So much going on...

I've had so many stories going on in my head that I wanted to post about.  I create the perfect little story in my head...and wash another dish.  Reality.

For starters, my neighbor is currently lugging sleds and the snowblower out of the garage.  It must now be spring.  Perhaps I should do the same.  Except I don't have a snowblower.  Nor do I want one.  At least not right now.  Perhaps I'll change my mind in 10 more years.

But anyway.

We saw The Lorax today.  I have to say for a kid's movie I really liked it.  Sometimes these kids movies can be a little questionable.  The Lorax though.  Really, where can you go wrong?  Great message, fun soundtrack.  I found myself wanting my kids to just "get it."  You know, the message of conserve, be nice to the environment, think twice about what you spend your money on etc. I'm not sure they walked away with that but little by little perhaps it'll sink in.

This daylight savings thing has got me all messed up.  The hours seem to fly by and when it's "mealtime" I"m not really feeling it.  Hoping that irons itself out in another week.

For the last few weeks my kids have been in maddening stages.  Or phases.  Or something.  But it's been madness around here.  And I'm not sure how to get around it.  Or maybe I don't.  But getting through it is sigh....difficult.

And then they say things like this...

"Mom, when it's my golden birthday you can come over to my house and spend the night and we can have dinner and then watch a movie with popcorn!"

My response?  "Yay! I would love that"

It was a moment in which I found myself wanting to laugh and cry at the same time.  Because although I'm flattered that their 6 and 8 yr. old little selves want to hang out with me when they are 25 and 26 (golden b-days) I'm pretty sure that will not be the reality.

We discovered a new form of entertainment.  Matthew has been interested in the paper for a few years now.  Always the comics.  Everyday and weekends both.  But just recently he discovered the little puzzles.  Ours has what's called a word jumble, a crossword, and a sudoku.  I always laughed at the people who did those.  Although I didn't know any personally.  And then Matthew became interested in them.  And asked me to help him.

He and I have always played games well together.  We're game people.  And we like to win.  A sad but true fact; Jim and I don't play Monopoly together because we can't agree on the rules and it gets too competitive.  Probably because of me though.  He's pretty gracious when it comes to games.  I can be a little intense.  He usually beats me at games and I really hate to lose.

So much so that I had to do my newspaper jumble on my own piece of paper because I was unscrambling the words before my 8yr. old had a chance and thus spoiling his opportunity at winning himself.  Oops.  So now I can copy down the little puzzle in my own little space and still have the satisfaction of solving the daily puzzle.

Ella Jane is a little whiz at the crossword.  Seriously, who knew this about her?  Crosswords trip me up.  Last week, one of the clues was 'journalist'.  You know what she came up with?  'writer'. And she was right!  She's got an amazing talent for writing and creates beautiful stories.  Now she's using her word knowledge in the crosswords.  And so our little family can sometimes be found all grabbing for the same section in the mornings.  It cracks me up.

Well, I suppose I must get back to tearing off wallpaper.  Our laundry/mudroom is getting a little facelift!

We welcome spring...

Well, here we are into March.  I think it's safe to say that winter is on its way out.  We didn't get one chance to ice skate.  We took a few day trips this winter and whenever we'd pass a frozen pond, I'd point it out to Matthew and he'd say (while pressing his face to the window) "oh ice, I want to skate on you!!"  We were both really bummed that we missed that chance this year.  Perhaps winter will be kinder to us next year and give us lots snow and ice!

In the meantime we have been indulging ourselves of a different activity of sorts.  Eating.Lots.Of.Cookies.

They only come once a year and it's the only time HFCS passes the threshold of this house.  Can you see my top shelf?  The kids love them and so do I.  Perhaps a little too much.  I was a bit of a crazy lady for two weeks while I ate and ate and ate these cookies!

Because really.  Who can only have one or two girl scout cookies?

At least the girls made me shoe soup one day.  Perhaps that was a bit healthier?

Does this not crack you up?  Besides the obvious it's funny to me because these are her favorite pair of tights.  She wears them day and night, they are very ragedy and even a bit on the small side.  She wanted the feet cut off so that she could wear them as socks and then the others as leggings.  If you were to come over to our house you'd probably find her wearing one of three things here.  The tutu, the leggings/tights, or the pink ballet slippers.  All favorites.

And what about this magifier huh?  It's from Target a few years back and we are still having the best time with it.  We still laugh so hard and make goofy faces in it.

I thought it was finally time to grab a picture of it.

Chances are...

your kids are nearing or have just celebrated their 100th day of school.  Ella Jane had her celebration last week and could hardly contain her excitement for it.  Her whole school day was going to be dedicated to the number 100.

She usually likes me to take several photos of her in different smiles and poses.  I opted to share these two.

When she got home I had a few goodies waiting for her. 

Guess how many?  :)

Thrilled to have a reason for 100 pieces of chocolate candy in the middle of the afternoon.

Oh my gosh, it's a squirrel...

Long story short, the squirrel fell through the ceiling tile this morning at church.

Thankfully, it wasn't during church, and thankfully, it wasn't in the sanctuary.

I was just talking to a friend about squirrels and how sometimes they can be frightening about 20 minutes prior.

  Ella Jane and I were passing the time quietly reading and drawing when we both started to hear the scratching.  You know the sound.  Well, if you've ever had some sort of critter in your house you know the sound.  Except this sound sounded pretty big to me.  And like it was anxious to get out of where it currently was.

I could see Ella Jane look up from her drawing trying to figure it out.  I was doing the same, passing off the noise to other things going on in the area, but knowing the people coming and going were probably not making that sound.

Lo and behold, the critter poked a hole in the tile and I realized, eek! something really is up there!!!  Folks kept coming and going but Ella Jane and I were waiting for Sunday school to let out so we were just sitting.  And listening. 

She's usually my fearful one.  At one point she opted to leave the room.  :)  She came back in tho.  Right as the little bugger started to run causing it to put too much pressure on those tiles.  Down he fell; about 30 feet?  I bolted up, "Oh my gosh, it's a squirrel."

He ran,  and another man and I cornered it.  The squirrel (I forgot they can jump) leaped up to a very tall window and was madly trying to escape.  Poor little guy.  He didn't have anywhere to go but out but he had to get close to the man helping to get out the door.

Ella Jane and I have had such a laugh all day about this.  I asked her, "do you think it's made you brave?"  She wasn't so sure.

She and I have really been enjoying the dvd Man vs. Wild.  Maybe you've heard of it.  You learn tons of survival skills.  You know.  If you're ever in the Everglades, or needing to seek shelter in a sandstorm.  You can gut a dead animal and climb inside by the way.  I think they do that in Star Wars.

Or skin a deer and use the fur for a blanket.  A good sign that you can still eat the meat from a dead zebra is if the vultures are circling and it doens't smell rancid.

I suppose that's enough.  I love that she loves to watch it.  Matthew is too squimish.

90 minutes of sledding = loads of fun and one sore bum

We live on a hill.  Well, our backyard is a hill.  We don't like teeter on the top of a hill which is what that first sentence seems to imply to me.  When you go out our back door, you are on the deck and then you have to go down the steps to reach the grass.  This type of yard drives me absolutely nutso.

However.

It does have its advantages.  Like in the summer and winter.

It makes for a fantastic sledding hill and a great spot to place a slip and slide.  And since we get loads of snow in the winter and hot hot temps. in the summer I suppose we are in just the right spot to raise up these kids in the backyard.

The sun was shining so brilliantly yesterday.  Sara and took to our slope and I tell you what, we had a ton of fun.  Our hill is like its never been before.  It comes complete with three jumps (hence the sore bum) and lots of speed.  This is what we say on the way down, "oh man, Oh Man, HOLLLLDDDD OOOOONNNNN!"  I am so surprised that Sara has never fallen off.  She is a little daredevil when it comes to sledding.

When the big kids came home and I went out again but with both girls.  Seriously fun.  Sun started to set and I thought, wow, this has just been fantastic.  And there is something so relaxing about laying down in the snow.  I'm not sure what it is.  But it's quiet, the trees are bare, and you're just there.  And then my 3yr. old comes over to me and says "Mom, open your eyes!!"  I laughed.  We've been having fun these winter days.

Matthew and I are missing our outdoor ice rinks this year.  The winter here has been on the mild side and simply not suitable for keeping ice frozen.  I have a feeling the skates will have to be put away and we'll just have to wait until next year.

So, I'm glad we at least have our sled hill.

Fashionista...

If you know be but at all, you'll know I'm a jeans and a t-shirt gal.  I'm not one to get fancied up everyday.  I don't need to "put on my face before I can go out", I can look nice when I need to but really, I prefer to be casual. 

So when my 6yr. old comes to me asking if I can wear my jeans skirt and black sweater like her so we can be twins, I oblige.  Even in the middle of winter with snow on the ground.  I wore knee high socks like her and my tall snow boots.  Can you just picture it?  I thought it actually turned out pretty well with the snow boots but I'm sure black heel boots would've been more classy.

But remember?  I'm not really classy on a day to day basis.  In fact every Sunday before we go to church I'm amazed at the outfit I've pulled together.  I usually exclaim to Jim, "can you believe I did this?" :)  It's the truth.

Now that that's out of the way.

Ella Jane has a new talent.  Thanks to her new crafting beads; thank you grandma she is loving them.  She is up to about 11 or 12 of these beauties.  I want to say she calls them "things" but somehow that doesn't sound right.  Shoot I wish I remembered.  {sidenote: we have about 6 clear beaded icycles that we hang on the tree every year.  She mentioned that next year we could use her "things" because they are more colorful.}

Isnt' she fantastic?  I love her sense of creativity.

Kissed by the snow...

...and then some.  Not a ton of snow, but certainly enough to make for a great day of sledding.  I'm in love with the memories we made today.  I'm in love with the photos I captured today.  I'm in love with the fact that my kids got some quality outside playtime today.  It's days like this when I love being the mom I am.

I'm so gaga after these photos.  You'd think I'd just had a baby or something.  But seriously, so proud of my Team Gunn today.  That's what we call ourselves.  Do you call your family something?  We say Team Gunn whenever we're looking for a team effort like when the house has been turned on its side and needs a major pickup.  Or when we have super behavior from the kids.

Go Team Gunn.

Today was one of those days.  Everyone gets a clip on their cup.  I'm glad I mentioned that because I don't think I've ever written it before.  It's the reward system we use in our house.  It's been a useful tool for over 2yrs. now. 

Good behavior = a clip on your cup. 

10 clips = suprise box.

Surprise box= most of us gathered around the "winner" to see what they choose.

One of those days when I take a second out of making dinner to scream out the window..."woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woooooooooo!  Way to go Ella Jane!!!!!!!!!!" after a really cool run down the sled hill.

Without further ado.  Our photos.

Did you notice Sara sticking out her tongue?  She had so much fun today.  Far cry from last year when she was so very frightened by sledding.  Glad she's turned that corner.  And that one of her on her belly with the feet?  Those are Matthew's feet but they kind of look like they might pass for hers.

Last week we were tromping around in mud. 

We had fun doing that too, but so very thankful for the snow!!!

Just for a moment...

Just wanted to touch back here for a moment before we started the new year.  Our Christmas break is nearing its end and it has been an interesting one.  One I coulnd't have forseen really.  I guess that's why they call it hindsight. 

The biggest thing being, we have no snow.  Midwesterners without snow is like taking a fish out of water.  I think.  I'm not from the midwest so mabye that's not entirely true and I'm certain there are many people who are excited about the very mild winter we've been having.  For me, it's a bit strange.

Usually, I'm thrilled to get a break in getting kids ready for school in the frigid weather.  Walking to and fro in the snow and ice does take it's toll.  And more and more, Jim is able to hang back in the morning so that I can just walk up with the big kids.  And really, with the coat issues Sara has been having it's probably just as well that I haven't needed to bundle her up.

But anyways, over break we usually play in the snow, sled, build snow forts, and shoo the kids out to just play.  This year was different.  I had to shoo the kids out to take a lap around the culdesac and they moaned and groaned.  Apparantly, it's no fun to be out in the cold (we're talking 35 degrees here, it's not like it's below freezing) with no snow on the ground. 

My thoughts are a bit of a jumble.  Jim just left with the kids and I want to finish this by the time they get back.  He has been working like mad to finish a major paper and today was the day.  Hooray!  Now he'll gear up to teach a class at the University for a month and then after that it's back to work like normal.

All in all, our Christmas break has been different.  The best part I think is that Sara gets to have playmates.  The girls seem to buddy up pretty well and play the most funny games.  Lately, they are putting baby clothes on their stuffed animals.  They come by it honestly.  I used to do that as a child.  And they didn't even know that, so maybe all kids do that?  Who knows.

I'm decluttering my house like a crazy lady.  I have a stack of CD's and photos to talk to Jim about and told him this morning in a chipper little voice;  "Hey let's go through these CD's today!   Wouldn't that be fun?"  He didn't really think so.  :)

Presidential candidates are coming to our little city like crazy too.  The hours of 5:00pm and 8:00pm will find the phone ringing nearly every 3-4 min. with a survey or announcement that so and so will be here at this time if you'd like to come out and show your support.

We'll go to one together as a family on Monday.  I'm really excited about it.  I think they are a hoot to go to.  I went to see Bush when he campaigned, oh how long ago was that, 8yrs.? no more than that.  Anyway, that was a load of fun, saw Obama a few years back.  That was more low key but very cool to be a part of.  Regardless of party I love to see how these things work.  The whole campaign deal.

Anyway, it's New Year's Eve.  We have plans to stay home this year and watch Kung Fu Panda 2 with the kids.  They are so very excited.

Happy New Year to you!