What a weekend!

Boy, have we had a packed weekend! The girls didn't have school Friday (imagine that-- but this time due to Parent-Teacher Conferences, not snow). We decided to trek to the metropolis of Bluffton. The girls each took a friend with them, too--something they have always wanted to do. So, Abby & Lauren, Anna & Emily, and I headed to smalltownville on Thursday evening. :) The four girls had a great time on Friday. We took them out to the Dollar General, then dropped them off uptown where they walked Main St. and visited Grove's Bears, Greg's Pharmacy, the Etcetera Shop, then finished their time hanging out at Common Grounds and sipping on hot cocoa and coffee.

One of the things we were all looking forward to doing was sledding, but the bitter windchill was a concern. We called all over town, and even a few places in Lima and Findlay to check on the availability of ski masks, but to no avail. Instead, we deferred to Plan B to protect those cheeks from the cold: make our own. Mama had an idea to cut up old Tshirts of Papa's, then cut eye and mouth holes. We even turned it into a craft project by decorating them! Needless to say, we got a few stares as we drove down the road to get to the hill.

Friday night we enjoyed a rowdy night of tacos and Scattergories. Has anyone ever heard of a Licorice Latte? (If you have, don't tell Dad.) Andrea's (Wendy's high school friend) daughter, Paige, joined us that night to finish out the weekend. Abby requested that she be there for Abby's friend birthday celebration. We drove back to Columbus Saturday morning, went to a swim meet, then launched into an early birthday party for Abby. Yes, what you see in the picture is true....we rented a limo to pick up the girls for the evening! They happened to be in the living room playing on the piano and saw the limo pull up in our court. Jokingly, they said, "Oh, look, the limo is here to get me." I could hear the squeals from outside. Little did they know that it was indeed there for them. The driver was a friend of a friend, so we got a good deal and a nice guy to make a stop at Graeter's for ice cream, then on to the Chiller at Easton to go ice skating. They had a great time, and hopefully a memorable 13th celebration for Abby!

Chopped Liver

Well, we had another snow day today. So far, we have (had) about 5 inches on the ground, but it's been sleeting for several hours now. They say it's supposed to change back to snow tonight. That probably means another day off school tomorrow. That would make Day #6. And that leads me to my topic for today....chopped liver. Actually, I'm having a bit of a pity party. Last week when we were off so many days in a row, I thought, "Oh, this will be great together time with the girls. We can bake cookies, play games, do a puzzle or a craft...." Well, I'm not sure if it's their age, or if I am truly that boring, but the girls were not takers on any of those options. Instead, they had friends over, went to friends' houses, watched TV.... Today, before Anna went to her friend's house today, she said, "Sorry, Chopped Liver. I really do love you, though." :) They know I will always be here when they need me, and independence is one of our goals for them, but sometimes it's hard to face that our role in their lives is changing. So for now, I will seize every moment I can.

Speech Meet

Wednesday, January 31 was our class speech meet. I did a fable called Someone Sees You. We had to get up in front of the whole class and say it. We had to do it in front of two judges too. We had to say it nice and loud. The class speech meet was for a grade. The fourth grade teachers,Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Clark,discussed it and came up with two people in each class and from each catagory. I was one of the people that they picked! I will be going to the big speech meet on March 24th. Wish me luck!
Anna

Snowday Boredom

I am sooooooooooo bored! There is nothing to do around here when there is no school! For the last four days I have had friends over, sleepovers, played in the snow, and just sit around and watch T.V. I've done everything that I can think of (exept for help mommy with chores and boring stuff like that...GROSS!) I wish that I could do something more interesting than do absolutly NOTHING! Well, if you have any suggestions on what I can do today, please leave a comment! (By the way, this is Abby, if you haven't figured that out yet!) =)

Anna's New "Do"

I've promised some of you a picture of Anna's new hairdo. For months she has been saying she wants to get her hair cut and donate it to "Locks of Love". We've been waiting for it to get long enough to cut off the 10 inches required. Finally, she could take it no more! I made her an appointment at Charles Penzone's, a pretty fancy place that I'd never go to, but they give a free haircut if you donate your hair, so I figured, "Hey, why not?" Mom & Dad were meeting us for lunch to celebrate my birthday, so they got to be in on the action, too. As it turns out, the girl said they could probably get 2 wigs out of her thick hair.

Anna seems to be pleased with her new "do", and has only complained once. A few days after the cut, she came up to me at school, nearly in tears, and said, "Mom, I don't want my hair like this anymore." I'm thinking, "Oh, great, we can't put it back on!" But it wasn't that. She said, "Now EVERYBODY wants their hair like mine, and I wanted to be different!" I think that has since died down. :)