Boy with blue nails

Yesterday after school the kids wanted to build a snowman. They played outside a while but never built the snowman because Jacob didn't have boots and they were distracted by throwing snowballs at Astro (Astro honestly likes this - especially if he gets to catch them in his mouth - way better than playing with a tennis ball).

We came inside and Jacob had to take off his pants, since they were wet from the snow. Then Allison wanted her nails painted. Ok. Jacob wanted his nails painted - blue. Dark, punk rock blue. Ok.

Then the kids wanted to put on a Christmas singing "show." Each one takes turns standing in front of the tree (which is in front of a window) and sings a song. Allison sang her Christmas concert. Mom sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and Jacob rocked out to his very own, homemade, heavy metal song. In his underwear. With blue painted nails. And an air guitar.

Verbal Clutter

Our students evaluated each others' group projects and one person kept saying the presentations were full of verbal clutter. Does that mean there were too many verbs?

We're having some verbal issues of our own at home - mostly involving Jacob. He has developed two (annoying) habits. The first is to ask a question and then tell you what you are supposed to say in response.

J: Do you like it? Allison, say, 'Yes, I like it.'
J: Can I have a snack? Mom, say, "you can have a snack Jacob."
J: Here's your toy. Allison, say, "Thank you."

I think it bothers Brian and I more than Allison. Allison simply says whatever Jacob suggests. I think this leads simply to more suggestions. It's a positive feedback cycle.

The second issue is that Jacob has adopted the "northern" accent and language tendencies much more than Allison. Asking for the "bubbler" was kindof cute, but now he says many phrases followed by "don't cha know?" On a similar note - Allison briefly picked up the Sarah Palin "You betcha," but we finally traced that back to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (thank goodness!).

Happy Birthday Allison

Allison turned 7 this week! She had a great day. She loved her gifts - dress, toys, purse, and nail polish. She really liked the Raven costume (see below). Jacob gave Allison a barbie and a hotwheel car. Brian had to talk to him a little about giving a gift for the recipient, though Jacob had a solid argument that if Allison had a hotwheel then they could play together.

Blizzard

Where do we start?


Pictures from our snow earlier this week.

The limit of my altruism

Yesterday, we shoveled ourselves out of the blizzard snows. It took us until about 2pm. We borrowed a snowblower from our neighbor to handle the 12 inches of snowfall. I still took 3 hours of work. Too bad it's too fricking cold to enjoy it today.

By afternoon, things were looking better and Allison and I headed to Walmart at 4pm for our shift at Salvation Army bell-ringing. The booth was supposed to be heated, but the heater wasn't working. Also, the booth was facing directly into the wind. At first, Allison was very excited. She rang and rang and sang Jingle Bells. That lasted approximately 10 minutes of the two hours.

We passed the time, and let me say that Walmart blizzard shoppers are not the most generous shoppers ever. Although one woman was so nice, she went to her car and returned with stickers for Allison to have after her shift.

About 40 minutes in and the sun went down, the wind picked up, and it started to snow. The manager of Walmart got our heater working, but it was too little, too late. We slugged it out until we got to an hour - and then had to call it quits. I feel a little badly for not making it the whole time, but we did bell ring for an hour in a blizzard. Apparently, I found the limit of our altruism.

Holiday Magic

Allison had her holiday concert tonight. It was very cute. They held it at the high school. It was sandwiched between the light snow of the afternoon and the blizzard that's expected tonight.

There were four groups - grades 1, 2, 3 and the older choir. Allison will happily sing you three of the four songs that the 1st grade performed. She did a great job at the concert too!

Classic Conversation

Me: Allison, don't wipe your nose on my pillow!

Allison: But Mom, it's not in the middle, just over here on the side.