Nana's Birthday Weekend

This weekend the kids had a great time helping Nana celebrate her upcoming birthday! We spent the weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. The kids enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool, munching on Nana's oreo birthday cake, and recommending and teaching her how to use apps such as Angry Birds for her new iPad :-) They also liked a trip to the park. We are expecting a very major snow and ice storm this week, and it will be awhile before they see another park.

Morgan's Big Accomplishment at School

Morgan had a big day at school today! At her school, the kids bring home a metal ring with six new letters a week. The kids have to memorize them. This is a big challenge for the kids. Morgan was able to do her entire ring today. She got to pick a prize for being able to read all her letters. She chose sunglasses to wear on a snowy day :-)

It's a really big deal at her school to the kids because now she gets another ring. She'll do sight words each week. She'll also get to bring home a beginning reader each week. Since her best friends are older and have been bringing home readers most of the year, she's been asking her teacher for this for a while.

Mom and Dad also promised her a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner to celebrate.

Happy Face

On Tuesday, Morgan asked Mom to come see her happy face... Mom got the camera and said she'd take a picture of it. Morgan said she had her happy face because she was going to gymnastics after she finished her homework. (She was disappointed to find out she actually had to wait a couple more hours.)

Seth's Basketball Debut!

Seth played in his first ever basketball game today. He hit his first basket ever... unfortunately, it was before the game began... He had a good time.

Lydia's Cheerleading Camp

Lydia participated in the school's cheerleading camp for little girls this week. The girls cheered at a basketball game Friday night. She did a good job.

MLK Day

Seth is in kindergarten this year, and when a child is in kindergarten, all holidays come with a lot of anticipation. Seth spent last week learning about Martin Luther King, and he asked mom this morning how our family spends Martin Luther King day. A good response would have probably been reading books or visiting a museum. However, Mom explained that our family spends it at the dentist office. Our dentist office makes MLK day kids day. They have only kids all day long so kids don't have to miss school for appointments. The kids wear their PJ's, do crafts, get bags of treats, and of course get their teeth cleaned. Kids in our town will always associate MLK day with clean teeth!

Sledding

Mom has taken the kids and a friend sledding after school for the past couple days. The kids love it. It was really cold today though. Morgan and Sydney only lasted a few minutes then watched from the warm van.

Homework and the Future

We have reached the point where 3/4 of our kids have homework. It's a busy time around our house in the evenings. Tonight we asked the kids what they were going to be when they grew up. Lydia said a chef. She loves to cook. She cooked a pasta and sauce recipe herself tonight with a fruit salad. Her being a chef wouldn't suprise anyone. Seth wants to be a kindergarten teacher. He said he knows a lot about kindergarteners and it would be a lot of fun. He said he wants a big class because he thinks it's more fun with more kids and fewer teachers. Morgan first said she was going to be a princess. Our geography kid Seth then informed her that that was a bad idea because princesses have to live in England and she wouldn't want to move that far away. She decided instead that she would be a person who dresses up like a princess at Disney :-)

Peering Through the Windows

When Mom goes out to get the mail in the mornings and it's too cold for Sydney and Morgan to go along, they watch through the windows beside the front door.

Sleepovers

Lydia headed out this afternoon for a sleepover at a friend's house. Last night she had a friend stay at the house. Nine year-old girls seem to love to pack up their dolls, video games, art stuff, etc. and hang out with friends.

The way parenting tips usually work out...

Seth is stuck in a picky eating rut. Mom has been trying to get him to enjoy more and different foods with little luck. She often hears that the way to get kids to enjoy new foods is to let them have choices in what to prepare and let them help make it. She decided to give it a try. She gave both Seth and Lydia a stack of cooking magazines with pictures and asked the kids to pick out a couple meals they would like to make and eat. Lydia came up with a list of fruit salads, pasta dishes, and smoothies. Seth on the other hand only found one item... an advertisement for pizza rolls... Mom will have to keep trying.

Bringing in the New Year With Some Sausage Cheese Balls