Who Are These Girls?

I ran across this photo while searching through some others and decided since these girls are still in contact with each other it would be fun to post. High school graduation day, 2003. Kim, Kelli, Jenny, Lidsay and Sarah. Seems so long ago.....

Snow, Cookies, Valentines, Paper Houses and Monsters

Lucy and Emma spent a long weekend with us while Jed was away.  The winter storm that blew in made for lots of fun.  

Kelli and Emma have a snowball fight while Dave and Lucy prepare Brian's  giant borrowed ski gloves.  Not knowing we would have this much snow the girls didn't have their gloves or boots.  However, Emma's farmer boots as she calls them worked great. 

Kelli gets a little help from Lucy building a snowman.

Kelli presenting her most excellent creation.  By that time Lucy decided it was time to make the chickens come out in the snow and wouldn't pose.  Note: the hens just pecked the snow and would not put their dainty claws in one speck.

Here Emma perfects her snow dog.  She was completely thrilled to have a snow day and miss school.  We drank lots of hot cocoa and baked cookies twice, once with grandad and once with me. 

Lucy loved being out there and playing in the snow even though she could barely walk in it she is so short.  Her new thing is to ask to watch duck and pig.  That is the movie Babe but I can't get her to call it that.  Cute!

Emma built a paper roof to form a covered fort behind the futon. Glad it didn't snow on  it. 

Inside the covered fort with a couple of munchkins.

Byron and Lucy sharing a hug in the covered fort.

We also had a visit from two little monsters who walked around scaring everyone.

Looks like this monster is ready for summer.  Actually his shirt was wet.  Byron got to do a little sledding in town before Jill and Wade braved the roads to visit.  I didn't get to see him outside at our house because he was already in and shoes off before I knew they were there.  Dang!  

Three of the many valentines Emma made.  She is one busy little girl.  We are only one chapter away from finishing the Indian in the Cupboard.  I better get the next book.  She is loving this story.

Finger Weaving

Last weekend Emma demonstrated a skill her teacher taught her at school. It is called finger weaving. As I watched her do this I was in complete amazement. She rarely looked at what she was doing and her hands and fingers just flew. I looked at the final product and realized that it is what we used to do as kids. We called it boondoggles (see picture above). She was repeating this with yarn instead of the plastic laces we used to use. I took a short video of it so you can see just how fast she is. Amazing!

Ring Around the Rosy

This weekend we taped Byron, Lucy and Emma playing Ring Around the Rosy. This got me thinking about the meaning of this game. I couldn't remember what I had learned about it but thought it seemed to be something morbid.

I found that the words to the ring around the rosy children's game have their origin in English history. The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs (or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease.

Well that was kind of depressing. Here watch this and notice Byron at the end of the game. He cracks me up that boy.

Winter Weekend

Brian left for Baltimore Sunday in the wee morning hours. We are a strange bunch right now. Dave was coming to bed at 2:00 a.m. because he couldn't sleep and I was getting up at 3:00 a.m. to take Brian to the airport. The flight was on time even though it snowed Saturday. He arrived safely without any delayed flights and only forgot his box of contact lenses and his camera cables. We will miss him and look forward to seeing him some time this summer.

Here is what Brian does best. Torture. The funny thing is even though the nieces and nephew scream and don't like it, they keep coming back for more. That is except Emma. She knows.

See what I mean? Byron just came back for more.

Jill has been really enjoying sewing. She has made four baby blankets for the newest little addition. Now I can finally say that she is having a little boy due May 1st. We are looking forward to having this new little one in the family.

Here is an ugly baby. This baby used to be one of triplet babies that Kelli had when she was a little girl. I don't know what happened to the others but I never could figure out why these dolls had just one tuft of hair right out of the middle of their heads. Very strange. Jill has been letting the kids in her day care play with it but it has come in handy for her also.

Look! Awwwww, isn't this sweet. She was goofing off and sewed some clothes for the doll all without a pattern. Just looking. Pretty good for a beginner.

There goes Byron leading Grandad to the snacks in the pantry. He now knows the one who is the biggest softy.

Some New Year Fun

Byron, Lucy and Emma spent New Years evening with Dave and I.  After dinner we spent most of the evening being chased, laughed at, and led everywhere. Kelli just moved back home this week and Brian is home for one more week so we only had one extra bedroom. Emma informed me that she does not like Lucy's snoring so therefore, she would like to have the bedroom. No problem though. Dave blew up our inflatable mattress and Lucy and Byron slept on it after much jumping, somersaults and rolling around. I stayed in the living room with them just to make sure that a couple of adventurous two-year-olds were sleeping instead of climbing on top of the piano, fixing a snack in the microwave or removing diapers by themselves and leaving me surprises.

Happy New Year everyone!  May your lives be filled with blessings and joy.

And this is the tree....one last look before packaging flies around the room.  The tree was so dry it came down the day after Christmas.

Jed with Lucy and Emma

Jill and Wade.  Couldn't catch Byron with them.  He was too busy running.

Brian and Kelli getting ready to tear into their gifts.  Things haven't changed all that much from when they were little.  Brian still tells me that I have taken away Christmas (er, Santa) and the Easter Bunny for the adult kids and he is now scarred for life.  Poor little boy.


We went for our annual holiday pizza with good friends, Joe and Sheri.  It just wouldn't be the same without seeing them.  

I am throwing in these two pictures because they crack me up.  Byron looks like he is having the best pizza of his life.

Here he just looks so mischievous.  Little stinker.