Snow Day

The boys laughed when I told them to not get lost in the arctic tundra. But look. It looks like I should have polar bears wandering around my front yard. That is the top of our swing set between our house and the neighbor's. Only about a foot is still sticking out of the snow.

These are the trees across the road from our house.

This is Adam making the perfect snowball.

Josh tried to shovel the front walk, but with a foot of new snow, he didn't get far.

The boys love all the snow hills along the driveway. They built caves and made slides all the way.

Luckily, Arrty got the snowblower running again and has been able to keep up with the storms.

Even Jake got in on the snow fun! His four legs made it a little more difficult to get to the top.

As you can see, we truly did have a snow day today!

Enough Is Enough

You know that there is officially enough snow* in the yard when your kids go out to play and pretend to climb Mt. Everest.

*We've gotten 17 inches since noon yesterday and it's still falling.

Yesterday's Mail

Here's what I got in yesterday's mail:

1. A water bill which I am more than happy to pay. Running water is easily worth $25 a month.

2. A "last chance warranty" notice for the car I rolled 2 years ago.

3. The first issue of my TV Guide renewal subscription. I don't really use it much for the show listings, I just like to read the other stuff. And I can get it for 25 cents an issue. And as an added bonus, Josh Halloway from "Lost" was on the cover.

4. Tickets. Concert tickets. For Def Leppard AND REO Speedwagon AND Styx. I know! I'm so excited. It's going to be totally awesome. The concert isn't until April so I will be humongously pregnant, but I got aisle seats so I should be okay. And the baby better get used to loud 80's music. She will be growing up with two brothers who already know all the words to "Living On A Prayer" and spontaneously sing "Mr. Roboto."

Baby News

Today it happened. I had to wear maternity pants and a maternity shirt. Up until now I have been able to get away with one or the other. But I have decided that unless the shirt is very long, I should wear maternity clothes. Believe me, no one wants to see my pregnant belly.

I haven't blogged about the baby lately. I'm never quite sure just what I'm comfortable sharing on the world wide web. But I can tell you that the baby is a girl, which we're thrilled about, and that she is scheduled to arrive in early June as long as she doesn't decide to be early.

I have been studying baby name books for the last month or so and have some ideas about names, but we won't decide for sure until we meet her. (No smart alleck comments from the peanut gallery about waiting a week to name her. You know who you are!) It will be a Bible name in some form and will probably start with an A or a J since the rest of our names start with those letters. I know that kind of limits our choices, but my favorites fit the bill anyway.

She has started to kick a little. Not enough for anyone but me to know but just enough to remind me a few times a day that she is, in fact, in there.

A mom of one of my students gave me 5 boxes of clothes last week and after going through them, I am sure that I won't have to buy clothes for this child until she's 5. And another couple that we've known since childhood is giving us a crib, stroller, and car seat. What a blessing it is to be surrounded by such generous people.

So all in all, the whole baby thing has been going okay. God put this baby in my heart long before he put her in my belly and I am convinced that He is in charge of the whole thing. So I will eat pickles and peanut butter (not together) and enjoy this time with my baby. And I know I've said it before, but this really is the last one. Really.

Bathtime

Me: Boys, it's time to take a shower.

Adam: Do we have to? I don't want to.

Me: Yes. I don't want you to be the stinky kid in class.

Josh(whispering): Mom, I don't think you can make Adam not be stinky.

In case you're ever on Millionaire...

This was on my page-a-day online calendar today. It's just a bunch of random trivia. I thought this was interesting. George Burns...okay. Groucho Marx...have to find. Morgan Freeman...great. Alanis Morissette...huh?!

Actors who have played God

George Burns

Mel Blanc

Martin Sheen

Graham Chapman

Val Kilmer

Groucho Marx

Sandra Bernhard

Robert Mitchum

Morgan Freeman

Robert Morley

George Plimpton

James Garner

Alanis Morissette

Something's Fishy

Conversation between a student and I in the hall today:

Me: "L., you have to tell me when you go to the restroom. I need to know where you are."

L.: *stares*

Me: "L. Do you understand? You have to ask before you leave the room."

L.: "Shrimp! I smell shrimp!"

(Sigh...just another day in kindergarten.)

Got News?

Is it wrong that I get all my news from John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Huckleberries Online? John and Stephen are funny and I really enjoy their shows, but my favorite news source is HBO. It's the first place I visit everyday that I go online. I can always count on DFO to keep me up to date on what's happening in our little town. Since I discovered HBO, I have been better able to form an opinion and comment on things that I wouldn't have a clue about otherwise. And I know more about local and national politics than I ever have before. Not to mention the movie, book, and food reviews, great northwest photos, and all around interesting local info.

But, my favorite part of HBO is the people. I only know a few in real life, but I sometimes feel like I know many of them. Katrina, my real life friend, was my inspiration to blog in the first place. Bob makes me laugh with his creative and sarcastic comments. Phil makes me want to homeschool every time I read about his adventures with his son. I am reminded of God's amazing grace when Kendra shares her stories. OrangeTV never lets me down with his restaurant advice. DFO has encouraged me to blog more by sharing my blog with the HBO world. The Stickman has helped me to see the beauty in a stick and where it comes from. And no one has ever made me want to pick up and go to England just to meet someone new like Marmitetoasty.

I love going into the comments section just to see what everyone is thinking and saying on any given day. I am never disappointed. There is always something interesting or educational or funny as can be. And I love visiting the blogs of other North Idaho bloggers. I really never know just what I might find.

So thanks to DFO and the HBO regulars for enlightening me, inspiring me, and making me laugh every day.

Show and Tell Day

Today we had:

*a very cute American foxhound puppy named Copper
*a baby doll who is not "a stinky baby"
*a blue light saber that L. will use to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween (It's good to plan ahead I guess.)
*a headlight (a flashlight on a band that you can wear around your head)
*a china doll on a carousel horse (given to J. by her big sister)
*two bouncy balls (complete with demonstration on just how high they can actually bounce in the classroom)
*2 pictures of M. and her friends
*a giant "my little pony" named Pinky Pie that talks
*a hand held electronic game with games including Spongebob, Disney Princesses and Dora the Explorer
*a digital camera that is "shiny and even shows the pictures on the back"

P.S. In chapel today, our memory verse was found in 1 Corinthians 6:20. But apparently it can also be found in 1 Correctly 6:20, 1 Crispian 6:20 and 1 Coorinas 6:20.

A Few More Things To Be Happy About

Friday, December 21st was the last day of school before Christmas break. So when I got back this week, I had the last few days of my "5 Things To Be Happy About" calendar to enjoy. Here are a few of my holiday and end of the year favorites:

*winter break from school
*stringing popcorn and cranberries
*a morning's hibernating
*night lights
*poinsettias as housewarming gifts
*a buffet spread
*breathing deeply
*reading "Goodnight Moon"
*pajamas all day
*joy to the world
*warming up by the fire
*nurturing a child's imagination
*travelogues
*an elaborate coat of arms
*peanut butter on apple slices
*playing footsie
*generosity
*standing by someone you love
*proposing a toast
*a mean game of solitaire
*donating to charity
*creature comforts

Today IS A Snow Day

They said it was going to snow. And they were right. I will trust my local weather people from now on...or at least until they're wrong again.

There is nothing better than getting up, turning on the tv, seeing your school's name followed by the word closed, and then going back to bed. (Actually after all that I couldn't sleep and ended up getting up anyway. But just knowing that I could go back to bed was all I needed.)

On second thought, one thing is better than that. An afternoon nap on a snow day.

Today Is Not A Snow Day

This is the second day back to school after Christmas vacation, and I admit that it's been better than December. The craziness of that month makes an "active" class even more "active." We have actually learned two new letters and started to add. Not bad for two days. And I can still see some of the top of my desk which is usually covered with drawings and papers and books and a variety of other things that magically appear throughout the day. So all in all, it hasn't been bad if you don't count having to get up early and driving on the icy roads.

But still, yesterday when there was a glimmer of hope for a snow day, I was hoping that just maybe we'd get to stay home today. All the weather people were saying this BIG storm was coming our way. All kinds of warnings about inches and inches of snow on the way were all over the tv and radio. We even had calls come in to the school office to see if we were cancelling school yesterday before a flake even fell. And so, as I lay down to go to sleep last night, I listened carefully for the wind to blow in the storm that would allow me to have a pajama day with my family.

But...this morning at 6:00 the alarm went off and I got up and looked out the window. Guess what? Not a snowflake fell all night. Well, I thought, maybe it's worse than it looks. Maybe it snowed in town. So I turned on the tv to see if there were any school closures. There were a few delays in the areas that always seem to be delayed, but no closures. Sigh.

So here I am. My students are at library and I should be grading papers, but it was supposed to be a snow day, so I'll blog instead.

And there's always hope for tomorrow. They say it's supposed to snow tonight.

1/1/08

Happy New Year!!

Time flies whether you're having fun or not.

(In case you're wondering, I am having fun.)