First race 2014

Froze Toes in Columbia, Mo. Always the first race of the season in these parts. Always a crap shoot with the weather. This year was no different. The day was sandwiched by snow storms, and fairly cold. 30 degrees with a north wind! 60 miles and my first race with the 1/2's, and I was giddy with excitement! This is what I've been working toward the past 8 years! Even though I'm still a cat 3... The goal is to move to cat 2 this season. I need 30 points. I got 1 this race for being the 3rd cat 3 across the line. More than that, it was excellent training and I got to race with my buds, Andy and Trevor. It was extremely hard at times, but most of the time, not too bad. My training is going well even if it has mostly been inside, it was great to get out and go fast! I flatted at mile 50 after hitting a pothole, but at that time I was still with the group and feeling good! I got a spare wheel and rolled in at 23rd. Says 24th, but that's actually not correct.

 

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A Polish treat

So Nick and I were reading the grocery flyer the other night - cuz we are cool, not because we are old and lame.  We came across this ad for something that looked a whole lot like a donut.  But claimed to be a "paczki."  And then went on to describe that it's a Polish treat, made right before Lent, to use up all the fat (lard) and goodness in the house before the fasting period of Lent begins.

Cayle and I went to the grocery store after school today, and I noticed a ton of people there.  I assumed it was just people freaking out before the next big storm (see previous post).  But there were also a ton of people waiting with boxes.  At a stand I've never noticed before.  And I put it all together...people were there hoarding these donut things.  The store couldn't even keep them on the shelf.  They were coming right out from the bakery, and gone within seconds.  I was able to get one that was raspberry filled.  Mostly I think because I was the only person in the store who only wanted 1 paczki.  The others were waiting to fill boxes full.

So we got home and all four of us shared the paczki.  It was yummy.  And had lots of filling.

  But I still think it was really just a donut :)
 

Kids

Are getting so big!

 

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Will it ever stop???

Winter is growing very old around these Midwestern parts...

So far we've had 8 snow days this school year.  And Monday looks to be another potential one.  Which is somewhat amusing because we originally had it off for Casimir Pulaski day.  But they took the day off away to make up a snow day.  So then we did have school.  But now maybe not???

Here's the current forecast update:

We were supposed to travel to mom and dad's this weekend to visit and watch my niece Sophie Saturday night.  But, based on the storm that's supposedly coming, we decided against going.  1) I hate ice and Nick isn't willing to listen to me for 3 hours on the drive.  2) I don't want to be stuck up in LP if we do have school Monday because I am saving my days for my leave that I'm taking at the beginning of next school year.

I hear spring is right around the corner, but, who knows????

   

Baby chicks

Uncle Bob got some baby chicks for the chicken tractor.

 

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Car wash Lindy

Lindy's facial expressions as I took her through the automatic car wash... She was not a fan.

 

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O, I 'member...

No idea how this happens, but things seem to randomly disappear. Currently, we are missing a small, indoor basketball and a white disc for indoor disc golf. An item is here one moment and gone the next. Doesn't seem to matter how long you search, you can't find it. And then, miraculously, one of the kids will show up with the missing item. So then Nick takes a pic of the kid and the item and sends it to me at work. And I stare in bewilderment and always ask "where was it??!!??". This happened recently with play pizza food. Strawberry cheesecake. A Santa Claus light-up ring. And Cayle's beloved Taggies.

The Taggies went missing Friday. Nick called everywhere they had been - dance class, the grocery, Walmart, grandma's house - all to no avail. We convinced Cayle he could survive a night without Taggies by using his Illinois blankie. Nick and I spent hours tearing the house apart looking for the darn Taggies. We even took Cayle to Walmart the next day to see if we could buy a new one. No luck. We have a brand new Taggie here for the baby - did he want that one? "No!!!" He wants one with letters, like his old one...

The drama continued, and we somehow made it to today, Wednesday. And that's when I received this picture from Nick:

And I said what the heck???? Apparently Cayle had just " 'membered" - he had tucked his Taggies in his pillow to keep them warm...

Funny things about this...

1) Nick had actually looked inside Cayle's other pillow

2) Nick used the pillow that stowed away the Taggies when he slept/laid with Cayle for periods of time on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights

 

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A Valentine Tradition

We started this last year and I'm a big fan. For dinner on Valentine's Day we have a small dinner and then have chocolate fondue for dessert. Last night's dipping choices were fresh pineapple, oranges, strawberries, and Chip's Ahoy Chewy cookies. I love how Valentine's Day has evolved from just Nick and I to a "dinner date" for all four of us. And based on the movement in my stomach, I'd say baby #3 will be a big fan of his/her first Valentine's Day 😍

Ignore Cayle's full mouth! 

Rivalry Game

Had my first officiating experience with a major rivalry game. Of all the games I've seen as a coach, official, or player, this is one of the most heated! Close local schools, one public, small town, very good at basketball school (Teutopolis, my alma mater) and St. Anthony, which is private, but also always has good basketball teams. Like they said on the radio last night, "with this game, you get friends playing friends, cousins vs. cousins, everyone knows each other." I was only reffing the JV game (thank gawd!) but it was still very intense. It doesn't help when you know the coaches, because then they assume they can yell at you by name and get you to make a call for them. That being said, it was a ton of fun, and a very good learning experience. It's tempting to just stick with the Jr. High and 6th grade games as they are about the same pay and much less stressful, but they also aren't as valuable learning experiences, which is what I need most. The officiating season is winding down. I have 6-7 6th grade games left, and 1 fr/so game. Then the season will be over! I'm looking forward to some warmer weather to get outside and garden, bike race, and spend time with family!

School's out again!

The call came by 530 pm Tuesday night that there was no school Wednesday, so we had a relaxing night of hanging out with the kids, working on the puzzle, and watching Illinois lose. Again :(

 

Puzzle progress is going great!

 

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Bee Keeping School

My new hobby. Spent 8-4 today learning the ins and outs of keeping Honey Bees. It's absolutely fascinating! And I can't wait to get started! My bees will be arriving sometime in May. Enough for 2 hives. Prolly won't get much honey the first year, if any only enough for us, but the 2nd year, if all goes well I should be good to go. Lots to do between now and when the bees arrive, including finding/buying hive boxes and all that goes with it, planting flowers for pollen production, registering with the state, buying a bee suit and mask, and gathering up as much information as possible. Let me know if you have a swarm around this spring, and I'll come grab it for ya!

 

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Crafts

Shout out to Tiffany for sending me a great link with Valentine's crafts for toddlers.  I had the crafts as an activity for Nick to do with the kids one day, but he wasn't quite sure about all of the supplies we had, and the spin I was going to put on things making do with the supplies we did have, so I decided this was better off a "mommy deal."  And it worked out great today, because while Nick spent the day at beekeeper school (yes, beekeeper school...I'm sure there will be a post...), the kids and I had no opportunity for outside play since it rained.  All.  Day.  Long.  (See crappy weather mentioned in previous post...).   

So, here's what we made...

Lots of Valentines to get out in the mail!

Sun-catcher valentines.  Contact paper, crepe paper, and glitter, then more contact paper on top.  The original post about this idea had suggested you use tissue paper and had not suggested glitter.  Loved this because it wasn't messy :)   

Finished sun-catcher product

White card stock, heart made of masking tape, then painted over. 

The only thing that didn't go so well on this project is when I went to take the tape off, it took some of the card stock with it.  In the original posting about this, it looked like the lady used painter's tape instead of masking tape.  Not sure that would have mattered or not.

I told her to smile.  This is not my definition of smile.  But she was happy :)

Cayle holding the sponge I cut out for him.  We don't have any cutesy-shaped sponges.  So I sacrificed a new sponge I had in the closet and cut out two hearts.  I guess they mostly looked like hearts!  The kids just dipped their sponges in the paint and then transferred to different sheets of paper.  This activity was a little more challenging for Lindy, and I think she was loosing interest since this was about 1 hour in to our craft projects...

Finished product of notes stamped with hearts

 Cayle is really excited to go through all of his Valentines and get things sent out to his friends.  We had a great time and the kids especially enjoyed the bath-time ending that was required :)

This one time, in Illinois...

So this one time, in Illinois, it was nice outside.  It was last Sunday.  Occurred between a day of crappy weather and another day of crappy weather.  Actually, I don't remember the surrounding days, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say the weather was crappy.  And there's a good chance I'd be correct.  We have had snow, cold weather, rainy, miserable day after day.  It has been nonsense.  Last Sunday was one of those days I thought we'd see more of in the middle of winter here - 54 degrees was the high, sunny skies, and not much wind.  The kids played outside for 1.5 hours, and only came inside because I made them stop playing to eat lunch.  They had vests, hats, and gloves and were over-dressed.  It was an awesome weather day, one we really appreciated given so many of the other days we've had recently this winter.

Lindy being sure to mow the snow

I love that she got the lawn chairs out!

Prior to cutting that dead grass, Cayle had mowed the snow pile behind him...