Sick Days

Braeden was home sick on Tuesday with what turned out to be a bad cold which had caused a sore throat.  I worried about strep throat and was glad to hear he just needed rest and water!

Today Teagan is home.  I wish it was the same thing, but it doesn't seem to be.  Teagan has been running a fever since last night.  She is nice and low when she wakes up. but then get hovers around 102 when she is up.  It looks like tomorrow is a sick days also!  At least it requires less work to miss a day of basketball than it does to miss a day of work.

Teagan found these beautiful glow in the dark glasses today and put them together for herself.

snow during vacation

It snowed the Friday of vacation.  Since we didn't need to go anywhere it was great fun.  Teagan enjoyed some hot chocolate the first time she came in.  Braeden built this very Calvin and Hobbes looking snow guy.  He thought that it was hilarious that I borrowed Jeff's boots to go out and take the picture.

Later in the afternoon some friends from the neighborhood came over for big snowball fights and making snow creatures, etc.

Although all that was fun, I am ready for winter to be over!  It needs to be over soon because Braeden has worn a hole in his snowpants (I did not even remember that was possible)!

Riley and Logan

On the way to and from Arkansas I had a little time in Reston.  On the way home when we had more time we had dinner with Lisa, John, Riley, and Logan.  It is always fun to be Aunt Cheryl when I am not also busy being Mom.  Riley showed me her Webkinz and her loose tooth.  She also did some beautiful painting while I was there.

Logan showed me how he flies his hecacocter.  I couldn't get a picture of it actually flying because the flight time was much shorter than the set up time--the crashes were quick!  He was thrilled to be able to even crash his hecacocter!

Arkansas

Please excuse the fact that this post is backwards, I had some trouble and had to reload this picture!

While I was in Arkansas, I went into Little Rock for an afternoon to visit my friend Christy and her family.  Christy and I have been friends since 7th grade, so it is always a treat to see her.  We went to the Little Rock 9 museum which was wonderful for me as I had taught about the Little Rock 9 when I did my student teaching.  It always amazes me that not so long ago so many people in our country could dismiss people based on characteristics of their looks rather than their character.

While the rest of the family headed north, I went southwest to Arkansas.  I went with my mom to visit her Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary.  We had a great time playing Scrabble (I even won a couple games), looking at photo albums, talking, exploring their community, and just hanging out together.

Vermont

Jeff and the kids headed up to Vermont for a bit of our vacation.  They were hoping for some fun in the snow and got a bit more than they bargained for!

They went sledding --five different ways down the hill.  They went on a toboggan, a regular sled, a cardboard sled, one time Braeden tripped and went down the hill on his snow pants, and one time he went body surfing (purposely going down the hill on his stomach).  All had a great time.  Teagan decided this was the time to get a winter illness which forced them to come home in time to pick me up at the airport.

Skating Videos

Videos of Teagan and Braeden skating.

Family Skate Day

Today was Braeden's last day of ice skating lessons through school.  The last day is a family skate day which is a no lesson day, just free skate with parents and siblings.  Teagan loves to go (next year she will even get the lessons), so the three of us went today.  My students love having me skate and enjoy having Teagan there also.

Here is Teagan with Andrea and Marina.  They were so helpful to her, but then tried to teach her to skate on one foot.  I had to ask them to let her manage two feet before they taught her about using only one foot!

It is hard to get Braeden to slow down long enough to get a picture of him--he loves playing on the ice with his friends.Teagan used the crate for support a good deal of the time.
Braeden and some of the other boys playing tag.
Teagan and her friend Lissy.
Teagan and her friend Celeste.  Celeste was such a help to Teagan, giving her lessons to start the afternoon and then offering her moral support the rest of the afternoon.  She helped move the crate when Teagan decided to brave the ice without support.
Teagan and I.
Braeden and his best friend Kyle.
Teagan skating.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  Braeden and Teagan enjoyed their now annual scavenger hunt for cards, coupons for great treats like a movie with popcorn and no vegetables at dinner,  Braeden was especially thrilled with the last one :)

Teagan was able to make great headway sounding out her clues.  She is really working on her reading and is starting to notice the results.

The roses are from a student of mine.  Apparently teachers get more Valentine's than anyone else--it seems true in this house (although Teagan and Braeden each came home with quite a few).

I hope the glitter was able to be contained from the Valentine's the kids sent out :)

A Heart-y Girl

Teagan has worn hearts to school for the past two days in recognition of Valentine's week.  Hearts are her favorite shape, so she ends up with many clothes with hearts on them.  Yesterday it was a purple jumper with a heart made of buttons.  You just need to imagine since I forgot to take a picture.  Here is today's outfit.  I bought her two t-shirts and a pair of knit pants at Target just before Christmas--this is one of the t-shirts.  I guess by December 20 the Christmas stuff had to go in favor of Valentine's!  Probably if I looked now I could get something for Halloween!

Valentine's week?

Today we decorated some cookies for Valentine's Day.  These Thursday "holidays" are tough this year.  It seems sort of silly to celebrate at all the weekend before, but the weekend after seems even odder.  Teagan enjoys stretching any holiday out and we all enjoy making crafts and doing projects together.  Teagan asked to make these cookies from a magazine cover and they came out pretty well!

Since Teagan's favorite shape is hearts, she may have enough clothing with hearts to wear something heartish everyday this week--stay tuned we'll try to remember to photograph her!

Yesterday Teagan played basketball.  Mostly she just ran around in circles and played with her hair.  Whenever Teagan passed the ball, the other team seemed to always get the ball.  She had the ball twice and bumped heads with somebody else.  She recovered and was able to continue in the game.

This is a video I took of Teagaan.  If you get seasick, don't watch it.

Braeden

Fashion Girl Outfits

Our fashion girl has started ignoring the outfits we choose together.  

On Sunday we try to choose a week's worth of clothes to make the mornings easier.  This week, Teagan decided to leave those clothes where they were and choose her own outfits.  To this stunning outfit, she added a noodle belt she made herself at school.

Again today, Teagan had a beautiful outfit.  Under this summer dress, she has on pink polka dot tights and a red long-sleeved t-shirt!  It is difficult to get the full impact in this picture--she is talking to Meeps on the phone.

Beautiful Quotes

I like to remember the beautiful quotes from my children.  As I was dressed to leave for a party Friday night (an annual party for work--lots of fun!), Teagan said, 

"You look pretty Mommy.  People who don't know might even think you are a fashion girl."  

I guess my fashion girl party days are long past, and much to Teagan's dismay, hers will be long to arrive!  A fashion girl wears pretty shoes or high boots (after all she is a New England fashion girl), with heels, and a dress or skirt.  My boots almost fit the bill and I wore pants!

Basketball

Braeden is having a great season!  He has become a consistent scorer for his team and is really improving each week.

Teagan got the ball two times during the game on Saturday.  As she explained to Jeff when she got home, "I got the ball two times without my coach giving it to me!  AND when I threw the ball at practice, IT HIT THE NET!"  Just to clarify, she actually means it hit the net, the bottom of the net, it didn't go anywhere near the rim!  Hey, if we all noticed our improvement in those degrees we'd probably be much happier!

  A video of Braeden dribbling and shooting.  I am sure the ball went in at the end of this movie!  He scored three baskets during this game.