Eyes

Caleb has had glasses for a couple of weeks, and he has wanted me to take a picture and put

it on my blog. So, here he is. He had told us for a couple of months that he was having a hard time seeing the board during class, and that he had to come to the front of the room. We finally broke down and took him to the eye doctor. His eyes are just at the point when they start to put children in glasses. He really likes them, and he takes really good care of them.

Winter in Minnesota

It's winter in Minnesota

And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At forty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Minnesota

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

(Thanks papa for the poem)

Beautiful Birthday

The Saturday before my birthday, Brett and I went to the church early. He went to play basketball, and I went to do some visiting teaching work on the church computer. When we got home, Caleb had orchestrated some breakfast for me. Juice and muffins. Yummy!

This is what we came home to. It was very thoughtful of them.

Then on Sunday, we were invited to a friend's house for a Superbowl party and a joint birthday party. Noah's birthday is the same day as mine, just 10 years later. We bought my pie, and Ashley made Noah's cake. She insisted on putting in all of the candles.

Noah wasn't feeling very well, so he posed for the pictures, but he wouldn't blow out the candles, so I got to blow out the candles. I got most of them in one breath, I think I missed two. Can't believe the smoke detector didn't go off with all of the smoke. Also, some of the chocolate started burning on my pie. Yummy!

Then, on my actual birthday, Brett took care of dinner. He went to Perkins and brought home a salad, some appetizers, three entrees, and another French silk pie (Eli left the other one out on the counter, so it melted and we had to throw the left overs away). So, Brett served up dinner and dessert. Yummy!

Yes, my birthday was all about eating. YUMMY!

Brett also brought home a bouquet of tulips. They are beautiful, and NO, I didn't eat them.

Swimming Sixth Grader

Caleb decided to go out for swimming this year. The high school allows the middle school students to swim with them. In sixth grade, the boys only get to swim at home meets, and then they get to swim before the meet in an exhibition 50. Caleb really enjoyed swimming this year. The guys on the swim team are very good about including everyone.

Here is a video of Caleb swimming. I missed the start - haven't totally figured out my camera. He is in lane 5 and in second place the entire time. The boy who took first has been on swim teams for years, so Caleb is really going to try to catch him next year. Watch out!

POP!

Eli did a science experiment, and he was judged on Tuesday. He tested how soda decays chalk. He wanted to do teeth, but there are too many forms to fill out if working with human tissue.

His conclusion was that Coka-Cola Classic and Mug Root Beer have equal decay, and Sprite has slightly less decaying power than tap water.

It was fun to see him excited about science.

Snow Biz

Yesterday was a beautiful day. When I saw it was 34 degrees I made the children go out to play. They played for a while and then Caleb had to go some where. When we got home, they decided to go outside again. They played outside in the snow for several hours.

The temperatures actually got up into the low 40s. The snow and ice on the driveway was melting. The snow in the yard was fun to play with - it stuck together.

Emily and Claire made a snow man early on, it was too warm though because the rock eyes kept melting the snow around them and they kept falling out.

The children all worked on snow forts in the front yard, and then they had a snowball fight. Brett went out and joined them.

I was able to lay down in my bed and not be interrupted.

It was a beautiful day.

Compleats

In case you haven’t already seen, the new line of Hormel Compleats was showcased on The Paula Sands Show on Friday, January 9. This is a local daytime TV program in the Davenport, IA/Moline, IL. Compleats were specifically referenced as a new line of quick, convenient meals that contain protein and carbohydrates for a healthy meal. Although this wasn’t a result of our outreach, it is a nice product placement that highlights the benefits and raises awareness of the new line of Hormel Compleats.

Click the link to access the clip.

It is only the first part, but I don't know how to change that.

Girls Who Have Everything

Claire and her friend had fun singing yesterday. They enjoy playing together and they get along really well. It is fun to get them together (thank you grandma for helping this to happen).

The Best Job!

Yesterday I got played to play. First we met all of the students outside and went sledding.

After sledding we went inside, took off our snow clothes, read some stories, played with toys and had rootbeer floats for "R" week.

After floats, we sang and danced to some activity songs - "Ring-a-Round-the-Rosie," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and a couple of other fun ones.

I got paid to play. What a great job.

Simple Beauty

This morning I woke up to this. It is beautiful.