If you aren't a male then what are you??

At dinner tonight we had the following conversation:

Analiese:  "Dad, do you know you are a male?"


Dave:  "A what?"


Analiese:  "A male, you know a boy."


Dave:  "Yes, that's right."

Now me, always taking advantage of that teachable moment, decided to jump in on the conversation.

Me:  "Analiese, what are you if you aren't a male?"


Analiese (with a very confused look on her face):  "An un-male??"

Life just keeps getting better and better!

She said she's been waiting her ENTIRE life..

Sarah was all smiles the morning of her orthodontist appointment.  She said she was nervous and excited.  She wasn't real happy that Dad was going to have to take her out of school early.   I pulled out the camera and reminded her that I wanted to document the experience.  

 The first picture Dave was able to take.  I wanted him to take a photo of Sarah standing next to the sign in the office that said, "Braces On--Sarah"  I thought she'd love to have that but she refused to stand in front of the sign. 

 Sarah said it felt so weird having her mouth held open so wide.  Her face hurt her for days and now she is fighting a migraine.  I'm sure it has lots to do with the contraption they used.

 Bottom braces are on!!  The entire procedure took about 90 minutes.  These brackets are the newest technology from 3M called "self-litigating".  The brackets are clips that hold the arch-wire in place so rubber bands are no longer needed.  Sarah got some bands on the front teeth--kind of a decoration!

 Sarah still looks so beautiful! She'll have to wear the braces for about 18 months.  Because of her overbite (10 years of thumb sucking!!) she has to be careful that her top teeth do not push down on the bottom braces.  Right now she has something behind her front teeth that prohibits her from closing her mouth completely.   It is a great challenge to eat!

Finding the silver lining in wearing braces--attaching a magnet to her mouth.  I told Sarah that she truly can now attach to the refrigerator.  That is something she wanted to do when she was about 2 years old.  She told me she swallowed some magnets so she could attach to the fridge.  I was horrified but luckily found the magnets under a chair right before we left to go to the emergency room!!

Saying goodbye is never easy

That's what our school district is saying to our February break :(   Even though our Governor declared our area in a "state of emergency", due to the massive snow/ice storm,  and is allowing districts to apply for a waiver for 4 of the 6 days the kids missed from school due to the snow, our district decided to take not only the week in February, but an additional day, in March, to make up the snow days.

When I originally found out I was angry.  Not only angry that the winter break was gone, but that the decision was made without any public input!

However, our superintendent sent the district staff a letter explaining the reasoning behind the decision.  It really was the BEST for the kids and the entire district staff and faculty.  Due to the budget crisis we took our 4 snow days in the beginning of the year as furlough days, so the 4 day waiver would have caused us to take 4 MORE days without pay!!  That would have been a total of 14 days for the year.  YIKES!!

Last year, to make up for the 5 flood days, (what's next--locusts???) our district added 15 minutes to each school day.  That worked out well.  Why, did the superintendent not just recommend that??  Well, that would have meant, custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers all would have lost the 6 days of pay.  No, not an option.

So, as I read through the letter, my anger was replaced with understanding and sadness.  There are many families who already have trips scheduled and paid for--with penalties for cancellations and/or changes.  We aren't one of them, but I WILL be working the entire weekend at the gymnastics meet that our gym is hosting.  It didn't seem so bad not having a weekend to relax when I knew that I would have the whole ENTIRE week off after the meet.  Now?  I'm planning to take a personal day after the meet so I can at least have one day to unwind!

I'm sure the board and the superintendent are in for a barrage of criticism and challenges.  But, you know, when they chose to not ask for public input they in effect put themselves in this position.  It will be an interesting drama.  One in which I'll sit back, watch and secretly hope that a better choice comes forward.  I mean the first week in April is SO far away....

And snow it did!

The snow was predicted to begin Sunday night.  At 5:00 all schools and the university closed for Monday. Every hour we went outside to check for a flake.  Not one in sight.

The special "storm" dessert we ate; mini pudding pies, and we waited.

Finally, the first flakes fell!

Within 15 minutes we had a dusting on the deck!

WOW!  1/2 inch already!  

To bed we went satisfied that calling off school was justified--why it's almost a full inch of the white stuff!!

Then in the morning we saw...

An entire white world!!!  At least 5 inches--8 in some places!!

 So we bundled in our warmest, 

 And decided to play.

 No sled you say?  Then what is this?  

 It works just as well, getting us down the hill!

 Making us laugh, making us smile, 

 And helping the youngest enjoy in delight!

 But wait, what is this?

 Someone must work, to clear out a path, 

 Is it Mom?  Nope she's enjoying the hill!

Push us together!

 Boy am I pooped!

 Resting and warming by the fire, 

 So the next day we can stay busy, doing what we love!  NO SCHOOL TODAY!

Three days later...the snow is not gone.  We've not been to school, to the store or to work.  Bring the warmth back--this is the SOUTH you know!

 We are expecting 3-5 inches of snow starting tomorrow night and then on Monday another 2 inches of ice.  The school system has already called and alerted parents to the three possible actions they will take on Monday: cancel school, start 3 hours late or early dismissal if the weather begins to get bad on Monday.

I was out today for my normal grocery shopping and quickly realized how crazy everyone was because of the forecast.  I didn't consider myself one of them until I bought a bag of salt (really?? I've never purchased a bag of salt in my life!!), 2 boxes of logs for the fireplace (the power might go out with all of the ice) and called Dave to make sure we had batteries for the flashlights.

Even though I'm excited about the possibility of another long weekend I'm dreading it as we already have one "ice day" to make up.  However, if the weather is bad AND school must be called off I just ask that they make the decision Sunday night so I can sleep in on Monday.

Not much to ask for, is it???

10 pounds

Other than when I was pregnant, I've never weighed what I weigh now (can you say that fast 10 times???).  In the past two years I've gained more pounds than I want to admit.  It wasn't until this Christmas, when I saw some of the photos that Dave took that I realized how chubby I look!!

So, for the first time in my life I'm working at losing weight.  Yes, even when I gained the 50 pounds of baby weight I didn't have to work at losing the weight!!!  It came off so quickly and I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothing within weeks.

Now?  Not going to happen.  So, I'm trying to exercise at least 3 days a week.  I really don't have much to cut out of my diet.  I don't drink soda, snack lots but I have become very sedentary in the past few years.  I sit at a desk for the majority of my day, sit in the car driving the kids around, sit at the gym and dance studio watching the kids and then go home too exhausted to do anything but sit some more.

My goal is to lose 10 pounds by summertime.  I think it's a reasonable goal but I don't believe it is going to be easy.  Just this week I wanted to work out at least 3 days.  So far I've only walked on the treadmill 1 day for one reason or another.  I really thought I'd be able to squeeze in more than that.

I so remember a time when I was able to get to the gym every night after work and work out for at least 2 hours.  Now I hope for just 2 hours a week!!  No wonder the scale never used to go into the triple digits!!!

Back to work

It was rough going back to work today.  I really got used to sleeping in and having lots of unscheduled time.  I mean Dave and I actually got to sleep in until 10:00 on New Year's Day!!!  We haven't done that in years.

In anticipation of my early morning, I went to bed at a decent hour (10:30).  I set the alarm for 5:45 and fell asleep instantly.  What time did I awaken??? 4:00---and could not fall back to sleep until 5:30!!!

I took Grace to the gym this morning prior to going to work (She is going to have the easiest time going back to school since she continued with her gym schedule throughout the break) and felt like I was in a fog!

I was very busy today but all I could think about was how much I missed being at home :(

So, tomorrow is another day and by the end of the week my break will be a distant memory.  But, I can see February 21st just around the corner.  What's February 21st you ask?  Well, it's my winter break of course--one more week to enjoy away from work!

I LOVE my work schedule!!!

Happy New Year

The girls made it to midnight, watched the ball drop and celebrated the beginning of 2011.

I've made several resolutions. One is to be a better blogger.  In 2010 I was horrible at keeping everyone up-to-date.  As of today that all changes.  My goal is to blog SoMeThInG every other day and post pictures at list once a week.  

So, in keeping with that I've tried to upload some photos , but I'm having difficulty.  I really want to get our holiday photos up to share so I'll try again tomorrow.

At dinner last night we all made some goals for the coming year.  They are:

Grace:  Make it to level 7 regionals and also to the National Training Camp again (hopefully this year to Camp A).

Analiese:  To make it to preteam (pretty lofty goal!!)

Sarah:  To take good care of her teeth while she is wearing braces (she gets them on the end of the month).

Dave:  Be healthier; eat better and exercise more.

Tina:  Exercise more and try to lose the extra pounds I've put on in the past two years.

Stay tuned to see how we progress.   2011 we are ready for you!!!!