Jonah has the camera today

Anna's & Jonah's sign for their haircutting business. Reading. Always reading. :)

Isn't she gorgeous?

The view from his bedroom.

Self-portrait

Guess who is wearing underwear today.....

Yes, our favorite 1yo!! She is telling me when she needs to go, and she even woke up dry from her nap. Is today for real or is it just a tease?

Here she is pretending to sleep with her baby while pretending to talk to Grandpa on the phone.

And here is Jonah playing something, but I don't have a clue what. Eli & Sarah loving those annoying cats.

Mouse Traps

My wonderful, crazy 5yo son wants mouse traps for his birthday. The baby doll population is in heavy opposition. They want the terror to stop. This looks like an ordinary pantry. It doesn't sound like an ordinary pantry. What is in there?

Three crazy kids eating mandarin oranges. Of course.

This is how our winter goes....

Sat - Snowed in Sun - Snowed in Mon - Snowed in Tues - Plowed out at noon Wed - Travel possible (but roads not good) Thurs - Travel great (plowed the ice off our road) Fri - Travel great Sat - Travel great Sun - Snowed in Mon - Snowed in (public school closed) When we left Mark's parent's house yesterday, we left in the middle of a beautiful, clear, sunny winter day. Halfway through the drive home the topography changes to prairie land, and the weather change was immediate. We went from beautiful winter day to ground blizzard with roads drifted partially closed - all in a matter of minutes. Being from IL (where I did NOT live on the prairie), I didn't know about ground blizzards. Now I do. Here's a picture from wikipedia. It was amazing. Even though snow wasn't falling from the sky, visibility was extrememly limited and snow had drifted everywhere. Luckily we didn't get stuck until we hit our driveway. I am seriously thinking that the kids & I should hibernate for the winter.

Crazy husband alert

The roads are bad. Mark was coming from his reserves weekend in the Cities. His car won't make it from the highway to our house. The van won't make it either. The truck will probably make it, but we all can't fit in there. What to do?? Mark decided to walk home. He parked his car in town and started walking. I put Sarah to bed and decided to go get him. It's less than 2 miles. He made it most of the way before I got him. The house and the kids survived without supervision for a brief time. Mark returned to town with the truck to get his stuff. That part is super crazy. I am just glad he's safe and almost home.

It's one of THOSE days

Sarah woke up before 4am this morning. Anna had an authorized visitor in the bathtub this morning.

We made a harrowing (but safe) trip to the highway. Our road hasn't been plowed, it's snowing steadily, and the plows aren't scheduled to come out today. We turned around and made a harrowing trip home. We are very, very disappointed to miss the family gathering at Mark's parent's house today.

I am trying to reclaim the day. We made playdoh, and the kids are happily playing away. They each got to pick their own color. Does it get any better than that?

What have we been up to?

Well, Mark's been busy. Very, very busy. I'm not sure his 40yo body can keep up this pace. The kids & I have moved into Iraq mode. We do what we do and consider ourselves lucky if we catch a glimpse of Mark. Next week I'm calling in reinforcements (babysitters). I am in desperate need of a haircut. I've been waiting for a month, but it's just not happening with Mark's schedule. Anna's been busy this week. She learned about Abraham Lincoln in honor of his birthday next Friday. She made her first timeline... and dictated her first little report. Here are ten things she learned about Abraham Lincoln. His son, Tad, made the list twice so I guess she liked his family life.

Jonah finally - finally - started doing his handwriting on paper this week!!!! He had been using the board as I patiently waited for him to build confidence. He's growing up again. Jonah is also attempting mass murder. We have annoying cluster flies in our warm room, and Jonah has taken responsibility to kill (and torture if possible) every fly in the room. Good luck to him!

Eli and Sarah are busy being toddlers. They are so cute - fast friends one minute and jealous and territorial the next.

All the kids have made good use of our recycling making all kinds of treasures. Anna was even sleeping with one of her bottle people made from a plastic veg oil jug. She has a collection of candy wrappers in her room. Can you see a future bag lady here??

I'm dreaming of a new haircut and relishing in Eli's determination that I am "the best mom in the whole world."