The girls are always giving each other foot rubs, we go through lots of lotion, come to think of it lots of conditioner, shampoo, soap, and the endless supply of tights and little black shoes. Tonight everyone got foot rubs even Hallie who just melts when the girls rub her little feet. Even Daddy is smelling sweet tonight.
We finally have snow. The city sets up designated sledding hills, and this one happens to be a mile from our home. They put up hay bales to crash into. The only problemo is that it was 15 degrees with a windchill much colder. The older kids did well, but Alyssa was done after a few runs. Can’t wait to go again.
Well, it turns out that no one is interested in a co-op preschool here. Most mothers have their children in a formal preschool, the prices run anywhere from a couple hundred a month to $400 a month and it’s just not in my budget, so I decided to do my own thing. I enrolled Alyssa in swim lessons, the local community center has all kinds of classes, so this month swim, next month ballet, Spanish, princess manners class, gymnastics, tennis, you get the idea. As for a curriculum I went with Five in a Row, and we are both enjoying it. I love that it gives me a break down for every subject during the week based on one story. The library makes it easy, they have all of the books and they make it so easy to find them and hold them online. A white board with markers for mastering letters and we are all set.
Alyssa is happy– her new primary teacher has pink lips, it doesn’t take much to please her just a little beauty. So for Friday’s picture, we just finished with Ping and learned all about China and the Yangtze River.
I have been so pleased with the kids schools. Tanner’s teacher saw a talent in him that I didn’t and asked him to train with her to be in the spelling bee. So he’s been going to school early and working with her at lunch to get himself ready. Considering he’s only been in the school for a couple of weeks I think it took a lot of courage for him to participate in the Spelling Bee. Although he didn’t win, he did well and I’m proud of him.
Arrowhead Elementary School
A picture of our dining room. This has become a necessity in our home. We always sit down to dinner every night, and I enjoy having it in a room out of the way of the daily distractions in the rest of the house. I know that the dining room is often thought of as a look don’t touch waste of a room, but I love having a dining room.
What’s for dinner? Pulled Pork.
Awww…sigh of relief, another dish doer in training, and she’s so thrilled too! Emma and Tanner will be relieved, and really she was sticking her tongue out for the camera not because of the dishes, she actually asks to do the dishes (wonder how long that will last).
I loved my kitchen in my home in Nevada, but I’m not dwelling here, I’m accepting and knowing that it is temporary, in the mean time I plan to make lots of memories in this kitchen. So here it is in all of it’s glory– We are making our customary pot of oatmeal on Sunday night so ignore the bowls sitting on the island.
And a question for ya! What is this for? I can see plants, but the thought of putting water and dirt in there and then cleaning it all up seems like a poor idea not to mention the water would not be contained in there. Right now it holds diapers and baby wipes and binkies, and whatever else the kids decide to put in there. Any good ideas on what I could use this for?
I’ve heard about project 365 for a few years, always wanted to try it but never have… since there are so many new things in my life right now I thought this might be a good way to record it all.
Yesterday was Cousin Laura’s 6th birthday. We’ve had a great time with Eva Marie and her family and we’re sad to see them go. My first picture of the year is of Laura on her Birthday.
While I’m at it, a few more…
Awww… Daddies aren’t they the best?
It’s been a hard week. The excitement of moving here was over, Christmas has come and gone, and the reality of what we have done hit the kids this week. Aubrey was crying in her room, I should say sobbing in her room, when we investigated we learned how badly she was missing her friends. Perfect fix, we called Kendra, and invited over some new friends to play the next day. There is a family here with the same family order as ours with almost identical ages. Girl, boy, girl, girl, girl. It worked perfectly, I had all 5 of them over, and everyone had a buddy.
My sister arrived on Wednesday, even better for beating the blues– COUSINS. The kids have been playing tag, hide go seek non stop since they arrived. We took the kids swimming to a wonderful indoor community center pool, fully equipped with a lazy river and slides. This pool is far superior to anything I have ever seen in a public pool category.
Today we headed out to Amish Country. I felt like a dork taking pictures of the little buggies, I only allowed myself one shot, because it seemed like I was intruding upon their privacy, like they were some sort of freak show, and really I have nothing but respect for what they are doing. We did enjoy some of their cooking though, and admired their quilts, candy and coveted their furniture. We stopped and bought some summer sausage, wonderful cheeses, and other meats. We saw some grand horses, the great big ones that my grandfather used to raise–Clydesdale’s. The cheeses and meats were priced reasonably, as were their meals at the restaurants. Everything is grown organically. It was about an hour and 15 minute drive from our home and I can tell you we will be visiting them frequently. I bet I could learn a few things from them in the quilting department.
The drive was crazy, two lane roads that take off through the forest, up and down, up and down, little hills, felt like a roller coaster, and then dodging buggies. We ran into the first buggy about 35 miles from home, and they were more frequent the closer in we got. The kids loved every moment, but I’m thinking that with all these crazy roads and little signage I’m going to need a GPS in my car.
