Cassie's snow day

Cass and I had a little fun in the snow a few days ago. She is at such a fun age. Her personality has just blossomed - she is a whirlwind of energy. She is every bit as loving as Lucy- and best friends with her as well. It makes my heart sing to see them spending special moments together. And as sassy and full of life as Jack. I can already see them scheming together. She brings such joy to my day- from the first moments the alarm clock goes off and she 'dances' in bed next to me (she wakes up way too early and thus climbs in until I am ready to get up)- to the silly sentences she creates (whether they are created of all real words or not)- to the shakin' of her booty at super sonic speeds-to her expressive faces or how she gets 1/2" from my face, holding the sides of my head to whisper when she really wants something, this little girl is the life of the party. I am so glad this little girl is ours.

New Cut

Here is my new cut! I had really let it grow out and my bangs were almost past my nose. My neighbor and friend, Kristy gave me this shorter cut. I love it and I love that it takes me only 2 minutes to dry and style.

Daily News

So usually losing a tooth after you have already lost 3 isn't that big of a deal but Jack was SO excited to lose this one. Maybe it was because he pulled it out by himself. Or maybe it was because of how it got so loose... he was wrestling with his friend Jared while ice fishing (throwing the occasional punch as part of the fun- as he demonstrated to me) when he took a jab to the slightly loose tooth which turned it into a very loose tooth.

I have to admit I don't see how wrestling and punching can be fun, or how you can be excited to have a tooth punched loose, but when I told Andy about it he seemed proud. Must be a guy thing.

ice cream

Just because it is cold out doesn't mean you can't enjoy an ice cream cone!

And sometimes we just need to eat one to cheer us up because it IS so cold outside.

Mary the Snow-woman

New Year's Eve was rather warm outside- nothing like the bitter cold we have had since then. Lucy and I went out to make a snowman... excuse me snow-woman. She was very clear that she would be a snow-woman and that her name was to be Mary. She wanted her to have ears, feet, hair, arms, a fairy wand and tiara. Lucy was quite meticulous in her creation and placed the stones for the mouth and eyes very carefully. When we noticed some of them had fallen out the next day I had to go out in the 9 degree weather to place them back in their proper place.

One of the kids' favorite books is "Snowmen At Night". Lucy is pretty sure Mary stays close to home each night, although she questions why her mouth seems to keep falling out.

ticking time bomb

It all started early Monday morning about 4:00am. I woke up feeling a bit nauseous. I chalked it up to the antibiotic I was taking, and went back to bed. But the nausea never went away. The next morning I laid around on the couch, napping on and off as the girls played, danced and watched TV around me. I started feeling a little better about 11:00 am and decided to shower to try to get to the grocery store before Cassidy's afternoon nap. It wasn't to be. After showering and getting the girls lunch I felt like I had run a marathon, and was once again nauseous. So back to my perch on the couch, I went. I was just about asleep when the phone rang. I peeled myself off the couch, answered and heard, "Hi Katie, this is Robin at school, we have Jack throwing up here." By this point Cassidy had fallen asleep on the couch by me so Andy's mom went and picked him up and dropped him off. He spent the rest of the day throwing up and sleeping on and off. While Andy and the girls went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a fish fry (the sheer mention of fish made me shudder) Jack and I camped out on the floor watching Jeff Corwin. You feel so helpless as a parent watching your child writhe around in discomfort... I was feeling better myself by this point, but it was so difficult to see him uncomfortable. I got him to bed, and shortly after the girls got home and we put them to bed as well. Andy decided to sleep on the couch to avoid as many germs as he could- good thing. About 2:30 am Lucy stumbled into our room, moaned, flopped onto my bed and vomited all over. So I spent the next hour cleaning, disinfecting, making her a bed on the floor of my room next to the bathroom, and preparing Cassidy's room in case she followed suit in the middle of the night. Her and Lucy are connected at the hip, not to mention they sleep about 2 inches apart. So I have a feeling it is just a matter of time... So far she hasn't gotten sick, but I feel like she is my little ticking time bomb. I just have this feeling that without warning sometime soon, that bomb will go off, and I will be cleaning up all over again.

You might be a redneck if...

You open the door to the garage and you find a frozen mass of northern your husband left right in your path, and your daughter exclaims," Oh cute, fishies!"

(And then the whole thing ends up in your kitchen sink to thaw out 30 minutes later.)