Poetry Contest

They had an American Heritage Poetry contest at Avery's school. They had to memorize a poem and recite it in their class. She was her class winner. That meant she had to recite it in front of the whole school. She was so nervous. She said afterward, "I just wanted to do it really fast and never have to do it again." Thank goodness she didn't win then. We were so proud of her. She stood up there and said the whole thing even though she was so nervous. I made her a skirt and headband, so then Haley wanted to match her. I thought they looked so cute!!! Avery practiced her poem so much, Haley learned it as well. Oh, what smart, beautiful girls I have!! (If I don't say so myself!)

Avery's Creation

Avery loves to create things. Her latest invention~a toilet. Apparently, they needed one for their dollhouse. Who knew dolls needed to go potty? She made it out of a big wipes tub (those are the legs) and a travel-size wipes tub. Haley was so excited that her dolls now have a toilet.

SNOW!!!

ANOTHER SNOW DAY! They called off school again on Friday. At least this time there was enough to make a snowman. We were the only ones in the neighborhood with a snow shovel. Where in the world do we live?!? (They actually called off school and closed the freeways today again in anticipation of a HUGE storm. We never got it. They say it stalled in Texas. Where in the world do we live?!?)

FIREWOMAN

Avery had a fireman come to her school the other day. She came home and made a fireman outfit. She used her mask from her inhaler that she got when they all had walking pneumonia. It was really cute!

Random

Billy the Exterminator!

Avery came home from school on Tuesday so excited. She said, "Mom, I have a surprise for you. We had a dissembly today and guess who came? Billy the Exterminator!" He talked to them at the assembly about the importance of education and, of course, the stuff that he catches and kills. The kids had a blast and Avery thought it was so cool to meet him!

I stole the pictures from the WT Lewis website! So, thanks!

SNOW!!

So, I didn't have snow on Christmas for the first time in my life, but oh did we get snow a couple of weeks ago. They, of course, shut down school and pretty much the whole town. Kev's trip even got delayed because no one here has any snow removal equipment or deicing stuff for airplanes. Not exactly the snow we are used to, or what our families up north are STILL getting, but it's something!

Trouble!

A couple of weeks ago, Field decided it was time to go mobile. Yes, that's right, he started crawling. He has since mastered this skill and crawls all over the house, so now I have to watch where I step. I have stepped on him twice already. Now he thinks he's really cool. As soon as the girls set their toys down, he is crawling as fast as he can to get it. He managed to turn off the DVD player last night, which really made the girls mad. The dogs aren't immune to his terror either. He loves to crawl over to them and pound on them. Oh, I'm so glad they are patient dogs!

My Birthday

Avery made me this Birthday Queen crown. Then we made princess hats for them. We all wore them to Olive Garden. They made me a lot of beautiful drawings for my birthday. But the best present of all was that they listened THE FIRST TIME ALL day!! And Kev brought home a chocolate cake. What a great birthday!

Bearded Dragon

Our friends watched the kids for our anniversary. They have a bearded dragon. Avery LOVED the bearded dragon! She had to go take pictures with it because her friends in her class didn't believe that she held a lizard. Avery still wants to be a vet when she grows up and every animal instantly becomes her best friend. She really does have a way with animals!

Sleeping Kids

I think I have a picture of all of my kids in this saucer sleeping!

Volcano

Avery got a volcano for Christmas. She was so excited! They got it put together, plastered it, painted it, and sprayed it with some polyurethane. Then it was time for the show! Apparently the first time, it wasn't very impressive. The instructions said to put 3 tsp of baking soda, it filled the tube. So the first explosion lasted about 2 seconds. Avery asked, "Is that it?" So, Kev grabbed the jug of vinegar and started pouring. It was a little more impressive then! The girls thought it was pretty cool. They can't wait to do it again. We did have to keep telling them to get their hands out of it~they got pretty stinky!