Be Ready Camp

There is a reason I am posting this...Check out the links..Stay tuned...


http://www.servealabama.gov/bereadycamp..


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGXGAE-qMD

Cursive Writing

Over Christmas Vacation, I discovered my children are not being taught cursive (new trend now in thought, it is not needed in the digital age) I could go on and on about the importance of cursive from signing your name to reading the Declaration of Independence to the coolness of reading your ancestor's letters to the arrogance that we will always be digital with the rapid advances ...so I am making my kids learn cursive...today's cold brought a two hour school delay...and fighting kids...Today's cursive writing assignment "Blessed are the peacemakers..."

Atlanta

Already I am failing on my New Year Resolution to keep this updated...the kids are growing so fast and are so funny, I don't want to forget this time. (And forget it, I will, since I am the last 1/3 period of life).

Where were we, oh yes, last week, H turned 12. This past weekend we went to Atlanta for a Hockey Tournament. All FIVE of us! The cat was boarded, she was posted on FB by the Vet and her head is turned...she is either full of herself or holding a grudge over being boarded...I'm going with the former if you see her FB pictures, she was quite content. I will have to dig those up and post.

We had the privilege of being in the Big City with my BFF who is always on the cutting edge of all things "Hip." So between games she took us to the
"We never will be able to afford mall 'Lenox' Something or other" and introduced us to a cupcake ATM. Yes, you can now swipe your card and watch on screen as your cupcake is retrieved and delivered. Technology...love it or hate it (I usually fall into the latter category) it sure can be fun...and caloric.

On the flip side, before I forget, on the way home, we stopped in Somerville, GA, for lunch, and stepped back in time to a lovely little family owned restaurant. Yummy Southern cooking and ambiance...we were there while all the families in their Sunday best came in after Church. It was delightful, churches in big cities have gone to the casual "I'm either going to a baseball game or just stepped out of garden after pulling weeds" attire.

Back to Atlanta, Sunday morning, Matthew had a fever so I popped over to the "Doc in a Box" (right next to our Holiday Inn Express) to get him swabbed for flu and strep. Flu, negative. Strep, positive. Home, we went...he missed his last two games. He was not happy. A little Motrin returned him to his normal ornery self...you can always tell when it is wearing off, he deflates like a helium balloon. I have to admit to struggling with giving him more to feel better or leaving him un-medicated so he would leave his sisters alone. I medicated much to the girls' dismay.

Matthew traveled to Atlanta with his friend, Michael. Greg was coming home from a TDY to NM and didn't land until 4:30. I was worried if his flight was delayed, we wouldn't make it into Atlanta until Midnight. Matthew was ecstatic...however, given he turned into Typhoid Mary, I am worried they will get sick also...or the team he was elbow to elbow with on the bench and in the locker room...

There you have it, our trip to Atlanta...mini reunion with my BFF, cupcakes from an ATM, and a trip back in time when the world moved more slowly...

She is 12

Our Miss Hannah turned 12 on Wednesday. She is growing so fast, I am pretty sure she will be taller than me by the end of the Summer.

This year we celebrated her birthday at a new Tea House here (closer to home than the other Tea House.) Hannah invited to friends and given that this is flu season, that didn't work out too well. I turned out to be just Lauren, Hannah, and me. After tea, we went to see Saving Mr. Banks. We all enjoyed that and given that our tea lunch was fairly light, we went to P.F. Chang's and shared some Spicy Chicken and Lettuce Wraps using Lauren's coupon.

Sunday night, we went to dinner as a family since Greg was going to be out of town for her birthday...Mexican restaurant and Matthew made sure Hannah was embarrassed by telling our server that it was Hannah's Bday (see picture). Matthew was so proud of himself (for being an instigator, I was proud he actually talked to the server because he always makes me order, shyness would suddenly overcome our talkative boy)

Wednesday, the actual day was rather low key, but I fulfilled my promise of letting her get her ears pierced when she turned 12. (See picture)

I can't believe she is 12.

So busy

The past week has just flown by, we had a few house showings, the kids had Science Fair Projects to work on and turn in on Tuesday...Lauren and I took attempted the Once a Month cooking idea on Monday...cooking all day (it is more like once a week, since I just finished cooking yesterday.) We had the usual lessons, Greg has been out of town, Hockey trip to Atlanta today, House showing tomorrow so I have to pack and clean house...I need to exercise and haven't had time all week. I planned on yoga this morning but the single digit temperature has my Southern blood moving rather slowly. So here I am, thinking I'll post this, put Hannah's birthday pictures up...and then figure out if I will go to yoga or pack and clean.

Syncro on Ice

This past summer, the Skating School started a Syncro Team. The goal was to be in NOI but also to compete...especially in Detroit in June. The interest has been minimal but Hannah loves it. She feels like a Rockette. This is the small just starting Syncro team in NOI.

IMG 1894[1] from Susan Bice on Vimeo.

M In Trouble

I am having trouble shaking the video out of my phone, but I was able to pry this one out of the cold phone's hands...It is one of my favorites, it is where M gets in trouble during the Nutcracker on Ice. The video is bad and was taken during dress rehearsal but if you have seen the priceless picture of his face during the scene, This just adds to it, giving a more well rounded picture.

IMG 1870[1] from Susan Bice on Vimeo.

Technology Challenged Blonde

Warning: Technology Challenged Blonde. I thought I was so clever this morning extracting video from my iPhone....well, not so clever this bit of recording says "Nutcracker on Ice" but is really from the Kids' Harmony Club. There is just no telling what I think I am doing and what  I am actually doing...anyway, Matthew is second row, far right, in other words...hidden...and Hannah is top row, right side, middle'ish...in other words...hard to see.

Nutcracker on Ice from Susan Bice on Vimeo.

Snow Globe

I have decided my mind is like a freshly shaken snow globe. The words and thoughts just float around with no apparent direction and writing just gives them a soft place to land. My mind is never quiet, I am always mulling over something. I think and think and think. I would like to say they are very profound thoughts but no. It might be planning my day, things I need to do, why I am not riveted to Downton Abbey this season, my joy in my friend sending the link to Season 2 of the Paradise (available in UK but not here yet) or that I need to mulch the garden, my lack of ability to accessorize like my favorite eldest daughter and where did she get her talent for doing her own hair...why does the cat always lay on my papers...especially my scrapbook pages that I just completed but haven't added the pictures to so they could be put away...what should I get the bus driver for a end of year gift...oh, I need to make Lisa a thank you card...you get my drift...my thoughts drift...very cluttered, heading nowhere in particular...just like the freshly shaken snow globe.

Extra Points?

First, I want to know if I get extra points for going out in single degree weather to workout at the gym? Maybe have 2 extra pounds disappear overnight? 

Second, I discovered an app to access my blog while I'm out and about and have all of my incredibly blonde insights that I have been sharing on FB and I would rathe share here since FB has been getting on my nerves with all the ads, ecards, and filtering my account to decide what ads to run on the side...and let's face it, if I knew then what I know now, I would not have accepted 95% of those Friend Requests. Maybe stayed with the original 6 I had for a few years before FB became the rage. (I originally joined when it was a teen phenomena to keep track of my favorite eldest daughter. 

I digress. Third, I'm at the gym doing a whole lot of adductor/adductor work while writing this. Nifty, no?

Fourth, fit wise? I think the sciatic problem and plantar Fascitis has killed my running days. My goal to run again is being shelved while I go for strolling on a treadmill. Lisa, you're just going to have to find another running partner. But, the foot exercises are helping. I wouldn't be walking on the treadmill , I'd be crawling

Okay, my thighs are burning. Gonna row now. . 

Vacuuming...again

Yes, I just finished vacuuming...again. Note to self: If we ever build a house again, do not let the builder put Bermuda grass in for the lawn. In Winter, the stuff tracks in with every footstep and you spend many days, (several times a day if the kids are home) vacuuming the house, the car...sweeping the garage. I am trying to teach the kids to sweep it up (they ignore me, I get louder with my request until it is finally accomplished).What  usually happens is I get them to sweep it...and when they leave, I pull out the vacuum and do it right. My thought process is to teach them if they see a mess or make a mess to clean it up...it's all part of my "raise them like I won't be here in a year, love them like they won't be here in a year" motto but...I'm failing. Their motto is "make a mess, someone else will clean it up"...which isn't going cut it with this mom...but here I am, with an almost 10 and 12 year old who drop their clothes and belongings wherever, stuff the belongings behind chairs, plants or whatever other furnishing when told to pick it up and yes, while vacuuming and lifting the window treatments, I will find ice cream bowls, cake plates, and candy wrappers, etc. I actually feel my blood pressure rise upon these discoveries...

Now, on the bright side, I had this problem with my favorite oldest daughter...she moved out and got a roommate...who was a slob and didn't pick up after herself...My favorite oldest daughter was horrified to find herself thinking and sounding like her mother...and when the lease was up...she got her own apartment...solo...and this apartment is very cute...always always picked up.

So there is hope...

The Scare

Last week during Christmas Break, H had her friend over for a little sleepover. H asked to use the computer to show her friend a dance move called "The Lean" on YouTube and I said sure...Greg called his mom, the kids were quiet, I was watching something or other on TV and then there was this HORRENDOUS scream from Matthew. It was one of those screams that made me fear massive amounts of blood and possibly exposed organs or bones...but my mind could not wrap around how he could get so hurt in the office. M came running out of the office and no blood, no cuts, no gore, then the girls emerge unscathed. Matthew is clinging to me and Greg is bellowing about the noise, lack of blood, etc while he is on the phone. And to be honest, I'm a little miffed about the chaos. So, I decide it's bedtime. I go upstairs and M is still clinging to me and G is still bellowing at H. I am in the bathroom about to brush my teeth and I realize M is shaking and is truly petrified. I put down my toothbrush and console the little guy trying to find out what happened...

It turns out the friend's older brother had shown her some scary game website and she decided to show it to my little people. All was well as they worked their way through a maze but at the end some scary picture popped up...and terrified my little people. I tell Greg to go check the history and see what they looked at...let's just say it was an image that I am not inclined to go peek at after Greg assured me it was really really bad.

M's plan to sleep with the girls in the living room is abandoned and he is going to share my bed...still shaking. A little while later, a tearful H appears in my room to apologize to M and she is pretty rattled also. Thirty minutes later, she reappears with her pillow, blanket, her favorite stuffed animal, Marley, and quite a few tears. She is sleeping with me. I asked about Emily. She said Emily went home since she wanted to cry but was too embarrassed to cry in front of H, H had no problems crying in front of her friend, Emily.

Anyway, I ended up with 2 kids in my bed and a cat under my bed. The sleepover turned out to be in my room...with two night lights.

PS, I forgot this part...On New Year's Eve, I found the office door closed and locked. I asked Matthew if he did this, he said yes, apparently, he shut the door and locked it because the computer was in there, the source of the scare...9 year old logic, gotta love it.

My Only Resolution

Good morning! My only New Year Resolution is to pay more attention to my blog.  I was thumbing through it and it brought to mind so many things I have forgotten over the past few years. My favorite thing about perusing it was seeing the pictures of the kids and how much they have grown. I need to be more diligent about documenting their childhood journey. They do and say the funniest things and I hope someday they will look at this and appreciate their mother's wit. Ha! Computer blogs will probably be replaced by some other form of technology and they will need special equipment to extract blogs...kind of like an archaeological dig. 

So this weekend, Matthew and Hannah had ice skating on Saturday...M had a 9 am lesson and 10 am class. H had a 10 am dance class and 11 am lesson...then Matthew moved onto a 12 pm hockey practice and a 4 pm practice...then today,  Matthew had hockey practice at 7 and another at 10...which meant getting up at 5 (half hour drive, half hour to put on gear...) anyway, Greg took the drive and cheer the hockey player detail and I slept in until 7. (Okay, after making sure they were up and about, then I slept in...or went to back to bed...oh heck, let's just say I took my nap this morning instead of this afternoon.) 

First, before I forget, my friend sent this link this morning since she and me share the same love for Downton Abbey  http://whimsicalhomeandgarden.com/downton-abbey/

Second, to be honest, I didn't even realize DA started tonight. And no, I didn't order the DVD set from Amazon.Uk .like last year. Last season, just didn't sit well with me so I lost a lot of my usual enthusiastic anticipation. I completely understand why they killed off Sybil and Matthew since they wanted to leave (still hated it) but promoting Thomas under Carson, I don't buy. It would NEVER have happened even without the homosexuality. That position must be held by someone in high regard and no one on staff holds him in high regard. And I haven't seen how the jazz singer plays in but I am not really buying that story line and Rose leaves me cold. I also read they are putting Edith front and center as a modern woman...another character who leaves me cold. So, I will watch and I hope to be pleasantly surprised by liking it as much as the first two seasons...but I am not holding my breath. 

Not only did I not realize DA starts tonight. I have been so busy that I didn't even realize there was a holiday special for Call the Midwife. I was looking for a football game after dinner and stumbled on it half way through. Such a good show.

And before I forget, my lovely cousin, Cindi, gave me a book called Longbourne since she appreciates the same love of Pride and Prejudice as me.. It is on my list to read today. The weather is supposed to turn nasty. Friday, the Huntsville City Schools called a two hour delay for tomorrow. The kids fall under Madison City School jurisdiction and they are waiting until late tonight/tomorrow morning to call it...which seems more prudent but means I have to leave my alarm on rather than sleeping in...and when the cat hears my alarm, she sounds the alarm and that wakes the rest of the family...so no quiet morning if there is a delay so I am hoping for no delay so the kids are out the door by 7 and not fighting for two hours before catching the bus. 

I am hoping for a bit of snow but the temperature isn't supposed to fall until the rain has cleared out. There is a chance of the end of the rain to turn to snow. I had planned to go see Saving Mr. Banks with Roo today but she is not inclined to go out in the bad weather so she bailed on me. Right now it is just cloudy and 43. Nothing spectacular...all the fuss reminds me of Chicken Little. 

Okay, I guess it is time for a second cup of tea. I will make that and come back to share the story of the scary maze.