Spelling Bee

This past week Sarah had the opportunity to be in her very first spelling bee. All the elementary schools in our district competed. Most schools had about 6 kids on their team...Sarah's school had 4 kids and Sarah was one of them. Sarah was number 2 and she did so good!! What impressed me the most was her confidence. Even when she mispelled permanent (she spelled it permenent) in the fourth round she still held her head high and did not get upset or cry like some of the other kids did. Round 5 took out all but 4 kids so Sarah did really well!! It was a great experience and I was so proud of how well she did for her first spelling bee!!

Mmmmm...white stuff

Here's just a few pictures of the kids playing in and of course eating snow! We got a pretty fair amount that lasted longer than usual so that was nice. Wish we'd get some more!! =)

Pizza and Shakes

So one night when I didn't feel like cooking I just popped in some frozen pizzas and made oreo milkshakes. Can you tell I used the red Christmas oreos? =) The kids loved it (of course, right?). Too bad it's not that healthy or I'd make it every night...might just be a new Friday night tradition though =)

Sweet Dreams

For some reason the other night, Liam didn't want to sleep in his bed...he was scared. So I told him he could sleep with his picture of Daddy and Daddy would watch over him and he could snuggle with all his stuffed animals and they would keep him company. He looked too cute so I had to snap some pictures. Thankfully it worked and he went right to sleep and hasn't been scared since =)

A night at the zoo

Thanks to Operation Military Kids-- Evan, Sarah and I got to spend a night at the zoo or free =) They didn't let kids under 5 stay the night so Liam got to have his own little sleepover with Nana and Papa (He just might have gotten the better deal) We got to the zoo and set up our sleeping arrangements and then went to dinner...pizza and salad. Then we had about an hour and a half of free time to explore the zoo. Around 9:oo pm when everyone else was leaving the zoo we got to roast marshmallows and have hot cocoa =) We also got to feed the giraffes, learn about hippos and pet a turtle. Around 10:00pm it was lights out...we all snuggled into our sleeping bags and Evan and Sarah were out like lights...I on the other hand laid there for a good two hours and just got colder and colder and could not sleep!! We all had our sleeping bags around the edges of the room and there were vents right by our heads that were blowing out very cool air. So around midnight when I just couldn't take it and wanted to be in my own bed rather than be cold and awake all night, I woke up the kids quietly and we gathered up our things. They were such good sports and didn't mind waking up and going home since they were freezing too. As we were trying to be as quiet as possible one of the dad's sleeping in the same building lets out this extremely loud fart!! Evan, Sarah and I started snickering and laughing...it was so funny...then he did it again...we almost busted out laughing. We hurried and went out of the building and then laughed out loud!! We made our great escape dragging our sleeping bags and mats out of the zoo...it was kinda fun =) Then home sweet home and nice warm beds =)

It's December?

Here are a couple of pictures from when we went to the park after Christmas so Evan and Sarah could break in their new roller blades. There are a couple of nice flat surfaces perfect for skating but Evan and Sarah really liked following the sidewalk around the park. It was a beautiful, warm day and we all had fun!!