Roller Madness

So Sunday night we decided to take the girls rollerskating. Now, we've been going once a month to a homeschool skate. It's during the day so there's usually only about 40 kids there. Because of the thin crowd the girls have both become very good on skates.

So Sunday night was "family night" at USA. I thought, ah it's Sunday night, there won't be many people there. W R O N G !! It's funny because when we go with the homeschoolers I just let the girls hop right in and I can sit and read a book or talk with a friend. So Sunday when we got there the girls hopped right on and...vanished. I'm telling you there were at least 200 kids there.

Now, we also let each of the girls bring a friend. Well, neither of them had ever been skating before so Mark and I each had one and were going around with them (basically dangling from our arms). There were long stretches of time when I could not see my kids at all. Turns out that wasn't the scary part. When I did see them I thought I was going to cry. Not so much Emily, she stayed on the safer, outer edge of the crowd closer to the wall. But Grace! Oh no, her little self, which BTW was about a third of the size of everyone else, was right in the thick of it. And she was flying! And totally oblivious to the huge people blazing around her at 30 MPH. Of course they probably didn't seem to be going so fast to her because she was going at least 28 MPH. All I could picture was her falling and a huge pileup of bodies and skates on top of my precious child. Not so. In fact she did fall once and was back up in the blink of an eye.

How can we (Americans) get rollerskating to be considered an Olympic event? Because I've got a gold medalist living under my roof, and holding her blankie...

Tired Mama

So this blog thing is more work than I thought. I just can't seem to think of anything to write about, on a daily basis, that may be interesting enough to read. Okay, and also I love Wife Swap too much. There it is...that's the real problem here. Once the girls are in bed and I actually have time to sit and write, I'm already plopped down, mainly from pure exhaustion, in front of the TV to veg until bedtime. And this is NEVER how I plan it. In fact today I was feeling soooo good that around 4 I started fantasizing about what to do with that oh so precious time when it's sooooo quiet in the house. and peaceful. and quiet. I had visions of me scrapbboking the night away, or one of my other favorites...cleaning the house. I'm serious. But alas, they're in bed and all I want to do is zone out! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????

Thank goodness I take a lot of pictures, I'll let them tell the story of our lives...

I found the greatest book for Bible stories and crafts. This really is one of the best craft books for kids I've ever seen. These are some pictures of the girls making their own hard cover book, complete with hand-sewn pages and contact paper!

Heidi

Well, there's a new puppy to love! And hallelujah, he's not ours! My mom and dad brought home this sweet little girl last week and now my sweet little girls can't get enough. In fact Emily cried her eyes out when we had to leave her on the first day. She said she was afraid that the next time she saw her she would be too big to hold. Sweet girl.

Bad Dog

It's 3 degrees outside and I just took my dog for a mile long walk. Seriously, I wonder if any passers-by called PETA about me. Oh, maybe they'll come take him away!! Did I mention that that same dog ate Mathew 1-6 from my favorite bible today? If you need the # of the local PETA group, please google it. Now.

Blah Day

So, today was just that. Blah. We had an awesome small group gathering last night. Seriously, these people...these friends, I don't know what I'd do without them. This is the group I feel most myself in. Most comfortable with. Happiest with. We meet every Sunday night. We've been together for more than 2 years now and they feel to me like family. So anyway, we didn't get home until around 10. This morning the girls were up at their usual 6:30... A.M. people! I don't understand. Sleep in for the love of all things.

Anywho, school starts at 9. By 11:30 we needed to head out to the grocery store because literally the only thing in the fridge were 2 decaying green peppers. And I was told more snow was coming so I figured I better head out. Well, by the time we returned home the girls were starving. I fed them...lunchables (Mommy was tired too)...and sat down myself with some of my Dads AWESOME split pea soup. After lunch the plan was to finish up our school work. We still had spelling, history (the Greeks get an alphabet), and penmanship to go. Yikes! Emily could barely keep her eyes open. So, I called it a day. I told her she could go play. I didn't want her to take a nap because it's so hard to put them to bed when they've had naps. And I NEED a 7pm bedtime.

Well, I'm sure you can picture the rest in your head already. Cranksters!!! Running amok in my home. All...day. Tears every 15 minutes. Complaining and bickering every 10. So, by the time Merkle got home at 6 I collapsed in a heap on the couch and laid there. Dear, sweet, loving Merkle took over. I love that man. And not because he saves me from the dragons who try to slay me. I know Mom and Dad "what? Those angels?" Yes! Them!

But it's all over now. And tomorrow is a new day. And I know it will be a better day. My dragon slayer will be home all day.

Christophers Christmas

Well, we had a great time at the Christopher's Christmas play this year. Grandpa came along and made it extra special with hot chocolate and treats at the Notre Dame bookstore after the show. The girls got all decked out in their finest, fake hair and all. Aren't they stunning?

Looooong post....

Ok, maybe this blogging thing is not for me. How do people keep on these things? I'll do my best to catch you up (whoever you are).

Let's see...I just returned from one of the most elegant baby showers I've ever attended. I thought they all involved chocolate-melted-in-diapers and taste-the-baby-food-and-guess-the-flavor games. Oh no...we had a sit down meal of lasagna and warm bread and wine...all served on lovely dishes. Real dishes. Breakable dishes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above sticking my nose into a diaper to figure out what's in it, after all there's usually a prize, right? But this was such a nice evening. It was for "my dear friend Carrie". Yes, that is my official name for her. I love her. She's my trophy friend. She has two boys already but needed this shower because it's her first GIRL!!! YAY!!! Oh, the pink! It was fabulous. There was even a tiny little pink tutu. It was great! She has so many people that love her and this evening it was on full display!

Okay, what else. Well, my Mom and I did some Christmas shopping. That was fun. Shopping good. Hangin' with my mom...awesome! She is by far my favorite shopping buddy. I wish we could do it more often.

Ok, and now for a laugh. Last Sunday morning my husband went out to walk the dog before church, came home, grabbed the car keys and off we went. When we got to church Mark took off his coat and looked down and saw that he hadn't changed from his night shirt!!! That's right, Mark wore his jammies to church!! Hee hee hee...I love him so very much! His jammies!! Can you imagine?

Oh dear, and this...we pulled Grace out of preschool. Okay, this is a long story. To be honest I've never been into preschool. Never understood the point. But, we sent her. So, almost every morning that she was supposed to go she wouldn't want to. Well, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went into the class to work and it was very chaotic. Miss Kristi definitely has her hands full. Way too many kids, IMO. So, last Tuesday she again didn't want to go and I finally said "you know what Gracie, if you don't want to go, you don't have to go." Well, Mark and I talked about it that afternoon and decided we would just go ahead and pull her out. Why pay $125 per month if she doesn't even want to go? Later on that day her teacher called and asked if Gracie was feeling okay because she had missed school and I told her we were just going to stop sending her because blah blah blah. She was very...surprised...in the bad way. I felt terrible. Then later the director calls CRYING!!! AGGGHHHH!!! My heart was broken. I can't believe what a putz I am, to blindside them the way I did. My timing was horrendous. And I know Miss Kristi blames herself. But in all honesty, she is one of the kindest and sweetest people I have met. I loved her. This just was a bad decision from the beginning. Oy.

He's Makin' a List...

...and so are they. The girls spent the afternoon circling pictures in magazines and writing out lists. Emily's list contains approximately 5000 items and Gracie's has about 6. Last night Emily said "Mommy, do you think Santa will bring me everything on my list". Uh...no, honey, I don't.

On the schooling front, yesterday we read about the Exodus in our history book which Emily thought was awesome since she's so familiar with it from the Bible. Then the girls painted up a shoebox diorama of the Red Sea. Check out Grace's little Israelites...

And in more school news...Emily finished 1st grade spelling. I'm so glad I got a deal on both 1st and 2nd grade books this year at the Fort Wayne Curriculum Fair because we were able to just jump right into 2nd grade. Now if we can just survive ancient history.