6 Day Weekend

Well the kids went to school exactly 1 day this week - 1 day out of 5!!!  Now I know what you're thinking, "Those Texans just don't know how to handle snow."  Unh uh.  We handle snow just fine.  It's sleet and ice that really slow us down.  Monday night ice started falling from the sky.  Trust me it was really loud on the windows. By Tuesday morning there was a nice thick layer of ice on everything, and no one wants to drive in that.

I didn't really take any pictures of the ice, because well, it was just roads with ice.  I do have a video of Ryder doing some skating on it though.



The temperatures stayed around 0 degrees (wind chill factored in here) so the ice wasn't able to melt.  So the kids got to stay home on Wednesday and Thursday as well.  We were able to enjoy lots of family time together - board games, puzzles, TV, Wii, baking and some crafts.  Harrison, Melanie, and Ryder put together these little wooden craft kits that I had picked up for $1 each the week before.  My thought at the time was that I'd just stash them away for a rainy day or next summer when the kids are bored.  As fortune would have it, we got to use them much earlier than that.

These little kits were awesome.  As I mentioned before only $1 each, and they included all the wood, paint, glue, paintbrush, sandpaper and rubberbands needed to complete the project!  I think the boys can get some scouting achievements signed off for this too :)

Then Thursday night and Friday we got SNOW.  Probably a good 4-6 inches.  And it stuck.  In fact it's still here.  Unheard of!

Here is a picture from early Friday morning.

And snow or not, poor little Blossom still had to go outside to, well, you know. . . She got icy in the process.

Blossom's mad because her paws are cold!

The fun part is that snow is waaaaaaay more fun than ice! You can go sledding.

Or eat the snow (only pure white fresh snow please).

Or if you're me, you can slip and fall.  I know, cool huh.

The neighbor kids had been begging me to sled the ditch with them.  We all know how that would've turned out.  I kindly declined, and so today I can still say I have never broken a bone!

It's also quite beautiful to see our lake almost completely frozen over.

So as we enter our 5th day of isolation in our home, we are grateful for this little window of time where we could just relax and spend time together.  We are also grateful for food storage, and that I had just purchased milk, eggs, and fresh produce on Monday night!

Thanks for a wonderful break Mother Nature!



UPDATE:  Of course all good things must come to an end. . .

Coolest Field Trip Ever!

This past week I went as a chaperone for Ryder's 2nd grade field trip to Elm Fork Education Center at the University of North Texas.  What a great day!  I have attended quite a few field trips over the years with my children, but this was one of the best ones.  They were so well organized and kept the kids actively involved and learning the whole time we were there.

When we first arrived, our group watched a show in the planetarium about seasons.  Next we went to a class and learned about archaeology and how to set up an archaeological dig site.  Once they had learned how, the kids got to go be archaeologists and unearth discoveries in a mock dig site. Here they are getting some last minute instructions:

And starting to dig.

Ryder recording where his partner discovered a fossil.

Ryder discovering an artifact.

Then each group put their map of their unit of the grid on the larger dig map.  The collection shows what was found in the entire dig site.

The kids also participated in an aquatics study where they were assigned either the waterfall, pond, stream or wetland.  They used instruments to measure flow rate and oxygen saturation, then analyzed their data to see if it supported their hypothesis.

It looked something like this, but I was helping the kids and didn't get a chance to take pictures!

At the end of the day they searched animal statues on the site and categorized them as predator, prey or both. Here are Ryder and a classmate discussing how they should draw and categorize some prairie dogs.

Wish I would have taken more pictures!  It was a great day :)

Nicole's Sweet 16 Party

Party Invitation

Nicole is turning 16 this week - yikes how did that happen?!?! I've had in my mind that she can get her driver's license soon, but until her little brothers reminded me I'd forgotten that she can also DATE now! Help us all!

Somehow she talked me into throwing a party for her. Getting me to throw a party is like pulling teeth. Actually, I know from experience that pulling teeth is easier :)

So, she and a friend came up with having an "animal print theme" and they left the rest up to me.

Here is a picture of the cake I made for the party.  Click here to read more about how I made the cake.

Then with all of those teenagers, I knew we would need some food.  So here are some pictures of the tablescape I did:

Custom Water Bottles

Veggie Tray and "Cheetah-Toes"

Eclairs

Chex Mix

Peanuts

6 pounds of gummy bears
One guest ate 3 pounds of these himself - SERIOUSLY!

Frosted Animal Cookies

And then I posted this sign - don't know if anyone but me got it.

There were games to play.  I came up with several, but was told by my soon to be 16 year old that only one was cool enough.  Here is my "cool game" called Take a WILD Guess.  It was basically a list of 10 questions about Nicole to see who knew her best.

There were prizes for the winners, and eventually everyone just passed the basket around and picked something out.

This game is one that Nicole and her friends wanted to play.  Not sure exactly what it's called or how you play it, but they seemed to have fun.

Then she blew out her candles.

Look, the inside of the cake has zebra stripes too!

And opened her gifts

It turned out to be a really fun party.  She invited the kids from her early morning seminary class - all freshmen and sophomores, so there were about 25 kids there.

I am so glad she had fun - and that she only turns sweet 16 once!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!!!!!!