a parent afternoon...in Nov.

Twice a year, the lower elementary invites all of the parents for a "parent afternoon." The children can give their parents lessons and show them their files of work. It is always a fun afternoon of socializing with the teachers & other parents, and seeing the work that Maddy is doing...

Look how excited our girl was to give us her favorite lessons! :)

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She gave us a lesson on the multiplication board first...

Next, she gave us a flag lesson...

She took a break to sharpen her colored pencils...

Then, the 3 of us took a break and sampled some snacks some 3rd years made for the parent afternoon...they were so yummy! In fact, Maddy ate most of the strawberries! :)

Maddy had just been given a lesson on the checquerboard and was so excited when she could so off her new skill! She got out the beads, the board, her pencils, & her workbook.

Jan gave her a problem...

She laid out her tiles... She counted her beads & exchanged...

Writing down her answer...

Success!

We had so much fun! Thank you, Maddy, for the new lessons! :)

least favorite & a sneak peak

Oh...this is my least favorite day of the year! The day when we "spring forward." I tell you...my body is out of sync until we "fall back!"

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a new post is coming tonight...here is a sneak peak... ;)

a bath

Our valentine for Polly was a trip to the...

Gettin' a brush...

Look at that tongue! :)

The girls were such good helpers!

Scrub a dub dub...

Lather up using these...

The 3 amigos...

A blow-dryA towel-dry... A spritz of doggy "perfume" The best part...

snow?

Well, it's finally decided to snow here. Frankly, I am so over winter. It has been such a disappointing winter for me...wild temp. rides with no precip. But, we still had to make our snowman pancakes this am...thanks, daddy!

Maddy likes her with just a little syrup, no chocolate eyes & mouth, and "snow" which is a little powdered sugar...

Elly likes her "snowman" with chocolate (shocker!), no "snow," and a little syrup. I'm not sure if she's going to a wedding today but she is planning on sledding! :)

Here is a peek from our backdoor this am about 8:30am... and it is still snowing quite heavy. I think we have 4 inches now...

Happy Belated Birthday, Ryan!

I'm so sorry I forgot to wish you a happy birthday, Ry Guy! We love you and hope you had a wonderful day!

You only turn 23 once...hope you have a fantastic year! Be safe, have fun, & be safe, little brother...

a quick fix.

I am way behind on blogging...sorry Aunt Cindy & Vicki Lou! :) I have several posts in the works...

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Maddy came home this week with holes in the knees of 3 different pairs of pants! So, I found these cool patches and ironed them on tonight!

Are you wondering what the heck she has been doing in order to do this to 3 pairs of pants? If you guessed trying to be highest pogo stick jumper out of all the first years then you guessed correctly! :)

Or...if you guessed trying to walk on stilts...well, you would be right again! :)

I would say a few holey pants are totally worth it...don't you think? ;)

flashback friday

I could eat them they are so cute in this photo from 2.14.o7! :)

a lotta work...

Handmade valentines are a lotta work...but, they come with a lotta love! :) Elly made 29 puppy valentines...24 children (including one for Elly) & 5 teachers...

Maddy made 34 butterfly valentines...30 classmates (including one for her) and 4 for her teachers... They worked so hard...and the valentines turned out super cute! :)

a cut

Miss Madalyn gave herself a haircut in the girl's bathroom at school today. I think she got the idea from this book. I snuck some photos while she was making her Valentine bag tonight. It is hard to tell but is noticeable in person...

If you look closely...you may notice some hair missing above her ear...it is a little thin. She cut the hair really short! It is probably 2-3 inches long at most!

We have an appointment on Sat. I haven't decided if she will get a pixie cut or if we will cut her bob really short (chin length) and give those hairs a chance to grow out.

But, know that she won't look like this the next time you see her!

a heavy heart...

My heart has been sad since I heard the news about baby Cora whose family is friends with my childhood friend, Amy. Then, this morning I found out about a co-workers 11 year old daughter who was diagnosed with cancer on Friday. Annika had over 10% of her large intestine removed & is awaiting the news of whether her chemo treatments will be 6 weeks long or 6 months to a year. I know that our children belong to the Lord...but, I just wish that these families were not hurting tonight.

update, random

Kevin stayed home with Elly yesterday & took her to the doctor. She ended up taking a 3.5 hour nap but was still pretty cranky & coughy in the evening. She picked at her dinner...eating a little & I enjoyed snuggling with her & rocking her to sleep. I am home with her today and she had a good night's sleep...it was glorious to sleep til 7:20am. Kevin took Maddy to school & he is picking her up at 3:45pm...(on a side note, I am so PROUD of him...he handed over practice to his assistant to go get Maddy from school! I heart him!)...so, we are still in our jammies. :) We spent the day doing puzzles, reading The Napping House, and played 3 holes of golf on the Wii. Elly loves to play golf...it is hysterical. :) She is still not eating great and running a low grade fever but Grandma Vicki is coming tomorrow and sometimes... you just need a little grandma lovin' to make it all better. :)

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We pulled these things out today...

and started working on our valentine's. I love handmade valentine's! But, seriously...I don't know what possessed me to let the girls pick out which one's they wanted to make. We have to cut out over 120 hearts of various sizes to create the puppy (for Elly's class of 24) & the butterfly (for Maddy's class of 32)! What was I thinking? Oh, well...I just can't bear to buy a box of preprinted character valentine's for .99 at the store. No way...I'm not gonna do it. :)

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Kevin & I try to make a dinner for us 1x/week after the girls are in bed. Last week, we made this...

...it had tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, lemon juice, caesar dressing, and romaine on a french bread loaf. It was pretty tasty!

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I think it is adorable when Maddy reads to Elly...

Ok, who am I kidding? Anytime they can sit next to each other & not fight...it makes a mom happy...

Aren't they sweet? Dirty socks and all! :)

croup.

Someone in our house has the croup. I will spare you a picture of our sick little girl...so here is one from another day...

Here is hoping Elly is back to giving us her famous "looks" soon!

A dare...

Kevin & I have decided to take a dare.  We are going to read the book, The Love Dare.  It goes along with the movie, "Fireproof."  We have not seen the movie yet, but I have it on reserve at our library.  Ohh...I heart our library!  I will keep you posted...

PS~I am absolutely giddy this morning b/c I got an email from MckMama!  I have never met her IRL but am inspired daily by her.  I never thought in one million years that she would email me! You can check out her blog by clicking on My Charming Kids to the right...

Want to know...

how to stimulate the economy? Give Kevin Wade a tax refund. Use e-file so your refund comes quickly...and let SuperTarget have these...

...oh, and have a former student working who is willing to put one aside for you for 20 minutes until her supervisor comes in. :)

Go, Kevin, Go!