Sophie and Allison

"I like Sophie."

"And Stephanie."

"And Mom."

"And Allison."

"And Dad."

"And Eldon."

Anything else?

"Uh, no."

Surprise....School's Out

This morning, Scott got a call about 6:18am. The roads were bad, and he could go to work at 10:00 instead of 8:00. I turned on the news and learned that Arlington Schools were closed for the day! Scott and I went back to bed, and let the kids discover the news for themselves. And they did!

We heard the boys get their breakfast and turn on the news to discover they didn't have school. They looked outside and couldn't wait to get dressed. It had snowed/sleeted/iced last night and they played and played outside. I took our kids (and all the kids on the street) up to the elementary school. You see, it has a hill that slides right down into a busy street. But, it wasn't busy this morning, and I was the look-out for cars. They would slide down on laminated posters I had saved for years, a recycling bin, or a toy box lid. We had a great time. The kids played off and on all day outside.

I managed to sneak in a trip to the library where Quinn and Tanner did a bit of school work, Connor read, and Allison found a bazillion books she wanted to check out. I look forward to these out-of-the-ordinary days all year long!

"Even-Steven" Problem

You see, I have an "Even-Steven" problem: If I blog for one, two, or three of my kids, I sometimes think I must blog for the other one, two or three. Is this a good problem or a bad problem? It's also like this: I spent some time with Connor, Allison and Quinn on Tuesday, but I haven't had my special time with Bubba-Tan. We hope to work on getting his Bobcat in the Cub Scouts when we have our time together. Now, I really don't have this problem all the time (yes, I do), because I know that what my mom taught me is true, "Every dog has its day." So, when one child is honored, another one will have something really cool happen to them on a different day or at a different time. It all works out. Didn't President Hinckley say that?

Can we hold hands?

When I was resting by Allison tonight, trying to get her to calm down and drift off to sleep, she thought it would be a good idea if we would hold hands. Oh, so sweet. (Now, she hasn't been a perfect angel all day. We talked about being bossy, etc. just before bed, too!)

One of the stories I read to her tonight was titled, "Oh My Baby, Little One" by Kathi Appelt. I read it last night by myself and got teary-eyed. I was able to do fine reading it tonight with her, since I had read it last night. On the inside flap, it reads, "When Baby Bird says good-bye to his mama at school each morning, he feels sad. Mama Bird feels sad, too. Sometimes it's hard to be apart. But as Mama says, the love they share is with them always, keeping them close until the best part of the day - when they are together again." It just reminds me that all too soon, I will be saying good-bye to a little kindergarten girl!

I know, I think too much (and I checked out a book from the library about that, too: "Women Who Think Too Much" by Susan Nolen-Hoeksems, Ph.D. How to Break Free of Over-thinking and Reclaim Your Life). I'm not kidding.

But, I can't seem to get to the thinking-too-much book, because I have spent some of my time reading "Me to We" Finding Meaning in a Material World by Craig and Marc Kielburger.

Connor's Gift-giving

Connor was so thoughtful this past Christmas....
on his own, he decided to spend his own money
to buy me a new hairbrush.
He was so excited,
and so was I!

From Tanner

One of my favorite Christmas gifts came from Tanner this year.....
A Hershey's Kiss and a little heart note. Thanks, Tanner.

Just some thoughts

So, last night Scott and I went to the library for a few minutes to pick up Eragon for Connor to read. Whilst there, amongst alllll those books, I just couldn't help myself and came home with a stack for myself to look through. I had a great time reading out of Life's Journeys According to Mr. Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way by Fred Rogers last night while Scott was working on the computer. I liked a number of the little tidbits of advice, shall we say. I will share one or two....

Mr. Rogers shares, "As a relationship matures, you start to see that just being there for each other is the most important thing you can do, just being there to listen and be sorry with them, to be happy with them, to share all that there is to share."

And sometimes don't you just feel like this: "There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don't seem to help."?

And lastly, for now at least, Mr. Rogers wrote: "The best gifts are often wrapped in the most unspectacular ways. You've probably had many fancy wrapped-up gifts---gifts which dazzle the eyes and impress the neighbors; nevertheless, isn't it the 'heartsurprise' that lingers in your memory and serves to nourish you from year to year?"

And we did have Christmas here, I just need to find the camera and then I can post a couple pics, etc.........