Homework

When I was at the kids' school, I came across some work Chloe had done. These were hung up on the wall and I had to document them. I am so amazed at what the kids are capable of.

Faces

Aren't they cute? I swear I could eat every one of them up.

Raita reading to Freya

Monday Funday

Raita had the day off so we went outside to do a little playing.


There is this great wooden playground that I have heard lots about. We finally found the darn thing. The kids were so excited when they saw it!

And here is a video of Suki going down the slide. She loves to do it and doesn't need much prodding. Once she knows there is a slide, it is hard to keep her away from it.

Valentine Tea Party

Freya and I had a few friends over for a Valentine Tea.

We had so much fun.

Real berry flavored tea was served although the gingerbread tea was very popular. Then we had some mini cinnamon rolls, little muffins, fruit and heart shaped cookies.

Valentine boxes

Here are a few boxes that were made to receive Valentine cards.



Some were made by 4th graders, some were made by 2nd graders and I am sure many were made by their parents!

Freya's Valentine

Here are a few pictures from Freya's Valentine party at her school.

These little owls were her Valentines to her classmates. Super cute.

Make the world a better place

That is part of the Girl Scout Law

The troop's goal was to do something to make the community a better place.
So, the girls wrote a letter to the MUD that takes care of a local park. They thought that the park should have recycling bins there instead of just garbage cans. What a grand idea, maybe it will happen!

Run? Run!

I had to talk myself into going for a run today. Sometimes I just don't feel like it. But the weather was great, the kids were all in school, I really needed to run so I got dressed. I told myself just two miles. Two miles isn't really worth it for me to change clothes for. I have been running on the weekends with a friend and we go 6-7 miles. However, 2 miles is better than 0 miles.

So, I change into shorts, got my music on and headed out. Suki couldn't go today because she had her shots and they recommended she take the day off. The vets did comment on her muscles and how athletic she is. That made me feel good, atleast someone is benefiting from my running.

I'm trudging along on my run and I get to that point where if I turn, it will take me back home and will make it a two mile run. If I keep going on the trail, it will turn the run into about four miles. The great thing about running is that once you get out there, your blood starts pumping, the music is making you feel happy, all you have to think about is, "right, left, right, left" and the weather is undeniably influencing the need to keep going.

I miss the turn and keep on going down the trail. About 5 minutes after my decision to keep going I start to second guess myself but it would be silly to turn back. Ten minutes after my missed turn, I am half way done and now happy I kept running. I am feeling pretty good but this runners high only lasts so long.

Now, I did run 6 miles Sunday, took a spin class on Tuesday then I did some weights yesterday, fatiguing my legs to no end. Needless to say, when I'm about three quarters of a mile from home I'm really having to force my legs to go. I pull out the big guns to help me run, music is my friend. Even with my legs screaming, I can always muster up the energy to make them go a little higher if the Ting Tings are playing. I dare you to pop this on your I-pod and NOT pump your fist in the air every time she yells, "Hey!"

And if the Ting Tings are at SXSW again this year, you won't be able to keep me away.

Playdate

We went to Belinda's house today for a play date.

The kids made some V-day cards but they really just wanted to play. There was lots of electricity in the air as you can tell from the picture.

Hearts

We used the wax resist method to get artsy today. The directions can be found at Art Projects for Kids.



I like that both Freya and Chloe were able to do this one. Chloe was so mesmerized with the wax resist. I had to tell her if she kept adding watercolor to it, the paper would start to fall apart.












I can see us doing this many more times with different themes.

Cupcakes

February! It's the month for pink and hearts and sparkles and all things cute. I'm so excited.

We started the month off by making some fancy cupcakes. The kids had fun using the candy that I supplied to decorate with.

I am saving most of it up to make some fun sugar shacks. If I can find the sugar cubes that is. Are sugar cubes even made anymore?

Coffee a go-go

I haven't decided if it is a good or bad thing that Starbucks is closing so many stores.

Freya has become way too comfortable in them.

Notice all the other tables are empty? Must be the reason for the closures.

The coffee shops in Austin are more sparse than in Portland, Oregon. Weather? Taste preference?

Rocksanne

We went to the library and learned all about the snakes in Texas. The library owns this Ball Python, Rocksanne. We found out that she is 12 years old, won't eat anything except for freshly killed gerbils, and has been living at the library for 9 years. Because she will only eat freshly dispatched of gerbils and they can't get them right now, Rocksanne hasn't eaten in 3 weeks.

Did you know that snakes don't have eyelids but rather scales? They shed their eye scales when they shed their skin.

Science Wonders

Have you been wondering what the Girl Scouts do with the money earned from the cookies sales?

The girls earn badges by doing "try-its". If you look at the front of their vests, you will see lots of little triangles. Each one has a picture on it that represents the "Try-it" they earned. You have to "try" to do 4 of activities to earn each badge. This week the girls are earning their Science Wonders Try-it.

They made bubble solution, learned about magnets and static electricity.

Not only do they do fun things like this but Girl Scouts help the community. This Christmas, the girls went caroling at an assisted living home.


They get to have fun while they learn, bond with each other and make many happy memories.

Thank you for buying Girl Scout cookies!

Red Sky in Morning

This is what our sky looked like this morning. Absolutely beautiful. I wish my camera was better because it just doesn't capture the color that was so vivid.

The poem says,

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”

This came to mind after I had been dealing with the two impossibles (Jonah and Freya). They have been aggravating each other, putting her feet on him, tripping her, random smacks here and there. I have sent them to their rooms multiple times, have yelled so much that I have given myself a headache and have gone from a good mood to this nasty one.

When Raita called and I complained about the woes of parenting, his words of wisdom were, "ya got any booze?" It's official, the drinking lamp is lit.

Please get out of here!

I puffy heart Girl Scout Cookies.

But I can't have you here any longer, please leave.

I can't control myself anymore.

Just go, be free.

Where is she?

My dog, Suki, is constantly at my heels. She has her nose everywhere I am. If I am putting the clothes in the dryer, her nose is checking that out. If my dresser drawer is open, she has to see what I am putting in there. Yes, she is even next to me when I use the bathroom.

This afternoon I was doing some cleaning and whatnot, when I realized that my constant shadow was no where to be found.

I called her and she didn't come running so I started to check closets and bathrooms. She has been known to get herself in one and then close the door.

I couldn't find her anywhere. Finally I remembered that I had left the garage door open because Freya was sleeping in the car. I will pull the car in the garage, close the garage and leave the car door open as well as the door between the house and the garage.

When Suki noticed the open door, she must have went to investigate. She had hopped into the car and was ready to go. She had to have been sitting there for a good 15 minutes atleast. Suki didn't want to get out, she was ready to go somewhere. Always willing for an adventure, that mutt.


Oh and Tanya, Freya will sleep anywhere.....

The Human Body

Uncle Brian sent Jonah these human body models. He has the brain, the skeleton and the torso.

Jonah spent the time putting them together and I didn't have to prod him along at all. It's usually hard to get him to finish something but he completed these and has them proudly displayed on his shelf.

I think he may be ready to tackle the visible man now!

Thanks Uncle Brian!

paper matters

My father, being the smart allec that he is, sent me a Christmas present. It was sent UPS. It was wrapped very nicely with a huge bow and pristine paper. I was really excited, wondering what it could be. This is what he sent.

It is well known to my house guests that I skimp on the TP. Yep, I get the cheapest stuff around. Whatever is on sale, single ply, straight from the tree, whatever. I don't care. My ass isn't as sensitive as the rest of the world's apparently.

I hadn't really thought much about it even after BOTH my father-in-law and my own father made special trips to the grocery store to purchase their own brand of TP. I just chalked this up to getting old and being use to things the way you like them.

It was quite shocking though when we arrived home from our week long trip visiting Grammy and Poppie. The first thing that each of the kids said was, "OHHHH, why is our toilet paper so hard? Why can't we have soft paper like Grammy and Poppie?" Even after 14 hours of ass numbing riding in the car, they could still tell that ours was harder than the rest. They didn't complain even about the rest stop TP, only about our own household's.

Maybe next time I'll splurge and get the 2 ply.