Gestating and Ice Skating

If you're trying to picture what that might look like, just think of a water buffalo on stilts. 

That being said, we all went back for round 2 of ice skating this weekend 

and it was a grand success! 

 *Success = more time on foot than on rear ends and nobody crying in the penalty box.  

This time Mike joined us,
 and the little guys were ecstatic to be able to show him the ropes. 

All this week, Mike has been talking up his mad skills on the rink, but I was more than a little skeptical of my beach boy's prowess on frozen water.  As it turns out, he wasn't making it up.  

Whereas, every time I step on the ice it's like Bambi first learning to walk, 

Mike glides on in as if he's right back to the couples' skate, circa 1992. 

Ugh. So frustrating being married to somebody who's good at everything.  

Except spelling.  I can still out-spell him.

Anyway, kids took turns with the skate scooter thing while we worked with whomever was not scooting around trying to kneecap the other unsuspecting skaters.  

 Sarah's got skills, but she just doesn't know it yet.  

I think we need to teach the little perfectionist how to fall and get back up.

My human wrecking ball proved quite the daredevil, 

and ended up eschewing all assistance from parent, wall, or scooter.

He is sooooo proud of himself.  Almost as proud as his parents.

By the way, when did I get so old?  First off, I was ready to check each and every one of the little hockey show-offs who showed up for the last 45 minutes of public skate.  I mean, they did clip me and/or the kids about 12 times.  Several of them felt the wrath of my teacher look,

 which I think might be morphing into something even scarier, judging by the reaction I'm getting these days.  Seriously, though, I'm incubating one child and mama bear to 2 more cubs.  

You so much as look at one of us wrong, and I'm coming after you.

Even though I didn't stick a foot out to trip one of the little speed skaters up,

 I've got a bum knee.  It's cool because I make the kids or Mike 

pick stuff up off the ground for me these days anyway. 

But, sheesh, it would be nice if a few of my joints were working properly.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and early bedtimes were well-earned.  

 I'd say that counts for time well spent.

Snow Day!!!!!

It started out as a regular Tuesday.  Wake-up call at 5:15.  Fumble around for my glasses and slippers, and head out to make coffee (blech!) and tea (Mmmm...) and eat breakfast lumberjack-style before the kids get up. 

But, passing by the living-room window, something catches my eye.  

Something glittery and white.  

Something that covers the ground and (fingers-crossed) the street.

Detour to the TV and the morning news.  

Sarah and Will are probably out and my school is probably in, 

wreaking childcare HAVOC on our schedules. 

But, what to my wondering eyes did appear in the crawl of school closings 

at the bottom of the screen? 

My school district.

CLOSED.

I had to watch the crawl 3 more times before I believed it, and then I got a phone call with the best news a teacher can get:  

SNOW DAY!!!!!

Mike was slightly less enthusiastic when I jumped on the bed at 5:30 

with the glorious news that we could all sleep in a little bit.  But, I was too excited to sleep.  

I remember that feeling from when I was 7 and going on vacation.

We braved the blizzard conditions even before breakfast.

 And sledded to our hearts' content.

 That is, until Will claimed an allergy to the snow and people's noses turned blue.
We took a hot chocolate-and-breakfast break, watched a little Tom & Jerry, and then headed back out to perfect the lost art of driveway sledding.

 Though it was lovely to have the day off from school, thank goodness for our awesome neighbors who let us come over for snacks and even better driveway sledding.

There are risks involved with hurling yourself head-first down a concrete strip, such as face-planting while your mom is playing on Instagram (#momfail).


Anyway, the aforementioned awesome neighbors gave us some TLC and band-aids, and the little guy was super-tough about the whole thing. They even gave us a pretty serious carrot and some raisins for our very own snowman.

 Sarah is actually the one with the creative vision behind this loveable guy, and she said he's singing.  That's why his mouth is in a perfect "O".  

Perfect for a Music City snowman.  

Here's to more snowmen and snow days this year!

Polar Bathtime

This fall, I haven't been real great at the mom thing.  

Sure, I've kept the kids alive and stuff, but that's pretty much it. 

And Mike has done most of the heavy-lifting around here kid-wise.

Sunday, it was time for a change. 

Our late-night (read: 7 o'clock) cultural outing at the ballet meant that we skipped bath Saturday,  so the kids were kind of stinky.  

Stinkiness + crummy, cold weather = bathtub fun!

Since we were well-stocked with Ivory,

 I decided to try out a wintry-bath version of microwaved soap.

We stuck a bar in the microwave for about a minute,

The microwaving is arguably the best part.

and were rewarded with this fluffy, squishable, frothy goodness.

Toss in some bubbles

and a few kids,

and you've got yourself a par-TAY!

(And, quite possibly, a few fight-free minutes to yourself.)

Of course, my instinct was to turn it into some snooze-fest unit of learning about glaciers and polar animals.  Luckily for my kids, I can't find our Toob of seals and igloos and Inuit, so they're safe from the words "habitat" and "ecosystem".  

At least for now.

They got to play Hot Chocolate Stand, and I got to listen to the sounds of their giggles 

without stressing about APA formatting.

Cheers to that!

Super Obsession

It's no secret that we're into superheroes around here.  Besides the fact that Sarah and Will have alter-egos (Lightning Girl and Lightning Boy), they enjoy all things 

Ninjago, Batman, and Captain America. 

Will was Iron Man for Halloween, and totally nailed the character.

Notice, if you will, Mike's costume: Clark Kent.  

Up until recently, Superman was the one superhero the kids were staunchly uninterested in.  And then we visited Metropolis, Illinois. 

On our way back from a super-fun Fall Break trip to St. Louis, 

we stopped over in Metropolis to check out the scene and the swag. 

Oh, and the 20 ft. tall Superman statue in Court Square.

While Will was adding to his rock collection, Sarah got into true super character, 

gamely striking a pose with me and the Man of Steel.

Next up was the souvenir shop.  This proved to be overpriced and underwhelming (my kids wanted to buy an old Happy Meal toy for $3), but there were lots of photo ops outside.

My faves were the Daily Planet sign, the phone booth, and the Supergirl cutout.  I know we got a picture of Sarah as Supergirl, but I can't find it anywhere. 

I did snap a quick one of my own little Man of Steel getting ready to change into his super suit. 

Since our little stopover and watching old Superman movies, the littles have gained a certain appreciation for him.  Their favorite part is when Super Kid's space-pod crash-lands in the Kents' farm, and the little guy lifts the car all by himself. 

So, if you ever find yourself on the road from Nashville to St. Louis, stop over in Metropolis for some cheesy photos and $25 t-shirts!

Turkey Photo Booth Swag 2.0

We've got 9 days to go until one of my favorite holidays of the season.

Last year around this time, I was contemplating my contribution to the family Thanksgiving festivities in the form of silly photo props.  

 

This year, with a baby on the way and school winding down, I'm mulling over just how many naps I can take in five days. 

We're staying local for the big day, but I still wanted to get some fun pictures with beaks and wattles.  But, when I was pulling out the swag from last year, I noticed it looked a little worse for the wear.  

What to do?

Make some more!

And, when I remade the templates, I added in some more fun stuff.  

So, the new swag also includes a turkey drumstick, pilgrim collar, 

and Native American headdress.   

Just click on the links below the pictures to print them, and enjoy!

Turkey Day Template

Turkey Day Template1

Turkey Day Template 2

Turkey Day Template3

Your materials can be pretty much anything you have on hand.  I used felt and foam for the props themselves, and bamboo skewers for the sticks.  If you have cardstock, that would work just fine for the hats, beaks, and accessories, while paper straws might be cute for the sticks.

1. Just cut these little templates out,

2. Trace them onto cardstock, felt, or foam:

3. Cut, 

4. Hot glue,
5. and get silly!

Brown 5.0

We have some big news to share, so I thought I'd let the kiddos tell you.

Sigh.

So, yes, I'm pregnant with #3, and Will is being promoted to the role of big brother, as of mid-March.  We're all very excited, and Will checks my belly button a few times a day to see if it's popped out like a turkey thermometer. "No DING! yet, Mommy," he says, scratching his head 
and giving my tummy a thoughtful pat.

At least I've kept my 100% wrong baby-gender prediction streak intact.  We were all calling this little drumstick a girl, dreaming up girl names, and anticipating a shift in the balance of power to those of us of the x-chromosomal persuasion, 
when the ultrasound tech announced 

that our little ninja was a boy!  

The littles were not disappointed at all, but I was a tad bit anxious.  See, Will got the only two boy names we could ever agree on.  In an effort to avoid a  catastrophe of George Forman-esque proportions, we polled the prospective siblings for suitable monikers for this little nugget.  

So, without further ado, I give you:

 

Mittens Jack-Jack John Smith Brown.

It's going to be a challenge for monogramming purposes, but I bet there won't be anybody else in class with a name like THAT.

Leafy Fun

Sorry to leave you hangin' (hehe), but this fall has been crazy.  Anyway, since I'm averaging about 1 post per month, this might be it for November.  

But I hope not.   

Today, we had just enough energy, gorgeous golden leaves, and daylight after school to play in the leaves, so that's just what we did.  Every year the kids look forward to jumping in a big ol' pile of freshly-raked goodness, but this fall has been so busy and rainy 

that we hadn't had time until today.

 It's amazing how a pile of leaves rates just about as much enthusiasm as Disney World. 

Sarah recreated one half of American Gothic.

 And Will rolled around and begged to be buried in the leaves again and again.

 These faces.

Sis can always get a smile out of Mr. Intense.