Snow, Snow and more Snow

Yesterday was a snow day and although the kids were back in school today, I am not sure about tomorrow! The snow is just coming down as I type this (8:17pm) and it keeps getting heavier and heavier! I will let you know in the morning what is going on...snow day or no snow day? We shall see!

Hugs to you all
Jaye

Snow Day!!!

Well, the snow storm the weather man has been threatening us with for the past three days arrived during the night! I woke up with Mark at 5:30 this morning to peek out the window and there was the snow and it was still coming down! I checked the school website and it was posted as officially a SNOW DAY! wheeeeeeeeeeeee....so while Mark headed off to work (SOMEONE has to bring home the bacon!) the kids and I get to stay home and play! All of my daycare kids's parents work for the school district, so when it is a snow day, I don't have any kids but I still get paid! YAY!! The sun is out now and I am sure the snow won't last long. They say there are two more storm fronts headed our way, but we will see. We have had more snow and ice this year than in many many many years (it's been a record breaking year!), so it will be nice to say goodbye to the snow and ice and say HELLO to spring!

Hugs to all,
Jaye

New Navy Trainer....

As I had posted before Christmas, Sam received an Xbox 360 for his Bday/Christmas present this year (he was away for the holidays so we combined his gifts and got him something a bit bigger). I also explained that with this game system, you can go online with it and play with all your buddies in real time. So you are all playing the same game together or in teams against each other but each of you is in your own home! So...last night, a buddy of Marks from work called him up and said a bunch of them were online and he should join them. So Mark and Sam got the xbox set up in the living room and all these Navy guys were playing Halo 3 together. I nicknamed it 'The New Navy Training Program'. What is funny is that you can all talk to each other as well, so it's like having all these guys in your living room but they aren't! Mark got his ass kicked by Sam (Sam is awesome at this game!) but they seemed to have fun. I think there will be many more "Navy Training Sessions" in the months ahead!



New Navy Training

And Now on Food Network..

It comes as no surprise that Paige has decided that she wants to learn how to cook. She DOES come from a long line of 'foodies'! Grampa Skip is always creating the most delicious treats and Gramma Barb is a whiz with a mix and a few cans of added ingredients (she should write a book I swear!). Mark is the undisputed grill KING, and as you all know, I am the worlds most marvelous cook! :) hehehehehehehehehehe...

Anywho..Paige has a 'kids cooking' cookbook and has picked out a bunch of recipes that she wants to try. So each week, she gives me the list of ingredients to one of the recipes and I shop for them and she cooks! (What a deal!). Last night was Paige's first attempt at cooking on her own (she is ALWAYS helping out in the kitchen, but this was a SOLO effort)! She had picked a Taco Salad and was it ever DELICIOUS!!! We had enough for not only dinner last night, but lunch this afternoon and we aren't sure when it tasted better- when it was 'fresh' or after is sat and 'marinated' in the fridge overnight! Either way, it is definitely something she can cook again!! I will post updates on "Paiges Adventures In Cooking"...

I am off to watch the Packers game now!!! If they win this game, they go to the super bowl!! GO PACKERS GO!!!!

Hugs to all,
Jaye

Paige "Crocodile Hunter" Greene

Paige is our Animal girl! If there is an animal that is hurt or needing a home, Paige will be the one to find it and bring it home. You know all those anecdotes about kids bringing animals home and saying "Look what I found?"....well, we live that all the time with Paige! There is nothing she wants more that to have yet another addition to our menagerie (we currently have two cats, a bird, a lizard and a hamster). Over the Christmas holidays, Mark took the kids hiking in the snow. While on the hike, Paige found a frog frozen in the ice and thought it was dying. Before Mark could say anything, she had dug it out and was breathing on it! Of course it 'came back to life'! When she brought it home, I had to explain to her that it was actually hibernating and that it was OK for it to be in the ice. That by breathing on it, she had 'reanimated' it...talk about a lesson in hibernation! So...of course we couldn't put the frog back outside as it really WOULD die. We can now add 'frog' to our list of creatures! It (not sure if it's a boy or girl!) has been dubbed 'Froggler' and is co habiting quite nicely with Paiges lizard (another rescued animal!) 'Dino'. They both eat the same thing (crickets) and aren't interested in eating each other- a real bonus! Paige seems to have a real talent at keeping all these things not only alive, but THRIVING, so I can see us traveling across country when we move to WI with a whole vehicle full of cages! :)

Hugs to you all!
Jaye

Chuck E Cheeses fun!

As hard as it is to believe, Paige turned NINE on the fifth of January! We are planning her birthday party as I type this (an owl themed sleepover for her and 7 of her friends!), but on her 'actual' birthday we took the kids to Chuck E Cheeses for some fun! After they had used up all their tokens and spent all their tickets at the prize counter, we picked up Paiges ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery (the BEST ice cream EVER) and a pizza from Camp Union pizzeria. We came home and had a feast and watched a movie! It was really nice that Shelbys Christmas vacation times allowed her to be here for Paige's bday! This is only the second time she's been able to help us celebrate Paige's birthday (the first time was when we went back to WI for Christmas, and it was Paige's fifth birthday).


Here are the three kids at Chuck E Cheeses (Sam had other plans!)



The Birthday Girl!





Shelby playing a game...




Ben playing a snowmobile racing game...he's really good at these games!




The most delicious brownie chocolate fudge ice cream cake! Yummo