SNOW LONG to winter

We got our fair share of snow and cold this year. In March we had record days of consecutive 10+ inches of snow on the ground. This is a hint at what it looks like.Then, we didn't have any new snow in March (unheard of in these parts), so the snow melted. Then last week we hit almost 80 degrees, and what a difference it makes.

(compare - this is the same tree, and the same branch, and the same child - about 3 weeks apart)

this moment

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Wishing you a lovely week!

(Thanks for the idea Micah)

Crazy Clothes

This is what they wore to school yesterday,
and I did not protest. Brett did a little, but Claire told him that stripes do go with stripes, and this was not a battle I wanted to have.

Saturday (a picture story)

Saturday was the boys' first dance competition of the season. We went up to the

for the
dance competition.

We got to this building
where the dance competition was to be held about four hours before they were supposed to perform (we were supposed to be there at least two hours early in case they were ahead of schedule). This gave the boys some time to be with their team before they had to perform.

The girls, however, got a little stir crazy, so Brett and I took them outside... We did this,

and we saw this shoe tree
as we walked across this bridge that separated the east bank and the west bank of campus.
While we were walking, we looked out and saw these.

Of course, we had to get a couple of these

This was our destination. It was a museum.When we got inside, we pondered perspective,
admired the abstract,
perplexed over the "people,"
sat by statues,

created our own displays (notice the rain boots),
listened to Luke, Matthew, Mark, and John,and had a great time being together.

When we had enough of the museum, we went back and watched Caleb and Eli dance. Here are pictures of Caleb, and here are pictures of Eli. (The pictures are in reverse order.)

Eli and his partner danced to "Let's Hear it for the Boys." This is their first duet together.This is Eli, his partner, and their choreographer.
They got a gold, third in their age category, and they got the cutest couple. They have a lot of fun together.

Caleb and his partner are in their third year of dancing together. This is one of their new lifts. They really like this one.
They danced to a couple of songs from "Dirty Dancing," and call it "A Tribute to Patrick."

They got a high gold and second in their age category.

After the dances, the awards, and getting all of the boys' stuff together to leave, I came back to the auditorium and found this,

I guess they wanted a little stage time, too.

Here are the boys with a couple of their awards, they shared the other ones with their partners.
On the way home (about 9:00 p.m.) we stopped for dinner.

Claire complained that her tummy hurt, so we thought since she really hadn't eaten anything that she needed to eat, that wasn't helping. We sent her to the bathroom; that didn't help. We decided that on the way home, she would have her friend, the garbage can sit by her, and it was a good thing she did. About ten minutes away from home (a total of a two hour trip), she threw up.

When we got home, we put her in the bath to clean her up, and she got very comfortable,
After we got her dried, dressed in pajamas, hair partially dried and pulled up (in case she threw up again - it wouldn't be in her face), and settled on the couch we went to bed.

THE END!

Ode to a Small Town

I started substituting for the public school a couple of weeks ago. I am limited to where I can sub because Claire gets home about 50 minutes before the others, so I need to be here for her.

Last week, in passing, I asked Claire's bus driver if he knew the policy, and if Claire might be able to get on her bus at the kindergarten center, then ride it to the elementary school and wait until Eli & Emily were done and ride home with them (same bus and same driver). I figured that would work, and I would be able to substitute at the elementary schools.

He told me he didn't know, and I would have to call the people in charge of the busses. I didn't worry too much about it, and then today, I got a call from her bus driver. He had checked into it for me and told me that she could ride the bus to the elementary if I needed her to, and we would just have to have a good source of communication about when and if it would happen.

I LOVE SMALL TOWNS!

Christmas Day 2009

Santa was good to us this year. Here is what he brought...

The children all slept downstairs while we had visitors here (Brett's parents and grandmother), so we locked them down until we were ready to get them Christmas morning.

Here they are excited to see what Santa brought them.

Here is Brett rocking out on his new guitar - we still need to get him some lessons.

My father-in-law surprised my mother-in-law with a ring. She normally buys her own present and wraps it for herself. She puts it under the tree with his name on it. This Christmas, she got her own present, however...

It was a beautiful, snowy day. We had big, wet flakes of snow fall.

Lists

For Christmas the children wrote wish lists. Here are their lists for Christmas of 2009!

Claire's list

Caleb's list

Eli's list

Emily's list

I wanted to keep it so I could remember how they wrote and spelled.

A Big Splash

Caleb decided to participate in the swim team again this year. He is still "testing the waters" for which events he wants to really focus on. It is fun to go and watch, and I am amazed at how little he is. This is the High School Swim team. The junior high students are allowed to participate. Most of them swim junior varsity, and some even swim a varsity event now and then and letter (in 7th or 8th grade). It is very exciting!

Where's Caleb? If you divide this picture in thirds (vertically) he would be on the line dividing the first third from the second third. All you can see of him is the top of his head and the back of his swim parka. He is directly in front of the tall, dark-haired boy with his had on his back.

He has really enjoyed this year, and plans to continue. He has learned a lot and enjoys being in the water.

Caleb diving in for the 200 medley relay (he swims the butterfly).

(just a fun picture of Caleb diving in)

Being on the swim team has been very rewarding. Caleb has made some good friends, some stronger muscles, and fabulous memories.

Here Caleb is cheering on his friend who is swimming the 500. That is 20 lengths of the pool.

Caleb is swimming the 200 freestyle relay here.

He has attempted the 200 Individual Medley (50 butterfly, 50 back stroke, 50 breast stroke, 50 freestyle). He will probably do the 100 butterfly and the 200 IM next year. We'll see what else happens.

Here he is swimming the butterfly in the 200 medley relay (four different boys, four different strokes).

Team Eli

Forget Team Jacob or Team Edward, I am all for Team Eli, and this is why...

(this is a totally unrelated picture, but it is Eli all the same)

Once upon a time, there was a bus load of children being transported home after a long day of school. Eli, a highly excitable young boy, decided to lightly bite his friend Josh. The mentioned bite was all in fun, and did not hurt Josh physically, but there was a deep emotional injury that would arise. For Eli said that he was a vampire, and because of the bite, Josh would be turning into a vampire very soon.

That afternoon, Eli's family was not at home, due to various activities. When they arrived home, there were at least five messages from Josh. In each message, Josh was pleading with Eli to return his calls.

The next day, after school, the phone started ringing again. Josh wanted to talk to Eli, and they were allowed to talk. Of course, Eli's mother knew nothing of the "vampire bite," and Eli was not in close proximity to his mother while talking on the phone with Josh.

A couple of days went by with frequent phone calls from Josh, and Eli walking around with a mischievous grin. Sometime during this process, Eli's mother found out what was going on. Eli confessed to biting his friend and told of the story about his friend turning into a vampire. Eli also confessed that his friend was really concerned that he was turning into a vampire. The reason Josh was calling so often was to find out some of the symptoms of the vampire transformation. Josh would ask Eli if headaches, cramps, feeling a little sick, a sore throat, and various other winter-time ailments were symptoms of the change. Eli of course played along and told him they were all part of changing.

After several days of this charade, Eli's mother answered the telephone when Josh called. She spilled the beans. She told Josh that her son, Eli, was not a vampire and that he had been teasing Josh. She also told Josh that he had no need to worry, he was not turning into a vampire. Then she handed the phone to Eli and made him apologize, which he gladly did. Eli told Josh sorry about ten times and reassured him that he would not be turning into a vampire.

However, as Eli was getting ready to hang up, his mother heard him say, "I am not a vampire, I really am a werwolf." His mother glared at him with the look of death, and Eli quickly told his friend Josh that he was just kidding.