Sledding

Today we went sledding with our friends.  I tried snowboarding (with a sled!) and got farther  down than any of the adults on my first try.  I tried one more time and was better.  On my third time I got all the way down! Teagan tried it but she only got halfway down.  My Dad tried it but he wiped out after about three feet.  My friend Owyn's Mom Tracy went down a lot but the same distance every time.  She did some really spectacular crashes.  One time I was speeding down toward's my friends CJ and Connor and Connor was standing with his back to me talking to CJ.  I couldn't stop and the front of my sled hit Connor's ankles, he fell backwards on top of me and my sled, and then we hit CJ's sled and flipped up on top of CJ!  It was fun!

Braeden

In the interest of fairness, I need to point out that Jeff did a great job sled surfing--much better than Braeden portrayed.  My camera battery gave up before the sled surfing started--I think the grown ups were glad to hear that!

Snowstorm

Braeden and Teagan going out to play.  The storm door made marks in the snow as it opened onto the freshly fallen snow.  And we step up into our doorway!

Braeden measuring the snow with his twelve in ruler.

Jeff's car covered in snow.  Our Jeff made chairs with snow and then with kids.

The side of the house shows how much wind there must have been to get the vertical surface coated so well!

Playing in the snow with Teagan can be dangerous for Braeden, Teagan tries to aim away from him, but her aim is as good as her mother's!

Originally we were to get 2- 3 inches of snow yesterday and last night.  We have closer to 12 inches!  I will say that it is odd for the weather forecasters to get it so wrong, but things shifted just a bit and the Cape and Islands got snow all day yesterday.  We are all enjoying a snow day.  We have all already been out and the kids are waiting for the snow to become a bit stickier before continuing their snowman building project.  There was a great deal of wind driven snow as you can see from the picture of the side of our house.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Unexpectedly we are getting quite the snow storm.  The original prediction we heard was a possibility of a little snow Sunday night with some ocean effect snow off and on during the day.  It started snowing at about 11:00 this morning and has not stopped yet.  There have been heavier times and lighter times, but it continues to come down.  The winds are expected to start picking up later this evening.  I am glad I do not need to go out tonight!

Teagan has big plans for when she grows up.  She has already decided that she will be different things on different days - here is her planned schedule:

Monday - play with my dog

Tuesday - be a fashion girl

Wednesday - be a nail painter

Thursday - eat candy all day

Friday - help work at the candy shop

Saturday - be a singer

Sunday - sleep

At least she has playing with her dog and sleeping scheduled in!  I particularly like Thursdays :)

Yoga

Teagan's gift ot Cheryl was a box of yoga cards, each one with a different pose.  Teagan's idea was that she would choose them and we would both do the pose.  Cheryl's gift to Teagan is that she is game enough to do it!  Although she did say that Teagan was not invited to participate in her morning yoga session.

Birthday

Today is Cheryl's birthday.  We celebrated with delicious salmon, potatoes, and spinach cooked by Jeff on Monday night and capped that off with a yummy chocolate cake.

Today Cheryl got to open some family presents.  In the spirit of being good to herself for her birthday, she didn't have cake a second time :)

Valentines!

Teagan has been asking everyday to make valentines.  So over the weekend, we set up shop and did that.  She makes a valentine for everyone in her class (44 students) as well as family, so just writing her name on all of them is a huge undertaking!  Braeden only has 14 students in his class so the name writing is easier, but his valentines can be fairly elaborate!  

We used glitter glue and different kinds of paper (including pictures from magazines cut out before we took them to recycling) to make collages.  Somehow I got talked into "just a little" extra glitter.  As you can se, the paper is not even visible on some cards and I recommend opening any mail you get from this address around Valentine's Day over a large piece of paper or a trash can!  A great time was had by all.

Sunday morning

We awoke to a lovely surprise--some snow.  Quite possibly the perfect snowfall, it is Sunday so no one has to 

rush anywhere, there is enough to be pretty and play it but not so much that we must shovel to get out, and it was unexpected.  Braeden and Teagan got out before a pancake breakfast, but after applying tattoos to their foreheads and making these videos of themselves with Braeden's camera.  His camera does not have sound (Santa's elves are seriously overworked and can't be expected to provide EVERYTHING), so it is just a visual experience.  It is amazinghow much you can do in one morning if you get up at 6:00 and your parents say you may NOT come downstairs before 7:30 :)

I am having trouble putting the videos on here.  I'll try again in a new post.

A healthy six year old

I brought home some boxes for recycling and Braeden and Teagan have had a wonderful time playing with them.  Teagan asked for a cardboard box for Christmas--we'll have to stop by the appliance store and get her one for some gift giving occasion :)  Teagan does fit curled inside the smaller of the two boxes!  She hid in there while Jeff was having Braeden clean up his room--he didn't know where Teagan was.  Braeden earned some extra Zoo Tycoon time with his extra work.

Teagan had her six year check up and is doing well.  She is 43 inches tall, and continuing along "her own curve", the 12th percentile curve.  She weighs 41 pounds which places her at the 26th percentile for weight, actually a drop from last year.  Her doctor also figures her BMI and Teagan comes in at a nice healthy 15.5.  Her blood pressure is also nicely in the healthy range.  Basically she is a healthy peanut!  Her doctor also nicely told her no more visits until her next check up and no hospital visits this year.  I wholeheartedly agreed!

Saturday is basketball day

Braeden and Teagan had games one right after the other this weekend--it is good that there are two of us so we can be in two places at once!  Since I took Teagan to her game we have some pictures of that.  Jeff promises he will take pictures of Braeden's game next weekend!  

Teagan is starting to play rather than just stand and look :)  You can see her actually participating in the game, getting advice from her coach ("stick with your man, not your space"), practicing dribbling, and throwing the ball towards the net.  She wondered why I couldn't get a picture of it going through until she realized it actually needed to go through the net before I could even try to get a shot!

Braeden is becoming a great help to his team, scoring three baskets today!  One was nothing but net--and from far away (Braeden's description).

A Boy and a Camera

I think the saying is, "Loan a boy a camera and he will have fun for a day, give a boy a camera and he will take a thousand pictures."  Here are some of Braeden's better shots from today.  He and Lily are his best models.

The trees come tumbling down

Jeff broke out his new chain saw today.  He took down a tree which has been shedding limbs in many storms and was ready to come down on it's own in tonight's storm.  Since the tree was bit top heavy and leaning to wrong side (toward power lines), it ended up taking Jeff and our neighbors Scott and David to get it down safely.  They felled it nicely just in front of the swing set.  This preparation should ensure a wind free night, no matter what the meteorologists are forecasting!

Braeden took the pictures!

Basketball

I forgot the camera today so no pictures!

Saturday is basketball day for both kids.  Teagan had a 9:00 game and we made a wonderful discovery when we arrived at the school-her friend Mia is on her team!  Mia simply could not make it to the first game.  Teagan and Mia were both thrilled (Mia was in my class for 2 years and is planning to be in my class again in 2009).  They have really hit it off at school this year and were so cute playing!  They helped each other out finding their defensive positions and passing the ball to one and another the one time they each got the ball (their passes never made it to the intended hands).  Teagan did better this week, playing more than dancing and moved from her defensive spot to cover her boy, she even put her hands up sometimes, but usually behind him!  Her coaches are great, I think she will actually walk away with some skills.

Speaking of improved skills, Braeden is doing wonderfully!  He has improved 100% since his last season.  His coach even said he  has a "real nose for the game".  I am not sure what that means, but it beats us wondering why he would subject himself to playing :)  Guess who scored the last basket of the game today?  He had many assists and good defensive moves--look for highlights on channel 7  ;)

Building the Clubhouse

Today we started a clubhouse that I have wanted to build for a long time.  We have made the platform and there will be a trapdoor on the floor to get in and out.  It will be on the rock pile and will be about 8 feet by four feet.  We have put the plywood floor on, but I didn't take a picture of it.  These are three pictures I took when we were putting the platform on.  We will put the slide on one side to slide down then we can use the trapdoor to get in.  It will be really fun.

By Braeden
  

Sunday

Teagan is thrilled that now that she is six she can hold Lily (when she is sitting down).  We are not sure that Lily is as thrilled since Teagan is sometimes too loud for Lily!

Braeden has been in a gaming mode today, enticing others into playing Chinese Checkers, checkers, chess, and Whiz Kids.  Jeff taught him to play chess and Braeden played a good game.  He is looking forward to more games.

Basketball

Basketball started for both Teagan and Braeden yesterday.  Teagan's game was first.  She is on a team with one other little girl and nine little boys.  They are all Kindergarten and first grade.  Teagan was good at returning to her position to play defense (although she didn't understand that she could move from that spot).  She definitely played to her own soundtrack, frequently breaking into a little dance on the court!

Teagan is number 12.

Teagan says:

I played basketball.  I was the grey team.  The exciting part was that on the first game, the grey team WON (16-4).

Braeden is on the red team with other second and third graders.  His team is all boys.  Braeden has really improved from last year!  He had quite a few rebounds and was great at passing.    It was difficult to get pictures of him because he was surrounded so quickly by other players.

Braeden says:  We were winning 12-6 in the beginning but then the Orange team got a lot of baskets and caught up.  They got 4 more baskets and we got 2 more and then they got one more basket to win.  The final score was 16-14.  I was sweating a lot when I finished.  I have a good team this year.  We are good about passing and dribbling.  One person on my team steals the ball most of the time and passes it to another player on the red team.  I am number 9.  My shirt says Coca-Cola of Cape Cod on the back.