School Canceled- Snow Day?

School was canceled this Monday due to snow. Now for those of you who live in snow, please don't laugh. It had also snowed on Sunday, they even canceled church! So with snow the next day as well, the rural areas would have been hard for the buses, so they say. But somehow the news crews made it around the rural area!

The kids enjoyed themselves and it saves us a trip to the mountains where there is a lot of snow! It was a great day of outside time and warm Burger King and hot chocolate. But as for this mom, it was nice to have the kids go back to school the next day.

Danger! Clear roads!

Snow Princess

Showing the dog tracks

Chucky Cheese

On January 1st we went to Chucky Cheese for a birthday party for John's friend Jake. The kids had a wonderful time. But what kid does not like Chucky Cheese! John was sad for the first half of the party. I finally pulled him aside and asked what was the matter. This is when I dicsovered HIS problem; the kids were not going to receive party bags. Somewhere I have done the kid wrong in expecting a gift for going to someone else's birthday! How am I ever going to undo this one? So I walked him over to the prize counter and showed him that all of the tickets he had been getting from the games were going to be used to buy his own prizes, instead of a goodie bag. Well that brought a smile because the tickets had been just enough, but when he found out that they could be traded for something better we had to hurry and get more tickets so we could go and spend them! Finally all was right in his world and he could eat his pizza now before we left. You see, he was so sad over no party bags that he refused to eat! What a character he is! Alison had a wonderful time at everything she did and ate. For her the prize counter was just the icing on the cake!

Brandon and John

Bob and Alison

Alison the Race Car Driver

Spencer, Jennifer's Boyfriend!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and hope that all of you did as well. That is Christmas day was wonderful because everyone was finally feeling better. The week before it all started with Alison, then Mark and finally John. Me, well so far so good. Besides, someone has to stay healthy enough to clean up after the sick ones!

We all got new pajamas and slippers on Christmas Eve and opened our presents from the Grandparents. Of course this was after reading the nativity from the Bible and stopping to sing the appropriate songs. I did not think that John would make it to the present part, but he did. That day he woke up telling me that it was time to open presents. Boy was he bummed when he discovered that he had to wait until after dinner and the story of Christ's birth! That boy did not eat a thing all day!

Christmas morning started at 7am and the gifts were done by 8am. Then it took about 2 hours to open the boxes and remove the toys from their tangled web of wires, plastic and rubber bands! John's theme this year: Transformers, of course! Alison's theme: baby doll and cute girl stuff. They each received some really neat gifts and the rest of the day was spent playing with all of them.

New pajamas!

Optimus Prime John

Alison: The Girl of Rock n' Roll

A New Addition

Well we have a new addition to our family. Mark is a huge car buff so he is always wanting something new. So I don't think he was really heart broken when we discovered the transmission in his Impala was going to need to be replaced. So we now have a new 2008 Honda Accord. I told him to make sure it had everything he wanted in it, under the hood, his choice of 2 or 4 doors and tires/ rims and the exact color he wanted. All of this generosity on my part because he is not allowed to trade it in for a long time!

One benefit of his traveling is that he is constantly driving new and different cars from the rental agency. This has helped our relationship because I am not asked to go test drive cars for fun on a date night! And he has walked around with a smile from ear to ear since the day he brought it home.

Me, well I am in love with the car! It feels sporty and stylish and I am sure I turn a few heads. I can say this because when you drive a SUV with kids in it, you don't feel or think any of those thoughts. Mark laughs when I say it feels sporty but I just remind him that when I drive it, there are no kids in it with me. This is what I am thinking when I drive it with a smile:

Oh what a wonderful feeling.

Oh what a wonderful day.

I get to listen to my music.

I don't have to stop fights.

I can get in and out faster.

No kids to buckle up.

Oh what a wonderful feeling.

Oh what a wonderful day.

Time to myself.

Time to play.