Pancakes and more

This morning, before church, we went to AJ's school for the annual Pancake Breakfast and Open House. AJ has been reminding us for weeks that the pancake breakfast was this weekend. Originally, I told AJ we would go to the breakfast after church, but AJ was adamant that we needed to be there at 8:00 am when it started. So we got there this morning at 8:00 am to find this in the parking lot:

Apparently, they must have a small fire or something in the kitchen this morning before everyone arrived. The fire alarm was still going off and there was still some smoke in the school when we arrived. All of the workers from the school were so apologetic, but it wasn't too bad. It was all you could eat pancakes and sausage, along with fruit cocktail and orange juice. The older students in the school actually served us. It was very nice. Both AJ and Ashleigh really enjoyed their breakfast, they both almost eat 3 huge pancakes themselves. Then off to church we went.

AJ got his report card on Friday and he did not do to bad. There are still some areas he needs to improve in like: reading, handwriting, and listening in class. Those were all of the areas we knew he needs a little extra help in. It was nice to see he improved in other areas like: art class, religion, science and math. Both Rick and I were really impressed with his report card this time, however, we still have a few questions to ask the teacher about his progress.

Ashleigh enjoyed her time outside on Friday with her classmates. Her teachers said all of the kids were so excited to be able to go outside to play in the snow. They only spent about 20 minutes outside, but nobody complained because everyone had a good time. Ashleigh's teachers said it took them longer to get everyone dressed in all of their snow gear then the time they spent outside. I am sure it was a nice break for the teachers to have the kids run off some of their energy. I can only imagine what it's like watching 20 four year olds and not be able to go outside. Her teachers said they would forward me the pictures when they get a chance. I will post them once I get them.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Kind of crazy

It's kind of crazy that we get excited when the temperature reaches.....

This is the first time since the beginning of January that the temperature has reached above freezing. It's nice to see the snow finally starting to melt, even if it's just a little bit! I am really looking forward to being able to see the green grass even if it's months away. :)

AJ gets his report card today. I don't think he is very excited about it, but Rick and I are anxious to see how he did! I just hope that he is improving. He seems to be doing well with understanding his homework, but he still likes to rush and be the first one done with his classwork. I guess he takes after me on that one! :) I will let you know how he did on his report card!

Ashleigh's class is actually going to venture outside today. They have not been able to go outside since almost the first week in December. Her teachers have been talking about how bad the "cabin fever" is with the kids in her class. So, this morning, I had to pack for her: snow pants, snow boots, hat, gloves and a scarf. Talk about a lot of stuff to carry. And of course, if we did not pack the stuff, she would not be able to go outside. I know she wanted to be able to go when she reminded me three times this morning about her "snow stuff"!

Hop everyone is enjoying a warm up like us! Have a great weekend!

On the mend

AJ is on the mend. He is feeling much better. He even went to school today after having 6 days off. Although, his appetite is definitely not there. He did not eat anything for breakfast, not much for lunch and even less for dinner. I am sure it's probably going to take a couple of days for that to return to normal. I was sure that he would come home from school with a ton of homework and I was pleasantly surprised that he only have a few pages. I feel bad to say that I am glad he did not have a ton of homework, but sometimes I think it is just overwhelming for him. I am sure it's tough after being at school all day and then having to come home and do more schoolwork. Sometimes, I think he just gets frustrated because he does not really get a break.

Ashleigh is also feeling a little better. She is still coughing and congested, but it does not seem to be getting any worse. Let's just cross our fingers that it stays that way. Ashleigh also went back to school today after being off for 4 days. She was all excited today because they worked on the letter "H". She said to me, when I picked her up, did you know I have 2 "H's" in my name? Ashleigh was very excited and very impressed with her "H". I love seeing how excited she gets about learning new things. I hope it stays like that for a long time.

Well, I am off to give baths, medicine and then get the kids to bed. Hope everyone has a great night.

Most of the time it's one, this time it's two

Most of the time when the kids get sick, it's generally just one at a time. However this time, we were not so lucky. This morning, Rick and I awoke to, "Mommy, my tummy really hurts!"; followed by running to the bathroom. The next thing we find is this:

Poor AJ! We knew he must not be feeling well, when he did not argue about having to stay in his room. He barely had any energy at all. He laid in his bed almost all day long. He sure takes after me when he gets sick because getting him to drink was a challenge all day today. He has been running a fever all day! He took a 3 hour nap today and still went to bed at 6:30 tonight. I always feel so bad when they are sick.

Ashleigh, on the other hand, has been coughing up a storm and is so congested. Her voice also sounds really funny, almost like she is getting ready to lose her voice. She is not running a fever, but you can tell she is not her normal self. She even stayed in her pajamas all day today and did not argue about not getting dressed.

I am just hoping the two of them do not pass each other's cold/flu on to the other. Hopefully, they will both start to feel better soon. It's a good thing they are both off school tomorrow.

This is definitely not a good way to start the week!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.....

Need I say anymore........

No school for both kids this morning. And the wind chill this morning is -27 degrees!

Only one thing to say......

FREEZING

That was the actual temperature here today. That does not include the wind chill which dropped the temperature to a balmy - 17 degrees. I don't think I have ever felt cold like this. Just step outside takes your breath away. AJ's school was even cancelled today and tomorrow because they say it's just too cold for the children to be outside waiting for the bus. It does not help that we have about 14 inches of snow on the ground and everything is still frozen. It's just crazy cold. It's so cold, the power door on the van is frozen shut. Tonight is going to be one of the coldest nights on record! It's days like this that I am thankful for a roof over our heads. I cannot imagine not being able to stay warm. The forecasters say the tonight and tomorrow will stay below freezing and then we will start to see temperatures above freezing this weekend with some snow. Just what we needed, more snow.

Hope everyone had a great week! We are definitely looking forward to the weekend!

Snow, snow and more snow

It has been snowing here since yesterday morning. We probably have about 8 - 10 inches on the ground! It looks so beautiful coming down. But what a pain it becomes when you have to drive in it or have to bundle the kids up in it. Here are some pictures of the front and back of the house with all of the snow.

I must say the rest of our week went pretty well considering how Monday was! AJ is getting back in the swinging of things with school work. He had quite a bit of homework this week and also some make up work from things he has missed in the last couple of weeks. His report card will be coming home, I believe, at the end of January! Rick and I are hoping to see him improve in some of the areas he has been working so hard on. I will let you know when we get it! Ashleigh is also back in school this week and is enjoying it. The artwork and letters she is doing in school is getting some recognizable and she is so proud of herself. She is now recognizing most letters when she sees them. It's so great to see how much she has accomplished this year. Although, some things she is still working on things, like this picture from this morning. We let her pick out her own clothes this morning. Rick and I did not have the heart to tell her that polka dots and stripes don't go together. Here are a few pictures from the week!

Hasn't she gotten so big???

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Has it always been this hard?

Has it really always been this hard to get back in the swing of things? Today was AJ's first day back to school and Rick's first day back to work. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I planned. Let me first start off by saying, the day before AJ was supposed to be off for Christmas break, his school closed because of the snow. So, I guess when we got home that night, the only thing we (meaning AJ and I) were thinking about was the fact that were was no school for 19 days and there was plenty of snow coming down. For both of us, homework and everything else was "out of sight, out of mind!" So this past weekend, we finally "dug" AJ's bookbag out and realized that he in fact did have some homework. We spent Saturday and Sunday catching up on the homework. Over the Christmas break, AJ did do some reading on his own, which Rick and I were really impressed with. Then last night, we finally got everything straight for school:
* lunch box with lunch made (check)
* homework completed (check)
* reading calendar (check)
* homework folder (check)
* homework assignment notebook (check....or at least I thought! Found out this evening, it never made it into his bookbag!)

After getting everything ready for school including the uniform, I really thought I was ahead of the game. Then Rick got a phone call that he had to be at work 4 o'clock in the morning (there went my help in the morning). Whenever Rick leaves that early in the morning, I always have a hard time falling back to sleep and I am always scared I am going to over sleep, so I kind of feel out of sorts. As I am getting ready in the morning, the kids normally are eating breakfast, however, this morning, Ashleigh decided to sleep in and did not want to wake up. It was a struggle to get her out of bed and then get her to eat breakfast. After eating breakfast, AJ was getting dressed and he can't find his belt. We must have looked everywhere and then some. It took us forever to find the belt. I won't tell you that we found it in the bottom of his toy bin! :) How it got there I will never know. And of course, Diamond would take forever to go the bathroom and then she decided to she wanted to explore the backyard, which seemed like it took forever. By the time, we left the house, we almost missed AJ's school bus! Finally, both kids are in school and I am on my way to work, when I realized I forgot my check card at Ashleigh's school after paying this morning. The only good thing was I had not gotten very far when I realized it!

So again, I must ask.......has it always been this hard to get back in the swing of things?

Hope everyone else had a good start to their week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you! It's bithdays and holidays that make us miss you guys so much more! We hope you had a great birthday celebration, even if we could not be there with you! AJ and Ashleigh wanted to help you blow out your birthday candles on your cake!

Here are some pictures over the last year or so to remind you how very much you mean to us!

Just wanted you to know, you mean the world to us.

Only a heart as dear as yours would give so unselfishly.

The many things you've done, all the times you were there.

Helps us to know deep down inside how much you really care.

Even though we may not say, we appreciate all you do.

And we hope you know, the best father is you!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! We wish we were there to celebrate with everyone. Last night, we decided to let AJ and Ashleigh stay up for the New Year. Needless to say, they did not make it! They both got extremely tired about 10:30 or so. I think they were both disappointed they did not get to stay up! I guess we can try again next year!

Hopefully, 2009 will be lots of joy and happiness to everyone. Here are some silly pictures from last night!

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year!