Back to Normal and the Epitome of Stupidity

January 25, 2009

Medieval Festival: Kayla’s team finally had their Middle Ages Festival after being cancelled twice because of the unbearable cold. J She was one of the “ladies” so she got to wear a beautiful dress. They had a King and Queen, guards, Lords and Ladies, and even peasants. They have a talents show and even do a procession through the school. They have a big lunch too. Kayla said it was so much fun! The pictures aren’t very good because each time I walked in, a whole bunch of kids would start yelling “Hi Mrs. Hart!!”, “Hey, look, its Mrs. Hart”. So, I had to sneak pictures so I wasn’t a distraction.

Geography Bee: Another teacher and I ran the school Geography Bee this week. It was so fun and all the kids did such a great job. We start Battle of the Books on February 4 and I will be running most of the matches. I am very excited about that too.

Pinewood Derby: Tyler had his final pinewood derby. He didn’t win, but he sure made a sweet looking car. He was so proud of it. It lasted over 2 hours which I was not happy about since my book was in the car but I wasn’t willing to go out in the -20 wind-chill to retrieve it.

Basketball: Tyler FINALLY had a game on Saturday!! Almost every game and practice this season has been cancelled because of weather. He made three baskets!!

Epitome of Stupidity: Ok, so here is my embarrassing moment of the week. I had to race to go to the bathroom between two classes (they only have a 4 minute passing period so you have to be quick) When I was done, my cell phone fell into the toilet!!! I gasped VERY loudly, grabbed it quickly and then freaked because I am a MAJOR germaphobe! I dried to dry it and clean it (as well as disinfect my hands about 20 times) but it was to no avail. It died a slow and agonizing death. I thought I would die the two days I went without one. I didn’t realize what an appendage it had become. I am proud to announce that I went and bought a new slide phone and am now back in the loop.

Dog-sitting: We babysat Whitney and Taylor again, this time for 9 days while their owners went to Cancun (insert massive jealousy). They are very well behaved and Alayna sure loves when they would run into her room to wake her up each morning.

Talk: Marisa gave a great talk in church today about the new YW value: virtue. You should ask her for it.

I guess that’s our week in a nutshell. Would LOVE to hear from everyone else!!!

Snow day fun!

Kayla attempting a snow angel in 7 inches of snow








Alayna trying to make a snow man







Tyler taking a break from shoveling







Where's Kayla?







Alayna stuck

Hypothermia and Jealousy

Winter In Iowa

When it's winter time in Iowa,

And the gentle breezes blow,

About seventy miles an hour

And it’s fifty-two below.

You can tell you're in Iowa

cause the snow's up to your butt,

And you take a breath of winter air

And your nose holes both freeze shut.

The weather here is wonderful,

So I guess I'll hang around,

I could NEVER leave Iowa.

My feet are frozen to the ground

(I don’t know the author)


This week was an absolute doozy!!! Here was our schedule:

Monday: Massive snow storm, early release from school; Bob had to work
Tuesday: Massive snow storm, late arrival schedule to school; Bob had to work
Wednesday: Massive snow storm, school cancelled; Bob had to work
Thursday: Life threatening wind chill, dropping to -41, no school; Bob had to work
Friday: Life threatening wind chill (frostbite sets in in only 10 minutes), hit a record low of -51, no school; Bob had to work
Saturday: We finally got out of the negative double digits so we dared to venture outside to get groceries.

Cancelled this week:
YW, scouts, basketball, violin lessons, bowling team, Geo bee, band, chamber orchestra, Kayla’s medieval festival, our annual staff luncheon, etc.

As you can imagine, I consider the “hazardous weather” a ginormous blessing (and yes, that’s an actual word!) Being stuck inside, all warm and cozy, snuggled in a cocoon of my cashmina blanket, watching the giant snowflakes fall…well, it’s a little bit like heaven. It was almost like a mini-vacation. Thank heavens for the Wii!! We were stuck inside for many days and the Wii with its 4 controllers saved the day as well as my sanity! We were able to catch up on Lost (sweetness), 24 (double sweetness), Superstars of dance, American Idol, and other shows. We were spoiled, I think. This week we have to get back to work.

I must say I am very jealous of those in L.A. who have been experiencing a heat wave. It's just not fair. Or those family members in Phoenix who have had absolute perfect weather. We envy you!
Marisa got SOOO lucky. Because school was cancelled three days in a row all finals were permanently cancelled. She was ecstatic as you can imagine. I never got out of any finals.

TMI (too much info) alert: We are dog-sitting again this week. It was way too cold for them to go out to do their business. But one day they wanted to go out anyway. When they came back in we heard something hard hitting the floor. At first, it appeared that her poop had frozen on its way out and stuck. Later we found that stones from under our porch had literally frozen to her butt. Yuck!

Until next week…

You know you live in Iowa when...

Granted the following will not convince any of you that Iowa is, in fact, a great place to live. But, alas, I share with you because it is hilarious. (A compilation of things I have gathered. They are all very true…well almost true!)

You know you live in Iowa when:

1. Snow tires are standard on your car.

2. You wear shorts when it's 50 degrees out in March, but bundle up and complain in August when it goes below 60 degrees

3. You have gone trick-or-treating in 2 feet of snow.

4. Your school classes were cancelled because of cold

5. Your school classes were cancelled because of heat

6. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day

7. You don't put too much effort into hairstyles due to wind and weather.

8. You know you should listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.

9. Weather is 90% of your conversation

10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are
filled with snow.

11. You know all 5 seasons: almost winter, winter, still
winter, road construction & DARN HOT!

12. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car. (If we had one, this would be true)

Primary Quarterly

This pic doesnt do it justice.

Snow, dogs, and dancin'

January 11, 2009

Another chilly week has literally blown by!

1. We started back to school on Monday with a 2 hour delay because of the sheets of ice over the road. It was an unexpected delay so most of us were showered and dressed before we saw the delay. It didn’t stop me from hopping back into bed though.

2. We babysat the dogs Whitney and Taylor again. Tyler and Alayna are particularly good with them and I included some pics on the blog. I am not particularly fond of the whole “wet dog” smell, but they sure are good dogs.

3. Our family spent Friday night setting up for the Primary Quarterly Party that I was in charge of. I spent HOURS putting together FHE binders for every family in primary, a temple bingo game, sculptionary, and the breakfast. Even bought all the food. THEN…we got pounded! We got about 7-8 inches of snow! And the roads were slick so the party was cancelled. I was devastated in a way because no one got to see our beautiful set up and all that work. But I was happy in a way because I hopped back into bed until noon (I do have a valid reason for sleeping that long) Anyway, the Primary President took some quick pics on her phone before it was all torn down, so I will include them just so anyone can see them. It was all decorated in rainbow colors and looked awesome!

4. I am running the school Geography Bee along with another teacher this Wednesday. One of my students will be competing too. I also start running the Battle of the Books in February.

5. I don’t often recommend shows since people have such different tastes, but if you haven’t seen “Superstars of Dance” you really should watch an episode. Our family loves it!! There are 8 countries competing (Ireland, India, USA, Argentina, China, Russia, South Africa and Australia) and they do dances native to their country. They have groups, duets, and soloists. We have loved seeing the different cultures and stories behind them. The host is Michale Flatley from “Riverdance”. It really makes me think of my parents and how grateful I am that they raised us kids to appreciate and respect different cultures. We are now trying to do the same for our kids. I think it is on Monday Nights.

6. On another note I am ecstatic 24 starts again tonight and Lost this week. It has been entirely TOO long!

babysitting the dogs

Alayna and Taylor









Tyler, Alayna, Taylr, and Whitney (in the ballerina dress)









Tyler with Whitney and Taylor