I heart traditions

(channel your best Topol here....)  Tradi-tionnnnn!  Tra-di-tion!  Tra-di-tion!

Here we go....  we went to the arboretum to take this year's Valentine heart pictures.  I got so many good ones.  They complained the whole time, too.  Oh well....  I wouldn't let them play until I took some a million different poses.

(this one looks most like Big Ken...  hiking his pants up and everything)

 They wanted to climb all over these big cut logs, but I didn't want to get in trouble.

Their eyes look so blue they look almost fake here... it was just the way the light hit them.  Sometimes, they really do shine that brightly.

Gretchen is wearing a dress that she got for Christmas and Gretchen The Doll is wearing a matching one I knitted for her!

and of course.... the flashback......

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a 2 hour delay this morning.  Our county still has many many families without power.  We had an ice storm Tuesday into Wednesday and it knocked out many neighborhoods and households.  Luckily, we never lost power, but many friends close by us did and still do not have it restored.  

So, we had 2 snow days - get this... one is going to be made up next Saturday!  Yes!  Saturday school for us!  The other one has not been determined when it will be made up.  We already had 4 snow days to make up which added to the end of the year (pushing it to a Friday, so they don't want to have to spill into the next week) and taking away all Teacher Workdays for the remainder of the year.  

I will post pictures of the ice at our house soon.  It was about 1/2" thick on many surfaces and branches.  We didn't lose any limbs, luckily.  

Later today, we are having a Valentine's Day party at school.  It was supposed to be yesterday, so it might be a little tricky to squeeze it in today with the 2 hour delay and the teacher having 2 days to make up for.  But, we are going to do 3 little crafts and then go outside and play tug-of-war and play with the parachute. We decided to skip the snack at this party since the kids will surely bring home candy from their classmates.  Carl was disappointed to hear that even though he never likes the sweet party treats anyway.    

back to this morning.....  a 2 hour delay gives us time for a bigger breakfast!  

 The pink is just food coloring, but Gretchen has chocolate pancakes, too.   We just discovered recently that all you have to do is add Nesquik powder to the batter and it is just what she is looking for!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

100th day of school

This got a little delayed since we had some snow days a couple weeks ago.    But, the kids were dressed and ready for their 100th day of school today!!  Carl said he didn't want to make a new shirt.  So, I didn't buy supplies to make him one.  Then, last night at about 7:30, he asked where his new shirt was.  So.... you might be seeing a new 100+5 day shirt for him next week.

I was going to buy pencils to give their classmates that said 100th day of school on them, but I got busy and well, if you shop for 100th day pencils on the 99th day - they will be sold out.  So, I bought some other cool pencils.  and then...  totally forgot to send them to school today.  Oh well. Guess they will be giving small glittery pencils with their Valentine's on Thursday at the class party.

They look tired at 7:30.   We were in a big hurry to get them to school in time for breakfast today - it is chicken biscuit.  Both were looking forward to that!

 This is the shirt he made for the 100th day of kindergarten!

 Gretchen's new 100 gumballs shirt!

Did you see what they were holding?  My gift to their teacher... 100 memories...so far!!!

Now off to design Valentine's cards to give their friends.

woodworking projects

Catching up on a few older posts from last year that I ran out of time for.

We like to go to kid oriented events.  We especially like to go to free kid events!  Building projects fall into that category!  You can go to Home Depot on the first Saturday of every month and do a free kids' building workshop.  This past weekend, we went with Carl's Cub Scout Den to fulfill a badge requirement.  They made a Home Depot race car!  Pretty cool considering that just last Saturday was the Pinewood Derby race.  That's another post you'll see in the near future, I hope.

You can also go to Lowe's Home Improvement on certain dates and do a free children's building clinic.  That happens to be the one I have some photos from to share.  This was from the December 2013 workshop where we made a Christmas Train.  Very cute project!  Scratch and sniff stickers, too!

Safety glasses make people look goofy.  Carl hates them  because he doesn't like wearing them over his real glasses.  Oh well, Dude.  Lowe's provides them to each child to keep the first time you go along with your apron.  Then, at each session, you earn a new patch to iron on your apron.  At Home Depot, they give you and apron and a pin at each workshop.

 See?   Goofy!

 "If I had a haaaaa-mmer...."  ♪    yes, I sing it every time we go.

 Now, add a few stickers

 Gretchen's train!

 Carl's train!

 Let's focus on his face....  ah!

 He got mad every time we called him Bob Vila.

 The favorite thing to do in a home improvement store always has been to play with the mailboxes!

If you have a young child, I highly recommend checking out both Home Depot's Kids' Workshops and Lowe's Home Improvement's Build and Grow workshops.

prognosticators!

Happy Groundhog day, Everyone!!    Enjoy this silly blog background for a couple days.

Yay!  Only 6 more weeks until March 20th!    Turns out, like Punxsutawney Phil, we also saw our shadows this morning.  Now, that is supposed to predict 6 more weeks of winter.  No shadows would have been 6 more weeks until spring.  Some people will tell you it means the time between now and spring will be wintry or more springlike.  Wikipedia has this to say about the historical aspect:

The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry,^[8] dated February 4, 1841, of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:

Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans,^[9] the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

That seems to support the idea of mild vs cold for the duration of winter.  Or, it is still just a play on wording "more" and "until" to describe how we get to March 20th.  It does sound like a great reason to party in PA no matter what the outcome.  And - you get to say a cool word like prognosticator!

On to the pictures....

 2 groundhog wannabes.... one shadow!

 Hmm... family photo for the month of February is already done!  We look good!

Happy Groundhog Day!  Oh yeah, this year they are playing a football game today, too.  The Superbowl is another great reason to make some food and celebrate.  We have a friend coming over and we're going to use him as a guinea pig, not a groundhog. I made my chili, which is tried and true.  A sure thing.  But, I'm trying 2 new recipes as well.  A roasted potato and Buffalo chicken casserole and then chocolate chip cookie dough brownies for dessert!  Wish you were here!!

Elf on a Shelf

Everyone knows about this craze, right?  A little stuffed elf hangs out in your home before Christmas and he flies back to the North Pole nightly to report to The Big Guy in Red.  He's been around for a few years.  Actually, you can buy girl clothes if you have a female spy in your home.  Now, if you anything about me at all, you know I do not like to do things when everyone else is doing them.  Or at least, I don't like to do them the same way that everyone else is doing them.  So, when my best friend's mother gave us our elf years ago, I was very happy that he did not match the wicked popular Elf on a Shelf.  (I think I need to link you to something to do with this popular elf.  How can I have a whole post on something like this without at least one link!?)  Click here to see Santa's #1 Reporter.  Ooo - check out the accessories you can buy him or her by clicking here.

The story behind this elf is that he visits during the day and goes back to chime in on Naughty vs Nice at night.  Now, the rules are simple...  1. do NOT touch the elf or he will lose his magic!!!  and 2.  the elf cannot speak when people are awake.   Pretty convenient, eh?  

Well, this year, the kids saw the 30 minute TV show about the Elf on a Shelf and Gretchen was hooked!  I mean, in past years, I have used the elf a few times - moved, or forgot to move him, but no one really seemed to be too into him.  Until this year after watching a family name their elf Chippey and he is sent to a family to help restore the older child's belief in Santa.  Turns out, that boy touches the elf and he loses his magic, but then the boy believes and (phew) Chippey recovers!  The actual description from the blu-ray (yes, you can buy this on blu-ray, people.  This elf stuff is serious business.)  reads:  Through the power of love and forgiveness, both Taylor and Chippey learn that true belief cannot be taught.

We still did not get our elf out.  Gretchen was not so subtle in her longing for an elf to come to our house like her friends have at their homes.  So, I did pull out our elf eventually.  The kids went back and forth on names for him.  Gretchen wanted to name him Winter.  Carl wanted to name him Elvin (I think in part due to our slight obsession with The Cosby Show around here.  They actually compromised and he was named Elvin Winter!  This agreement between two 8 year olds was the first Christmas miracle in our home!!!!  

Carl likes that if you say it fast, it is like "elf in winter".  He is cool like that.  

Now, the pressure was on.  This elf needed to move daily.  I mean really needed a new vantage point each morning because the kids would wake up and race around looking for him.  Now, since our elf was different than the others, he doesn't bend.  This made it impossible for me to do some of the silly, and even naughty things that other people's elves have done.  I do not go on the website Pinterest, but I am fully aware of the phenomenon of elf ideas you can find there.  If you want to see some really creative ones - check out Britt's old blog posts.  Always helps if you are a professional photographer when photographing your cool elf buddy!!  One cool post is here.  or check out this one.  one more.    You get the point.  And, you are even thinking, "Oh!  How fun!!!"    Snap out of it.  

So, here are a few of Elvin Winter's antics in our home this season.

The first he he appeared, he borrowed a little chalkboard that my mom decorated for me years ago.  He just found himself a nice spot to watch the room.

So, I know you are assessing my tree.  Look at all the needles on the floor!  This artificial tree sheds like a real one!

OK, the star on top is the star that was always on our tree growing up.  It would light up.  That is, until it melted.  You can't see it, but the back is misshapen.

So, see that other star?  I don't know where that came from.  Well, I do know where... it came from Sears.  It cost $4.99.  Sadly, the box had no year on it or any way to date it.  Even the one I found on ebay doesn't give any indication of it's age.  We think it was either Grammie's or Auntie Charlotte's or maybe even from a box of Uncle John's.  So, it is something we really have no history with, but it is nice and sparkly and who doesn't love that?  Plus, it lights up!  Oooo!!  and I needed that because the lights on the tree don't work anymore.  We didn't learn that until after the kids fully decorated the tree.  By then, I was not going to undecorate it to put lights on it.  So, the new star was the only lights this year.  The kids did a wonderful job decorating this tree and the small one they have in their bedroom.  They chose all their favorites in the boxes.  Too bad they weren't willing to help me in January when it was time to take the decorations off and put them away.

Back to Elvin Winter.  One night, he brought some ornaments back from the North Pole with him.  The kids found him on the tree in the morning.

Oops!  The next morning - he had not moved!!  They panicked about who might have touched him and if he did, in fact, lose his magic.  Luckily, he was just waiting for them to leave.  He had quite an adventure the night before....

"The line was too long to see Santa last night.  I had to wait until you went to school to go back.  Now I am very tired.  Love, E.W."
It took them almost all day to find him!  He was napping!!!  He said he was tired.   So, he found the cradle that my grandfather made me and the quilt my mother made me - as well as a couple Cabbage Patch dolls and a couple gingerbread to snuggle up with.

The day we were leaving for NY, we found this message very very early in the morning.   He was hanging out with Gretchen's Lego Advent calendar.

 "Have fun in NY.  I know you will be very good.  I loved being your elf this year and I can't wait for next year.  I love you both.  Merry Christmas!  Love, Elvin Winter."

 He was playing Legos.  Well, Carl touched him and caused him to drop the Lego figures.  They were so scared!  There was panic about whether or not he lost all his magic and even if he now could make it safely back to the North Pole.  We all loaded into the car and I ran back inside to do a couple quick things. Then - Gretchen showed up!  Well, Elvin was gone!  She and I decided that even though Carl did touch him, he must have gotten back to the North Pole.  And, we headed back to the car to begin the long drive north.

The next day, at Grammie's house, the kids got a note from Elvin!  He explained that he did in fact make it safely home and it was OK that Carl touched him since he had already done a great job of keeping an eye on the family.  His work in NC was done.  He went on to explain that since we left our home before Christmas Eve, he didn't have to stay and watch us.  This freed him up to actually get a chance to help the other elves wrap Carl & Gretchen's presents and load them onto the sleigh.  Apparently, this was quite a treat for him!  He reminded them to go to bed early on Christmas Eve and wished them Merry Christmas.

Then, on Christmas Eve, they found another note!  It read:  You left your Christmas stockings in North Carolina, but don't worry because Santa found a way to fix the problem.  I hope you have a wonderful time on Christmas!  Love, Elvin Winter   Turns out, Santa had bags with the Minions from Despicable Me on them and he used those as stockings.  Pretty clever old Elf, he is.  He may just have been planning that all along.  Gretchen's letter to Santa had questions in it about how the elves get to people's houses and again, she apologized for Carl touching Elvin.  Santa told her the elves fly there by themselves.  He also told her that Elvin keeps thanking him over and over and over again for for assigning him to our family and assured her that Elvin would be back in 2014 to watch over us.  She was more than thrilled!  Carl's letter to Santa started with the sentence:  I have been good and bad this year.  He was very sweet in his request for TV ratings rubber stamps and other TV related objects.  He asked if Santa listens to certain all-Christmas music radio stations on the sleigh and then, he asked Santa about which cookies were his favorites.  He hoped Santa would like the Golden Oreos that Carl chose to leave for him.  Carl doesn't like chocolate.  I'm sure you remember that.  He doesn't let anyone forget it!  We also leave Santa cider instead of milk and he thanks us annually for this nice break form milk at every home.  In response to Carl's letter, Santa thanked him for being honest about his behavior.  He assured him that he was indeed a good little boy! Turns out, the sleigh picks up Christmas carols from whichever country Santa is currently delivering to.  Cool radio system for sure!

Since we have gotten onto the topic of Christmas Eve, I'll close with some photos from that evening.  We tired to take some nice twinkling light pictures, but that crazy minion photobombed us!

See, Santa made good use of the minion bags as stockings!  The CN bag (Cartoon Network) held Carl's gifts - all of the TV related items he asked Santa for!  Gretchen got a 2013 Holiday Barbie doll like she asked for.  But, then there was some jealousy because she had 1 present and Carl had a 100 teeny ones.  (The rectangular presents are books. They were not included in the "he got more things than I did" issue.  Not being in your own home and bed, having your schedule thrown off and later than usual bedtimes can make for some grumpy stressed out kids.  We all feel that during the holidays, don't we? )

That is Gretchen's new Charlie Brown tree.  You can see, Santa ate the Golden Oreos and the reindeer left only carrot shavings in the bowl.

 Grammie's beautiful Christmas tree!!

Merry Christmas Eve 2013