The Treasure Hunt

Bob put together an AMAZING treasure hunt filled with clues, unscrambling scrabble tiles, putting together puzzles, etc.  It resulted in the PlayStation Move! 

SUPER awesome Harry Potter Spells game that put YOU in the game!!

A Merry Little Christmas

Sledding

Before and After

Alayna's Solo

It’s beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Marisa

It has been wonderful to have Marisa home. She was busy this week with all her doctor appointments to complete her mission papers. She will have to have her wisdom teeth taken out this summer and is definitely NOT looking forward to that.

She also went to eat lunch at school with Alayna.

Solo Time

Alayna auditioned for and got the solo in the Grace Notes concert this week. She practiced really hard and did an amazing job. I am surprised at how fearless she is. Bob will post the video later today. Her teacher acknowledged her during the concert and told everyone about her OPUS accomplishments and even said, “It’s no surprise as this runs in her family”. I thought that was very sweet!

Snow Day

We did have a crazy snow day. (See post below for a more detailed account). But we did get to spend time together playing clue and eating goodies that arrived! We also made homemade tortillas!

After the Snow Storm

1^st Time Ever in Limousine

Our friends (one who drives limos as a side job) took us out on the town to see some amazing Christmas lights!

Why I would KILL for a Snow blower

Why I would KILL for a Snow blower

We had a huge blizzard hit On Wednesday night into Thursday. When I woke up (from sleeping in, insert a giant Hallelujah here), I decided that shoveling needed to be done right away since we got over a foot of snow and I knew if we didn’t clear it now it would freeze over and be even more beastly.

I dressed appropriately: workout pants, compression socks, $1 Wal-Mart boots, a ratty thermal shirt, Tyler’s coat and Tyler’s hat. I was truly a beauty to behold. I asked my childeren for help, they all looked at me like I was an alien with a purple head. Tyler summed it up when he said, “Mom, it’s our day off so we shouldn’t have to work”. Good thing I didn’t have the shovel in my hand yet.

I shuffled my way out and started shoveling the foot of snow which I joyously found had an inch of ice underneath. After I was out about an hour, Bob made Tyler and Alayna come out. Part of the problem is that Bob can’t shovel because of his lung problems and we can’t afford a snow blower. Personally, I feel that when you move to the sucky state of Iowa, (that’s right-I said it) they should give you a welcome gift of “The Amazing Snowblower”. It should be a law.

We had huge gusts with 55 mile an hour winds and it hurled small pieces of snow into our faces which felt like daggers. It hurt. We kept plugging away. My nose was running down my face and then my snot froze. I resembled the guys in Dumb and Dumber….made me even more attractive. Alayna slipped and fell and then I found her just laying there eating the snow. That’s helpful. Then I turn around to Tyler who could NOT decide what to wear. Apparently snow clothes have to be the most comfortable. He kept “going in to change” which is code for “Mom, you freak, I don’t want to be out here with you”. He ended up with Sanuks, 2 pair of socks, workout pants, a coat and Bob’s face mask hat which pulled Tyler’s face and looked hilarious. I will say that for a strapping teenage boy, he wasn’t much help.

One of our neighbors took pity on us and helped me finish the bottom part of the driveway with his snowblower. I almost cried, but they would have frozen to my face along with the snot so I refrained. I took a hot bath and a nap, especially now that my back is dead, only to look out the window to see the driveway and side walk are covered again. Stupid, stupid snow.