Spring Break- Day 2

We took the kids down to Wasserhabn for the day. It’s an indoor water park. They had a great time and played for over 4 hours. I spent most of my time in the hot tub and just “gelin’”. Is that even a word? Alayna and I still have head colds and now our throats are starting to hurt. Not fun…but We got potato pancake mix for dinner. Whoohoo!

Report from Marisa: She is having the time of her life. Yesterday they got to go to a really cool surf shop, spend 3 hours at the beach, go to a BBQ, and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening at downtown Disney. She is exhausted but says its all worth it. I hope she will take time to post pics and blog all of her week when she gets back. They board the buses late tonight and should arrive here really late tomorrow night. Our spring break is slipping away…

Spring Break Day 1

 

Walk/run/biking outing:

Playing in the backyard: Swings, basketball, etc.

A surprise for Marisa when she returns:

Football with dad:

Puzzle I started on Saturday, finished today!!

We are Singing in the Rain

March 14

We are Singing in the Rain

It actually warmed up enough (44 degrees) to melt all the snow! It’s the 1^st time the snow has melted since the first snowfall over 3 months ago. We can finally see the grass. Whoo-hoo! We also had our 1^st thunderstorm of the season. It was spectacular. I almost grabbed an umbrella to run outside to do a dance and “sing in the rain”, but I have a suspicion I am a lightning magnet, so I refrained.

(Look!  No SNOW!!)

The Report from Orlando

Marisa left on Thursday after school for Orlando. They had 5 or 6 huge luxury motor coaches (buses) and they drove straight there. She said they are staying in an amazing hotel (and Sarah Palin is staying there too so Marisa has been keeping her eyes out for her!) Yesterday they spent the morning at “Animal Kingdom” and the afternoon at the “Epcot Center”. She said it was the best place ever! She got to eat crepes in France! This morning, her orchestra did a clinic (in a recording studio I think?) She is spending the afternoon at “Magic Kingdom” searching for some hot princes.

http://parklink.disney.go.com/parklink/dis/pi/missionspacevideo/2010-03-13/31af8aa548812910

Alayna, Alayna, Let down your blond hair

Alayna auditioned for and got the part of Rapunzel in the 2^nd grade musical. She worked super hard on learning her lines and the music. We went to see it on Tuesday and she was fantastic! Singing, dancing, and acting are really her thing. Bob will post some clips from the show.

(Another Rapunzel??)

We also went to her art show. I took pictures of her art so you could see it. One of her drawings made us die laughing. We thought she had drawn our family. She informed us that it wasn’t our family- it was just “a” family that she had drawn. Whew! Guess who we thought they were…

(We thought: Marisa far left, Kayla in the pink leotard next to her, Alayna in the picture frame above her head, me in the turtle neck, tyler in the overalls, and Bob is the stick with a balloon head in the green picture frame.)

And the winner is…

Me! Well, I got 3^rd place in the school staff wellness competition (behind the PE teacher who won) I won $30 and was pretty proud. So, I went out and rewarded myself with some new workout clothes. They are starting another competition after spring break. I may do that too.

Spring Break

We are finally on Spring Break!!!!!! Kayla spent the night at a friend’s house doing an all night Harry Potter marathon. We watched 2012 as a family yesterday and I started my puzzle. Sadly, Alayna and I have started off our break with a bad head cold. Always so fun. We plan to do lots of fun and relaxing stuff!

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. - Doug Larson

March 7, 2010

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. - Doug Larson

Guess what?? The sun still exists! We were seriously beginning to wonder. Not only does it still exist, but the temps finally went over 40. We made a record this year- 90 straight days where the temps never went above 40 degrees.

You can go outside?

We were SO excited the temps started to rise! So, on Saturday, when the temp went up to 38, us girls went out to walk/run for an hour. It was invigorating to have the sun shining down on our faces and breathe in the fresh air!

A real Red Robin

We went out as a family for dinner this week. We ended up at Red Robin due to a coupon misunderstanding, but we really enjoyed being out together. While we were eating, the Red Robin came over to say hello. So, we were able to get a picture of Alayna with him with Marisa’s cell phone.

 

Mom’s bragging corner and miscellaneous info

*Tyler placed 3^rd in the school cup stacking finals. He absolutely LOVES cup stacking. I guess I need to get him his own set of stacking cups now. Way to go, Tyler!

*Alayna got 3^rd place for curling in 2^nd grade PE winter Olympics. She was recognized in front of the whole 2^nd grade for it. Way to go, Alayna!

*Tyler now wears a size 10 shoe!! The same size as Bob! When did that happen? No wonder his toes were pushing their way through his other shoes.

*Tyler attended a scout merit badge clinic in Iowa City yesterday. He took some fun classes about chemistry.

*Marisa, Kayla, and Alayna went to go see the high school production of Sleeping Beauty yesterday and they really enjoyed it.

Hot boiling plastic lava, a dinosaur and Oreos for science?

A snowflake went up my nose

A snowflake went up my nose. I am pretty sure that’s the first time it has ever happened to me. This freak flurry storm came out of nowhere and I was thinking “Be Positive! Take a deep breath and enjoy the beauty”. But then, I sniffed a snowflake up my nose! That’s what I get for trying out that whole positive attitude thingy.

On a side note, there are some way cool snowmen around here. This is one down the street: notice his Mohawk and the sweet eyebrows, not to mention the arms. He is missing an eye, so technically he can be a pirate. Oh, a pirate with a Mohawk? Too cool!

A 4-day weekend with Spongebob Monopoly

We had staff development day on Monday and the kids had a blast staying home and enjoying the freedom while I sat in an endless pile of meetings (Yes, you heard me! A Pile!) Since it was so cold, the kids spent their days off inside battling each other on Spongebob Monopoly. I told them they needed to be nice and maybe let Alayna win sometimes, but that was met with, “But, mom! She is kicking our butts! She has all the money.” Speaking of how smart Alayna is….

How hot does it have to get to melt plastic?

Those of you who know me know that I am extremely schedule oriented and habitual. That’s how I roll. In the mornings, I get Alayna up, get her breakfast, and I grab my shower. I set the timer for 15 minutes so she knows when to start getting dressed. Well, one particular morning this week, I strayed from the routine (never EVER stray from the routine!) and I had Alayna “set the timer” for that morning. When I got out of the shower, it smelt like the house was on fire. I raced out and asked her if she was cooking which said she wasn’t. I noticed the microwave still going. I opened it up and there was hot boiling plastic lava. Was it the plate that melted? What was that? Later, after it cooled, we discovered that it was the microwave cover that melted into a plastic plate. Apparently she had cooked for 15 minutes instead of timed. Speaking again of how smart Alayna is…

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! Oreos for science??

We have a white board on our refrigerator where we write down items we need to get at the store. The last few weeks it has said things like “Parachute: for Tyler’s science project” and “nutella for French class”, etc. Yesterday, I saw the following on the board “oreos /mint oreos for science project”. Hmmm? Who still has a science project to do? So, I came in and asked the kids who wrote it. Alayna sheepishly replied that she was the one. When I questioned what type of amazing “science project” she would be doing that would require oreos, she simply stated that she didn’t have one, “I just want oreos”! That little stinker! She knows if they need something for school I get it for them, no questions asked.

The electric violin

Marisa was gone yesterday for 15 hours to Dubuque for another show choir competition. Again, the judges pointed her out to say what a good job she did. She was sure dead tired today though!

The cute girl with the clarinet

This week Kayla participated in the Band Solo/Ensemble contest. Marisa and I were able to go in the room with her where she was judged. I videotaped it, so hopefully Bob can post it for you. She did such a great job and has really come along nicely on the clarinet! I cant wait til she is in the marching band!

(Waiting to go see Kayla’s solo)

(Waiting with Jessica for Kayla to do her solo)

A Diabetic walk with a jolly green dinosaur

Kayla’s close friend, Brenna, is diabetic. This week they had a huge “Walk to Cure Diabetes” at the mall. Kayla and several friends spent the night at Brenna’s house and then they all participated in the walk at the mall. They even saw lots of missionaries volunteering there. They saw the dinosaur mascot changing out of his costume and asked if they could try it on. So, he let them try it on and even walk around and be the mascot for a while (except Kayla cause the costume was too big).