Meet Joe

 Joe has been my morning BFF for quite some time now. This should come as no surprise to most people who know me, in fact, this friendship dates back to my high school days when my dad would make his morning rounds dropping Joe off with everyone before they got out of bed.

 

 

 

Eliad has discovered that he likes Joe too. He ended up with the sniffles this week and has requested this warm friend every morning. I tried to introduce him to Mr. Tea and Mrs. Cocoa but he didn't care for either of them.

 

 

 

So this morning I broke down and let him get together with Joe. After all, I know just as well as anyone, NOTHING can replace Joe.

 

 

 

He happily enjoyed his moments with Joe, BUT you know how things go....

 

 

 

Many times Joe is most enjoyed in the company of others.

 

 

 

And when one is observed enjoying the companionship of Joe we have to avoid jealousy and share the love!

 

First Class

For Ardon's Birthday this year Bronze's mom got him 2 months of Taekwondo leasons. He has been really excited and last night was his first official class. I was a little leery when we first went to set everything up but the instructors, who are very serious about what they do, seem to be really good with the kids and Ardon had a blast. It's pretty easy to pick him out right now because they haven't had a uniform in his size come in yet.

Random Saturday Stuff

Even though the weather was beautiful out today we started a fire this evening. Our furnace went out last night and we woke up to a pretty chilly house today so to keep the temperature up a little higher we thought it would be a good idea to get one going as well as dragging out a few space heaters.

 

 

Eliad was laying down for his nap this afternoon, he was hollering and just making lots of noise so I finally went in and told him to lay quietly. He did for about 45 minutes then we heard him talking again. Bronze walked into the hallway and said it sounded like Eliad was saying his bed was broken. He went into the bedroom to check and the next thing I heard was,

"oh my goodness Eliad, what happened?"

 

I walked in to find out what was going on and see the crib in pieces.

 

 

Needless to say Eliad is sleeping in a different bed tonight. 

 

 

Since the weather was so nice today I sent the kids out to play for a while this afternoon. I was in the kitchen doing some work when Elee came running excitedly to the back door. She leaned in and said, "a grandpa is out on the other side of the fence!" I repeated what she said and she replied, " yes and he's talking to us." I said, "is it your grandpa?" in an unusual tone she responded with a yes, I said, "is it my dad?" She gave me a funny look and said, "Who is your dad?" I got a little concerned at that point as she has had random moments where she's been lacking in shyness to strangers so I told her I was going to come on out. As I get over to the fence and see the car stopped there, I also notice a neighbor lady had stopped in her vehicle to make sure that my kids were all right and was staying right behind the other person. It was so nice of her to be proactive and watch out for my kids. She had even written down the guys tag number on her finger in case something had happened. Fortunately "a grandpa" that had stopped was actually my dad who, when he noticed the neighbor watching him, sent Elee to get me because he had a feeling which direction things were headed. We all had a good laugh about it after and I got to meet another neighbor from further down the street!

 

So that was our excitement for the weekend, and it's not even over yet!

Cool Science

Today in science we talked about solids, liquids and gasses. We've done experiments before with ice and water and we even use baking soda and vinegar for some activities but today we use them again to show how two chemicals can create a gas and even though we can't see it, it fills the space around us. We used balloons and a rubber glove to catch the gas, showing how it expands even though we don't see it. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever.

An Early Morning Errand

This morning Bronze had a stop that was close to home. He called to let us know and we threw everyone in the car and ran down to meet him with a bite to eat. As we were pulling into the parking lot we saw Bronze's trailer and Ardon started laughing. I asked him what was so funny and he said, "did you see what dad's trailer says? It says good things come from Sysco."

 He followed it up with, "that's silly good things don't come from Sysco, they come from God!"

 

 

Our Valentine's Day

We don't usually do much for Valentine's but this year I decorated the house all in streamers and heart cut - outs with everyone's names on them. When the kids woke up on Friday they were excited and remembered what day it was. After we finished school and ran our errands for the day we came home so the kids could rest before our evening activities. While they were resting I put together Valentine's shish kabobs with chocolate covered strawberries and heart shaped marshmallows. After the kids got up and ate their goodies Bronze went to pick up Serena to babysit while we went out. We got a bite to eat then washed our car and went to walk around the mall. We were going to come back home after that but Serena was in the middle of a movie so we grabbed some coffee and visited a while longer. It was a nice relaxing evening.

That made me feel....

OLD! Wow!
Over the weekend we were home more than usual and as a result the kids drug up some of the old boardgames we have down in the basement. As I was cooking dinner on Saturday evening Ardon came excitedly to the table with his new favorite game, Battleship. He started getting it all set up so he and Elee could play together. Now Ardon has played this game with my dad before but they have only done it using their phones. After he finished setting up Ardon came into the kitchen and said, "Ok mom, I got it all set up, can you show me how to shoot?" Now, if you're familiar with Battleship, this particular set up isn't one of the oldest styles where you have 1 gaming unit that you have to sit right across from each other, but it isn't one of electronic types either. I went on to explain to him that when I had this game growing up not all games were electronic like the ones they play now and that we didn't even have the ability to play them on phones like they do now. After he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language and came from another planet I proceeded to explain to him how the game worked. He still really enjoyed playing despite the fact that it may not have been what he originally expected but I didn't expect to find myself having that kind of "when I was kid..." conversation with my kids yet.

White and Wintery

Yesterday it snowed and snowed  and snowed. The kids were immediately excited when they woke up and saw the ground covered with white fluffy stuff. They don't get to play in much snow because when we do actually get snow someone is usually sick or it is blizzard like conditions out. Yesterday I decided that since everyone had stayed well for the most part and it was just a nice falling snow and no bitter wind it would be good for them to get out for some fresh air and play in it. After getting bundled in lots of layers they headed out. They stomped around, threw snow, ate it and made snow angels. The snow was really fluffy and must have been comfortable because every time Eliad would lay down to make a snow angle he would stop moving for a bit and just lay there with his eyes closed, ha! Their layers must have must have done a good job because Eliad was out for an hour before he was cold enough to come in. Shortly after he came in Elee followed but I finally had to call Ardon after an hour and a half, he loved being out in the snow and I think he ate as much as he threw. I got a fire going while they were playing so they would be able to thaw out next to it when they came in. After getting into dry clothes it seemed like a good time for hot chocolate and naps all snuggled up under some nice, warm blankets.

Another Year

I don't what happened to the last 7 years but here we are. On Sunday we celebrated Ardon and his 7th birthday. He has been a true joy and blessing as part of our family. He is a great big brother, and a wonderful helper around the house Happy 7th Birthday big guy. we love you!