Grateful Sunday

Photos of our trip to Vancouver last summer. Oh it's so pretty there.

This has been a nice week. We had some time to relax and some time to do some work around the house, which is always satisfying. Bad news for Neal is that the warm weather has only whet my appetite for yardwork. We need to whip this house into shape now that it's almost Spring!

Today, I'm grateful for:

• my healthy children. They are so very rarely sick, I feel so blessed.
• sunshine on my shoulders as I pulled weeds yesterday.
• Neal's job and that he doesn't have to travel. It seems that everyone we know travels for work, and I'm always so grateful that Neal doesn't have to! One of the blessings from going to school for twelve years, I suppose.
• the Olympics. We've had such fun watching them as a family. But I'm also grateful that they're ending. Way too much TV time around here!

Thursday

It's still entirely too cold for me (30s and 40s) to remain outside with the children, but they are out there all afternoon every day. It's wonderful.

On the hammock Neal bought on his mission in Argentina. This is its first use.

Pretty bluebird on the tree. We have gorgeous little birdies here!

All that's left of our snowman. His heart!

Grateful Sunday

Piling up on Pa; even Twiggy got in the mix.

Saying goodbye to the remains of our snowman.

We've been so lucky to have my parents here for a long weekend. They arrived Wednesday and leave tomorrow night. They've been so helpful (we had a busy weekend and Miles needed keeping)! I'm grateful that:

• I didn't have to drag Miles back and forth all day while my parents were here. He was able to just relax and do his own thing here at home since he had companions.
• DI (the academic competition for the kids) has ended. You have no idea how happy I am that we now have two free weekday afternoons. Parker's team (which I coached) did great at their tournament on Saturday, and Audrey's did, too (though I had to miss her performance, Neal was able to tape it). I can't wait to do nothing Wednesday and Thursday afternoons! Both days were previously our DI days.
• we live in a place where we love. Even though I'd love to have some family here. And maybe some Yodipity.

Grateful Sunday

Audrey and me at my friend's house this evening. She had a "Valentine's Hair Party" for friends with daughters. Since they closed our schools on Friday, V-day parties are tomorrow! And now they all have pretty hair to show for it.

This week was crazy, mostly due to the weather, but I'm grateful that spring is nigh. I am not good at being cold! Today I'm grateful for:

• our wood-burning fireplace. We were without power for a total of about 18 hours Thursday and Friday. Fourteen hours straight with no power, so we were huddled around our cozy fire with blankets. And we were happy.
• A day off to enjoy the togetherness caused by the snow and the power outage. Neal's patients all were cancelled on Friday since all of the area schools were cancelled. We had 12.5 inches of snow when all was said and done. Which is a historical record and, as pictured earlier, was really beautiful.
• my friend, Natalie, who celebrated a birthday about a week ago. I'm grateful that we met all those years ago in the mothers' lounge at church. I treasure our friendship and miss her so much!
• a really beautiful Stake Conference this weekend. We were able to go to the adult session and enjoyed some beautiful and inspiring counsel. Time to do a little (or a lot) better.
• a visit from my parents this week. We're gonna have fun!

What's Up With Miles?

Here is Miles at his sports class at the gym. He loves guitar shirts.

Miles is doing great. He's three and a half and loving life. He stays home with me every day, and we have lots of morning down time and afternoon naps (hooray, he still takes naps!). But he has his own activities going on as well, he keeps busy.

On Mondays, we go to Fort Worth so he can attend Museum School, which is like pre-preschool. It's two hours with two fabulous teachers and the campus is at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. We spend some time there before school starts, then he learns about animals and nature for a couple of hours while I explore Fort Worth.

On Tuesday mornings in February, he is attending a "Sporties for Shorties" class at the local gym/community center. They focus on a different sport each week for a month. He is having so much fun, we might sign up for March, too!

Miles is learning how to sound out letters and is on his way to learning to read. He loves to draw volcanos and color in pictures of kitty cats that look like his beloved gray cat, Kiki.

He is really into all things music. It all started with the Imagination Movers (a Disney show) last year, but has, thankfully, evolved into a love for the Beatles. His favorite Beatles are John and Ringo and he loves to watch both Help! and A Hard Day's Night. Favorite Beatles songs: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away and A Hard Day's Night. Every so often, we need to go to the local music shop for piano books. The first time Miles walked in there and saw walls of guitars and dozens of drum sets, you would have thought it was Disneyland. He was SO excited, we stayed for almost an hour. He carries his red guitar everywhere and really has the rock star positioning and moves down. It is adorable.

Miles is still such a loving little boy. We cuddle a lot and never tire of it. He calls me Beebee instead of Mama and has such a tender way about him. He misses his cousins, always asking when we can go to Sundance again and how long until we see Sadie next.

Here's a video of Miles singing I Wanna Be Your Man. He learned the words from watching Ringo Starr on Jimmy Fallon over and over. Please note that Miles says "I wanna be your mother baby, I wanna be your man!" He doesn't know what a lover is.

craziness

I know I'm going on and on about the snow, but this might not happen for another 35 years, so it's kind of a big deal! We're guessing we've had about 8 inches of snow since last night. The kids had school today, but at about 12:00, the principal made a call and let us know that we were free to pick up our kids at any point and that school is cancelled for tomorrow. It's supposed to freeze over tonight and Texas drivers are not really equipped to handle snowy icy roads. Our towns don't have snow plows of any kind.

So we're making the best of it. Neal has the day off, too!

Starting to regret leaving all of our snow clothes in Sundance . . .

Texas? This is Texas?

We're not quite sure what's going on with the wintry winter this year, but it is so beautiful! This is what we woke up to this morning, and it's supposed to continue throughout the day.

I thought this was a good time to show you the front of our house. If it ever warms up, we'll paint away the green around the front door and change the landscaping quite a bit.

Our snowy street. Isn't it beautiful? We're pretending we live in Sundance. Only without 4-wheel drive.

What's Up With Parker?

Just feel the need to update the blog about what's happening in the kids' lives, so here's the latest goings-on in the life of Parker.

Here he is being a drummer in the First Grade Play this past week. He was so excited because he got just the part he wanted. Which didn't involve any speaking, just banging out a rhythm on these great drums.

Parker scored two baskets at his basketball game on Saturday, his first two of the season! He's having fun playing on the Hawks this year, and coach-pitch baseball starts soon!

Parker started taking piano lessons with Audrey on Tuesday evenings. He's learning quickly and trying to get his left-handed brain to work with traditional piano instructional methods. It's been interesting having a left-handed child. I crack up every time I watch him practice handwriting. And oh boy does he need practice! (He must get his messy writing from his daddy.) We really love our kids' piano teacher, she is marvelously sweet and the picture of patience.

Parker and Audrey have both been participating in Destination Imagination this year. It's a sort of team academic/creative problem solving challenge which started in October. It's winding down to a close, which we are all grateful for. I've been Parker's team's manager and boy howdy, it's time consuming. Parker has done a great job, though. There is strictly NO adult interference allowed, and the kids have to build a weight-bearing structure from only newspaper and tape, write and perform a skit about their structure, and create their own costumes. As a team. Of 6 six-year olds.

Parker has been reading the first book in the Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief, and is super excited to see the movie, which we hope isn't too scary.

We recently instituted a more formal allowance program with our kids. It's chore-based, but they can earn extra money by trying new foods (like Neal's spicy Thai curry the other night) and doing extra jobs. Parker will do just about anything for money. Except zucchini. He will not do zucchini.

In his other spare time, Parker has been mastering the guitar on Beatles' Rock Band and is ever so close to beating Super Mario Brothers on the Wii, with Neal's help. Parker is still the picture-perfect child, if you ask me. We're crazy about him and are so grateful he is the person he is. What a great kid!

Grateful Sunday

Miles at the elementary school's preschool storytime with Mabel's Flat Stanley, who came to visit from Arizona (and is on his way back, BTW, Mabel!)

Today, I'm grateful for:

• a visit from Neal's dad and Gail this weekend. The best news is that they're looking for property in several nearby areas, the furthest being under an hour away! We had so much fun, and they are night owls and so we had several laugh-filled late night chats. I'd love it if they lived near by!
• other great news: my grandparents are taking a nationwide train trip later this summer to celebrate Grammy's 80th birthday and will stay with us here in Texas for a couple of days. What a fun idea, we are so excited!
• just a week or so until my parents come. Can you tell I like having houseguests? Wanna come, too? :)
• friends and neighbors, especially the ones who teach, coach, inspire and pick up my kids.
• the three pregnancies in my family right now. I'm so excited for Mimi, Ginger and Stephanie's babies to arrive later this spring and summer! (also glad it is not me.)