February: Check!

Hola!

I know we are supposed to "Live in the Moment," "Enjoy Today," and "Take Time to Smell the Roses."  And I think I do that, for the most part.  Really.

But there are also times that I am kind of glad to "get through things."  It may be the Type-A Task-Oriented part of me.  Go down the list, get it done, check it off.

So, here are two of those times.

JANUARY 31st is a big accomplishment, I feel.  We "made it through" January, and a nice chunk of winter is under our belts.

Another big accomplishment is FEBRUARY 28!  Yes!  So as of tomorrow, we "made it through" February, and now there really is a light at the end of our tunnel of winter.  Granted, it's frigid here through May.  Those of us in New England still have 3 more months of too-cold temps.  But to get through February is a big deal.  For this, I will shout, "CONGRATULATIONS, EVERYBODY!  YOU MADE IT THROUGH FEBRUARY!"  :)  This would be a little funnier if it wasn't so painfully true...sigh.

NO SCHOOL.  Last week was our "February Break."  There were some lucky people who went to warm places.  I am tempted to make NEXT year's warm vacation in February.  Or maybe we'll take a warm vacation in December, February, AND April.  That decision is still being debated.



Anyway, the kids were out of school and we stayed here.  This made for lots of sleeping in, last-minute plans, sleepovers, and chauffeuring all over creation anyway.  Even without structure, we go through a lot of gas.  Go figure.

RACHELLE VISITS.  We had a treat, having our cousin/niece Rachelle come visit for a couple of days at the end of the week!  The weather was typical Boston cold, but we layered up and went out sightseeing anyway.  Walden Pond, Boston Temple, Freedom Trail... hopefully she can come when it's warm sometime, too. :)


SKIING and SNOWBOARDING.  Frank took Kara and Teresa to the closest ski resort to us, really a smaller "hill."  Teresa wanted to try snowboarding, so she took lessons.  She decided she likes it, but she also likes the speed when she puts skiis on.  1/2 way through the day, she switched back to skis.  It wasn't crowded--that's awesome!  The 3 of them skied together the rest of the day.

VOLLEYBALL CLINIC.  Teresa took advantage of brushing up on the volleyball skills, specifically setting.  For 3 days she participated in a vball camp.

SAVE-A-DOG.  While we are not getting another pet anytime soon, Teresa does enjoy playing with dogs and puppies.  She has been through Save-A-Dog's orientation training, and now volunteers periodically with the abandoned pups who are up for adoption there.

FOUR for FOUR!  David's big news is, he has now been ACCEPTED to BYU!  The huge accomplishment is that he got 4 acceptances for the 4 university applications he turned in.  Very cool.  He is still considering his top 2 choices: BYU and Northeastern, here in Boston.  It is nice to have choices.  This is a process, and he has until May 1 to officially accept...he has applied for some scholarship help too with Northeastern, and wants to get results from those efforts before making a hard and final decision.  We should know on those scholarships by the end of March.

I better move on with my list...it is raining like crazy today.  Hope you have a fabulous week!

Kari

February and Freezing

Hola!

Nothing like fresh snow to eat!

Sunday again.  The week flew by, but here is a synopsis...

SNOW.  It's been off-and-on sunny, rainy, cold, warm, so the snow from last weekend has "shrunk" a little.  Then, it snowed some more last night and this morning.  That forced a scramble of snow-shoveling before our 9a.m. church!

PIANO RECITAL.  Kara showcased her piano skills for us, along with the other students who take from our teacher.  Every year the teacher has a recital with all of her students at her church.  This is lucky for us, since the building is about 1 mile from our house!  It's so nice to hear the kids play, and to give them some recognition for their hard work on their talents.

VALENTINE's DAY.  Yep, Thursday was Heart Day, or it should be renamed Candy Day, or The Holiday Second Only in Sugar to Halloween.  Hmmm. Somehow quite a few holidays have turned into "Sugar High Holidays!"  Halloween Candy, Christmas Candy, now we're finished with Valentine's Day, and it's on to Easter: Chocolate Eggs, Cadbury, Peeps, Reeses Eggs...  then CVS puts their candy on 1/2 off, the day after.  Needless to say, there has been a lot of chocolate in the house this week!


GAMES NIGHT.  We added to the chocolate, of course, when we pulled out the chocolate fountain and had some couples over to play games, the day after Valentine's Day.  We answered some Newlywed Game questions: Who is the better driver, how many boyfriends/girlfriends before getting married, who is better at finances, what was the first meal your spouse ever made for you.  It is funny to listen to the banter between couples.

ROBOTICS.  David is into crunch time for his Robotics team at the high school.  It's a program/competition put on by NASA.  The team has been working for about 6 weeks, and tomorrow is the last day they can work on the robot.  Every year each team gets a challenge, and a "Robotics Kit" to make a robot that can accomplish certain tasks within the challenge.  It's a neat program.

Hope your week is uneventful, or eventful, whichever you prefer!

Kari

Snow and More Snow

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

BLIZZARD.  We had our first real snowstorm in awhile, this weekend!  The media hyped it up like you wouldn't believe, so we were told we would need to prepare for THE BIG ONE.  Of course, the 'real' BIG ONE was back in 1978, and I looked at photos on the Internet.  It was a doozie, I'll give them that much.

Ours was 24 inches in about 24 hours.  A true blizzard, I think!  Then as fast as it came, ... it went away.  The afternoon was even sunny, so as we began to dig out, it was a really pretty day.  Today, Sunday, had bright blue skies and it was just brilliant with the bright, new snowfall.

Frank gives the car a mohawk

Here are some photos.  Lots to move and re-move, between the driveway and the deck and around the mailbox which the snowplow guy doesn't really pay attention to.

BURIED CARS. The cars were pretty well buried, and Frank gave one a mohawk...

ELECTRICITY.  Best news of the day?  We had power the whole time!!!!!  YES!!!

David front-flipping from the deck railing

WORK AND PLAY.  Thankfully the kids pitch in with snow removal.  Tedious, yes, but when you mix it in with a little bit of play too, it becomes more tolerable.

SIGNS OF SPRING? You wouldn't believe it, but I'm looking out at the neighbor's magnolia tree and it has hundreds of buds on it.  Yes, it's probably 15 degrees out and this tree is determined to put forth leaves and flowers!

The trees somehow think it's time to bud

Our little tree by the deck has some on it, too.  Remarkable.  We are so far from spring it's like a century away!  But the trees won't be convinced.

ROOF RAKING.  Remember our insane practice of "raking the roof?" Yep, here's Frank, keeping the ice dams from forming with thawing and freezing, causing leaks to come into the house.  Bleh!  Thanks, Frank, 100 times.  No fun.  Here he is raking the roof, and a photo of the house with 1/2 the roof raked.  He finished it off today.  The whole roof, front and back.

Teresa helped with the flat roof over the sunroom and garage.  She put those metal spikes on her boots.  She likes being up there.


FLYING.  Frank is going to Denver for a few days tomorrow.  The airports should be running all flights by then.  Yesterday they cancelled most of them, but they should be back to normal soon.

Teresa's highlight: working on the roof!

Well, my time is up.  Hope your week is really boring.  (Oh--I mean, that's what I want OUR week to be!  If you, on the other hand, want excitement, I hope you get it!)

Kari :)

A break, involving snow-angels and eating snow

Trying to find the mailbox

Good snow for tunneling!

Saturday Reflections

Hello!

Reflecting on the week a little.

what we all want: happy teeth

TEETH. I had an oral surgery Thursday, the same procedure I had a year and 3 mos ago, just on a different part of my mouth.  Grafting a little tissue from the top of my mouth to the gumline, as I have a few teeth with receding gums.


So, overall it was yukky!  I'll spare you the details and just say that I am thankful it was not painful during the process.  I just wish I had taken the extra sedative and fallen asleep!  But alas, I was awake and heard all the sound effects and felt the pressure and pulling and pushing and eeeewwww. :(

FLAT TIRE.  Frank was in Houston this week, and of course it is never convenient for him to be gone!  It was 8 p.m. and had started to rain, and David comes in the door with "The tire on the highlander is flat."

They were on their way to a youth activity at the church, and so I had him drive his sisters in the other car, to the church.  But we needed both cars the next day!  And I am wimpy on car things...I have no interest, whatsoever, in changing my own tire...

challenges come in different shapes and sizes

My brain bounced around to different neighbors I could ask to help.  But then I thought wait, I have a high school senior.  Shouldn't he be able to do this kind of thing?

Meanwhile David had texted me from the church activity.  "When I get home," he says, "I can google it for any specific details about the Highlander, and I can change it."  He also named 2 neighbors we could ask for help as back-up.  So when he got home, I held the flashlight in one hand and the car manual in the other, and I read out the steps to David.  He went through all the steps, and changed the tire all by himself!  Yes, he did!  I was so proud of him.

Of course it was not speedy.  Or clean.  And it had started to rain.  But he did it!  HUGE sigh of relief from me.  My Hero! :)

GRATITUDE.  I am also especially grateful for my family this week.  Our friend at church has been battling melanoma for 15 months, and she passed away 2 days ago.  Her kids are the same ages as mine.  Our hearts goes out to her family, and we are praying for the support and comfort of her daughters and husband.  They are such a beautiful family.  This made me think of my own kids and husband, and my extended family and friends.  I am so grateful for my support system of wonderful people around me.

my own reasons to be thankful

I hope you have a refreshing week full of people you love, and activities you find fulfilling.  Occasionally we are given experiences that make us stop, and think of the most important things we have.  And they're not the "things we have."  They're the people we can touch, and those who touch our lives for good.

Kari