2 Days of Skiing

Spring Break started on Friday and as is Minnesota tradition we had our March snow storm! But, the kids were excited to get in 2 more days of skiing with Brent! Riley, Jamie and Brent went night skiing at Buck Hill on Friday night and they could not have asked for a more clear, beautiful night to enjoy the spring skiing. Then, Saturday Brent took all 3 kids to Welch Village. They skied till closing and were some of the last skiers on the lift. They had a marvelous time and especially enjoyed laughing at their crashes and sharing their stories with Mom and Grandma!

Spring Break??!??!

With Spring Break quickly approaching, the kids were excited to see some warm temperatures and really enjoyed seeing the snow melt enough that they could get their bikes out! On Wednesday, they were out with the rest of the neighborhood enjoying the warm weather!
Spring was not here for long...it started snowing Thursday night and didn't really stop until Sunday morning. We probably received about 6-8 inches of new, very wet, heavy Spring Snow. These are some of the trees looking out our patio window.

Brent's New Wheels!

Brent purchased his Trailblazer replacement! It will not pull a boat, does not have a V8 and is about half the size of the Trailblazer.....but, he is very pleased with the car and will be even happier when our gas budget gets cut in half! It does have alloy wheels and all season mats....two things Brent insisted on! Sidney calls it the 'sweet' car and we have all loved riding in it. I have yet to drive it....probably be a couple weeks before I can try out driving again.

Here are a few pictures....it is a used 2005 Nissan Altima.

Movie and Play Review

We saw the new release Horton Hears a Who on Saturday and all loved it! It was very funny for the adults and the kids. The voices were very recognizable and prefect for the parts they played.

Brent and I also went to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and saw Jane Eyre. We loved it and thought it was amazing. I meant to have the book finished before we went and that didn't happen in my current circumstance, but I will finish it now and love the story!

Report Card Day

The kids received their report cards yesterday and we are very proud of their accomplishments.
Our district uses 'mark code descriptions' instead of letter grades.
(As defined by the district...."Mark code descriptions are designed to describe your child’s performance in each area compared to district grade-level expectations and standards at designated times throughout the school year. They are used to identify skills demonstrated, and they are also helpful in clarifying skills not yet mastered".)
Now that I have clarified that....The kids receive the following codes: 1-Limited, 2-Developing, 3-Proficient, and 4-Exemplary.
(According to the district again...."a child who receives a 3 is performing at grade level and is meeting district expectations and standards for his/her grade level in the given marking period" and "A 4 is attainable....this means that a child has met all grade-level expectations and standards and applies related skills consistently".)

Riley:
In 5th grade Riley received a 3 in almost all areas with a 4 in the following:

• Language Arts: Reading Habits
  
• Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
  
• Mathematics: Data Content and Applications
• Social Studies
• Music: Music Skills
• Music: Active Participation
• Work Habits and Social Skills: Completes Assignments on Time
• Work Habits and Social Skills: Demonstrates Organizational Skills

Some Comments from his teacher:

• Riley continues to choose above grade level books for his own independent reading.
• Good participation in Social Studies.
• Riley continues to be a positive, enthusiastic learner.

Riley was also just selected to be on the Math Master team for Shannon Park Elementary. The 5th graders were tested and Riley was 1 on 10 students selected for the 2 teams. He will participate in the competition in May! Great Work Riley!

Jamie:
In 3rd grade Jamie received a 3 in almost all areas with a 4 in the following:

• Music: Active Participation
• Work Habits and Social Skills: Works Independently
  
• Work Habits and Social Skills: Follows School/Classroom Rules
  

Some Comments from her teacher:

• Jamie's reading skills are improving and she is able to write for a sustained period of time
• Jamie has really become vocal during math, sharing her understanding of geometry and computation
• Jamie is productive and engaged in music class
  
• I have really enjoyed seeing Jamie develop academically and socially
• Her delightful personality contributes to our positive classroom atmosphere

We are very proud of Jamie! She loves school, professes to love writing and continues to work very hard!

Sidney:
In kindergarten, Sidney received a in all areas! Some comments from her teacher:

• Sidney is becoming confident in using reading strategies to problem-solve new words
• Sidney continues to work on adding details and organizing her story more
• Sidney shows strong skills in her abilities to decompose numbers and uses inventive strategies when solving multi-digit problems
• Sidney shows good growth and is becoming more self-confident in her abilities
  
• Sidney is an enthusiastic participant!

Sidney's teacher loves having Sidney in her class and shares some wonderful stories with us about Sidney's interactions in the classroom. Sidney has really enjoyed all the places her kindergarten class has 'traveled' to, especially England, where she got to pretend to be a palace guard and have tea with the queen. Now, they are off on a make-believe plane to somewhere warm....Sidney thinks it is Africa because she knows that it started and ended with a 'A'.

Grandma and Papa Jim Come to Visit!

The second miracle that coincided with Stacey's accident is that Grandma and Papa Jim had already scheduled a visit and arrived 2 days after the accident. They have been life-savers!!! They always seem to be coming to my rescue and I do not know how I would have survived the past 2 weeks without their help. They are the most self-less, caring, loving parents I could have ever wished for. I love them more than I can express!

Just to list a few things they have done....
Papa spent a whole day getting my van into good working order (a necessity since the trailblazer was declared totaled and the van will once again be our family vehicle!)
Grandma has done lots of laundry, cleaned all the bathrooms several times, washed hundreds of dishes, made me take a nap every day, driven the kids to school activities, driven me to the store and the doctor, walked up an down the stairs a million times and maintained lots of peace between an tired, impatient mommy and her 3 kids.
Papa vacuumed and mopped my floors a couple times and fixed a few broken household items...including the all important remote controlled helicopter.Amidst all this 'work' Papa and Grandma have still managed to spoil all the grandkids. They took us to the Minnesota Science Museum where we enjoyed the Omnitheater movie The Amazon. Then, we saw The Spiderwick Chronicles at the IMAX and all loved it! Before Papa left, they also treated all the grandkids to an evening at Chuck-E-Cheese. Grandma and Papa also brought their Nintendo Wii and we have all loved playing it!!

Because I am not able to drive and need a little more recovery time, Grandma stayed here in MN with us! We are so lucky and appreciate all she does for us. She even babysat Blake, Shawn and Lydia today....she was very tired. She is amazing and we love her very much!

Update on Stacey's Recovery

The first week after the accident I was very sore, achy and stiff. It is amazing how many parts of your body can hurt....I have felt them all. Most of the whiplash pain settled in my upper arms....weird, but painful. Luckily it has slowly subsided, but one week from the accident I was still left with a very swollen, bruised foot and a constant headache. So, I went to see my doctor to follow-up with her.

They x-rayed my foot again and after confirmation from a radiologist, they discovered that I did break my foot...it is a small 'chip-off' break. So, I am once again limited to using my right foot and am back to wearing the 'stormtrooper' boot cast that I wore several years ago when I sprained my ankle. It is not a pleasant thing to deal with, but worth it because I can now walk without intense pain. My foot is still swollen and sore, especially by night-time. But, within 2 weeks or so I will be able to start walking on it and gradually use it again.

The doctor also confirmed that I indeed had a concussion and had a CT scan done just to ensure no lingering problems. It came back completely normal, what a relief! I am still plagued with a headache...pretty much all the time, but am hopeful that it will begin to subside. I am looking forward to some good massage therapy....my neck and shoulders are still very tight from the trauma of the accident and hopefully it will help with the headaches too! I will be very grateful when my body does not need extra sleep and I can resume some normal activities.

Thanks so much to all my friends and family for your continual support, thoughts and prayers. I am so grateful for you all. I am still in awe at the miraculous outcome of the accident. I am very blessed and extremely humbled at the love of my Heavenly Father.

Weekend in Kansas City

I had a wonderful weekend visiting my girlfriend in Kansas City this weekend. Debra and I have been best friends since 7th grade. Because my family moved after that year, we have maintained our friendship across many different states and many different parts of our lives. We have not missed one year of seeing each other and love every chance we get to be together.

I arrived at Debra's house on Friday night and we spent Saturday cheering on Conor (10) and Brigham (7) at their basketball games and strolling through a beautiful new outdoor mall. Casey, Debra's husband then treated us to a wonderful dinner at Texas Roadhouse and a movie. (Vantage Point)
The boys spent the night at their Grandma's house, and with a very quiet house I slept in until 10:30! I woke up just in time to get ready for Debra's family to arrive to celebrate her birthday. It was so fun to see all of them and we had a great time visiting, eating, watching Deb open her presents and playing outside with the kids. We finished off the evening with a trip to Blockbuster, rented a few games for the boys and picked out a great movie for Deb and I to enjoy. (Martian Child)

I loved being with Deb so much and I cherish every chance we get to be together. Next time, we have vowed to get the kids together too....they love their 'cousins' in KC. I also enjoyed getting to know the new member of their family, Shadow, their new puppy. Here are a couple pictures of the boys with Shadow!

Weekend in Kansas City--The Rest of the Story

Unfortunately, my great weekend in Kansas City had a not so nice ending. On my drive back from KC on Monday, I was involved in an accident in Story City, IA. They had been hit with a blizzard/snow/ice storm Sunday evening and the remnants of the storm were evident on the freeways and off/on ramps. I stopped for lunch and as I was re-entering the freeway I faced an impossible situation: a semi-truck in the lane I was merging into and a sheet of ice on the road. As I tried to slow down, with a light tap on my brakes, I lost control of the Trailblazer and was hit by the semi. I was hit once on the front driver side corner of the trailblazer and once in the back driver side corner and landed in the ditch next to the freeway. As a precaution, they transported me to the hospital, but luckily I walked away with aches and pains and no major problems. I am recovering very slowly, but now know what it means to "feel like I have been hit by a Mac Truck"! I was very grateful when able to walk into my own home late Monday night and kiss all my children who were sleeping soundly in their beds. I am so grateful for the tremendous support and well wishes I have received from friends and family. I am very blessed and know that Heavenly Father was watching out for me.

Our New Favorite You-Tube Video

Our friend shared this you-tube video with us and we love it! It is about 1 1/2 minutes....and is a 3 year old girl's description of Star Wars: (Listen very closely). ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBM854BTGL0

Riley's Look-alike Meter

Sidney's Look-alike Meter

Jamie's Look-alike Meter

Arrow of Light

Riley proudly displays his latest accomplishment as a Webelos Cub Scout. He received the highest award available called the Arrow of Light. We are very proud of him and appreciate his dedication to complete this award before he leaves Cub Scouts in May.
He is hoping to complete even more Webelos Activity Badges to add to the 11 he has so far: Citizen, Showman, Traveler, Readyman, Outdoorsman, Fitness, Sportsman, Communicator, Handyman, Naturalist and Family Member.

The Activity Day Girls Serve Their Parents

After two months of preparation and hard work, the Activity Girls (Jamie, Mina, Kayla, Melanie, Michelle and Rachel) hosted a dinner on Friday night for their parents in our home. We have studied the Word of Wisdom, Nutrition, Etiquette and Manners to prepare for the big event. Last Wednesday the girls prepared the 2 lasagnas and we planned the rest of the menu.

The girls arrived Friday night with their parents about 6:30. As the parents visited in the living room, the girls quickly set the table, made the ceasar salad, toasted the french bread, served appetizers, and filled the glasses with water. By 7:00 dinner was ready and the parents were invited to join us at the table.

The girls did a wonderful job serving the salad and bread, refilling water glasses and then proceeding to the next course by serving the lasagna. They would sneak away while the adults were eating and grab a few bites of food themselves, but were always right back to check on their guests and serve them! The girls then served brownies with ice cream and a yummy caramel on the side.

I am so proud of the girls' hard work and a great time was had by all! We loved having the Burdges, Blakelys, Quicks (Grandpa and Emily), and the McKinney's in our home. We had so much fun...that I forgot to take pictures!

Job Security

I often joke that I single-handedly maintain job security for Brent by how much money I am constantly spending at Target. I came home from Super Target the other day and as I unpacked my groceries onto the kitchen island, I realized that over 80% of them were Target's Market Pantry brand items. So, I took a picture to document and prove my whole theory about maintaining Brent's job security.

For your information: We like most Markey Pantry items we have tried, they are a good substitute for brand products. The only exceptions we have found so far: the mini-ritz like sandwich snack crackers and the 'apple jacks' substitute seen in the picture....my kids wouldn't eat either.

Watching the Lunar Eclipse

The Lunar Eclipse was quite a wonder at our house. The kids watched it all the way home from our Wednesday night church activities. Jamie and Riley explained the eclipse perfectly to several friends, their cousin and Sidney by using their hands to represent the sun, the moon and the earth. They were very excited and even more excited that the entire thing occurred around the 9 o'clock hour and that meant they could push back their bed time a little!

Ice Fishing

Since we moved here 7 1/2 years ago, one of the 'Minnesotan' things I have never understood is ICE FISHING. I don't mind fishing if you can enjoy some beautiful weather, maybe wade in the stream a little and actually catch something. But, drilling a hole through 2 feet of ice, sitting in the freezing temperatures and not catching anything...is beyond me!

Riley and Brent had their first ice fishing trip last Saturday with the scouts. Riley is working very hard and is very close to receiving his Arrow of Light as a Webelos. For part of the award, he needed to participate in a outdoor Scout activity....thus, the ice fishing activity with the scouts from the Burnsville ward. They were lucky to have temps in the 20s, but still came home looking a little like popsicles and Brent's hand is still hurting from using the auger to drill the hole. They did not catch anything or even get a nibble, nevertheless, they both said they had a good time and would try again some time!

Valentine's Day Favorites:

At School/Work:
Sidney: playing Mail Delivery at her classroom's Valentine's party
Jamie: frosting and eating her cookie at her classroom's Valentine's party
Riley: playing Valentine's bingo at his classroom's Valentine's party
Stacey: volunteering at the 3rd grade party and editing/typing papers for 3rd graders
Brent: hosting a baby shower for one of his employees

At the Science Museum of Minnesota:
Sidney: playing in the weather station, mostly the air stream
Jamie: playing in with the tornado in the weather station
Riley: exploring the cartoon network animation exhibit
Stacey: watching the kids run from exhibit to exhibit and 'soak it all in'
Brent: going head to head against Stacey in the science museum quiz show challenge (he won 2 out of 3)

Papa Jim will be proud!

One of Papa Jim's favorite things to do is Sudoku puzzles. Jamie and Sidney have spent lots of time looking over his shoulder 'helping' him and learning all his strategies and tricks. Sidney has recently been carrying her Sudoku book everywhere and is getting really good at the puzzles. She asks us for help, but by the time we can find a place to help her, she is two steps ahead of us. This is the latest one she completed, in about 15 minutes!

Book Club 7th Year Anniversary

On Tuesday night, I hosted our Book Club's 7th year anniversary. It was a very fun evening with lots of my close friends. We read The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and had a great discussion about it. It was a winning book club pick, thanks again to Stacey E. for the recommendation. I also have read the next two in the series, Enna Burning and River Secrets. I would highly recommend them to everyone! There are considered Young Adult, but are written so beautifully. They are great fantasy fairy tales! The evening was perfect with our dinner to which everyone contributed and we finished it off with a book exchange. I am excited to read my pick...The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Next month for Book Club we are reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I started it last night....it is great already! (Sorry Tiffany, we took this picture after you left.)

Homework about China?

I have been laughing about this for the last 15 minutes and have to share....

Jamie came home from school today with a post-it which said 'Ardennes Forest' on it. She showed it to me and said, "I need to find out where this is for homework, I think it is in China".

So we pulled up Ardennes Forest on Wikipedia.
Jamie and I read the first line together which reads:
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France-

I looked at her and she immediately and exuberantly replied....
"It is in China!". I love these precious mommy moments!

Creative Engineering

It is amazing what a very creative 6 year old can do with an hour of quiet time, a couple decks of cards and a grooved wood floor!
Sidney took these two pictures of her amazing construction!

Happy Day at Target!

On Thursday, January 31st, Brent was recognized at the Asset Protection Quarterly Meeting. He received the Vice-President Award for his team's outstanding contributions to shortage reduction. He was especially surprised as the award is traditionally awarded to only Asset Protection employees, however, the VP of Asset Protection made an exception to recognize Brent and the efforts of his team! Brent's award was one of 2 awarded at the meeting with 300 people in attendance. We are very proud of him!

The Best of Both Worlds in 3D!

I was talking to my Dad today and he was reminiscing about the 'good old days' when he took my sister and I to several New Kids on the Block concerts. Yes, I am fully admitting that we were NKOTB obsessed and my Dad loved every minute of spoiling us with the concerts. Well....
I had my first of this type of experience with my own daughters today. We went to see the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Concert in 3D at the movie theater. It was fantastic and I loved watching the girls' faces as they had the 'experience'! Sidney said " I feel like I am on the front row at the concert!" About half way through, Jamie leaned over and asked me "Is it almost over?" I asked her "why" and she said "Because I never want to leave!".

The Chocolate Milk Argument

Most of the time I am very grateful for the closeness of my children's ages. It is very fun to have them in the same school and interested in similar things. Sometimes, however, there is lots of competitive arguing and fighting. We have had many discussions lately about how silly these argument can be and about how they are usually over the 'stupidest' (I use this word only when I really want to emphasize my point with the kids!) things. Yesterday morning proved to be a very trying day and with the kids home all day, by lunchtime, Mom was 'at the end of her rope'....
As I was preparing lunch, I told the kids to grab themselves a drink of water or milk from the fridge. Riley was excited to see that there was still a little chocolate milk left in the jug. So he poured himself some and then Jamie grabbed the mug from him and poured the rest for herself. This quickly started an argument about whose glass held the most chocolate milk. The cups were dark plastic and even placed next to each other, they simply could not resolve this dilemma. So, being the dutiful mother that I am, I had to jump in and help them out. I told them to bring me the cups and I would tell them who had the most. I promptly dumped the contents of both cups down the drain and declared that they both had the exact same amount of chocolate milk! Problem solved!

BRRRRR!

On Wednesday, it was freezing here! Some good winter Minnesota temperatures! This is at the bus stop, notice the van thermometer which reads -12, but the wind chill was about -35.