Valentine Prep

We had a little valentine assembly line set up today. Fortunately this year, only one child has to make a Valentine's box. He gets extra credit if it is wired to light up. Unfortunately, he has of course, waited until the last minute. You know what we'll be doing late tomorrow night.One of the best parts about any holiday is the treats that go along with it. Mmmm.
And, just because he makes me smile, here's the little guy trying out his new (to him) ride.

Love

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."

-Franklin P. Jones
And just for fun - one from the archives. A snowier winter a couple of kids ago.

TA DA!

The infamous front door knob at 1606 Yale is fixed! (When I stopped by on Saturday, the first thing my Dad asked me was if I had my camera - just so I could take a picture of the doorknob.)The science fair projects are done!
And I got to watch Samantha's class demonstrate their fancy dancing skills at a performance today.

Cake Boss

Around here, come birthday time, Shawn is the cake boss. It is his job to decorate the kids' birthday cakes. They always tell him what they want and then he does his best to replicate it. Here he is hard at work on Samantha's cake.She requested one to look like this:
She drew a picture for Shawn and this is the result: a cake of Samantha's face, complete with braids and flower in her hair. It looks remarkably like the picture she drew, which unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of.
Here's the masterpiece with flaming braids:
and the birthday girl blowing out the candles:
And now I think we are done celebrating. Thanks again Cake Boss!

The Birthday Girl

Today, my little girl turned 9! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. Here she is enjoying her crumb cake for breakfast before heading off for a day of skiing. (I'm sure she was just thrilled with the Dora plate.)And the best part about the day of skiing, was her brand new "girl" skis. (Picked out by Shawn.) She has always wanted "girl" skis (definitely with a little pink.) She has gotten tired of skiing on Jonas' hand-me down "boy" skis for the past 6 years, I guess.
And a bunch of supplies for playing school.
2 student desks at $1.00 each

2 student chairs at $.50 each

1 overhead projector at $1.00

The joy of finally being able to play school "properly".... priceless.
Just look at those attentive students. Samantha is always looking for willing participants for her to teach.
(And at $3.oo total, I don't feel bad sending the desks and chairs on to the DI when the playing school obsession passes. The overhead projector I plan to keep. I may even pick up a couple of spares.)

Samantha at 9:

She loves to sing and to dance and to perform in anyway. She always has a song in her head - which she often shares with us (much to Jonas' dismay.) She is able to pick out songs by ear on the harp or piano. (Not a talent she got from me - that's for sure.) She can be very dramatic about everything, and is "on stage" a lot of the time. She has a great sense of humor and makes us laugh all the time. (See previous post about frozen underwear.) She can be extremely helpful with the younger kids and is a good big sister.

If she decides to do something she will make it happen and there is no stopping her (but only if it is her idea.) I have been very proud of some of the choices she has been making this year (such as pointing out some things that should have been marked wrong on her schoolwork that weren't.) She does very well in school. She is becoming a very good athlete - especially skiing, swimming and biking, and loves ballet. She wants to be involved in everything and will work hard to learn something new if she decides to. Currently she wants to be a chemist but her father thinks she should be an attorney because she can negotiate just about anything. She is turning into a beautiful young girl. I love her long hair (but don't especially love brushing it out.) We could do without her "shark" teeth, but we do kind of miss her bulldog cheeks. All in all she is a lot of fun to have around (even though the two of us butt heads - A LOT) and I feel blessed to be her mom.

Photo by Amelia (as many of my best photos are.)

A Day of Baking

It's been a busy day in the kitchen. First, zucchini bread, because it sounded good.Then Amelia cooked up some tortillas for lunch.
Then cupcakes for Samantha to take to her ski lesson tomorrow because it will be her birthday.
This would be the reason why I don't always let her help with the frosting.
And finally, crumb cake (made by Shawn), which Samantha requested for her birthday breakfast.
Homemade pizza was also on the list, but Samantha wanted to go out to eat to celebrate since we will be busy tomorrow night. So she and Shawn went on a special birthday date. And, still to come, is the actual birthday cake. Let me just say that all this time spent in the kitchen has done nothing for the cleanliness of the rest of my house!

So Much For A Quiet Evening Spent Reading

Did we intend to spend our evening like this? Not at all. The kid in the photo should have been in bed quite some time ago, but no, "he" is finishing up a project that is, of course, due tomorrow.Is there any chance that we can get a second 5th grade diploma? I think we will have earned it.