The Magic Box

Every parent has seen the "magic box syndrome." Christmas morning...the boxes are what get played with instead of the toys. There must be something truly magical about being confined in a small place with the definite possibility of an older sibling trapping you in forever. Last night some friends came over and once again the box was a hit. One of the older kids jumped in but yelled "WAIT! You have to remember to let some air in!" We thought that was very entertaining as very few cardboard boxes are airtight. Either way, I could see how a little panic could set in. Tonight I am going to throw Troy in the box with the promise to feed him peanut m&ms at regular intervals. I will attach more pictures if I can make it happen.

By the way, what's up with all of the animals on the edge?

Fairy Tale Friday

A few weeks ago, Maddie's 1st grade teacher sent home a paper saying that they were starting Fairy Tale Fridays in her class. The teacher asked for people to sign up for a Friday when they could come into the class, share one of their child's favorite stories and then coordinate an activity that went along w/ the story. I thought I would get it done and not have to worry about it. We were assigned April 3rd as our lucky day. After much thought we decided to share the story "Big Pumpkin." We then decided we would act out the story in a play for our activity.

We gathered costumes for a witch, pumpkin, ghost, mummy, vampire and a bat. Then I set to work making some pumpkin shaped sugar cookies to hand out to the class. Anyway, to shorten the story a bit... I woke up the morning of and my small brain started calculating... There are only 8 weeks left in school...that means only 8 fairy tale Fridays...there are 21 kids in Maddie's class...WHAT THE CRAP!? This activity is totally OPTIONAL?! I signed up for something OPTIONAL!?? I felt betrayed. Then I remembered how much fun I had had planning this w/ Maddie. I remembered the cute smile on her face and how excited she was that morning when she left for school. I remembered that you can't take home made treats to class. Again, WHAT THE CRAP!? I had just made 6 dozen home made sugar cookies (in the shape of pumpkins) that I couldn't give away!? Ok, back to feeling betrayed. I had to call the school and beg for special permission to break the rules. Ms. Whittle must have heard the insanity in my voice and said I could bring the cookies "this time."

Anyway, here are a few photos that one of the first graders took for us. He was our designated camera man. Not too shabby considering my camera only works half the time.

The cast. From left to right (Pumpkin girl, Witch Maddie, Mr Ghost, Mr Vampire, Ms Mummy - also know as the famous Bailey Dunn, and Mr. Bat).

Overall, a few lessons learned. Fairy Tale Fridays are awesome. All little kids have a desire to learn. Maddie makes the best witch I ever have seen. Taking extra time to do things with your kids is always worth it! I had a blast.

Still yummy?

Ultimate laziness or what? One of the last few snow storms was accompanied by a lot of wind. It blew the snow all over our deck. The girls awoke the next morning and saw the opportune time to partake in a small, nutritious snack. They opened the door, bent over and started eating.

Who would have taught them such a thing? OK, their mother has been known to eat snow in the past BUT only when there is a good amount and I can assure that there has been no pollutants. After the above photo, the girls grabbed cups and began filling. Again, the snow is only 1-2 inches deep...needless to say, Gracie found a box elder bug in the bottom of her cup. Now that is the ultimate sign of spring...a bug in your freshly collected snow. Go ahead, eat it up!

Full of Hot Air....

On Saturday Morning we woke up to a little commotion out in our front yard.... What a surprise.... A Hot Air Balloon being launched from our street....

I really like Hot Air Balloons so it was fun to watch. We talked to the people outside launching the balloon. The couple doing the running around were the ones paying for a ride. The captain was the one yelling at his customers. When I go up I would like to be the captain.

We asked Gracie if she would like to go up in a Hot Air Balloon. She said she would like to go up ballooning but only when she was an adult... 17 years old. For those keeping score at home Gracie has also committed to liking oranges when she is six years old (she is currently four). Currently oranges are on her "not to eat" list.

Maddie also had some age related predictions she made when she was younger. She consistently told my sister Kati that when she turned five Kati would be a "kitty grandma"..... This is a very random and cryptic prophesy that really we do not understand even to this day.... You see Kati does not own or take care of any cats. We do not know what a "kitty grandma" duties and responsibilities are, but are sure that Kati is doing her very best. We are proud of you Kati.....(now a "Kitty Grandma" of 2 1/2 years).

Here is a minute of Hot Air Balloon video from our porch.

Random

I have been working a lot this week. Makes for a boring blog. Did a little looking back at some pictures and found a few that I had forgotten about. I thought they would be worth sharing...some more significant, important and perhaps even intelligent blogs will follow...

WOW! I make cute kids. I will even give Troy some of the credit (I certainly don't have big, brown eyes).

I am looking forward to a little of this in the upcoming months (assuming the snow storms will one day stop)!

There will always be something fascinating about a roll of toilet paper.

But nothing is as fascinating as having a baby sister...

Then again, what about Bob? He made us smile.

Our little bag lady makes us very proud.

Hogle Zoo in the winter. What could be better?

Kati has never invited me to bath with her, hmmmm.