Groundhog Stew

So, Punxsutawney Phil told us last week that Spring would arrive early--guess who was WRONG?!? About midnight last night, the snow started falling for the third time this winter and yet again we woke up to God's beautiful snowscape. Luckily, we were blessed with a delayed school morning as opposed to another missed/make-up day. As much as I am ready for the warm, long days that lie ahead, I never semm to get tired of the glory of a snowy sunrise.

Be My Little Baby Bumblebee

Max in his first dress rehearsal for his spring showcase in May...

XLV

Pics from our Super Bowl party last night!!!

Lazy Weekend

The four of us (and our two canine friends) had a wonderful weekend just hanging out together. Saturday, we had some fun at the Area High School Swimming and Diving Championships where I got to see a lot of my former students shine in the pool. That night, we kept with the theme by watching my old basketball girls play their cross-town rivals, but now in high school. We got a lot of cleaning, playing and cooking done, and apparently, even just winging it this weekend wore our little Energizer Bunny out!

House Guest

Kinsey's first official job! Kinsey (and I) volunteered to dogsit for a friend of mine this weekend--a what a great weekend for a four-legged house guest it was! Ironically enough, our visitor was named Ellie, also! Kinsey did great work taking care of both of her Ellies this weekend!

Just another day...

So we are finally over the snow week and getting settled back into the old routine. For me, the January routine means a LOT of basketball! Kinsey really enjoys this year's group of girls and they really make her feel like she's a part of the team. In fact, I don't think she's missed one game yet!

With my classes starting to get settled again, it was nice to have a special guest speaker this week with their very own set of LUNGS! I always thought I knew what lungs looked like and would feel like, but I was quite suprised that my ideas were pretty off! What a wonderful and informative day it was! This job always keeps me on my toes! :)

What 4-Year Olds Ask Jesus

A lesson in Max's Cubbies class at church last night...check out the bottom right corner!!!

"Do you like chicken nuggets?"

Jammin' Jazzercise

Kinsey's Daisy troop took over the Jazzercise studio today for a lesson on health and fitness. The girls jumped and jived to a fun workout thanks to sweet Ms. Jenny!

Birthday Party

The Gang



The Gals



All the kids "played" in the basement (my kids seriously did choose to crate themselves!)

Totally Tubular, Funky, For Real, Radical Roller Skating

This morning, while Max was having a sleepover with Nan and Granddaddy, Kinsey and I met up with a school friend to try out the newly renovated roller skating rink in town. The girls (and moms) had great fun AND a good workout.

Makeover

Ellie with her new makeover to boost her spirits a bit!

Snowmageddon Day 3: Ice, Ice Baby

What a great way to spend our last day out in the snow. Conditions were a LOT slicker with the snow iced over. Tricky to walk on but FAST to sled on. We found a great, quiet spot on the golf course to slip, slide and be silly on!

Snowmageddon Sleepover

Tuesday, after we got word that we would be out for a third school day, we decided to pack our bags, pick up a pizza, and head over to the Griner HQ. After some night sledding, we enjoyed dinner followed by warm cookies and snow cream, and a lot of Wii fun!


Just Dance contest



We woke up to a beautiful sunrise (first sign of sun we'd seen since Saturday,) spent a while quietly playing Nintendo, then bundled up for the wind and the iced over hills.

Snowmageddon Day 2: The Ramp

Day two of our huge snow storm brought some fun with Dad. Unfortunately, the chickens kept Jack pretty busy on the first day, so the kids and I didn't get to play with him at all. We were pretty happy when he came home at lunchtime and was able to stay home for the remainder of the day. Heading out to sled in the yard again, we decided to "ramp up" the excitement--literally! We built a small jump out of a boogie board and hit the slopes. It was quite fun! Max particularly enjoyed the air time. Then we headed down the the neighboorhood pool to the biggest hill in our area. The kids in the 'hood had also built a jump at the bottom of that hill, although it was a bit rougher than ours. After a late lunch, we took a little rest to get ready for the night--Snowmageddon Sleepover with the Griners...

1.10.11

On a day of so much beauty, calm and purity, I guess it was only fitting that this was our "first baby" Emmett's last day with us. He has been sick since Thanksgiving, but this past week, his condition deteriorated very rapidly. The vet diagnosed him with lymphoma a while back, but the meds seemed to be working until recently. We decided today that it was time and a family friend of Jack's put him peacefully down for us. It was a beautiful, pristine day that I will always remember and felt the irony as we buried him in the bitter cold and surrounded by the silence of the snow.

Emmett has been my steadfast companion for almost 13 years, and while his role in the family changed once the kids arrived, my love for him never did.

I will miss you, buddy, but am sooo happy for you in your new home tonight. Run fast, bark loud, and of course, howl your little head off! ;)

Snowmageddon 2011

So, we went to bed last night with the snow falling furiously from the sky and about a half inch already on the ground and we woke up to a winter wonderland! Kinsey's first response was that it was her first "white snow" and when I told her all snow was white and she has seen a few snows in her life, she clarified that this was the first time she'd ever looked out and EVERYTHING was white. I guess in a way, that is a pretty good description. We got about 6 inches or more covering EVERYTHING! THIS is what a snow day was meant to be. We've been out twice now (well, Kinsey's still out) and we've made snow angels, slid down the slide and sledded a ton! The kiddos want to wait on Daddy to get home from work before they build a snowman. I'm sure more pictures (obnoxiously more) will follow!

Birthday Bowl and Bash

Although the children were just SURE I wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate my birthday this year, I was able to convince them pretty easily to go to Stars and Strikes.

Nanny and Papadad treated us to a BIG night of bowling, laser tag, video games, bumper cars and pizza--several hours of loud and busy fun!




Okay, okay I HAVE to throw in that I had my best bowling night ever and got a Turkey!

On my birthday morning, I was spoiled with some wonderful gifts of jewelry, clothes and four tickets to Beauty and the Beast at the Fox next weekend. My favorite Disney story--YAY!!! Best of all, I got some glorious cash from the folks, in-laws and Granny, went to the camera store to get my camera "fixed" but instead walked out with a brand new beautiful Nikon!

Thanks to everyone for my wonderful gifts!

And thank you, snow angels for the best birthday gift of all--a snow day tomorrow!!! Bring on the birthday blizzard!

It's a Hard Knock Life

Before heading back to school, the kids and I spent a few lazy days playing with new Christmas toys and hitting the movie theater a few more times. I think we went five times total over the break!

The return to work and school was a pretty smooth transition. Kinsey has decided to take January off of horseback, which is turning out to be a wise decision because this first week has been full with preperations for Annie. Friday, Nanny and Papadad drove down and we met up with Nan and Granddaddy at the civic center to enjoy a wonderful performance with one paticularly cute orphan.

Still having some camera issues, we had to rely on camera phones to snap our sweet little drama queen! We are so proud!