Pookie Wins!

ScienceFest, the regional science fair, was today.  As if it weren't bad enough that I had to go buy Beanie her first ever pair of SIZE ONE shoes first thing this morning, in the foggy nastiness, then I had to drop Pookie off at the front door of the Palmer Events Center and watch her walk bravely into the exhibit hall to wait, all alone, for the judges.  I can't believe she is even big enough to be here, much less to be alone and have to explain to total strangers why lizards and their scales piqued her interest in the first place.  On the bright side, Bitty and I have made two wonderful discoveries: there is a lovely stick outside on the lawn between this building and Butler Park, and there is a Starbucks stand in the back of the Hall.  Yippee!

Waiting for Pookie

We waited for about 90 minutes for Pookie to come out of the Hall and walk onto the stage, where she announced her name.  She waited about ten seconds and when she didn't see me as I struggled to the front of the seating area from my seat IN THE BACK ROW, she announced herself again.  Forcefully. :)

We went home to collect Beanie, whose soccer team was soundly beaten, not that anyone really notices the score at these games, and returned to find that Pookie was awarded a 2nd Place ribbon.  Yea Pookie!  She and Beanie are both already planning what their entries will be next year, and counting their ribbons from the years to come.

Full Snow Moon Oracle

The Goddess for the February moon is Artemis, the Virgin Goddess.  Artemis is commonly associated with nature and fertility, along with the principles of risk and reward.  She is the Goddess of the Hunt, protecting wild animals to ensure their propagation and choosing which may be taken by worthy hunters, and known as the Lady of the Moon.  In various places, she is identified with Selene, the Moon Goddess, or with the Mother Earth.  In all cases, Artemis represents and requires purity in thought and action, loyalty, and fulfillment of oaths.  Artemis rewards those who take risks in order to live honestly in accordance with their true selves.  This month, I will be thinking about my values and beliefs, and evaluating whether I am living them as fully as I am capable of.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We have officially recovered from Tracy's deployment, for the most part anyway, and after a year of rediscovering what our new normal is, I decreed that in 2011, we will celebrate all holidays! We anticipate another deployment in 2010, so we are going all out while we can!


For some reason, I thought it would be great if the kids could give homemade cookies as treats to their friends this year. And, since I had already committed to baking seven dozen cookies for them, I offered to bake a few more for a meeting at work. Why not?

The kitchen is covered in flour and sprinkles, but ten dozen sparkly cookies are headed out as Ambassadors of Affection. Happy Valentine's Day!

Clean Pennies, Lizard Scales, and Legos

February is a very exciting month for us.  Soccer starts, which means that life becomes ever so much more complicated, the kinder students celebrate their 100th day of class, and the school holds its science fair.  Pookie was required to participate this year, and getting her to choose something was like pulling teeth.  The information about the event came home in November, and she decided on a topic about five days before it was due.  Beanie, on the other hand, knew in December that she wanted to experiment with what kind of soap is best for cleaning pennies!

Thus, while Pookie and I furiously searched the internet for information that would explain why, in fact, lizards have scales, Beanie scrubbed away at four dirty pennies with her different soaps.  Bitty occupied himself by making a lego sculpture for his 100th Day collection assignment, and in the end, it all came together and everything got done on time. Mostly. :)

Congrats to Pookie for being selected to advance to the Regional ScienceFest!  We are so proud of her!

********************************

Beanie's Clean Pennies

Bitty's Lego "100"

Pookie's Award Winning Lizard Scales

Fun with Food

The snow is mostly gone, but we are still hibernating from the cold! For brunch today, we are making salad people.  Well, for us they are more pasta and fruit people, but you get the picture.  Yummy!





Snow Day!

We are so excited to have a snow day with snow! Pook, Bean and Bitty were up and outside by 7:30 this morning.  They played in the snow as long as they could stand it, then came in to warm up by the fire and enjoy some hot chocolate.  We spent the day baking cookies, playing games, and watching movies.  What an unexpected treat!