Someone Is Tired

Take a good look at this. You may not ever see this sight again. Dylan. Asleep. In the daytime.

If you know Dylan, then you know that she requires very little sleep or rest. If she's not sick, she's moving. I wish I had a dime for every time I've muttered something about having half her energy.

But this picture was taken after she participated in the 30 Hour Famine with the youth group at church. Not only did they raise money for world hunger, they didn't eat for 30 hours, and then spent the night in cardboard boxes.

Dylan cheated a little on the food thing (I made her eat to take all her medications), but she went the whole way on the box thing. And it's obvious that she felt the effects of it!

Birthday "Boy"

For some reason, Scott wanted to keep things low key on his birthday this year. And he was a little sensitive about the community card that Katherine carried around to have signed by all the teachers and kids at her school. Just because she put his age on there for all to see.


I hate to break it to him, but we're in a recession. Not the time for a midlife crisis. So, while I sit here clipping coupons and counting my club points that earn me a free ham at 1250 points, I need him to be focused on serious things. Like 2 for 1 cereal specials. And discounted Valentine's chocolate (my personal favorite).

If it's a sports car he wants, then he'd better get down on the floor with Isaac and his Hot Wheels. Just watch those knees, old man. I really do care!

Retreating

We've enjoying being snowed in today. It's given us a chance to slow down and catch up on things!

It was especially nice for me because I was gone all weekend. I left early on Friday to go on a retreat in northern Pennsylvania with the women from our church. I had never left Scott alone overnight with the kids, much less for 3 days, so I was a little skeptical. On Thursday, I called him to ask what he'd like for me to pick up at the store for meals. His response? "Just make sure we have cereal." I knew then that he was in for it. Takes a little more than Captain Crunch to keep this ship afloat, but I decided I'd let him discover that for himself. So I got him cereal. I even got two different varieties.

I have to give him credit, though. I arrived home to a clean house and dinner in the oven. And it wasn't even warm oatmeal! But he turned 3 shades of white when I jokingly said that we had another retreat planned for next month. Captain Crunch was suddenly ready to jump ship!

President's Day Weekend

We went to New York City for a few days over the long weekend. We spent one day walking around Chinatown where the kids had fun in the shops. Not only were they colorful and interesting, they were also warm inside!

On the streets, the fresh fruit stands were tempting.

Some of the other items we passed...not so tempting. I'm not sure what this is...maybe a pig? Which reminds me of our not-so-pleasant moment at lunch.

We went to a highly rated dim sum restaurant where they roll around carts with different food items for you to choose from. Now, we eat Chinese food alot. Like every week. But not this kind. I now know that I am not a fan of dim sum. Most of it was different foods that had been cooked in dumplings. But, since the servers couldn't speak English, and we couldn't speak Chinese, it was anyone's guess as to what the filling actually consisted of. After tasting some of them, I'm pretty sure we probably ate some of the mystery meat pictured above.


Katherine pointed at one of the items that wasn't wrapped in a dumpling because it somewhat resembled the sesame chicken that she usually likes. But, on closer inspection, we realized that it was chicken feet. Not like chicken tenders. I mean, like, the whole claw. If you are familiar with dim sum, you probably know that chicken feet are one of the more common dishes. We didn't know this, however, until it was too late. Katherine was a good sport and actually attempted to nibble on it a little.




On Friday night, we took the kids to The Gazillion Bubble Show where they got to see some great tricks done with bubbles. Best of all, they had their picture taken inside a giant bubble. Isaac's expression was hilarious! I think he thought he was going to float away inside of it.

The Down Side to Warmer Weather

Let's see...how do I describe this picture?

Snow melted.

Mud.

Evil big sister.

Snow Pictures

I had a request for some snow pictures, so I went out today to take some around our house.

Isaac wanted to make a snow friend, which was not an easy feat, since his favorite part is kicking it over.



(view from our front porch)



(backyard view)

This is the driveway.

This is who clears the driveway. (Don't believe this is a real smile. He just LOVES having to do this before leaving for work!)

This was the only shot that wasn't taken today. Taken a couple of weeks ago, it helps explain why a 40 degree day can actually feel warm.

More of the White Stuff

Boy, have we had a lot of snow this year. Usually we will get some snow, it will last a few days, and then it will melt. But not this year. The ground has now been covered with snow for several weeks. And with more coming down steadily right now, it looks like we'd better get used to it.

Yesterday, we had a brief "heat wave". I can't believe how warm 48 degrees felt, but it was plenty warm enough not to worry with hats and mittens, so Isaac and I spent the day outdoors taking advantage of it.

As I was helping Isaac get his snowboots on, he remembered his favorite ones from last year - the ones that lit up as he walked - and he wanted to wear them. I had to explain that he had outgrown them - that he was getting sooo big - and how that was a good thing.

Isaac looked at me and said, "Mama, you're getting big, too!"

I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing.