Bec came and watched the kids while Nancy and I went to a movie. They made a snowman!
And of course, a snow day is incomplete without a snowball fight!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Another snow day (we are in Michigan, after all)
We've had more cold weather, and more snow. Here are some fun pictures from the past week:
Bec came and watched the kids while Nancy and I went to a movie. They made a snowman!
And of course, a snow day is incomplete without a snowball fight!
Bec came and watched the kids while Nancy and I went to a movie. They made a snowman!
And of course, a snow day is incomplete without a snowball fight!
Friday, January 04, 2008
Snow day!
We have received a lot of snow over the past few days. Everyone else in the neighborhood has been out building snowmen, but not us - the kids didn't have boots! So I headed out to the store yesterday to get some, and today was a planned snow day.
Well, the snow isn't really packable anymore - it's crusty on top, and powdery beneath - no real moisture to hold it together. But we had fun anyway, throwing snow clumps (couldn't really form balls) and tackling each other. Audrey didn't last too long, because her boots wouldn't stay on. Plus, she was very tired. So Isaac and I continued playing while she napped.
Here are pictures of the day:
Well, the snow isn't really packable anymore - it's crusty on top, and powdery beneath - no real moisture to hold it together. But we had fun anyway, throwing snow clumps (couldn't really form balls) and tackling each other. Audrey didn't last too long, because her boots wouldn't stay on. Plus, she was very tired. So Isaac and I continued playing while she napped.
Here are pictures of the day:
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Dear Abby letter
I thought this was so funny!
DEAR ABBY: I was married in November, and one of my co-workers, "Brooke," attended the ceremony. Her gift to me was a vase. When we opened the box, my husband and I discovered that the vase was engraved with Brooke's and her husband's names and their wedding date. Tucked inside the vase was a card from the couple who had given it to them for their wedding.
How should I handle this? Should I return the vase to her, or ignore it and give it to Goodwill? -- JENNIFER IN PORT ORCHARD, WASH.
DEAR JENNIFER: Neither. Remove the card, re-wrap the gift, and give it to Brooke on her next anniversary.
Great advice!
DEAR ABBY: I was married in November, and one of my co-workers, "Brooke," attended the ceremony. Her gift to me was a vase. When we opened the box, my husband and I discovered that the vase was engraved with Brooke's and her husband's names and their wedding date. Tucked inside the vase was a card from the couple who had given it to them for their wedding.
How should I handle this? Should I return the vase to her, or ignore it and give it to Goodwill? -- JENNIFER IN PORT ORCHARD, WASH.
DEAR JENNIFER: Neither. Remove the card, re-wrap the gift, and give it to Brooke on her next anniversary.
Great advice!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Christmas, continued
On previous posts -
Monte lost his wallet - where could it be?
Isaac enjoyed his gifts, but Audrey wanted to sleep - did she ever get her nap? Did she realize that she had fun stuff?
Monte received an iPod - is it up and running yet? Does he have a case for it?
Kath received scrapbook supplies - has she had time to use any of it?
*cue opening music*
So even though I had spent 2 hours searching the rented van, I somehow missed a recess in the front console. In my defense, it was very angled and very dark - a flashlight couldn't illuminate the whole compartment due to the angle. So Monte found it before we returned the van.
Audrey loves her little 4-wheeler. She and Isaac love to chase each other around downstairs with it. She also loves her butterfly rocker, and no longer has to fight Isaac for his Stanley Snail.
After having to spend another insane amount of money on a new OS, Monte has his iPod loaded up. However, he didn't like the case he purchased, so it's back to the store for a new one. He obviously doesn't want to carry it around without a case, so that'll be purchased soon.
I have used my sticker maker a lot - way more than Monte thought I would. I have also used my new pens and ribbon, so I'm doing well. I still don't have nearly the time I want to devote to scrapping, but every little bit is worth it.
More after this brief interruption from Audrey.
Monte lost his wallet - where could it be?
Isaac enjoyed his gifts, but Audrey wanted to sleep - did she ever get her nap? Did she realize that she had fun stuff?
Monte received an iPod - is it up and running yet? Does he have a case for it?
Kath received scrapbook supplies - has she had time to use any of it?
*cue opening music*
So even though I had spent 2 hours searching the rented van, I somehow missed a recess in the front console. In my defense, it was very angled and very dark - a flashlight couldn't illuminate the whole compartment due to the angle. So Monte found it before we returned the van.
Audrey loves her little 4-wheeler. She and Isaac love to chase each other around downstairs with it. She also loves her butterfly rocker, and no longer has to fight Isaac for his Stanley Snail.
After having to spend another insane amount of money on a new OS, Monte has his iPod loaded up. However, he didn't like the case he purchased, so it's back to the store for a new one. He obviously doesn't want to carry it around without a case, so that'll be purchased soon.
I have used my sticker maker a lot - way more than Monte thought I would. I have also used my new pens and ribbon, so I'm doing well. I still don't have nearly the time I want to devote to scrapping, but every little bit is worth it.
More after this brief interruption from Audrey.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Busy month!
Wow, I cannot believe Christmas is over. I feel like I've been going non-stop all month.
We planned on going to Mom's the Thursday before Christmas, leave there Saturday morning and head straight to Monte's parents, and then head home Christmas Eve. Christmas Day would be spent at home, and then we'd celebrate with Dad, Bec, and Ken on Wednesday.
Due to the insane amount of traveling, and the lack of space in our vehicle for us, our suitcases, and gifts, we decided to rent a minivan for the week. We loved it! We had a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country - very basic model, but the space! We've decided to change our standards for when we're in the market for a minivan - leather seats and a moonroof just aren't that important, but captain's seats, remote mirrors, and an extended base are.
We actually left for Mom's Wednesday night, so as to maximize driving time without screaming children. They did sleep for about half the trip (not as long as hoped for), but arrived at Mom's completely wired and ready to run around. Crazy! Thursday, we headed out shopping for a booster seat (of all the things we forgot!), and picked up some other grocery items, like Uncle Woody's Caramel Corn! That evening, we headed to Clinton, Iowa, for the Symphony of Lights, a light display at Eagle Point Park. It was really neat, and Isaac and Audrey really loved it! We drove through it a second time just for them, and we adults enjoyed it again, too! We were horrible parents, though, because we took the kids out of their car seats so they could see better. Friday, we opened gifts, which was lots of fun! Phil received Blokus (Tetris in a board game), and proceeded to tromp us all at it - I think he liked it :) We decided to leave Friday night to beat the traffic and drive while the kids slept again. That would also give us a night at home and leave us refreshed before heading to Pigeon. So glad we did!
Saturday, we drove to Monte's parents. Traffic was busy, and it took us an hour longer than usual, so that wasn't much fun. The kids did not sleep much of the time, either. And of course, upon arrival, they just wanted to play with Tori and Christian, who were over at Grandma's. While they did that, Monte and I ran into town to pick up some gifts for Isaac, since Monte's mom hadn't been able to find what she'd wanted for him. We were thankful to get some time away by ourselves, although it made for another late night. Sunday was church (am I ever going to be at my church for Christmas?), and then we opened gifts that afternoon. That went OK - Christian got sick, Audrey and Isaac were exhausted, and Meghann and I had given Tori and Christian the exact same gifts (gift cards and money), so we felt pretty bad for the kids. We were told that's all they wanted, but it's still disappointing to see the crest-fallen faces of kids hoping for a gift to play with. Monday was eat-until-your-pants-pop-open day, plus sitting around playing cards. That's the best part about going over there - Meghann and John love to play cards, too, so I get my fix in. As we were preparing to leave, though, we couldn't find Monte's wallet - we spent two hours searching the suitcases, coats and pants pockets, the van, the gift bags, the bedrooms, and every conceivable place it may have been. We finally decided to just leave, and see if it turned up somewhere (the stores we'd been at were closed by this time, so we couldn't check there). The good news is that the kids were able to play and burn off energy in this time, so they slept the entire way home. We finally arrived home at 12:30 Christmas morning.
That's when the fun began. We had purchased a skee-ball table for Isaac for Christmas. Since there's no possible way to hide an assembled one of those in our basement, we had to wait until that night to put it together. I have never seen so many pieces in my life. The instructions were great, and it was fairly easy to assemble, but it took a long time. A looooong time. We finished it at 4:20 and then crashed. Christmas morning started way too early after that, even though the kids didn't get up until close to 9. Then we had to shower and eat breakfast, so we didn't even start opening gifts until almost 11, by which time Audrey was ready for another nap. But she did great overall. Everyone loved all of their gifts (especially my Xyron 900), Monte's iPod, Isaac's skee-ball table, and Audrey's rocking butterfly. We had a lot of fun relaxing that afternoon, and enjoying our new toys.
To be continued . . .
We planned on going to Mom's the Thursday before Christmas, leave there Saturday morning and head straight to Monte's parents, and then head home Christmas Eve. Christmas Day would be spent at home, and then we'd celebrate with Dad, Bec, and Ken on Wednesday.
Due to the insane amount of traveling, and the lack of space in our vehicle for us, our suitcases, and gifts, we decided to rent a minivan for the week. We loved it! We had a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country - very basic model, but the space! We've decided to change our standards for when we're in the market for a minivan - leather seats and a moonroof just aren't that important, but captain's seats, remote mirrors, and an extended base are.
We actually left for Mom's Wednesday night, so as to maximize driving time without screaming children. They did sleep for about half the trip (not as long as hoped for), but arrived at Mom's completely wired and ready to run around. Crazy! Thursday, we headed out shopping for a booster seat (of all the things we forgot!), and picked up some other grocery items, like Uncle Woody's Caramel Corn! That evening, we headed to Clinton, Iowa, for the Symphony of Lights, a light display at Eagle Point Park. It was really neat, and Isaac and Audrey really loved it! We drove through it a second time just for them, and we adults enjoyed it again, too! We were horrible parents, though, because we took the kids out of their car seats so they could see better. Friday, we opened gifts, which was lots of fun! Phil received Blokus (Tetris in a board game), and proceeded to tromp us all at it - I think he liked it :) We decided to leave Friday night to beat the traffic and drive while the kids slept again. That would also give us a night at home and leave us refreshed before heading to Pigeon. So glad we did!
Saturday, we drove to Monte's parents. Traffic was busy, and it took us an hour longer than usual, so that wasn't much fun. The kids did not sleep much of the time, either. And of course, upon arrival, they just wanted to play with Tori and Christian, who were over at Grandma's. While they did that, Monte and I ran into town to pick up some gifts for Isaac, since Monte's mom hadn't been able to find what she'd wanted for him. We were thankful to get some time away by ourselves, although it made for another late night. Sunday was church (am I ever going to be at my church for Christmas?), and then we opened gifts that afternoon. That went OK - Christian got sick, Audrey and Isaac were exhausted, and Meghann and I had given Tori and Christian the exact same gifts (gift cards and money), so we felt pretty bad for the kids. We were told that's all they wanted, but it's still disappointing to see the crest-fallen faces of kids hoping for a gift to play with. Monday was eat-until-your-pants-pop-open day, plus sitting around playing cards. That's the best part about going over there - Meghann and John love to play cards, too, so I get my fix in. As we were preparing to leave, though, we couldn't find Monte's wallet - we spent two hours searching the suitcases, coats and pants pockets, the van, the gift bags, the bedrooms, and every conceivable place it may have been. We finally decided to just leave, and see if it turned up somewhere (the stores we'd been at were closed by this time, so we couldn't check there). The good news is that the kids were able to play and burn off energy in this time, so they slept the entire way home. We finally arrived home at 12:30 Christmas morning.
That's when the fun began. We had purchased a skee-ball table for Isaac for Christmas. Since there's no possible way to hide an assembled one of those in our basement, we had to wait until that night to put it together. I have never seen so many pieces in my life. The instructions were great, and it was fairly easy to assemble, but it took a long time. A looooong time. We finished it at 4:20 and then crashed. Christmas morning started way too early after that, even though the kids didn't get up until close to 9. Then we had to shower and eat breakfast, so we didn't even start opening gifts until almost 11, by which time Audrey was ready for another nap. But she did great overall. Everyone loved all of their gifts (especially my Xyron 900), Monte's iPod, Isaac's skee-ball table, and Audrey's rocking butterfly. We had a lot of fun relaxing that afternoon, and enjoying our new toys.
To be continued . . .
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