Amazed

Butterfly amazes me with her musical ears. She sat down at the piano this morning and figured out the melody of a song that one of my piano students was learning 4 months ago! She remembered it after all that time.

In the News

Check out this link to see Brian and the girls in the news. Their clip is about halfway into this news story. Panda is the one sledding down on her own. Naomi is climbing up the hill. And Rachel and Naomi sled down together. We borrowed the sleds from our friends and their son was able to join the girls as well. They had a blast!

Here's the link: Sledding

Locks of Love

Monkey donated two years ago and had grown her hair out again. It was finally long enough to donate again. Here's her new haircut:

Imagination and odd dreams

Panda came in this morning and snuggled up in bed with me. (I love that) Then out of the blue, she looks over to the side of the bed and said, "Great. My unicorn wants a snack." After that, she crinkled up her nose, looked to the side of the bed and said, "No, I told you no more snacks". I told her to put the unicorn outside. So, she got up out of bed and went to the door. She came back rolling her eyes and said, "Now I suppose the unicorn will bang on the door all morning."

Yesterday, I was almost late getting ready for church. I was dreaming that I was at work and when my alarm clock went off it went into my dream and I was told by my boss that every time I hit that buzzer I would get 20 points. I don't remember how many times I snoozed my alarm before I figured out that I was dreaming!

I Forgot

Another reason this poor blog is so neglected is that I think of things to write and then forget about them by the time I get a chance to find my blog again! I had two things on my mind to blog about earlier today and they are gone now! Oops.

Getting Dressed

Panda was getting dressed this morning and came to my room and said with a dismayed voice, "Mom, I'm trying to get dressed and the buttons go in front on my pants, but the tag is in front!"
I replied, "Oh, honey, sometimes they put the tag in front, so it's ok. What were they thinking putting tags in the front?! Those silly people"
She said, "Well, I'm pretty sure they messed up."

About that snowday...

It was certainly a nice gift. I had a list beyond what I thought could be accomplished, but with Brian's help, I got so much done today.

Here's what puzzles me, though. I don't understand why this school system doesn't utilize a late start instead of canceling all day. This school rarely takes a snow day because the superintendent knows that there are children out there who really need a warm place and need the food they receive at school.

After several hours this morning, the ice wasn't too bad. Most of it was melted. A one or two hour delay would have been sufficient to clear things off and get to school safely.

Oh well, I won't complain. It was a blessing to have my husband home today!

Surprise!

My hubby got a snow day! (It's really due to ice) This so rarely happens that it deserves a blog post. :)

Family Game Night

I know a lot of families that have started a family game night. I've always been envious - it sounds like so much fun! So, we decided to start one here. I'm sure it won't be without it's interruptions, but it should be fun.

We started last night using the Wii. Over Christmas the girls received several games, but this time of year it's hard to find the time to play the games.

We started with Mario Cart. Butterfly whipped us all! Brian and I lost miserably! Lots of giggling was heard. We moved on to Just Dance and Just Dance 2. Ha ha ha - a game where I can excel (not that I can dance - I've just used it as a workout, so I know the dances better. :) ). Lots more giggling. I took a break when they decided to play Wii Ski and Snowboard (we are one nunchuck short), but they enjoyed racing down the mountains together.

We'll see what next week has in store for the game night. Should be fun!

For my Dad

Hi Dad!!!

He was asking why I haven't updated my blog. By now, he may be the only one reading anyway...

Need a cello?

A friend of mine found this post on Craig's List. I had to copy and paste it just so I have something to come back to for a giggle after a rough day.

So my sister gave me this cello a couple years ago. It's a nice cello. Actually, it's a great cello. It's probably the best cello, but I don't really know much about cellos. Also the neck snapped off. Of the cello. So it's really more like 3/4's of a cello, but the other 1/4's still there, it's just not attached. It's kind of like you're getting two cellos, only one of them doesn't have a body and the other doesn't have a neck. But if you stand them up next to each other it's like old times. You could probably fix it with like some music glue or something like that.

She also gave me a cello bag that I can give to you too, now that I won't have a cello. It's a really nice cello bag. You can fit everything in it. Actually, there might even be a bow in the bag, I'm not sure. I don't want you to think that there's 100% a bow in the bag. It's way over there, I can't check right now. But if it's in there it's yours.

If you're like me and you don't know how to play the cello then you could use it as a coin bank. It's hollow and there are two S's on the front that you could drop the coins through. Then when it's filled up you could drop it off of your roof or carry it around like a change purse. Ooh, in the cello bag. It'd be like a cello purse. I'd do it but I'm moving across the country and it won't fit in my car. What else could you do with it. You could saw the front off and use it as a sled. Or give the neck to a baby as like a wizard stick for Christmas. Totally give this cello to someone for Christmas. Or Hanukkah.

Please come get it. I'd actually go somewhere to meet you if wherever we're going is a cool place. Like the desert or something.

I'm 90% certain the bow's in there.

Eclipse photos

Ladybug and I had a good time staying up together and watching the progression of the lunar eclipse. Here are some photos that show the sequence. Some pictures are better than others. I was taking the pictures with my simple point and shoot digital camera. Also, occasionally the sky was a bit hazy. I was also trying to play with settings on my camera to see what setting would get the best photo.

Here is a link to a video (that I did NOT take!) that shows the whole eclipse. It's pretty cool!

December?!

Whoops, I fell off the "blog-wagon" again. Guess I'm just trying to see who REALLY loves me! There's a few of you left who have patiently (and some not so patiently) waited for the next post. Glad you aren't holding your breath!

It's been busy around here, to say the least! I have plenty to blog about, but most of the time lack the energy to get it done.

So, I'll summarize a few of the highlights in completely random fashion and hope to get pictures on here of some things soon.

*We spent Thanksgiving at Brian's brother's house with his side of the family. While we were there, we took the opportunity to surprise Brian for his 40th birthday. It was a true surprise since his birthday didn't fall until the middle of the next week! We had fun pulling that one off. And yes, I have pictures. :)

*I have been working on camp organization. I have all our guest artists hired and most of the returning staff, as well. I had some help from Brandon and have learned how to update the camp website. The registration form has been revised and should be ready for launch on the website in January. The work on the brochure and poster is coming along and will hopefully be completed soon.

*Meanwhile, registrations for the convention have been trickling in. Thankfully, I have that down to a science. I LOVE mail merge!

*The girls and I made sugar cookies Monday and will frost them tomorrow. Yummy! I'd better get back to exercising on the Wii... I haven't been as faithful as I wanted to be on that these days! But, I'm still faithful in eating the junk I shouldn't eat...

*I'm almost done with piano lessons for the semester. Then I hope to get to my Christmas preparations. Hopefully we can get the tree up this weekend and get some presents wrapped.

*Ladybug completed one part of her catechism review last night. She did an excellent job on her memory work! I'm very proud of the work she has been doing in catechism class. I look forward to her Confirmation in the spring!

*The girls continue to work hard on school work. It is nice that they can be independent on many of their tasks.

*We have enjoyed dog sitting this month. First, for my friend and her two cute shih tzu dogs. They are sweet dogs. And now, we have Brian's parents dog, JJ. Someday I hope to have an indoor "lap" dog. :)

That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully, I'll find my way back to my blog before January!

Maybe a GPS would help?

My sister-in-law shared this tonight:

She told my nephew that he was a c-section birth. My 9 year old niece then asked, "What section was I born in?"

Lost

7 year old: "Daddy, can you read to me?" Daddy: "I don't know, have you lost your attitude?" 7 year old: "Yes, so can you read to me?" 4 year old: "You lost your attitude? Where is it?!"