And The Youngest is 12

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIAH! We opened presents last night because Grammy & I are leaving for a women's retreat weekend with Church of the Good Shepherd this afternoon.

Mariah was going to have a Laser Chase party with her and a couple of friends vs Taryn & Gib, but that had to be postponed because apparently it is a very busy weekend for everyone. Instead, she has one more surprise in store that she doesn't know about and a friend will be coming over. I wonder if Mariah will read this before or after the other surprise?!

An exciting gift from Indy!

Does she know her sister or what?!

Here is the purse project made out of the extra quilt material.
Today Mariah receives the homemade gift from the friend who will receive Mariah's homemade birthday present to her in a couple of weeks. Mariah is way ahead of schedule. I think it is sweet they are making each other birthday presents.

The only gift Mariah DIDN'T know about.....

(p.s. this pink card box has been in the family for over 50 years! They don't make 'em like they used to! It's a family tradition to drag it out of hiding & use it for gifts every now and then! Funny how the older people find it more humorous than the younger ones)

2 TICKETS TO OWL CITY!!
"SWEEEEEET!!!"

Since when did Taryn get to light the candles?! Geez, send a kid to explosives camp and they take over everything involving matches! That's what I was saying when I took this picture.

We had a fun evening! Tonight Mariah will be enjoying dinner out with Dad, Taryn & Gib.

She went to school in her new outfit and looked so happy and cute!!

Mariah's Moments

Waaaay back in November, Mariah participated with middle school students in the American Math Online Challenge. I am just now getting around to sharing with you the exciting news that she was among the top 3 students for her school. Go Riah!!! Each of them scored a perfect 100% in the Concepts Mastered. Mariah certainly applied herself to the online math challenge and was working at it ALL the time during the challenge period. She deserved the win!!

Today, Mariah came home with more exciting news from school (which is what reminded me that I forgot about the math thing)! She has artwork chosen to be displayed at the Frist Center. It is a drawing of a polar bear cub. Mariah shows alot of dedication. She has been practicing polar bears for awhile now, and the one she did at school must be pretty awesome to be chosen. I was cleaning yesterday and found one she had sketched out on a canvas and was looking at it wondering if she was going to paint it or not. I can't wait to go see it! Check it out here: Frist Center

Honorable Mention is the latest sledding adventure. Gib and Mariah went off with Alec for some night time sledding. If anyone checked out the sledding videos, you will remember The Bowl. Well, there was a little pond off to the right... only this time the pond was ALOT bigger and deeper, and scummier. Mariah lost control of her sled, failed to bail when her foot got caught and she did the Titanic splash into the icy water. It was 24 degrees outside, so that had to have hurt! I think she was in shock because she didn't complain. I would have been complaining!! I didn't get any photos of her because she came in and went straight to the showers, so I got a picture of Gib instead.


Mariah and I went to her last Activity Days last night. She turns 12 on Friday!!! The YW did make-overs on the younger girls. Most of whom looked like they were being tortured. It was funny to watch. Mariah said she didn't really like being a Barbie Doll. So I started singing "Barbie Girl" and she shushed me. Wonder why. I think she's cute!

Mariah playing with the camera before school this morning!

Well, Mariah has to get back to her homework now!

It's rough sharing my computer all the time!

Ruby's Last Escape

Yesterday was a tad traumatic for one of our preschool teachers, and well, for some of our students. One of our little friends kept messing with the hamster cage the day before... you see where this is leading don't you? Ruby the hamster escaped many times during my tenure at preschool. Her favorite hiding place was in the puzzles stored under the shelves on the floor a few feet away from her cage. There's a nifty hiding place in the corner that unless you get down on the ground at hamster level , you wouldn't see her. The first time she hid there it took us until lunch the next day to find her. I forget what her name was that year. Anyway, this year the class named her Ruby, and it's the name she will take with her to hamster heaven.

Poor Ruby must have gotten into something she shouldn't have. She was beyond any help when the teacher found her the next morning. When I arrived at school and saw the crowd in the office, the teacher said something really bad happened. I immediately asked, "Did the hamster die?" in that weird way I have of knowing... then I saw the cage, and thought...yep, Poor Ruby. But, no...Leigh explained not quite yet and told me what the problem was.

It was time to greet students so she left the poor dying critter in the office. I was doing a few things and I couldn't stand it - so I went to her room and told her to call the vet. We decided how much could it cost really to get poor Ruby a whiff of gas, and chances were since she was a client and we were a non-profit preschool with traumatized children (you know, the pity factor) we could get them to do it for free. The vet agreed to look at Ruby for free to see if there was anything they could do to save her and put her out of her misery if not. A parent drove Ruby to the vet, and in the end, Ruby made her last escape.

It was our valentine party day. Such a sad thing to happen. There was even a valentine for Ruby from one of the girls. However, upon hearing the news, immediately upon hearing the news, while the other children were still reeling in shock, another child chirped, "Well you still have that bird for us at your house, right?!"

Pop!!!

After the Crrrrack!!! post I thought this was a fitting title for today :)

So a funny thing happened on the way to preschool. Normally, being a Monday, I wouldn't be going there, but just so you know, it's not all fun and games. There's alot of serious behind the scenes stuff going on to set up the room or prepare for lessons before a school day begins. I had to wrap 10 valentine boxes and make 5 ice glacier prisms out of mirrors, and talk with my coworker about assessments for PTC's. So, back to my moment:

As I was on my way in, I noticed some pressure in my head and a passing thought went through my mind that I hoped a migraine wasn't on its way and that I'd better pay attention and take some meds if it developed any further (all clear by the way). About a mile further up ahead I approach a "mountain pass". It's a short-cut they carved out right through the hills and is one of the highest points around. I'll have to take photos someday. It is truly a beautiful drive - green trees and shrubs line the way as you climb a steep hill, then you drive between towering rock walls and this time of year they have frozen icicles all over and in the rain they have mini waterfalls, after a bunch of twists and turns, you descend into little the most gorgeous valley I've ever seen and come out into pasture. I used to just drive out there to look at it! Now I get to see it every time I drive to preschool.

Anyway, as I was nearing the top of the hill I noticed my ears were about to pop and it was almost painful. I was all like, "!ow I don't usually have this problem on this hill!" As I was shaking my head and trying to pop my ears, I heard a loud POP! from the back seat a fraction of a second before my ears popped!!!

I looked over my shoulder to see what in the world could've popped at the same time as my ears pressurized?! I mean, yeah, it's a sizeable hill, but come on... it's not THAT big!! Maybe a mile or two up to the top. That's when I remembered.......

I had empty two-liter bottles in the backseat for preschool!! They had been washed but the lids were capped back on and one of them popped with the pressure!! Can you believe that?! Immediately my first thought was to laugh and wonder at myself.... does this mean there is nothing but AIR between my ears too?!

Just a random airhead thought from me to you.

Crrrrack!

Whew! Do we ever feel better! Everyone just got back from the chiropractor.

Gib had a partially dislocated shoulder.
Taryn had major neck and hip adjustments.
Mariah had a partial whiplash.
I had a ribhead sticking out and when he did my neck I think every bone cracked! Love that!
Mike was in pretty good shape, but did find it painful to watch the wipeouts so he might have pulled something wincing.

Sledding At Our House

Sledding At The Bowl!

Here are but a few of the MANY videos taken at what the kids call "The Bowl"... a huge retention pond for runoff. There were a couple wet spots, but otherwise it made for perfect sledding with several sled runs going at once. Lots of fun!! I even took a few turns! These are all short videos so it will only take a couple minutes to see them.

Enjoy! Next up will be the videos of the sledding done in our backyard!!

Taryn is first sledder, Gib & Thomas come in from the side, Mariah screams her way to the bottom at the end!

Alec with a couple kids on his back. He's lives in the circle and owns all the sleds! Oh, and he's the other sledder who crashed into a STOP sign - heh-heh!! Indy will like hearing that. We took him cookies last night as a thank you for all the good times!

Alec and Taryn debating how to create a new ride. Holli yanks Thomas off at the last second as the "Balony Sandwich" goes down into history!

This is one of my favorites. I love giving Brett a hard time as he gives back as good as he gets. Don't feel bad for him. He has it all coming and more!!!

Sledding Photos

There are quite a few. I would edit, but a day of sledding followed by a day of janitoring at the preschool and a few other things at home, my aching back says I can only do so much more before it gives out! I will insert a few captions, but I have Indie waiting to see these, so I'm in a hurry! And I need a massage, but since I won't be getting one, a super hot bubble bath is calling my name!

I believe these are from Sunday. The roads were solid ice, no car traffic but plenty of kid on sled traffic. Two kids on our street collided with the STOP sign and a light post. The light post one was right in front of me. I couldn't believe she was fine.

So here's Gib and his amigo Brett. Yes, Brett is wearing a pink coat. Yes, I gave him a bad time!

His coat was at his dad's house and everyone was snowed in...so he used his sister's old coat :)

Aaah, to be 10 yrs old, in a pink coat, and just finished going 25 mph downhill!

OK - do it again!!

From the Top

(see the lightpost by the fireplug?

that's the one! the 1st girl turned the corner, the 2nd one cut it too close)

Here they come!

MONDAY

The sled run between Lara's house and ours

I think this was Gib's first run - right into a tree!

He almost broke his collarbone. He cut the inside of his mouth - We told him to put snow pack on it! His nose is scraped up a bit. :)

The Tree that Gib crashed into - He's showing the mark he made with his face

FINALLY GOT TIRED OF OUR HILL

AND MOVED TO THE BOWL!!!

My job was videographer and sled holder!
I like Taryn helping!