Wish I had been there....

Wish I could've seen our fourth grader when she got off the bus on Friday.  Dressed in her pajamas, coat unzipped, she dropped her backpack at the end of the driveway and took off running towards her dad, coat flapping behind her and some unknown object held tightly in her hand.  Friday was pajama day at the Intermediate school. Pajamas, movie and popcorn was the reward for kids that achieved good behavior for the 2nd quarter.  It was also report card day.  The fourth grader was so, so excited to show her dad her report card.  Could hardly wait to get off the bus, report card in hand.  She was so proud of herself and we are so proud of her too. 

No picture to post, so instead I'll post some from the 1st day of school...

Weekend at Home

I love weekends where there is nothing on the calendar and practically no errands to run.  There always seems to be so much to do around the house and I love just being at home.  This past weekend was one of those weekends.  Other than church on Sunday, we were able to just hang out at home.  So, so nice.  A little bit of laundry, a little bit a cleaning, a chat with a friend, a movie night at home filled our Saturday.  On Sunday, we took a walk on Leohr path.  It was slightly raining, but wasn't all that cold.  If I'm saying that it wasn't too cold, then we know it must be okay.  It just felt so good to get outside and get some fresh air. 

 At one point during the weekend, I heard the kids giggling and laughing in the living room. 

I turned around to find them like this....

Which just seemed so very familiar, so I had to look for this.....

I think it's a good thing that the brother is such a good sport.

Where oh Where did January Go?

I cannot believe that it is January 20th already.  The kids still have their Christmas trees in their rooms.  No ornaments or anything, just the lights that are left on the tree from year to year.  After the busyness of the holidays, I always think that January will pass by more slowly somehow.  It has been back to the regular routine of school, work, piano, violin, children's choir and trumpet lessons.  With a snow day and a long four day weekend for the MLK holiday thrown into the mix for good measure.  We've went sledding a few times,had multiple cups of hot chocolate, spent time reading new books that were Christmas gifts, visited the library and enjoyed the warmth of the fire on these cold winter days.  I guess that is what January is all about.

The Shaving Horse

It's not very often that John is surprised by a gift that he has been given.  It's not that he's particular or anything, It's just that he doesn't ask for much.  He's pretty simple and would rather use what he has until it is threadbare or broken beyond repair.  I can't really surprise him with books or CDs or anything like that.  He'd rather borrow a book from the library and I can never remember what CDs he has. I have to ask for a list of what he might want, so I've never really been able to surprise him with a Christmas gift. Well, until this year.  This year, I gave him a shaving horse.  Yep, I bet there aren't too many men that would be interested in one, little alone appreciate one like John did.  A shaving horse was used years ago by craftsmen to hold a piece of wood while it was shaved into the size and shape needed.  Coopers would use it to make the pieces needed for wood barrels and buckets.  It would  also have been used to shave wood shingles into the sizes needed to roof a house.  John has already used his to make a replacement handle for his wheelbarrel.  This shaving horse was made by a friend of ours, who has one that he uses to make the spindles of the windsor chairs that he makes and sells.  Pretty special.  John had no idea that I had talked to Carl about making one, and this is the first time that I had his gift decided upon in July.  It took me nineteen years before I could figure out a perfect Christmas gift and it might just take another nineteen before I can accomplish this again.  Merry Christmas.

No Hills, No problem. Sled riding - Old Fergie Style

This is sled riding, the easy way.  Easy for the kids, at least.  Hook up the sleds to Old Fergie and ride around the yard and our little woods.  Maybe no hills to go down, but then, no hills to climb back up.  When you fall off the sled, it's usually on purpose and all you have to do is run a little bit to catch back up to the tractor.  When the driveway has been plowed and there are piles of snow in the way, it's great fun to run over and through the piles of snow. It's fun to hang half off the sled, being dragged along the way.  Fergie moves at just the right speed.  Fast enough to make this fun, but not too fast that anyone gets hurt.  Yep, sled riding, Fergie Style.