Snow

I love snow!  The last couple of years we have either been without snow or it snows very little and then disappears very quickly.  I remember growing up and playing out in the snow for hours. Making snowmen, snow bears, skating on homemade "ice ponds" in the yard, snowball fights at 11:00 p.m with your siblings.  Coming in from the snow for hot chocolate.  My favorite memories are the snow days.  I loved watching the t.v. at 6:30 in the morning to see if school was cancelled and then going back to bed once you saw your school name on the screen.  Being able to stay home and watch the soap operas with mom was another added bonus.

About this time last year, I was walking around Target and I saw that they had snow pants on sale for 75% off.  They had each of the girls sizes.  I paid $15 for the three pairs.  I came home and told Harry that I bought the girls snow pants so it better snow during the winter months.  I am pleased to say that this snow season has been absolutely wonderful!!!  The girls got to do all the fun snow stuff this year.  They played outside, made snow angels, we took them sledding, they built snowmen, and they got to experience 3 "snow days" from school this year. The girls will now have wonderful memories of snow that I hope they will always remember.  It amazes me how much fun kids have just running around in the snow.  I think yesterday's snow is the deepest the girls have every experienced.  We had 9 inches of snow for them to play in today.  I even shoveled the sidewalk for the first time in my life.  (I saved the driveway for Harry).

Thank you Lord for the beautiful snow one more time this year and all the memories it brings with it.  I love how peaceful it makes everything look and feel.  I love the night sky when it snows.  There is just something magical about being outside at night when everything is covered in snow.  So quiet with a soft glow that only the snow can make. Thank you for the wonderful snow memories my girls have made this year and thank you for making that the best $15 I ever spent!

        First snow of the season in January 2013

        Ellie sledding at East End Park February 2013

        Megan sledding at East End Park February 2013

 

Wendy sledding at East End Park February 2013

             Little snowman built with the second snowfall in February 2013

          Outside at night March 2013

           Bigger snowman March 2013

         Our 9 inches of snow March 2013

Now, that I have all the wonderful pictures of the girls in the snow and they have the wonderful memories of playing in the snow, it is time to say goodbye to the snow until Christmas.  It is time for softball games, Cardinal baseball, BBQing,  playing at the park, flying kites, and opening windows.  I will however, look forward to seeing you again on Christmas Eve this year, please!

Holiday # 7 for February: Daytona 500

Yesterday was the seventh and final holiday for February....the Daytona 500!!  I know this is a holiday for some and not for all.  To us it is a holiday because Sundays are now back to sports Sundays.  The last few weeks without football have been nerve wracking.  Walking around the house on Sunday after church trying to find something to do and the only things I can find are laundry to do and food to eat!  Not good.

This year's Daytona 500 was extra cool because there was a GIRL in the pole position.  Yes, you read right a GIRL...Danica Patrick!  Now I'm not actually a fan of hers.  I hate her stupid Go Daddy commercials, but I think it is awesome that a female has made her way into a predominately male sport.  She didn't win but she didn't do too bad either.  She stayed in the whole race and ended up with a top 10 finish...8th place.

A friend once asked me how I can watch a race when all the cars do is go around and around in a circle?  I told her it's the adrenaline you get when watching a race.  The speed, the noise, the chance of one wrong slip up and you're in the wall.  It's the "just by a nose" finishes and the race to leave pit row that keep me pumped up.  I even get excited about the wrecks!  What?  I wouldn't want to be seeing a 10 car pile up on 159 but seeing it during a race is sometimes cool. (As long as no one gets hurt.)  I know, I'll schedule the appointment with a psychiatrist when I get finished with my blog.

My favorite driver is Carl Edwards in the #99 car.  My girls like him too.  They think it's neat when he does the back flip out of his car.   He didn't do too well in the race yesterday thanks to a multi-car pile up.  He ended up in 33rd place.  Boo!  Good news is there is a new race next Sunday!!  Of course, the hubby likes Tony Stewart in the #14 car.  As Carl, he didn't do too well in the race either thanks to the wreck.  He ended up in 41st place.  I'm thinking that's behind Carl.  Hee! Hee!

Thanks to NASCAR for coming back to the T.V. just when I needed you.  Now we just need to add a little Cardinal baseball and I'm set to go until football season!

Holidays #3-6 for February: Holiday catch up

Where in the world does the time go?  I feel like I just typed my Holiday #2 for February only a couple of days ago but alas it's been almost 3 weeks.  Oh wait, I know where all the time has gone...playing Candy Crush Saga.  Yep, and laundry.  And children.

Anyway, time to catch up.  Holiday # 3 for February, Mardi Gras, is not really a holiday my family and I celebrate.  I guess I could celebrate it since I am of French dissent on my dad's side and I already technically celebrate Fat Tuesday, and Fat Monday, and Fat Wednesday, and Fat Thursday, and Fat Friday.  I do like the colors of purple and green together but I hate BEADS!!!  I hate untangling beads, I hate picking up beads, I hate stepping on beads, I hate getting hit in the head with beads at parades.  (JUST THROW CHOCOLATE PEOPLE!!!)  Needless to say beads are not one of my favorite things.  (Did anyone else just hear Julie Andrews singing that last line in their head?)  I did consider buying a King Cake this year, but then it does disturb me a little bit to have a baby stuck inside a cake possibly going to be stabbed by a knife.  Besides I don't really need anymore children right now. :)

Holiday #4 for February, Chinese New Year, is also a holiday that my family doesn't celebrate.  I do like to read the girls books about this day just to introduce them to different cultures.  I like the decorations of the Chinese lanterns too.  They are so pretty.  I also think it's cool to have years themed after animals. 2013 is the Year of the Snake.  Apparently snakes are not highly thought of in China so instead of saying you were born in the Year of the Snake they say they were born in the year of the "little dragon".  That sounds much cooler anyway.  I was born in the Year of the Rat.  I didn't like this at first because rats are yucky, but then I looked it up.  Being born in the Year of the Rat is actually way cool!  Those born in this year are respected and are a courageous and enterprising person and it is considered a privilege to be associated with a rat. Just think you are all privileged people because you know me...a Rat.  Your welcome!  And to top it all off, my Chinese element is water which means that in 2013 I will obtain fortune.  Awesome!!!  I'm pretty sure I don't have any Asian background but it might not be so bad to celebrate this holiday!  The Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all celebrated together for 15 days.

Holiday #5 for February, Valentine's Day.  This one we do celebrate.  I decorate the house with red and pink hearts.  We usually get the girls a box of candy and a small toy/trinket.  This year for Valentine's Day my hubby got me the usual pretty bouquet (oooo a little more of my French coming out) of flowers and the must have chocolate covered strawberries, but he also got me something he has never gotten me before.  

He adopted a Fennec Fox from the St. Louis Zoo for me.  

He also adopted a red panda from the St. Louis Zoo for the girls.  

I love both of these animals and the zoo.  What a wonderful gift to give, a donation to something I love in my name instead of having things sitting around the house. Just to clarify, I would never consider anything BLING to be just sitting around the house.  Thought I would throw that out there for future purchases. 

Holiday # 6 for February, President's Day.  This one gets celebrated basically with just a day off school.  Believe it or not, I don't think we have any actual President's Day books.  May need to remedy that with a book shopping expedition.  I think President Lincoln is my favorite President thus far.  I just love his era, his demeanor, his accomplishments, the fact that he is from my home state, and that he loved to read.  One of my favorite places to go is to the Lincoln Sites in Springfield.  We took the girls there this summer to visit some of them.  Hoping to hit his Presidential library this summer. Need to catch the Lincoln movie when it hits DVD, too.   Some of my favorite President Lincoln quotes:  "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years."  "My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read." "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side, my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."  Shout out to President Washington for having cool hair and being the first person brave enough to lead this nation!

Sorry, this blog is a long one.  That's what happens when I slack off and have too much to say. I hope you enjoy! 

Holiday # 2 for February - Super Bowl Sunday!

Happy Super Bowl everyone!!  Even though it's not considered a "national" holiday, it's still a holiday!  Why, even the stores think it's a holiday.  They now have Super Bowl decorations, plates, napkins, cups, balloons, cookies, and cakes.  Some of it's just football theme others actually says NFL Super Bowl and the date.

Being that I am a huge football fan, I enjoy the Super Bowl even though my beloved Cowboys haven't made it to the Bowl in years.  (Come on Romo, get your butt in gear!)  I love the excitement and the suspense.

I LOVE the commercials!  Some years they are my favorite part of the game.  There are usually new movie trailers released during the Super Bowl too.

One thing I'm not a huge fan of is the half time show!  Last couple of years they haven't been worth watching.  
It should just be Bon Jovi every year.  I don't know why the half time committee can't see that.

Anyway, today we are just celebrating with my little family.  We have our Super Bowl food:  nachos, mini corn dog muffins, Jello jiggles in the shape of football helmets grape for Ravens and Cherry for 49ers, toasted raviolis, cheese sticks, Jalepeno Poppers, Artichoke Dip, and for dessert Cupcakes with footballs on them.  I do have my football plates, napkins, and even two balloons:  one for the Ravens and one for the 49ers.

I don't care who wins this year.  It would be nice to see future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis go out with a bang but it would also be neat for second string quarterback Kaepernick take the win.  Good luck to both teams and here's hoping for some blue jigglers for next year.

Holiday #1 for February: Groundhog's Day!

It's hard to believe that another holiday is upon us!  I haven't even finished eating all of my Christmas candy, yet!  But here we are in February, a shortened month crammed full of holidays!  Today we celebrate the Groundhog!  A fat little rodent from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania who somehow manages to write a bunch of big words on a scroll, then gives it to a guy in a tuxedo and top hat, who then let's us know if Spring is coming early this year!

As crazy as it all sounds,  every year I love to find out if that pudgy animal saw his shadow or not.  And I blame all of it on my high school biology teacher, Mr. Rushing.  Every year on Groundhog day, he would throw a pop quiz.  As a freshman and never having Mr. Rushing for a biology teacher when you hear pop quiz coming out of his mouth, you panic.  He made us number a paper from 1 to 5 and would then proceed to ask us questions about Groundhog's Day.  We had to know what his name was, Punxsutawney Phil, and it had to be spelled right, where he was from, did he see his shadow, and what does it mean if he sees his shadow and what does it mean if he doesn't.  Thank goodness it was for extra credit and not part of your grade.  Fast forward to sophomore year and you once again have Mr. Rushing for Human Anatomy and it's Groundhog Day and he calls for a pop quiz.  Good thing you remembered to get up early to watch the Today show and get all the answers so you can ace that quiz, only to realize you can't remember how to spell Punxsutawney and Mr. Rushing still gets you.  Forward one more time to Junior year when you are Mr. Rushing's teachers aide and you can now sit back with a smirk and watch the looks of horror on the freshman's faces when he calls Pop Quiz time!  Priceless!!

I will admit that I watched the proclamation being read this morning.  I also have books for the girls about Groundhog's Day that we read.  And thanks to a picture one of my friends put on facebook today, I might even make a Groundhog cake for next year.

That crazy groundhog Phil did see his shadow this year so I guess we will be getting an early spring.  I don't mind as long as there is one significant snowfall yet before we enter into baseball season.  I mean spring.

Things you learn in high school are useful!

When you're a high school student sitting in a math class that seems more like a foreign language class, you sit there and wonder:  do I really need to use sine and cosine when I get out into the real world, will I really care what x equals, will I ever see a quadrilateral on the side of the road and need a geometry proof?  Sorry Mr. Lewis, Mr. Derwort, and Mrs. Danford but the answer is no!

Of course, certain classes like Mrs. Mercer and Mrs. Dodson's literature classes are very handy now that I have children who are starting to read chapter books. Hopefully they will continue to love to read into high school and we can share opinions on the books that I read when I was in high school.  And thanks to Mrs. Monbrum's Typing I and Typing II classes, I am a whiz at all the typing games on the computer.  But there are two classes that I took just for fun, to fill up time slots during my junior and senior year, Spanish I and Spanish II.  Little did I know that these classes would be beneficial for me during the 2000's.  I never thought in a million years that I would need to know Spanish.  I dislike airplanes therefore, I will never be traveling to a Spanish speaking foreign country and need to ask, Donde esta el bano? (Imagine the little squiggly mark above the n). And I didn't live in an area where there was anybody that spoke Spanish as a first or second language.

Let's pause from the topic for a moment and let me tell you a few things about these Spanish classes.  First, they were the weirdest classes, I ever took in my life.  Second, the very first day of Spanish I the teacher, Mr. Salanik, brought out a guitar and sang La Bamba like it was no big deal.  What?!? Teachers don't sing in the class!  From then on I knew this class was different. Third, the homework sheets, quizzes, and tests were handwritten by him.  He would use the names of the students in class for the sentences he used.  Of course, he always thought it was funny if Harry el gusta bailar with Barbie, or Michelle, or Susan, or anybody else but me.  The teacher would look at me and smile to see if it was bothering me.  He was an odd duck I do have to admit.  I did good in the classes.  Got an A in both.  It was fun at the time and then forgotten when I went to college.

It dawned on me the other day, that I took those Spanish classes all those years ago, so I could one day correctly read any Dora the Explorer book that was brought to me by my three girls!  I know how to pronounce the words (still can't roll my R's) correctly, I can tell the girls what the Spanish words mean (without having to look at the index at the back of the book with the English words written next to them), and  most importantly, I look like the smartest mom in the world to my three girls because I can understand a foreign language (to a certain extent).

So, I guess I do owe Mr. Salanik a thank you for teaching me Spanish.  It's good to know that my time studying in high school is finally paying off!  Adios!

The beginning of a new year...2013

My family rang in 2013 with a wild game of Power Puff Girl Monopoly followed by Clue. In which, both games were won by Wendy. We had a few appetizers, watched Dick Clark's Rockin New Year's Eve, had some sparkling Grape Juice for the toast, noisemakers for the celebration, and a passed out 5 year old.

My Granny used to say whatever you do on New Year's Day you will do all year!  We always agreed with her and therefore, we would sit around in our PJ's all day, playing games, watching T.V., and eating left over Christmas candy and cookies.  That was all nice and fine when you're 15 but not when you're 40!  My New Years' Day consisted of doing dishes, laundry, making dinner, and catching up on a ton of Girl Scout stuff.  So I guess my year will consist of doing dishes, laundry, making dinner, and catching up on a ton of Girl Scout stuff.  As I think on this it's really not so bad.  Making dinner means I have the funds to feed my family and that we are not eating out.  Doing the dishes and laundry means that I have a wonderful family that God has given me to take care of.  And as for Girl Scouts, I love my Scouts so doing for them makes me happy.  (On a side note, I also watched T.V., played on Webkinz, and messed around on Facebook so the year's good).

The New Year is also a time for making resolutions.  While I don't think I have ever kept a New Year's resolution in my life, they are still fun to think about and it's just something you must do on New Year's Day.  My resolutions for 2013 are probably the same as many years passed and also the same as many of yours.  I resolve to continue to eat healthier therefore continue on my weight loss journey.  Had a little set back during the Holiday season but I am back on the road as of today.  I resolve to have more fun with my family.  Because of all the sadness that took place before Christmas in that little Connecticut school, it made me see that time is precious and I take that for granted.  So, more fun times with the girls--movies, games, reading, going places, mommy and me dates.  I also resolve to make God a more prominent figure in my life.  Of course, I read the Bible but not as much as I should.  I go to church, but then forget about it throughout the week.  I pray, but only when I want something.  I have begun a devotional that mom gave me for my birthday, called Patterns of Grace.  The very first devotional had this Bible verse:  "Great is his faithfulness, his mercies begin afresh each morning" Lamentations 3:23.  What a great way to begin a year!  Even if I fail at any one of these resolutions or anything else in life, God will be there to wipe away my failures so that I can start afresh each morning.

I am looking forward to making this year a great one for me and my family!  May your 2013 be filled with love, happiness, and all things good!