Let the Holidays Begin!

"Upa, is it a real turkey?"

"Yep. It is."

"Did you kill it Upa?"

"No. We bought it at the store."

"Then it's not a real turkey."

There were lights to be strung, bundling up to be done.

Turkeys to be made for placeholders.
Many, many pictures to be taken.

Giggles to be had.

Camera timers to be played with.

Way too much delicious food to be eaten.

"Ethan, what are you thankful for?"

"Flowers and Babies."

Movies to be watched - theater style...

Trees to be sawn down.

Pride to be shown.

Trees to be carried.

Hills to be hiked.

Cider to be drunk.

Christmas "instruction" to be given.

"Kissmas!"

Ornaments to be hung.

Traditions!

Post #501

I just realized I've posted 500 blog entries! That feels significant! Anyway, back to the pictures I thieved from my mom's camera.....

First of all, thank goodness for that wood delivery a couple of weeks ago... and thank goodness for the help of these guys!

The snowflake pretzels we made - delicious! Pretzels arranged with Almond Bark - and sprinkles.

Sledding Try #2 - the lid to the sandbox. Problem with this one was that you had to pull it down. Not enough momentum, and you had to bend really far.
Then the real creativity began - Brian pulled out the big square shovel, stood on the square part, straddling the handle and holding on for dear life.

This worked, though the boys sat on the shovel instead of standing. Loved it.

Lucas wouldn't hold on, but thoroughly enjoyed it. "AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN"

The slide was still the biggest hit - icy and fast!

We came inside, with much giggles and cocoa. Cookies were baked, stories were read, clothes were dried.

And an update - Brian's back home for another snow day. He made it to the park and ride, but the bus didn't come. He declared the 30 minute rule and came back. Yeah! A nice long weekend together!

Snow Day! Part 1

I did find the camera - it was at school, along with my glasses, USB cord, and several other things I managed to forget on Friday. Classroom parties with an abundance of junk will do that to you....
So now let me start the saga of Snow Day(s) 2010. First of all, snow around here is pretty rare. If we get any, it's gone quickly - rained away. It never gets very cold. Never say never. I was excited to move away from the temperatures in the 20's and teens.... little did I know....
Monday there was a forecast for snow and icky weather. We weren't too worried, but decided to carpool to work with my mom. Lucas was having tummy troubles, so Brian decided to stay home and take him to a doctor. (He's fine - that's not part of the epic-ness of the day, though it did mean that Brian didn't get stuck in all of it...)
All day long the snow kept coming and the temps kept dropping (from what I hear, about 5 inches and low 20's). The nerves and blood pressure were rising and the kids were disappearing (being picked up early by parents). The drive home was awful - though my mom drove like a rockstar, weaving between stalled cars all over the road. Ethan was determined to get home before dark, so he could play in it, but that didn't happen. It took us an hour and a half to get home - not nearly so long as others caught in the mess.
Finally a snow day was called for Tuesday - and 2 boys were super excited!

We spent 30 minutes bundling up for our 15 minutes in the snow (that's a guess, but it was so cold - 20 degrees is murderous.) Lucas liked playing with the snow in the bucket. He did open up to the idea by the end of our fun, but was cautious at first.

Ethan and Brian searched high and low for the best makeshift sled. Our first try was pretty bad....

The slide was a hit for both - icy and slick once Ethan cleared off the snow.

He did complain a bit when he got snow in his mitten. Did not care, however, when it went up his back or down his pants....

Later I'll post some of my mom's camera's pictures, because at this point the camera died. So fast-forward to the late afternoon and Ethan got to go help Upa put up the first of the Christmas lights.

He WAS a big help at first, but then it turned into a "snow fight" - poor Upa (and anyone else brave enough to show their face).

Upa did manage to finish the task, despite being pelted continuously, and we ate dinner by the light of colorful minibulbs.

It was a magical day. Snow day again today, except for Brian, who's going to attempt to make it in. He'd really like to work one day this week.

More pictures later- once I can hijack my mom's computer. You have to see my insane husband and his sledding solutions.

I'm Hoping the Camera's at School

I lay down with my head on Ethan's lap.

"Mommy, I love you," he says as he pats my head, "I loved making snowflakes with you."

We sigh.

Love

My boy? He's big.

The play was amazing. The students were great - and it was so much fun to see their shining smiles and proud parents. A huge high.

And then there was Friday. So tired. Exhausted in fact. Horrid weather and way too much sugar at the cast party.

Led to a grumpy Saturday. We stayed close to home. Finally decided to go out and we saw that our cat, Kiki, had two huge puncture wounds on his shoulder. To the Animal ER we went. He's okay, but not happy about having to be an inside cat now.

Today we got to go help Nana at her new apartment. It was great fun to take the boys and hang out for a bit.

Tonight - Ethan and I made "snowflakes" out of pretzels and almond bark, and we all watched Toy Story 2. And snuggled.

What a great start to the holidays.

Animals and Foffee

Sunday I was feeling restless... Tired of schoolwork, playwork, and cleaning... So off to the zoo we went... We weren't sure it'd go well.
"See mom - I'm a cat!" Should have known something was up when they had a blanket covering them for a good 10 minutes of giggles. Washable markers at least...It was cold. It was wet. But that meant we got to see Lucas all bundled up. And that just made me oh so happy.

The highlight for me was the really noisy tiger.

Not so much a positive for Lucas. He was terrified. "Sound mommy!!! No sound!"

The tiger cubs were much less scary. They were very comfortable with them.

So much so that Ethan thought it'd be a good idea to kiss them through the glass.

We got to go to the keeper show and Ethan really liked being able to see the animals up close (not many people braved the rain and cold). He also liked asking questions. My favorite? The keeper says "And now this bird's going to head off. Any questions?" Ethan's question - "Why is he head off?" He thought his head was going to fall off. Oh sweet idioms.

Lucas found a new family he thought he might fit into.

Ethan too - though I think he thought he'd get to be the king from that stance.

It was really fun. Those boys were so great. No meltdowns. Not one!

Tonight I got to take just Lucas with me on a date (thanks uma!). We ran to the library and then I asked him what he wanted and he said "Foffee mommy!" I suggested some other, more dinner type foods, but he insisted.

He might just be a mama's boy after all!

Movie Night!

Toys Story 3 at my school Friday night. This time we were prepared. Though the "free" movie cost me 2 new blankets and a ton of food. These boys are eating machines. They were really good for the movie except for Lucas' exclamations (several times during the movie):

"No fro up. Dog fro up. Dog fro up mommy. Not me!"

He was sick a couple of weeks ago. Then the dog was sick a few days later. We can't seem to move past this. Even at dinner yesterday he was yelling it. Luckily if you don't know what he's saying, your appetite is safe.

Ethan and I have been discussing what to ask Santa for. His current thought is a "germote control car. A BIG one." If he changes at the last minute, like last year, Santa's going to be in trouble.

Yesterday morning we went out to one of my student's football games. It was crazy cold, but a really good game, so we had a good time. Lucas and Ethan really like cheering along. It made me laugh. Though every now and then Ethan would get confused and cheer for the wrong team. We helped him. It was heartbreaking, as they were ahead until 20 seconds to go. They almost did it, but just ran out of time - 17 yards to go with 1 second left. The boys were all crying, the parents trying to pick up the pieces - (it was the championships).

Last night we got to hang out with Nadia at the mall - Ethan had a blast running all over with her. We had to keep them from wrestling, but other than that, it was just fun!

So far not an overly productive weekend - but a fun one.

Good Grief Lady...

The time it is flying and I can't seem to keep up! Last Saturday, I used Nadia and Ethan as guinea pigs and we constructed pirate ships out of graham crackers and frosting. They did well. They actually did a much cleaner job than my 2nd and 3rd graders, whose ships were all hit by cannonballs by the end of it. Fun times!

After we made our beautiful boats, we headed to the children's museum. Poor Nadia made a good patient.

Luckily Dr. Ethan was there to solve the problem. "You have lots of holes. Here, drink this baby bottle to help." Instant relief.

When they got tired of treating each other, they teamed up to help out Sonia. Hilarious.

This week (and next week) are crazy busy work weeks as we get ready for our play coming up. Brian and I spent all weekend painting and now I'm working on finding the rest of the costume bits and pieces. Chaos. But fun chaos.

Between meetings, some VERY awesome pirate presentations by my students, and life in general - I am very thankful for the day off tomorrow. We had a great discussion in class about the veterans and their sacrifices for this country. I am truly in awe of their courage - and the strength of their families. Thank you!

Such a crazy week. But tonight? Tonight is calm, quiet, almost peaceful. For now anyway. At some point someone will start screaming, throwing, whining, or crying. But for now... I can actually hear myself think!

Halloween... And the Week After...

Cookie cutters + orange food coloring + green sprinkles = really cool pumpkin pancakes to start the day right!

We spent the day resting up in preparation for fun! We hit downtown and had a blast.

There were way too many people there, but even the alien was able to handle it because they had candy!

The astronaut was an old pro - and greatlly appreciated all of the compliments he got on his costume. He was a hit. Thanks Uma!

The night went off without a hitch, except for when I insisted Ethan trick or treat at these nice little girls. I thought they worked for the church that was stationed there. Nope. But they did almost give Ethan candy out of their own baskets. Very sweet girls. Probably traumatized.

The boys were exhausted by the time we got to our very favorite stop - home! It took quite a while this week to catch up! It didn't help that Uma and I both caught a nasty cold, stealing from us our voices.

It also didn't help that I had 16 extra kids this week for most of the day. They were nice kids though - and I did enjoy getting to know them. But the best thing this week was that Lucas started really talking - sentences, phrases - actual communication. Awesome. He also thinks he's very funny. Cracks himself up regularly.

Ethan started cooking class - farmer bread! He also got a girlfriend. They were going to get married. Hugged after class, whispered secret "I love you's". But then yesterday it was all over.

"She's breaking up with me." Poor boy. Pre-K is tough.

And now I need to get back to all the millions of things on the to-do list. First of which is a 2nd cup of coffee!