Hanging out

We had a package delivered last week. I guess the company was going green since it was stuffed with recycled paper rather than styrofoam. The kids really wanted to play with all the paper. My only rule was they had to clean up whatever mess they made. So, first they tore the paper up, stole it from each other, than tore it up some more. Than one of them got the idea to throw all the paper up in the air.

They continued doing this for hours. After dinner they took turns pushing each other around on Sam's big metal dump truck and cleaning up the paper as they got pushed around the kitchen.

Saturday morning Annie had a PTA fundraiser Fun Fair at her school. I told the kids they could go if they cleaned up their rooms (sensing a theme here?). They both did a great job cleaning and I promised them each a dollar if they could keep it clean for a week! (Annie had a friend over tonight and she kept telling the friend that they couldn't mess up her room!) Annie and Sam played lots of games at the Fair. It was a lot of fun. The kids participated in the cake walk. The first time neither of them won, but they thought it was fun to walk around the numbers to the music. The second time they played Annie won. She had no clue she won a cake! She thought she just "won"! She picked a delicious chocolate frosted cake...YUMMY!

The kids have also rediscovered the Sit-n-Spin this past week and have decided it's much better to ride it together!

Mark-o-lympics

Mark was so inspired by the current 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada that he decided to try his own form of downhill snowboarding. What I refer to as the "Mark-o-lympics". This event: Downhill Sledding. He begins his position at the top of the hill, feet well planted and balance evenly distributed- his center of gravity evenly distributed over his base of support.
He begins his descent. His form is excellent and appears to be in total control of his body, and his sled, as he makes his way down the hill. The crowd cheers! We are sure that Mark will go home today taking the "gold medal of cool" with him. Everyone in the crowd is on their feet as he closes his position towards the finish line.

But alas! What has happened to this Mark-o-lympic hopeful? His balance shifted forward a little to early...his sled, no longer able to withstand the pressure, revolts and take a no-velocity stand. And Mark, as clearly observed in the above picture, launches into the snowbank. Mark may not have been awarded the gold, but he didn't go home empty handed...his pockets, hood and coat were full of snow. To some, that is victory.

Oh my it's February!

Annie's school had some days off around President's day weekend, so we decided to take a road trip and head down to Kentucky to visit our friends Mike and Julie, and their boys, Jack, Luke and Kyle. They had expected a little more snow than typical this year (12 inches above normal as of 2/14/10). So we packed the snow-gear and our sled and had a blast sledding in their backyard (which boasts an awesome sledding hill).
For Valentine's day Julie had the kids make sugar cookies. All the kids enjoyed making the cookies as decorating and eating them! Annie and Jack are 6 weeks apart in age and really got along well the whole weekend. Sam and Luke are 3 months apart in age and had fun playing in the bunk bed and creating forts. Little Kyle is 19 months old. He and Annie formed a fierce bond over the weekend and left them both crying when we left because they wouldn't see each other for a while.

The kids kept calling us down to the basement to entertain us with a rock band concert. Annie was always the singer, but the boys would switch their instruments and one would always conduct. So funny!

It started snowing again Sunday night (they ended up getting 12 inches by Tuesday night) and we almost didn't make it out of their hilly, snow plowed neighborhood! We found an alternative way out, but even the highways up until Indianapolis were poorly plowed. We eventually got home, although it took is almost 2 hours longer. It was a great weekend full of catching up with good friends, playing in the snow, swimming at the local indoor pool, taking multiple naps and we even taught them how to play Canasta (although the boys lost horribly and Mike has stated he will never play it again!)