A Little Cabin Fever

Truly, in this winter storm (see previous post, Snow Day 2010), we didn't leave the house from Thursday evening until Sunday morning. We all had a tiny bit of cabin fever, though certainly enjoyed the extra rest and staying in our pajamas all day long (for Nicholas, for several days...)

Caroline chose to make the most of her time, and donned her Home Depot apron and informed us she was opening a restaurant/spa in our home. We were required to attend a tea-party, and drank tea soup. She then gave hair-dos, foot massages, and back rubs to any and all who wanted them.


Nicholas felt like he should be able to play the Wii every moment he was awake, and when he learned otherwise, he was...well...bored. He reminded us of that fact often...and repeatedly...
he later decided that reading his Harry Potter would ease the pain...












I passed the time in many ways, like keeping the fire going...













and painting Karen's toes...













The kids passed the time watching TV (here with Lexie).












The "fever" even got to Halbo...he allowed Otis to share the same floor for a short time!

Snow Day 2010

We had a minor snow day last week or so; got out of school on a Friday, but the snow was so fine and dry, it wouldn't even clump together to form a snowball. What fun is that?

This past Friday, we got a fairly good winter storm here, but it was more ice than snow. It started out as sleet, and then we got a few inches of snow on top...super slippery! This stuff did clump together well, and the kids & I promptly resumed our annual on-going snowball fight (if only we lived somewhere really "snowy")...Caroline & I did our best, but Nicholas is getting too good with that snowball cannon of a right arm. He sought refuge behind the Corolla, so I just started lofting them his direction - couldn't even see him. Of course that's precisely when I drill him right in the nose with a snowball...poor guy! I swear I couldn't see him...

After the few inches of snow, we got another inch or so of ice (from sleet) again, which made the roads just awful. Karen got to take some emergency call because the office was closing early, and it even canceled a day early for Saturday (which hasn't happened in our 9 years here). Since we could no longer partake of the snowballs, we decided to turn a rubber-maid lid into a make-shift sled, and hurl ourselves down our driveway and into the street. In a word, GLEE!

Reelfoot Lake, CLUE Field Trip with Nicholas

On Thursday 1/29, Nicholas' CLUE class had a field trip to Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee to continue their study of Bald Eagles. I had signed up to chaperon, but didn't have a seat on the bus initially. I got the call Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday morning at 7:00 AM we're on a charter bus headed north.

Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake ocated in the northwest portion of Tennessee. Much of it is really more of a swamp, with bayou-like ditches (some natural, some man-made) connecting more open bodies of water called basins. Reelfoot Lake is noted for its bald cypress trees and its nesting pairs of bald eagles.

Between mid-December 1811 and mid-March 1812 a series of catastrophic earthquakes shook West Tennessee and the rest of the Central Mississippi Valley. Judging from reports and eyewitness accounts, the quakes would have measured among the highest ever recorded on the modern Richter scale. Some reports said that the quakes were strong enough to awaken sleepers in Washington, D.C., and allegedly some tremors were felt twelve hundred miles away in Quebec City, Canada. (see http://www.reelfoot.com). Our guide Daniel said that it even rang church bells in Boston! The quakes led to the creation of Reelfoot lake.

It was a tremendous trip...I've never seen a bald eagle up-close and personal before, and it truly took my breath away. These birds are entirely majestic and beautiful! Enjoy this slide show with pictures of the surrounding area, some eagles nesting, some owls and other fowl, and even feeding time for the snakes...

Baking Day!

Last week my sweet friend Sarah and I had our first baking day! It was so much fun. We got together earlier in the week picked out 6 recipes to try and then went shopping. Friday night we got together at her house to cook, while the rest of our families got together at our house for pizza and Wii. Everyone had a great time and Sarah and I managed to cook some very yummy meals to stock our freezer with. We plan on conquering this task about once a month. You can see more details by checking our her post on her blog:hollishuddle.blogspot.com! and if you have some yummy recipes for us please let us know!

The Pink Princess Room

Caroline got a new pink room for Christmas, from the "fresh pink lemonade" walls to the pink bedspread with chocolate minky dots. Aunt Lorri even got in on the act, whipping up a plush pink lumbar pillow and two chocolate minky dot pillows to match her bed. Lorri topped it off with a chocolate minky dot valance with a pink lemonade "C" monogrammed in the center. We completed the presentation with a princess canopy of white tulle overhead and a tulle bedskirt trimmed with white satin ribbon.

She even got a Pink Princess alarm clock that projects stars on her ceiling. She has it set for 6:00 aM and honors it religiously every school-day morning! If only she'd sleep with the big pink light off so she could actually enjoy her stars...baby steps, right?

All that to say...simply pretty in pink!

The PUPPIES!

We haven't posted much on the puppies in a while, but our beloved Bostons and Halbo have been living the high life for a while! Aunt Lorri came for a visit in December and took pity on the beasts, and later made these precious things with some scrap fabrics she had laying around...more on that in another post!


























Here's one of our favorite shots of Lexie (affectionately referred to as "Lixie" at times, for obvious reasons). There she is...working it...















Finally, here's a shot of Hallelujah breaking all the rules (he's not allowed on the 'brown chair', or the 'brown couch' for that matter). Yet, there he is, snuggling with Nicholas...

School Choir, 2009

Nicholas was invited to sing in the School Choir this December, which is a big deal at School! This is the first year that fourth graders were invited to sing, and we're very proud that he was selected. The CS Choir sings every year at the University of M President's reception for the entire campus (a very big deal at UofM). They also are invited to sing around the Christmas tree in the grand lobby of a world famous hotel downtown (reportedly one of only two elementary school choirs to receive such an invitation)! It was a busy week and a half, but was lots of fun (and he got to get out of school, which is always fun)!

I got to tag along and be the "Little Drummer Boy" for that carol, playing my best for Him and the School choir.

Caroline playing basketball!

Okay, if you remember from a long post ago, Caroline and team sports are comical! She was the one who would run along behind the herd in soccer cheering for her teammates...she was the one who prior to her first practice of a new soccer season exclaimed that she could wear her sparkly pink belt with her new black & pink cleats...because they matched!

Well, our little prima donna is playing basketball for the first time, and is loving it! She is the only girl on a team filled with kindergarten-aged boys (she's in first grade, by the way), and she gets in there an mixes it up with the best of them. In her second game, she even scored a basket! In her game today, she made her free-throw at halftime, grabbed 2 rebounds, and played some great defense. She's making her Sabertooth Tigers coaches very proud...

My favorite memory of her young basketball career came when she first received her uniform from the coaches. She got the number 1, and she brought it over to me, holding it reverently, and said, "Dad, I'm number 1! I'm THE LEADER!" I replied, "Yes Ma'am you are!" and smiled quietly to myself...

Enjoy!

Alpine Village 2009

Every winter, we look forward to a very special occasion! We started attending the Alpine Village at Trinity Baptist Church many years ago, and it's now a family tradition. Trinity transforms their gymnasium into, literally, an Alpine Village. You almost have to experience it to believe it! There are several shops, each with a theme, that the kids visit. They receive a free book from the "book shoppe", and they make their very own top in the toy shoppe. They made an ornament in one shop, and filled a bag of candy at the candy shoppe. There is an amazing puppet show, there are wandering wise men that in are costume that will stop and have a conversation with you, and of course, there's Santa.

One of the kid's favorite (and our most dreaded) is the snowball fight zone, where mounds of blown "snow" are piped into an area, and kids can go in and pummel each other with the "snow". The dreaded part is that it gets EVERYWHERE, and takes forever to totally rid ourselves of the wintry mix. Still, it's a blast...please visit this link for more information, or to simply be wowed!

http://www.thealpinevillage.org/