Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow…

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

No, wait! That’s not a dream. That giant storm with HUGE snowflakes that dropped for about 24 hours was real! Dear storm, you traitor! You were supposed to hit during the week when we had school! I even did a snow dance, which was embarrassing to say the least. Oh well, I guess I will be glad in June when we don’t have a snow day to make up.

(Alayna shoveling)

(Ty and Alayna shoveling)

(Then I notice that they are NOT shoveling- Alayna is busy burying Tyler.  Can you see him?)

(Making a snow angel)

We did, however, love the snow on Christmas Eve. This is the 1^st year we didn’t make goodie plates to take to friends because we were worried we would get stuck in the snow. Speaking of which…

(can you see the ruler?)

Unasked for Exercise with an Ox in the Mire

We spent 45 minutes shoveling the hideous amount of snow off our driveway after church today because the van got stuck and we had to dig it out. Ugh! I didn’t take pictures because I wasn’t in the mood. So, you missed me in blue sweat pants, wearing marisa’s boots with my church outfit on, with a scarf wrapped around my head and black sunglasses on. I looked like a cross between Jackie O and the Michelin Man. Then Alayna had her church clothes on with pajama pants underneath and Kayla was out in just her church clothes and boots. I have no clue how her legs didn’t just freeze right off, especially since its 18° but feels like 9°.

Christmas Photo Blog

We have had the most wonderful Christmas break so far. We are spending a ton of time together as a family relaxing and it has been perfect. We celebrated as soon as school got out on Wednesday. We went shopping at Kohl’s because they had a huge sale and I had a 30% off coupon! So, we got Tyler several new pairs of jeans, since he seems to have grown a few inches the past couple of months and looks like he is expecting a flood. Then, we went as a family to see Despicable Me. That is seriously one of the most adorable movies I have seen!! I can’t wait to see it again!

Christmas Eve:

(Tyler is the only one who was helping me make Christmas cookies.  See how much help he was?  jk!  We made a small batch just for us)

(We only made 2 color icing.  Know what's sad?  It’s Sunday and they still aren’t decorated.)

(The new BOM reading chart that Kayla made for our BOM challenge!  She laced ribbon through it and everything.  So glad we have someone creative around)

(You like how Kayla looks like a zombie?)

Christmas:

(Chess tournament)

(She built a barbie car from an old erector set)

(New monkey pajama pants)

(Kayla with her new bow)

(The Christmas Tornado)

(It doesn’t take much to attract Marisa’s attention)

(Our new flatscreen TV!  So excited!  It replaces the old one where we always had to have a rocking chair in the kitchen)

A special thank you to the people who gave us “Just Dance!”  Best Game ever:

Everyone Keeps fighting over my Snuggie!

(We have a monk?)

Karate Kid Movie Marathon, Started New Puzzle, and played Mexican Train

(Christmas Crepes)

Misc

*Survivor party- we had our survivor finale party this week.

*Finals week- Girls had their finals this week. Then they came over to my school in the afternoons to help as teacher aids. The boy students I have were tripping and falling all over each other for a chance to talk to them.

Battle Strategies

Tyler was playing League of legends, his favorite game on the computer.

Tyler: “I just spent 80 minutes on that game!”

Me: “I could literally hear your brain cells dying.”

Tyler: “But I was learning vital battle strategies, mom!”

Me: “Really? When exactly are you going to use those?”

Tyler: “Hey- someday I might like John Conner, leading the resistance against the machines. You never know, mom!”

“If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance”

“If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance”

Delay!

We had lots more snow this week and lucked out with a delay on Thursday. If you were up at 5:30am and listened ever so slightly, you could hear someone singing the Hallelujah chorus in 4 part harmony…that was me! It felt so great to sleep a little more. I wish school had been cancelled though, since I slid straight through a stop sign, but I would rather not add any extra days onto this summer. I will include the awesome picture of Alayna holding a chunk of ice.

(ALayna playing in snow in basketball court with beautiful sunset)

Whistle while you work

Marisa worked 3 days this week. I forgot to get a picture of her in her Hyvee clothes, so I just got one with her tag. She said she really loves it but has noticed how her legs and feet hurt from standing so long.

Date Night

Bob and I had to go renew our temple recommends at the stake center this week, so we took the opportunity to go out on an ice cream date. On Friday night, Tyler was at a friend’s birthday slumber party, Kayla had a bowling meet, and then the girls went to a huge Christmas Party, so Bob, Alayna and I thought we should party too! So, we went out for dinner and Alayna was in heaven with her soda, chips and salsa, and pepperoni pizza.

All the other stuff

Marisa had another wonderful orchestra concert on Monday night.

The kids had a great time at a very fun joint activity on Wednesday night. Alayna made a beautiful candle holder for Activity Days.

Alayna was Star Student of the week so she was able to bring in pictures and share all her favorite things with her class. They also got to wear PJs to school on Friday and watch a movie.

Tyler gave his very 1^st talk in sacrament meeting today and did such a great job! He also had his board of review and has earned his Tenderfoot and 2^nd Class in scouts! Whoo hoo Tyler!

Our whole family sang with the ward choir today for the Christmas Program.

Weak Things become strong

Just wanted to share something cool I learned. I heard from another teacher, that every year during the summer, she takes whatever unit she taught during the past year that she didn’t love and fix it until it becomes the best unit. Well, I teach Geography Terms, Canada, Latin America, and then US Government (which I have HATED). So, I decided to give it a shot.

First, I ended up discovering an AWESOME website from another teacher. Its called www.icivics.org and after each branch of the government that we studied, we would get the laptops for the day and play the games such as being president for the day, running your own law firm where you match up clients with lawyers according to what amendment fits, etc. It was such a huge success that most kids went and played it at home and MANY parents were playing along with us. Now how cool is that??

Then, instead of the test I usually give, we had a Table Team Tournament (proud to say this was all my idea). So, it was a big competition. Each team had to answer a page of questions about the Executive Branch. If they got all questions right, they earned a task card where they had to build the Capitol building in 3 colors of play dough and include the 3 main parts of the building. Then they had to answer questions for the Legislative Branch and if they got them right, they earned another task card where they each had to cover their desktops in shaving cream and using their finger to list the 3 types of court cases. Lastly, they answered questions about the Judicial Branch and then earned a task card where they had to count out as many beans as we have US Senators. There was a bonus round of Daily Geography Questions and then they had to build a volcano, lake, and plateau out of play dough. It was a HUGE success and guess what? They almost all listed this as their favorite unit on the 1^st semester survey. Now how cool is that??

The Balance of Life

I had another really strange thing happen at work this week. Last week, I had a student completely lie to his parents about something and the whole issue kind of blew up and I spent Friday night in tears. (Sometimes that’s the crappy part about being a teacher, but thank goodness I am meticulous at documenting behavior.) But this week, I had 4 different kids bring me in a little special treat just for me. One boy even made me a ceramic cup that he painted in red for “Mrs.Heart”. How sweet is that? The ultimate though, which completely touched my heart, was a letter I got in my mailbox at school. Apparently, the 8^th grade health teacher assigned all her students to write a letter to someone who was been very influential and made a difference in their lives. I got a beautiful letter from a student I had 2 years ago. I have to remind myself that life usually balances itself out and this week my sweet students made that possible.

The Blizzard I Prayed For

The Blizzard I Prayed For

Apparently when you pray for a blizzard, you must specify the time you would like said blizzard to arrive. I knew a storm was coming in this weekend and prayed hard it would hit by Saturday and the ward party would be cancelled. “Why”? you ask? Because I had to sing and was getting super nervous about it. Anyway, I was hoping all the way up til the time we left that it would be cancelled but no luck.

It ended up being a very fun party and dinner. The girls were part of a YW skit, Alayna sang with the Primary and I sang with a trio “What Child Is This” (which I think turned out ok?) The coolest number though was the high priests who did a dance with those lights sticks attached and totally in the back.

(Kayla is 3rd girl from the left and Marisa is 2nd from the right with a hat on)

(High Priest show in the dark)

(Alayna is on the far right with a pink stripe on)

The blizzard hit late last night with 50 mph winds and a wind chill making the temp feel like -20. So, church was canceled today <insert the happy dance here>. I was able to sleep 7 hours longer than I do on weekdays and it was pure heaven. It has been great to spend time together as a family.

It was also snowing and cold Saturday morning so the big scout ski trip was cancelled and Bob and Tyler were very bummed. Especially since they went all the way to the church at 6:30 am because they didn’t get the message before they left.

News from Marisa

Marisa decided she needed to get a job wince she was spending more than she was earning. So, she applied to the grocery store here called Hyvee where she knows several people who work there. I told her to go by and introduce herself to the manager. He ended up having her stay for an interview right there and then and she was hired on the spot. Now how cool is that?? She filled out paperwork for several hours on Saturday and starts her training this week. She is so excited!

We also found out she was accepted into the Neista and Metro Honors Orchestra! She will be performing in both of those in January.

She had a cool concert this week that combined the Chamber Orchestra and the top High school jazz band. It was a very entertaining concert.

Kayla: Key club, Bowling, and Band

Kayla is very excited to be in the Pep Band. They start this month playing at the basketball games. She had a wonderful band concert on Monday. It was the freshman choir, orchestra, and band. She did such a great job. In Key Club this week, they made blankets for an in town charity.

She did awesome at the home bowling game this week. She got her best score yet and even had 2 strikes and 2 spares. It was a little hard bowling with a very bruised tail bone but she kicked butt anyway!

Misc

Tyler finished building his CO2 car. He made it into a black and orange shark. When they raced it at the school though, his wheel popped off. He absolutely LOVES show choir too.

Alayna has been learning about pioneers at school. For Christmas, they are doing a gift exchange in their class but everyone has to make the gift. Alayna came home with a great idea all on her own. She decided to make some homemade playdough, shape it into a world and say “You mean the world to me” on it. What a great idea!

The girls made some really cool treats in a jar for YW this week.

If anyone needs a good laugh…

Hart Jib Jab

Tangled with Ketchup and an Icy Butt

Tangled

A sweet friend of ours told us about a movie special yesterday. If you brought 5 cans to donate to the food pantry, then you got a free movie ticket. So, Bob took Kayla, Tyler, and Alayna to go see “Tangled” in 3D. Marisa went later that night with a friend to see the same movie. They said the movie was adorable and Alayna thinks 3D movies are the best invention ever.

Ketchup and an icy butt

Poor Kayla had a really bad day on Friday. At lunch, she accidentally spilled ketchup all down the front of her shirt (when in itself, that would make for a bad day in my book). Then she went to her bowling meet (over an hour away) and did poorly on both games (so bad that she wouldn’t tell me the score). Then, when the bus stopped for dinner, she slipped at the top step of the bus and her poor butt hit every step on the way down to the hard icy ground below, all in front of the entire HS bowling team. She came home frozen (her toes were numb, feet were yellow and she was shaking) and ticked. Tyler and Alayna made her some hot coco with marshmallows to feel better. She ended up with a sore shoulder and very bruised tailbone!

Snow Storm

We had our 1^st snow storm this week. Unfortunately it was piddly (about 3 inches) and didn’t cancel school. I firmly believe that if it snows, it should snow hard enough to make it worth my while. Instead, we have just had freezing temperatures (today the high is 14) and tomorrow our wind-chill will make it -4°. Arizona here we come?!

Christmas Tree

Ok, so I may have gotten our Christmas card (if you can even call it that) out on the 1^st day of December, but we didn’t get the décor and tree up until today. I know. I’m lame. But I did have ALL my shopping done and all presents wrapped by Thanksgiving Day. That should count for something right?? I tried the “Christmas-email-card-so-i-don’t-have-to-write-anything-or –mail-anything” card. Here is the link to our card if you haven’t seen it yet.

Christmas card

Some things never change. All our tree lights went out last year and I was supposed to buy new ones. But, I, uh, forgot. So, our tree looks great but doesn’t dazzle yet. I will go get some lights tomorrow. We decided to “branch out” (yes pun attended) and change the layout of our living room and put the tree in a new spot. That was a big step for me. I’ll post pics.

Misc:

~Marisa was accepted for a job shadow and was able to go this week. She went to a travel and tourism office (since she is interested in travel and international studies). She really enjoyed it.

~Marisa also had a bad day on Saturday. Then, I came down the hall and found this note on her door. I was dying!

~Tyler has been doing awesome in show choir. If anyone is interested, one of the moms videoed a rehearsal so the kids could practice the dance moves and you can see Tyler pretty well. Show choir is definitely his thing! He loves it!

~Kayla has been reading Harry Potter like crazy. She finished Book 4 this week and is flying through Book 5.