Freaky, Weird, Why do we live here, Weather

Remember 2 weeks ago, when our neighborhood looked like this...

and this...

I didn't post about our lovely weather 1 week ago, when it was -17F.

Well today, it was 57F. How does the weather shift by 74 degrees in 1 week???

So, now instead of doing this...

The boys are now doing this...

and this...

See the big tree on the right. That is the same tree that Ben and Charlie are posing next to in the first 2 pictures above.

Why do we live here???

My Valentines...

Jack's Card

I should have taken a picture instead of a scan because the "suprise" is the hear that pops out. You just can't tell in the scan.

Charlie's card

We have a Charlie Heart and a Mom Heart.

Not sure what the rest of it says.

It always gets a little sticky when Charlie writes something because he doesn't always put his letters in the right order, or even use all of the letters. Sometimes, he just writes the first letter of all of the words...which makes it really difficult to figure out. Then, he won't tell me what it says because he wants me to read it like I read everyone elses. LOL...it's hard being the youngest, I guess. Anyway, we never did get to the bottom of what else he wrote on the card. But, I do love the card, and he used my favorite color paper. :)

Ben's Card:

I feel so loved. :)

{Front}

{Back} Drew's cards are always interesting...you never quite know what he is going to say. Like when he was in kindergarten, this is what his card said...

"To: Mom
From: Drew
I love you because you are my Valentine.
I love you when
I'm sad
I will love you whatever
time
like
2:19
5:28
or
7:06"

LOL...I think Drew may be a future card writer for Hallmark, this is what he gave me this year...

"Dear Mom,

You are a great mom. I would never prefer a mom more than you.

-Drew"

My Head Valentine, got me an awesome card too. I'm a lucky lady with my 5 Valentines. :)

Valentines Day...The Morning After

He is currently procrastinating taking a bath because he doesn't want the heart on his cheek to come off.


I also love this picture because for a kid that does not usually care what he is wearing, he has declared these his "favorite pajamas". He asks me every day if his "brown doggie pajama shirt is clean". And, for the record, we do have the matching pants, he just prefers these red pj pants to go with his brown doggie shirt.


I decided to include my favorite Valentine's Day picture ever...

2003 (j, d, b)

I miss overalls....and Jack's "dandelion hair"...and them not being able to move from this position. Just kidding about the last one...sort of. :)

Unfortunately, these pictures are 2 weeks old...

It was fun while it lasted...

I think this is Drew's

"I'm really concerned about this game...and I don't think orange and blue hair is going to help" face.

Superbowl 2011

Steelers (with a creep for a QB) vs. The Packers

Goooooo NOBODY...too bad Charles Martin doesn't play for GB anymore!

I'm going to the party for the company, the food, and the commercials.

The Groundhog Dump (Blizzard 2011)

Fun in the Snow..

I don't think the plow is showing up any time soon...

This snow is DEEP...

The "little kid" in the back is DADDY!

Not a good place to lose your boot Ben!!

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Party time!!

The drop off the deck is typically about 3 ft.

Go Drew!!

Hey Ben...how about another snow day tomorrow!!

Charlie
Look, Daddy's in the fort.
Yay...the plow (3:30pm)!!! Not ready to do our cul-du-sac yet, but getting closer.

50 mph winds....

20 inches of snow.....

waking up to -11 degrees the next morning....

It was fun, (well, except for the -11 degrees) but now, we are soooo ready for spring!!

Blizzard 2011

Snowmageddon

Snowcalypse

Blizzaster

The Groundhog Dump

SnOMG

Tsnowami

This storm is cracking me up!!

I hate winter...I am so done with it. It is so cold, and gray, and yucky, and blah. But, this storm has brought some excitement into a cold, gray, dark winter. Snow days all around tomorrow. No work, no school, no activites...no where to be at all! It's a nice change.

Since we had nothing to do tonight, after dinner, we went outside to experience "Blizzard 2011" first hand. This was about 4 hours into the expected 24 hour long blizzard.

Actually, the snow hasn't been that bad at all...it is the wind that is making it crazy. I don't think that I've ever felt wind that strong...it was hard to stand up. So, we decided to walk to the park.

The slide was extra slippery!! It was pretty funny watching all 5 of my guys come shooting out of the bottom of the slide one at a time. It's too bad that I couldn't get the timing right on my camera.

The walk home was a little more difficult than the walk to the park. Charlie struggled with his short legs in the growing drifts. I wouldn't call him a fan of the blizzard, but he did like the extra slippery slide.

Stay safe...and warm...and off of Lake Shore Drive!!

3rd Grade Concert Night...

Big night for the 3rd graders last week. It was the 3rd Grade Music Concert. There was singing, and dancing, and instrument playing. I'm sure it was not an easy feet to organize 150+ third graders to do all of those things.

Ben...can you find him??

Drew...looking cool, as usual.

Jack is all ready to go.

And, just for the record, I took those pictures, from my seat, over the span of about 10 seconds. If you were there, you know what I'm talking about.... after the kids came in, about 50 crazy parents rushed up to the front of the gym to get pictures and stood there for a long enough to take about 100 pictures. The vice-principal finally had to make them all sit down. She even gave them a count down...like the kind I give to Charlie when his time is up "playing trains". "Ok (freaky) parents, you are all going to have to sit down when I get to five...1-2-3-4-5. Time to sit down now so that we can get started." It was craziness. I really regret not getting a picture of that mad scene!

Back to the singing and dancing...and cute 3rd graders...

...and instrument playing too.

The classes came down 2 at a time to "star" in a couple of songs. I don't think Ben liked being front and center. He was adorable, but see how he is looking off to the side. He did that the entire time that he was up front. After 30 seconds or so, he would smile a little and slowly move his head to the other side.

Quite a different story from the last time he was on stage singing...at VBS last summer.
Yup, during that concert, he directed one of these faces at me, right from the middle of the stage while singing his sweet Bible songs.

These concerts are always a good show.