Magical Trevor

This is my Magical Trevor. Have you ever seen blue eyes like the ones on this baby?!? We got to stay with him this weekend and he got such a kick out of the girls. He didn't mind too much sharing all his toys with the girls.

Tyler and Bryce

Here is an update on the twins! Aren't they just gorgeous!! Out of all of us cousins we all agree that Shel is the only one of us who could have handled it this well. Abby took this picture of the twins for her Shutter Bugs assignment. Just makes me tired to look at them!!

Cuttin' a rug

As you can see, the girls really got to have a great time with their cousins!

Why I diet after a trip to Connecticut...

Any Questions?!?!?!?

These are my very lovely 1st cousins. We have always been very, very close. As you can see, my sister Kimmie (not pictured) and I got the "hearty" Italian gene while they got the great metabolism gene!!

Conquering Fears

OK, I have lots of catching up to do. For those of you who know me, I really have issues with flying. I drove to Miami for my sisters wedding and drive to Connecticut once or twice a year and NEVER fly. This weekend, my cousin Nicole got married and Mom and I decided to fly up with the girls (Mom likes flying about as much as I do). As many of you know, we had a lovely winter storm last week that was only worse in New England. We flew out of Columbus and we were planning to spend the night Friday in Columbus because we were sure our flight was going to be canceled. Nearly all flights to the east coast were canceled. After an hour and a half delay we were put on the plane. I kept waiting to be pulled off the plane and the flight canceled. It never happened. We were on the runway for nearly an hour waiting to be de-iced. My anxiety was THROUGH THE ROOF! Once I was ready to come out of my skin, I called my friends husband, who is a pilot and had him talk me down. With all the compassion and consideration about my fears, Greg told me to suck it up. The 2 guys in the front of the plane are the ones who want to die the least and will not fly in anything that they think will make them crash. Those kind words did really make me feel better and got me through the flight. I felt so much better when we landed in New York safely and began to taxi to the terminal. I didn't even freak out when the pilot slid on the snow and did a donut at the end of the runway. Talk about personal growth!

Who knew I had a Dorothy Hammill?

Abby and Gracie got to go ice skating for the first time yesterday with Brenda, Emily, and Jaimie. I was a little skeptical. Gracie stated from the beginning that she was only going to watch. And other than Emily pulling her around the ice, that's all she did. Abby on the other hand was a completely different story. According to the Jones', she was nearly obsessed with getting the hang of skating. They all held their breath as they watched her hit the ice over and over again. Over and over she professed she was OK and to stand back. Finally she got the hang of it and couldn't be stopped. Brenda said they had to pull her off the ice and she asked all the way home when she could go back. She came home sporting a red mark on her cheek from one fall, and knees that were in lots of pretty colors from all the others. She also wants to take lessons. For those who know Abby, this interest in anything involving physical activity is very unlike her. Maybe we'll try it a few more times and see where this leads. Jaimie took some great pictures and I will post them as soon as I get them!

I am SOO much dumber than I thought

I am recovering this evening from taking the GRE today. I have decided I am not a member of this family until I earn a degree from Morehead, so I am working on the requirements for admission in their online Master in School Administration. They require the GRE. For those who have not had the misfortune of taking this test it consists of 2 writing sections, 2 math and 2 language. I consider myself fairly intelligent but I was at a loss on this test. I had NO idea how to do about 75% of the math. The remaining 25% I was only partially clear on. You would thing I would have been ok on the reading and language, but I wasn't. They seemed straight forward, find the opposite, complete the sentence, reading comprehension, etc. It was not. The vocabulary had no basis in reality. I was excited to see the word "SATISFACTORY" and had to find the opposite. Unfortunately NONE OF MY CHOICES had what I thought would be the opposite. Oh well, the good news is, Morehead only requires a minimum score of 750 and I somehow scored a 1070. Although I am sure this is not a great score, it is a passing score and I plan to NEVER take this test again! I am going to bed...

Abby learns about clouds

Today we had a visit from our favorite meteorologist, John Gumm from channel 12. He came today to talk to our school. It is always a great time! He keeps the kids in engaged in his weather explanations for over an hour. I also have him talking to the summer teacher workshop as well.

Throughout his program John uses the kids to do demonstrations. He had one student try and read a forecast in a hurricane (he turned his 20o mph leaf blower on him while he was talking). He uses tennis balls to explain doppler radar. It really helps the kids (and us grown ups) get a better idea about tough weather concepts.

Today John used Abby today to help demonstrate how clouds form and release rain. Abby held paper towels in her hand while he sprayed water in them to demonstrate how clouds fill with water. He kept adding paper towels and water. Finally, he showed them what happened when the cloud can no longer hold anymore water... RAIN!

You can see by the picture she was very put out!

It is SNOWING!!!!!!

It is snowing like CRAZY out right now. We are hoping to pull at least one snow day out of this storm, maybe even 2! We are looking forward to a 4 day weekend, too! What a lovely winter break!! LET IT SNOW!

Thompson TB Ward

Anyone who has called my house this week has heard in the background the hacking coughs of all 3 kids. Alex hasn't been to school since Monday morning when they called for us to pick him up at lunch time. Alex and Gracie both have strep. They spent the week at home. Abby has an infection that the bubble gum medicine can't touch. And since I always get sick, it looks like I got Abby's infection. I am hoping everyone is well enough for school on Monday (me included)!