M3's response

M3's To Do List

1. Do my homework (if I have any).
2. Talk to Cody.
3. Listen to my IPod.
4. Do that typing thing on the computer.
5. Spy on M4 and drive him kookoo.
6. Be weird.

M4's To Do List

M4 (just before bed this evening): I have a lot of things to do tomorrow!

Mom: Oh yeah, like what?

M4: Feed my pets.
Spy on M3.
Build a train track.
Maybe feed my Webkinz.
Go swordfighting.
And veterinarian.

Thank you, Leonard Pitts...

...for calling Rush on his hate-mongering tactics: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/870238.html

Uh oh

M4 has what appears to be a small case of the pukes. He seems to be much better now...at least he's running around making explosion noises and talking about "Dark" Vader. He spent the morning playing at friend's. Hope he doesn't pass the germs along!

M3 and I left at 7:15 a.m. for the second-to-last swim meet. It was an hour away in Knoxville. She scorched the competition in the medley relay! Her team was quite behind. She anchored with the freestyle and just blew past everyone! It was so cool to see. I think they came in second. She seemed kind of tired in her individual events, and then they did well in their freestyle relay, too.

I really just want her to have fun and not feel pressured. The kids I knew who started getting too serious about ballet at a young age burned out young, too. I hope this is something she can have fun with for a long time. Winning helps with the fun factor, of course, but I don't want her to feel too serious about it.

On a separate note, it was definitely the HOTTEST pool room I've been. I thought I was going to pass out...

Happy Inauguration Day!

Happy Inauguration Day everyone! No matter what your political leanings, today is history being made! Yahoo!!!

Weekend activities

It warmed up a bit this weekend, so we tried to get out the cooped-up yayas by taking some short sledding runs down the pile in the backyard:

And digging tunnels through it:

Inside, M and M built castles using the cool Harry Potter building set they got from Nana and Boppa:

Gotta keep busy to fight off cabin fever!

LA: 85, Tucson: 64, Grinnell: 3

I'll give you sunscreen!!! Supposed to be -35 windchill overnight. Definitely too cold for sledding...but it sure is pretty, isn't it?

Deck and backyard

From the front

Fire hydrant

Crap...

...my new digital video camera needs a 2.0 port to transfer video to my computer. Does my computer have a 2.0 port?? No. @#$$^&&*$$(&^%$@!!!

More winter

Well, it is snowing sideways... The kids are getting out early. Windchill is 17 degrees. But ha ha!! It's only 58 in Tucson right now!

Winter wonderland!

Six inches of snow last night, ya'll! We still had swim meet today. I took some video with the new digital video camera...whoopee! Now I have to figure out how to get it onto the computer...soon, I promise!

Update

Not too much to report at the current time...we're all getting back to our routines of school and work, although Mark doesn't have classes yet.

We had another offer on our house, but it was very low. For the moment we've passed, although we are considering taking a low offer with the knowledge of gaining a good neighbor. It's hard to know what to do. Should we just take the hit financially? Will the next offer be higher? It's not just about the money. Yet I know that among the houses in the price range of ours, ours is definitely one of the nicest despite its drawbacks. Ugh... On the upside, our town is a more steady and stable market than the national market.

I'm thinking of torturing myself by posting comparative temperatures between here and Tucson, where my parents are:

Our town: 8 degrees; Tucson: 40 degrees (well, I guess it's only 8:30 in the morning there)

Pics from Christmastime

We have a picture somewhere of my dad with M4 in almost exactly the same position as this: A pretty cute pic of this trio:

M4 and some new Playmobile dinosaurs that like to eat Wampas:

M3 enjoying her big present (of course, I'm already worrying about her damaging her hearing. Thanks, Santa!!):

Said Wampa and a happy boy:

Happy New Year!

Sorry to have been lax for a while...celebrating the holidays you know! Hope everyone had a great holiday! We went ice skating in KC. Here are the kids with Aunt Noelle. M4 did really well his first time out on a single blade! It was over 50 degrees out...it's nice not to skate in a parka.

And here is our sweetest, cutest baby cousin V! She was the source of much entertainment, whether she was sleeping, burping, filling her pants, kicking her legs like a marathoner, or (the best part) smiling and laughing at us. She was definitely the feature attraction this holiday!