Snow for Spring Break... Is that an oxymoron?

Sunday morning we awoke to this scene of a winter wonderland...
What a way to start our Spring Break...

This is what we have come to expect ...

A blanket of snow as a last minute reminder before Spring brings in the warmth and flowers that Winter time can be...

not JUST cold but also very beautiful!

Alyssa helped her daddy clear the driveway. It was a tough job, but she had so much fun.

Karston gives us all a tour of their snow fort.





The boys very roomy snow fort...
















Alyssa even found her way into the cave...

Heath demonstrated what someone stuck out in a wilderness snowstorm would need to do to keep warm until help can arrive.

Now that we had all checked out the snowfort inside and out it was time to go and make a Snowman...
Karston was in charge of rolling enough snow for the body

Whilst Josiah worked on rolling the head...

Alyssa and the puppies even tried to help out with the collecting of snow.

All it needs now is one last toddler hug...

Meet our Big Bottom Snowman.

Dance classes?

Every week when we watch American Idol, Alyssa sees that as her opportunity to get in some dancing. I thought you all might like to see her mad skills. Remember she has not yet had any formal training and is not a professional.

I guess this is why she always tells us half way through the show "I want to go to bed now."

2009's first day at the Park

Today was a beautiful, sunny, 70degrees.
A day that couldn't be wasted on the indoors
So I packed a picnic, grabbed a blanket and Alyssa and I headed out the door.
We walked through the neighborhood to J.C. park and planned to soak up some sun for a couple of hours.

Alyssa was so happy to play on the swings, the slide and to once again be a part of the Horsie Party. She also loved watching the train go by a couple of times.

I found a sunny spot just off to the side of the park and spread the blanket that we had brought. Apparently, I still think like a Southerner because I forgot that just because the sun was shining doesn't mean that the ground is dry. Thankfully I was wearing a layers and didn't need them.

We played for over an hour and had lots of fun. It was a great day, we are so thankful for such a beautiful Spring day! I didn't get any video because there was construction on the train tracks and they were way to loud for video, but I hope you enjoy the pictures....

Thank You Wendy

Have you met my friend Wendy?
Have you ever visted her blog at Perfectly Imperfect?
If you have than you know what vibrant ball of Sunshine she can be to your day.
If you haven't than you should...

Wendy is one of those people that when I am having a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", then I know that I can find her blog and I will get a bright spot to my day. There are several other blogs I read that also provide me with bright spots. My friend Wendy recently recognized me with this award of friendship, so in her honor I will be presenting this award to those blogs that make my day a little brighter each time that I read them.



"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self- aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award!"

This award is for:

Heath @ 2rules, 150years

Angie @ Far From Home

Lindsay @ Growing Up and Raising UP

Tarah @ Growing Goodsons

Rachel @ Grasping for Objectivity in my Subjective Life

Jodi @ Jo Jo's Journal

Matt & Jen @ Random Acts of Consciousness

Lara @ In The Shadow

Other Blogs I would like to honor are as follows...

Philip @ They Never Told Me This

Richard @ Head Coach @Home

Gary @ Worship Project

The Tanners @ The Tanner Family

Up stage

JOSIAH'S BIG MUSIC SHOW (Please forgive the shaky video)
Directly in the center, with the green shirt on, is our Josiah.
Yes he very well could be the only kid not doing the motions,
but at least he is singing. He is singing, right?

I know I thought he was getting into the song and singing loud at first too.
Alas it was just a yawn.
Please forgive the shakiness, it is hard to video with a two year old climbing on you.
I think Alyssa may have been more vocal than the featured artist (Josiah.)

What I did not get on video was the one time that I thought he might be

joining in on the motions... but then I noticed it was just a big S-T-R-E-T-C-H.

This is why I titled this post "UP STAGE."
While Josiah was the one Up on Stage, front and center,
And all eyes were intended to be on him...
I don't really think he minds that his little sister upstaged his "performance."

She's got some good moves but I don't think break dancing is her thing.

Maybe Ballroom dancing?

Will we one day be seeing my daughter on Dancing with the Stars?

We may have come to see the 1st and 2nd graders sing,

But the 2 and 3 year olds dancing was so entertaining.

(Don't worry I shot the videos of Alyssa dancing while the 2nd graders were singing, so I did not miss any of Josiah's part of the concert. )

AFTER THE CONCERT...

We got the chance to walk around the school and see some of Josiah's artwork. This is where he shines a bit more...

First we saw his Quilt square.
He chose a material with a red background and white stars
He stamped blue circles all around the edge
Then put a self portrait in the center (He was floating in space.)
Maybe one day when I put my first quilt together he will let me use his square as the center piece.

He also made a pinch pot.

They pinched the clay into the shape of a pot,

Painted it,

And the teacher put it in a Kiln.

He is very proud of this one.

All in all, it was a night for the Arts that was quite the success.

Huh?!? Oh well...

I really want to tell you what has been going on around here latley. The good, the bad, and the indifferent. The problem is that I can't get any of my thoughts in my head to focus clearly. So if I did tell you it would be like rambling (which is a bit what it feels like I am doing anyway) or either it just wouldn't make any sense at all.

Soon I hope to find a way to tell you everything or just one thing even, but for now I will just share a few pictures with you and let them say what I can't.