Our young author

Claire, Eirann, and Lucy -- best kindergarten friends.
Just a wild and crazy guy!
Look, my suit still fits!
Lucy standing with Ty, another classmate. Very, very proud.


Lucy participated in Young Author's night, where volunteers from each class read something they wrote to the audience with a microphone. She was thrilled to hear her own voice on the microphone and didn't get nervous at all, surprisingly. It was funny because she is so much smaller even than the other kindergarteners. She was very proud of herself.

Eamon, on the other hand, was a three-year-old handful. I dressed him up, but I sure couldn't take him anywhere! (sorry for the sideways pictures!)


I've tried several times to post the video of her reading with no luck. Check back later!

the blizzard of '08

Finally, if we're going to have cold and snow, might as well be a worthy snow! Although we did not have a blizzard in technical terms, it was one in practical terms (at least that's what the newscasters said... not really sure what a 'practical blizzard' is.)

I haven't been out to measure, but I'd say we got between 12-14". The kids had a blast for about a minute per inch. And Lucy's been taking roller skating lessons at a local roller rink, so she had to miss it today, unfortunately.

UPDATE: According to CNN, we go 20.4 inches here.

And I finally got a new battery for my camera. Apparently the old battery shorted out after only 4 months (according to Batteries Plus). So I bought a replacement, and hopefully, Casio will do its job and back up its warrenty without too much trouble.

Brrrr!

Again, nothing new going on here! My camera is broken, so you'll notice a distinct lack of pictures in these posts! Yes, the new, 4 month old camera. And our computer has really been giving me a lot of trouble. I looked into buying a new one, but I think we may have solved some of our trouble with a $20 cooling pad. I need to take it to someone to have them clean it up and reinstall the operating system without obliterating all our files and then I think it will run a lot better.

We have had two snow-days this week. Fun for the kids for sure. But, surprisingly, they haven't even wanted to step foot outside. So we have had lots of crafts and have watched ET (Eamon's new obsession) several times, but, I'm sorry to say, we have had no snow angels, forts, or snow-ball fights. I think we would have been okay to have a delay today, but our school district, being the largest in the area, doesn't do delays, only cancellations, as we found to be the case after my last post. In my last post, I mentioned that we were waiting for snow and there might be a snow day? Well, there was a snow day, but by 8:30 am, it was only raining and 40 degrees. They don't do delays, and I guess because it's so large, they had to decide by 3 am or something. Right now, it's late in the afternoon, and my two are both quiet in their rooms. It's much too late for them to be sleeping, and I know I'll regret it later tonight, but honestly, we made cotton clay, heart shaped crayons to give out at Eamon's valentine's day party tomorrow, planted beans, made rock candy, did workbooks, watched more ET... Mommy's tired!!! So a couple of moments with the computer before jumping back into it!

Happy Valentines to all you lovebirds out there! Happy Anniversary to Mother and Dad! 49 wonderful years!! Hope you're all doing something you want to be doing to mark the day. We don't have any plans really, but it would be nice just to hang out with each other -- he's been so busy at work lately! So maybe a heart-shaped pizza and some strawberry jello...

Hope you're all well! We miss you all.

Nothin' new...

Sorry I haven't "blogged" in a while, but it's hard to "blog" about "blah." Not a whole lot new here. I did have a wonderful weekend away, solo, at a place called the Cherry Valley Lodge. It's not far away, but it allowed me to have a little respite, and I have to admit, after lying in a tub watching trash tv and hearing other people's children having fits or screaming "mommy" and knowing that I didn't have to do anything, I came back feeling ready to start fresh.

The weather has been horrible -- very cold and grey. Makes me want to move south all the more.

Eamon has been doing a terrific job at school -- happily hops out of the car in the mornings and runs into the preschool to meet his teachers.

Lucy just got her second quarter report card and she did just as well or better in every category as last quarter. To celebrate, we made a single layer chocolate peanut butter cake, the leftovers of which are now, unfortunately, sitting on the counter staring me in the hips. She still has a hard time letting me leave in the mornings when I drop her off, but I gave her an old pinky ring of mine to help her. She talks a lot about being a "model," so the ring helps her be a "model" student. Her behavior throughout the day has improved since she started wearing it.

Lucy joined Daisy scouts this past week. She loved it, and Eamon made a great mascot for the first meeting -- her friends thought he was adorable and he was happily included in all their activities. I think it will be difficult for him to understand why he's not actually a daisy scout.

Getting more snow and ice tomorrow, but probably not enough to cancel school. I actually would enjoy a snow day with them, but this weather is the pits.

Oh, and we won the lottery!!!! A whole $7! Well, it's a start...

And as I'm typing this, I have the television on -- can someone please explain to me why they hire 18-year-olds to advertise wrinkle cream?

Hope you're all doing well! And you Floridians, stay warm!

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful start to 2008! On New Year's Day we flew to Florida to spend five days with Grandmommy and Nanu. The kids did a wonderful job on the airplane -- we couldn't have asked for any better, truly. They loved being in Florida, although they got a little tired on the drive to Melbourne Beach. (Guess how many bottles of beer fall off the wall from Eau Gallie to Mom and Dad's house... "Are we there yet?" *breathe* "Are we there yet?" *breathe* "Are we...")

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative while we were there. As we crossed over the causeway, it started to rain and pretty much didn't stop until we packed the car for the airport back. It was warmer than in Ohio by far (we were very thankful to be away) but it was COLD for Florida. In fact, Ohio was warmer the first two days back than it was while we were in Melbourne Beach.

Despite the weather, we still visited the beach and Uncle Sam and Aunt Ann Marie. We had a great time with Alexis, Nicolas, and Sammy, but unfortunately, Dane had to have emergency surgery. Luckily, he knows a pretty good surgeon.

Here are some pictures of our trip. If you're interested, let me know and I can give you the link to all the pictures at clark photo.

The sea was angry that day...




A tiny bit of sunshine peeping through.
Not too cold.












Daddy and Eamon


















Nicolas, Sammy, Alexis and Lucy playing checkers (with me to the side)












Daddy, Lucy and Eamon walking on the beach













Lucy













Eamon (pouting in his pouting spot)













He ain't heavy, he's my Eamon...


















Surprise!













Uncle Sam's so funny!













Windy, isn't it, Nanu! (we found the shells from turtle eggs in the dunes behind Nanu that day)





Lucy and Alexis were great cheerleaders. Aunt Ann Marie gave Lucy a pair of these competition pompons to keep!


Look what Uncle Sam taught Superman...

Phew! We survived the day!

Well, Happy Holidays to all our friends and family!

We made it through the holidays unscathed, and Santa was extremely generous! That point was driven home when both kids were overjoyed with their first presents and weren't that interested in moving on.

Grandma and Grandpa have been here to enjoy the holidays with us - the kids have had a really good time with them, from playing the Three Little Pigs with masks to reading to building marble runs. I've been cooking and baking like a fiend and eating like one as well. Carl is (unfortunately) back at work for the day, and Grandma and Grandpa are going back to Boston this evening. Thanks to them for all the wonderful presents and for babysitting so that Carl and I could enjoy a rare evening out!

I just wanted to share a few pictures:



Grandma reading to Superman...















Cookies, cookies, and more cookies...















A letter to Santa... (unfortunately, I still can't figure out how to put pictures vertically... Sorry!)














Spreading reindeer food on the lawn...










He came, he came!!! (And yes, Mommy made them wait upstairs until they were dressed, and she rang the crystal bell. Thanks, Ma!)













Santa brought Mr. Incredible!!! Yea!













A movie! Cool!













A new "computer" and the coveted horse trailer from Santa.














A Spiderman book















The whole Justice League!












"All the kids" playing with the marble runs!










Well, I suppose we did our part to support the economy! If it fails now, we can be sure it's not our fault!

Ringing the bell for the kids to come down. I wasn't going to include this, but I just love the kids' reactions!

Hope you all had a great holiday!

A Busy Week!

What a busy week it has been! With Christmas just around the corner, the kids both have activities, and Carl's been working extra hard to get things out of the way before his parents visit and our trip to Florida!

Tuesday was Eamon's last day of preschool, and the school had a nice little concert for the parents. He's never performed for a group before, so he didn't quite get the performer-audience dynamic. The concert was mostly three-year-olds being conducted to sing holiday songs they're only marginally familiar with. It was very cute, but Eamon spent most of the time looking dazed by the whole process. If he seems engaged in pictures, that's because I'm choosing carefully. Most of the video I took shows him standing there like the proverbial deer on the highway.

This video is one of my favorites, because it's just so him.

I'm sure most people don't need to see three-year-olds singing silly Christmas songs, but hey...
The song they're singing here is "Hat, Whiskers, Belt, and Boots" to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." This is the second time through (I didn't video the first time). Eamon had basically stood there completely confused until this moment, and as you can see, he isn't pointing to his head, chin, waist, or feet like he's supposed to, but he's having a blast anyway!

Yes, I know, probably only amusing to me, but if all you wonderful grandparents, aunts, and uncles are going to continue to be so far away, I'm going to continue to torture you. (Sorry it's so grainy! Not sure what I have to do to fix that)

Lucy's class made gingerbread houses by attaching graham crackers to milk cartons with royal icing and then decorating them with candy. I volunteered to go in for the two afternoons, and with the help of some wonderful neighbors and friends who watched Eamon, I got to spend two afternoons at her school -- what a blast! She has a huge class (27) and I was so impressed with how well they behaved, especially when they were all handed bowls full of candy and icing and expected to attach them to the houses! The teacher is really great with them, and they clearly like her. This is such a neat age because you can talk to them, share ideas, not have to explain overly much. It's also very interesting to see how well behaved they are at school compared to home...! I really had a great time, and Lucy came home in one of the best moods I've seen her in in a long time. I won't wish any time away, but it will be fun when they are both in school and I can go in more often.

Lucy and William, decorating their houses.

Mrs. Neumer

demonstrating

a finished product.

Making the structure.

What one of the kids referred to as

"the 'hood."

Taking a break on the carpet and reading.

The pictures are a little out of order, but you get the idea.

Anyway, thanks for indulging my pride on the kids. Hope you're all doing well!