Birthday poses and Others!

Lots of stuff happens this time of the year, we start off with Valentines Day then Dina's birthday on the 19th, so I have a picture of her and Lacey at a restaurant in Oregon City that we went to for lunch. When Lacey and Addie met us at Dina's house, Addie walked in with sunglasses on..she was looking like a movie star strutting her stuff!! I grabbed my camera, but by then the glasses were off her and on Jalen, so I quickly snapped a shot of him. I couldn't get Addie to put them on for me.

And then there is Ellie, the Jumping Queen!! She had been staying after school for a "jump start" program, and now all she does is jump, jump, jump. And she is pretty darn good. She squats down and can manage to jump the rope...she can jump in backwards, forwards, she spins when she jumps, she can do one push up while two of us turn the rope...and the best is she can do triple jumps, which means she jumps once and turns the rope three times!! She is fabulous. And now because she does so much jumping, Lily has really gotten into it also...she only jumps in forward, but really likes to stand and then jump (that is when Mommy and I are both turning the rope!) And then of course, in walks Jalen who really tries to jump, but barely gets his feet off the ground!! Fun times with the fam!!

Sunday we celebrated all our birthdays with the great-grandparents present. I made lasagna and homemade breadsticks that were very yummy, a salad and Lacey made Scott's favorite dessert - Lemon Meringue Pie!! A delish dinner and wonderful memories with the family.

Making Progress!!

The stone arrived for the interior of the house and the mexican stone masons are putting it up, now it is getting exciting. Scott says by the end of the week all electrical will be done! (I will believe that when I see the paper signed off by the county inspector!!) I wanted to get a quick picture and post it here for another milestone in the progress of this house! We have a really awesome mantle, it is covered to protect it from the cement, but it is a pine log that Hal, our master wood craftsman who is building all our cabinets had and gave to us, he buffed it up and put a coat of varnish on it and it looks super. So come back later and I will have a picture of the finished work!

Ellie's Poem Reading

Last night Ellie was having a big Second Grade School Presentation. She invited the great grandparents to come watch and listen. So then I invited them to have dinner with us before going to the school. Actually my dad had made a lasagna and insisted I take some of it for our dinner, it was naturally, delish! And I had some left over mexican lasagna, so with a salad and garlic bread, we called it good! Now Ellie's poem was called, "Sick" and she memorized the whole thing and said it with such inflection in her voice, it was amazing!

This is the poem read by Ellie Snook:

SICK
"I can't go to school today."
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more -- that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue --
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is -- what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is.....Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Now are you amazed too that she could remember that whole thing? Wowie Kazowie, she needs to be an actress! I understand that Lily's kindergarten class will be doing a "Three Little Pigs" presentation sometime in April and when I asked Lily about it, she said she might be the wolf!! Another memory to look forward to!! Aren't grandchildren wonderful???

Remember to: Hug the ones you love.......

Now it is the Third Snow of the 2009 Year!!

Yeah! Well, I am probably the only one happy about this snow. Most of the people I have talked to this morning (okay, only a couple) are really DONE with this white stuff! I guess I don't have to work in it, can just sit in the house and play...no problems for me! But as I sit here posting this, it is now raining, so the person up above is listening to everyone else and NOT me!! But of course I had to take more pictures of this wonderland that God gives us if even for just a few brief hours! It lifts our (my!!) spirits!

Not Quite the Third Snow of the Year!

Well, last night while I was in bed and Scott was getting ready, he said it is "snowing"!! I said, "Oh, no! I have to go to Marie's house in the morning, you might have to drive me!" Now Marie is my friend's mom, she is 96 1/2 years YOUNG!! She moved out here from Chicago just a year ago last January as she was unable to continue to live by herself (can you imagine? 96 1/2 and was still living alone!) Her daughter, my friend, Mary, is her only child and brought her out to live with her and her husband. She gets around really good, but does need help putting on those tight tight knee high socks that help keep the circulation going! Another friend usually goes there everyday to help her with that and help her get down the 16 stairs to the main floor, but my friend fell and broke her ankle in three places, poor thing is off her feet for 6 weeks! Ugh, I am glad I am not her! Last year just about this time I sprained my ankle really bad, with a minor fracture and had to be off my foot for a few weeks, and then wear a boot for about 12 weeks. That was bad enough! So back to my story, there was NO snow this morning, but a very heavy heavy frost, so I was able to drive myself to Mary's house and help Marie get her shoes and socks on.

We have had a bit of rain today and several times the "white" stuff came down, but nothing stuck! It is pretty cold out there though! Right now at 5 PM it is 36 degrees. There is more snow in the forecast, we will see if any sticks, the ground is pretty wet. But Scott says we are suppose to have a couple of inches of snow tomorrow! So I may yet be able to post pics of the third snow of the 2009 year!

Well, last week was a really nice week with sunshine, so I took a few more pictures of the house and good news.....(drum roll, please........) the stone work is all done, finished, complete....yahoo!! I best clarify that....the outside stonework is all done, we still have the fireplace and arch between the family room and kitchen to do, but that is okay, one step at a time! So I will display the pictures even though the scaffolding is still up and kind of in the way, also the stucco part of the house is not complete what you see is just the primer coat, not the finished product!