it to our friends house and enjoyed a good game and good food! I could have cared less about it but wanted Manning to win. I was just excited to not have to worry about my kids running around destroying things!

Just as I walked in the door, I got a call about a 2 hour late start! YES. About 7 this morning they called it off all together. I know that many of you have to still go to work when it is snowing, but this is one of the few perks of being a teacher. About mid-morning our neighbor Val called and asked if the kids could come over and play. I have gotten so much done - taxes, check book, picked up, laundry. The kids had fun and were angels not even bothering Val!

Now it is nap time and I hear were are one for some more snow on Tuesday night with chances (only chances) for significant accumulation! At this point in February we will not have a complete week of school - conferences and professional development on several days!

Early Training

On Saturday morning Ally decided to help me out and asked - yes asked - to wash the dishes. I am not crazy and decided I would take the help even though there was more water on the counter and floor than in the sink. She is very proud of her accomplishments! I hope we can continue this streak until she is 18 but I don't have high expectations for it!

What Do You Do?

My fun blizzard turned into a slight nightmare - kind of. During the afternoon I heard many bumps and thumps, but throught nothing of it since it was like the Wizard of Oz outside. But on our way back in the garage, Jason pointed out several shingles in the front yard. He hoped they weren't ours. We couldn't tell from our front yard so he headed over a street to use the binoculars to check it out. He didn't think it was too bad, but really what are you going to do. There was no way that I was letting him get on our roof especially since it would have been three stories to the ground!

As the night progressed the winds got stronger and by the time Ally had to go to bed it was at its worst. It sounded like someone was snapping a huge rug on top of her room. She slept in our room for awhile. We wanted to put her in the guest bedroom (aka Grandma Rhonda's room) but there was a terrible hissing/buzzing noise outside that window. At one point it looked like everyone was going to snuggle up in our bed - sure would have kept it warmer! The winds proved to be very powerful and finally died down about 3 a.m. Still didn't get much snow just more cold air!

We woke up to MANY shingles on the ground. Jason got up there in the afternoon when he got home from work. After hammering away for a couple hours, we think we have it fixed. Jason is quite sore from the experience though.

A Great Day

I feel like a little kid! The weather forcast is for a blizzard.

From my friends at Wikipedia...
A blizzard is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow. Blizzards are formed when a high pressure system, also known as a ridge, interacts with a low pressure system; this results in the advection of air from the high pressure zone into the low pressure area. The term blizzard is sometimes misused by news media to describe a large winter storm that does not actually satisfy official blizzard criteria.

According to Environment Canada, a winter storm must have winds of 40 km/h (25 mph) or more, have snow or blowing snow, visibility less than 1 km (about 5⁄8 mile), a wind chill of less than −25 °C (−13 °F), and that all of these conditions must last for 4 hours or more before the storm can be properly called a blizzard.

Most adults look at this and go - ahhh slow going on the way home from work, but me NOPE!!! It means school (or work to me!) has some changes hopefully! In Iowa if you make it to school it counts! We found out about 9:00 that we were getting out THREE hours early. This means business if it earlier than our 1:15 early out time! We moved lunch times around - the elementary ate at 10 and I was out the door by 12:25 and home in our nice warm cozy house by 1. The only problem - I have to run Ally to the dr for her stinkin' green snot and low grade fever later.

They have closed some of the interstates already - it is heading our way! The wind is crazy. I got out to get the mail and had a hard time getting my door back open. And think I saw several girls with flip flops on and boys with no coats! Maybe we can get a late start too! I just still want to get there. I hate making the days up!

Now can I get something done while I am here or do I lay on the couch like I want to?

For a Future Wedding Video

Drew had his pjs off one day and found his Puss -n- Boots costume before we could get out of bed. Pretty sure this will make a video or picture board someday!

Henry

When asked about having a new baby SOMEDAY - he says no. He did enjoy holding Henry our newest addition to our small group.

Only Ones

I think that we are the only ones in the neighborhood to shovel our backyard. You might think we are crazy, but this is a ingenious concoction created by my dad, Jason and I to make our lives much easier! On Friday we had about 100 pieces of dry wall delivered - good thing Ally and I were home to accept the delivery! She was "sick", but only threw-up once!

In STL when we finished the basement, we paid the guys to carry it to the basement. They huffed and puffed for over an house carrying it down. I felt so sorry for them, but could only offer my condolences and some Mountain Dew - I was prego with Drew. This time we couldn't get them to carry it down so we were stuck with it in the garage. Now don't forget it is quite chilly outside and vehicles don't like to start and are very cold when they sit outside!

We shoveled a path to the backyard, pulled off a fence section, shoveled a path tot he patio door and tada! Dad brought over his truck so the drywall would lay flat and we bribed a couple good friends to come over on a Friday night to help. I know that Jesse didn't know what he was getting into! We originally thought that they would have to carry it from the fence to the door, but the truck BARELY fit through the fence!

Drew was a great help and stayed up late while Ally was asleep by 7:30 - she really wasn't feeling good!

Thank you good friends and dad!

Start with a Bang

Today started with a big bang - or to be more exact a hiss. Jason had hopefully his final sleep study last night - we don't know the results, but the tech told him he had very little snoring on his back only but heavy breathing. He didn't qualify for the breathing machine test which is good.

He was coming home and usually calls me in the mornings if he isn't home - my wake up call so I can't sleep in! I was in the shower so obviously didn't get out. He didn't show up for awhile so I gave him a call and didn't answer. I just thought - oh he is in the subdivision and will be home in a second. Nope he called a couple minutes later to tell me he had a flat tire.

I usually would freak out here since it was 10 minutes til I need to leave and I had a sub for the day so I could go to a conference, but I had my plans done so I had more time to grade in the morning - not gonna happen. I hurried to get the kids ready to run him a tool since the nuts were striped. I contemplated leaving them snuggled in their beds since I was only going 2 miles, but thought that this would be the day that they would wake up on their own.

We are fairly used to flat tires, but today was COLD. My car registered a -24 plus some windchill to put us about at -40. Changing a flat in this was going to be rough in the cold. He finally decided that he couldn't get it and he would tow it - company car so doesn't cost us a penny just time!

I am thankful for company cars, warm vans and tow trucks!

My Big Day

I am now one less than 8 times my daughters age - which puts me at old. I had one girl tell me that you are a year younger than my mom - YIKES!!!

It was a good day for all of you that played apart. The first present actually came last Friday afternoon about 3 bells - a call from the attorney's office that said the court date had been postponed - not cancel though. So to my 5th hours delight I was there - which was what they wanted!

I got up and Jason made me some pancakes and we got a LATE start which is pleasant any day, but made is extra great. The roads weren't too bad either. At school my "birthday buddy" Marla made cookies for the lounge and gave me a basket of goodies. She was so thoughtful and brought a smile to my face - unexpected surprises are the best.

I made cookies for my students which brought smiles to their faces, but not quiet mouths - snow never does. My 5th hour class is my birthday class. They each bring treats for their birthday. They sang to me and made some beautiful cards. Whoever said that 8th graders are crazy - I disagree - I love them very much.

I got a special call from my dear friend Ann and a message from Amy that brought smiles to my face. Family is suppose to remember and they all did but friends that take the extra time out of their day are blessings!

Supper - a mexican theme but ribs and a cake (that I didn't get to blow out the candles - Thanks Aunt Rachel (and Drew and Ally) made by my mom was delicious.

The only disappointment was that my kids on Friday had voted for Jason to decorate me a Little Mermaid cake. He let my mom do it since he ran out of time. They were upset and think that he still should try it - maybe for Valentines day!

Only 364 days til my next big day!

The Artic

It is bitter cold here! We typically don't have extra blankets on our bed, but the last couple nights have required more. We woke up to NEGATIVE 11 degrees and a cold bathroom floor. We dressed in layers for church and asked the kids to get their shoes on. What does Drew come in with - not his snow boots which he wore all day yesterday and to bed? Instead my creative little guy found his sandles in his closet and continued to argue with us to let him wear them.

I tried - you'll get snow in your socks. Didn't work - You can carry me, Mom.

I tried - your feet will get cold. Didn't work - I will take them in the van and put them on at church.

Finally I decided that reasoning with him wouldn't work, so we pried them off his feet and put his tennis shoes on. I wish some of my 8th graders' parents would stop them from wearing flip flops to school in this weather!

Subpoenaed

Yesterday I got a lovely surprised towards the end of the day. I got called out of class (which RARELY happens) to the office. I was met at the door by a county sheriff. I was a little flustered at first, but he handed me a pink paper and I quickly noticed, "Subpoenaed" and the date - January 22 - ARGGGGHHHH. At first I was confused on why, but noticed the last name of a kid that I had for a couple months - custody case.

So I get to go to court on my birthday. I hope it doesn't last too long and that it is only one afternoon. I don't have much to say since I didn't have the student long and have met one parent for 30 minutes. Should be interesting!

Looking back - I should have been freaked out that the officer had other news for me. Praise the Lord he didn't!

It is freezing here in the promise land and the outlook for warmer weather doesn't look good. Bummed out that the snow predictions didn't come up to what we wanted for a no school day, but oh well - earlier summer break - positive outlook!

Puss-in-Boots

Maybe our kids have watched too much tv lately or maybe they have great imaginations! I try to switch the movie in the van about once a week - I get tired of them quickly! They have been watching and playing Shrek for a couple weeks now as you know by the post a couple days ago.

Tonight my little imagination boy walked into supper with his black snow boots on and his cowboy had and a tool belt on with a "swor" (or saw) drawn. He is Puss In Boots from Shrek 2 and 3. He is crazy! This is Puss.

I think he resembles Puss pretty good! What do you think?

I wonder what his teacher think of us at home?