We took a snow day today. No, we don’t have to drive anywhere for school. We could have school in a blizzard if we wanted to. However, we had a couple of inches of snow, which is the most we have had at one time all winter. I figured if all the other kids were out of school and got to play in the snow, mine might as well play, too! And play they did. After I bundled them up, Daddy took all three of them outside. JonDavid enjoyed it for a little while, but was ready to come in before Jacob and Skylar. He can’t run and keep warm like they do. Actually I think he could barely walk with his snowpants on. Jacob and Skylar stayed out and played for about 2 1/2 hours! I was surprised they stayed that long, but they really had fun.

I would love to share with you some profound, insightful thoughts tonight, but it’s Friday night. And I’m watching Psych. We all should have something to look forward to at the end of the week. We should all be able to sit and do nothing for a little while. Exciting? Maybe not. But Psych is great, and funny, and I can just sit and watch it without thinking too hard. I can forget about calling the tax assessor’s office today and watch Shawn and Gus figure out who did it! Ok, I watched Monk, too. Yes, I’m really going all out .

Have a great weekend!

Yesterday was my wonderful husband’s birthday. The kids and I made him chocolate chip cookies, which are his favorite. We also gave him his birthday present. I took the kids back in December to have their picture taken together dressed in camoflage. As most of you know, Kristin is an avid hunter, so I knew he would love this. Here is the picture (family members, you will get a print):

We gave him a 10 x 13 print, framed in a dark wood picture frame. He is a great husband and a great father, and I am thankful for him.

Now, you have to hear the story of the making of this picture…

I had planned to have this done last December, and picked a day when he was out of town (hunting, of course). I looked up a Wal-Mart in the phone book, and called to make an appointment. I carefully planned the timing…11:30 AM. This way I would have plenty of time to bathe and dress the kids that morning, then we would get the picture made before lunch and nap time. On Monday morning, everything went as planned. I had the clothes clean and ready, gave them baths/showers, and loaded them up to go. It was raining, so I just hoped no one got too wet or muddy.

I drove to the Wal-Mart, went inside just at 11:30, and began looking for the portrait studio. I did not see one. I asked a lady working near the front of the store, and she said there was no longer a portrait studio there. What? So I’m thinking, how could they close the portrait studio in the few days since I had called to make this appointment? They had even called to confirm the appointment the day before. So, I looked in the call record in my phone and the number was there. I called it and asked where they were located. Now I understood…at least kind of understood. I had made an appointment at a Wal-Mart about 50 miles from our house! There are at least 4 Wal-Marts within a 20 mile radius of my house, and I didn’t call any of them.

Now I have 3 kids clean and dressed and no one to take their picture. The kind lady at the Wal-Mart I had called, to whom I profusely apologized for my mistake, gave me the number for the next closest store that actually has a portrait studio. I called them, and yes, they had an appointment available that day…at 3:00 in the afternoon. My vision of clean, rested children was gone. I now had to get them through the next 3 1/2 hours, including lunch, without getting their clothes messed up. I had to figure out how to keep them pleasant at 3:00, which is right in the middle of their normal nap time. Well, we’re tough, so we were up for it (I hoped).

I didn’t feel like it was feasible to go back home then go back out again (that would involve a lot of driving and backtracking), so we headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch. This provided food and an indoor place to play for a while. I changed JonDavid into some other clothes while he ate, and warned the others to be extra careful while eating. Amazingly, Jacob and Skylar stayed clean through the whole afternoon! We did have a little trauma in the play place when Skylar started climbing up into the tunnels and then got scared. I had to go up after her, while trying to keep an eye on JonDavid down on the floor. I helped her out, and she was fine.

After killing some time at the restaurant, we went on over to the Wal-Mart, where we killed some more time looking around and going to the bathroom. JonDavid was starting to get really sleepy, so I was getting worried. Finally it started getting close to 3, so we headed over to the portrait studio. I changed JonDavid back to his camo and combed Skylar’s hair. The photographer was gone on a break, but came back early. We were her next appointment, so she went ahead and started us a bit early (Yea!) The kids did so well. They were really good and cooperative…I was really surprised at how smoothly the session went! There were no tears! As soon as we got back in the car, JonDavid zonked out sound asleep…but he had made it through.

The most impressive thing about this birthday gift is that the kids actually kept the secret since we had the picture made on December 15. Can you believe it? We had it made, went back another day to pick up the prints, and shopped another day for the frame. They never said a word about it to their dad. So, even with all the confusion and the thwarting of my meticulous plans, we pulled off a great picture and a surprise. Not bad for a harried mom of 3, huh? Ok, the kids deserve the credit. They were real troopers! I was excited as they were to give him the finished framed print. And yes, he loved it!

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We’re participating in Kids’ Picks this month, hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.

Jacob’s pick for January is this book that we just got from the library: Big Words for Little People, by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell. With funny explanations and illustrations, this book helps kids understand big words like cooperate, appropriate, consequence, and persevere. It is a fun way to increase vocabulary and learn more about language. It is designed for ages 4-8, and we definitely recommend it!

We’re working on a new look here, so don’t think you are in the wrong place! I say “we” though it is really my husband who does all of the design work. I’m not sure it is quite finished yet, but he will be experimenting until we get it the way we want it.

I’ve had this blog for over 2 years now, and I have really enjoyed writing it. I appreciate all of you who read it, and those of you who make comments. I don’t generally make responses to the comments, but I do read them and enjoy them!

We did an art project on Friday that was fun. I found the idea at flipflops and applesauce. You can find the instructions and pictures there. I could not find regular glitter when I was shopping for the materials, so we used glitter glue. The kids really enjoyed making these qtip snowflakes! When we hung them up, Skylar said, “It’s snowing in the house!”

Jacob's Snowflake

Skylar's Snowflake

This week Jacob and Skylar started going to some classes held by an area homeschooling group. Homeschoolers are getting together on Tuesdays every other week, and some of the parents are teaching classes for them. They are offering a lot of classes for different age groups. Jacob is just taking 2 classes this term: music and drama. Skylar is going to the preschool class, to which JonDavid and I also tagged along. I am hoping that she will stay without me at some point, but we’ll have to see what happens! Jacob, of course, went right in with no hesitation and had a great time! He enjoyed the classes and meeting some new friends. I am going to try to build on what they do in the music class, as they are going to start learning to read music. We haven’t worked on that at all yet, so this is a good opportunity to get started. We had already done rhythm a little bit, which is what they did in the class this week, so we will practice that some more, too.

These classes seem like a good chance to do some things that are more difficult to do with just one or two kids (like drama, although there is generally plenty of “drama” in our house), take advantage of the expertise of other parents, and to meet other homeschoolers.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Is it too late to wish you a happy new year? We have had a long winter break, but we are now back home and ready to get busy again! We took a trip to visit family in Alabama, and had a great time. We had some much needed fun, relaxation, and visiting with family and friends.
The kids had a great time playing with cousins. They don’t get to see them very often, but it seems like they always just pick right up as if they played together all the time. They also had fun playing with Grandmom and Granddad!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Alabama. Now it’s time to get lesson plans ready and get back to work! I hope everyone has a wonderful new year!