Ice Storm Pics

Here are more pictures from the ice storm. We are fairing very well. Our power has only gone out that one time. It's blinked countless other times, and even gone off for a minute. But it's always come back on. And for that, we are ETERNALLY grateful! (Praise God!)

School is closed for a 4th day in a row tomorrow. It's really ok because both girls are sick. They've both got fevers. If they still have fevers tomorrow, I'm taking them to the doctor. But they are feeling better today despite the fever so hopefully they are on the mend.


The courtyard at Alpha's school.























Trees at her school.























The power lines are white.







Ice trees.







My landscape lighting.







Our sugar maple with even more ice on it.

Winter Wonderland

Update: Our power went out last night about 1:30 am. It came back on (Praise God!) around 4:00 am. In between, there were 4 of us crammed into a queen size bed. Two of whom had fevers..... But we have power this morning, and for that, we are very grateful!


NOT! Whoever made up that song must have been suffering from cabin fever. There is no such thing as a winter "wonder"land. Hell freezing over and landing in our front yard might be more like it.

Ok, ok. So it hasn't been that bad. But it's still just nasty outside! It rained all day. Then the rain froze. Then it sleeted. Then rained some more. And now it's freezing again.

But I got some cool pictures!


Our neighbor's tree.








The girls woke us up screaming, "Icicles! Icicles!"







Our grass. You might not be able to tell, but each blade of grass was individually coated in ice. It is a pretty cool sight to see.







My (hopefully) sturdy sugar maple in the backyard.







There was about 3/4 inch of ice on each branch!






This one is cool. It might look like something under a microscope slide, but it's the branches of the sugar maple set against the gray sky. Kinda artsy.

Happy Birthday, Beta!

Yesterday was Beta's 5th birthday! We had her friends from preschool and some family members over to celebrate. There were 12 kids ages 7 and under. Whew! The party went great! Afterwards, Alpha had another basketball game. Needless to say, this post is a little late....

I'll save my 1000 words and let the pictures do the talking.

Pin, uh I mean, "stick" the tail on the donkey.

Happy Birthday! Whoosh!
My favorite part! We played a game of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road". I made it up. It was kinda like a cake walk. You had to land on the yellow square that had the ruby slippers on it. We used music from the movie. After the game, all the kids started watching the movie! They were very still and quiet so we just let them watch it a little bit. Perfect!

Beta and one of her friends from preschool. Aren't they cute?

Now, for a trip down memory lane!

5 years ago yesterday!







Take your paci! Nom nom nom!








Helping mommy with the laundry.
Age 9 months.







Playing at the park. Age 1 or so.









Last winter. Age 3.










This past summer. Age 4.








Yesterday. Age 5!

*The Dorothy dress. Beta originally wanted a Wizard of Oz party. But Party City and Walmart don't stock Wizard of Oz stuff. But they DO stock horses. So she had horse cups, plates, and napkins, along with a horse cake. But she wore her Dorothy dress. Hey, if you can't wear a Dorothy dress on your birthday, when can you do it? (Besides Halloween......) :)

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Barack and Michelle Obama sock puppets.
Made by Alpha.

Basketball!

Here are some clips from Alpha's very first basketball game! Just for reference, her team is light blue and her number is 2.

She did a really good job and played a really good game. She didn't score any points, but she did get the ball a couple of times. She also ran the wrong way once, but I don't think I'm supposed to mention that....

(Truthfully, how are you supposed to remember which way to go when you switch sides every period?)

The game was actually very exciting! I don't think I have EVER paid that much attention to a basketball game in my entire life.

One of my favorite moments was when the referee blew the whistle and nobody stopped running. He kinda threw his hands up in the air like "Oh who cares!" The girls traveled or walked with the ball nearly every time. The other parents whose kids played last year told me the kids have trouble with the whole dribbling while walking part. They said the first game or two they go easy on them, but by the third game they're calling them on it.

One of our girls got clothes-lined by a girl on the other team! The other coach just sorta shook his head. He had just told his player to guard her, or get her, or something. So she went and thew her arm around our girl's neck! The ref called a foul. The poor girl on the other team didn't really mean to do that either! She looked as surprised as us. Like, "Oh! That wasn't what you meant?" Too funny!

Alpha seemed to have a good time and really enjoy it. I think she likes wearing her uniform best of all. Here is a picture of her in her uniform:











And here is her team.

We have a game every Saturday for the next 7 weeks. I'm not sure how to fit in tax season work around all this. But I guess I'll find a way. I'll probably meet them at the gym for a game and then go back to work.

Go light blue!

Does it ever get easier?

I've got a new parental anxiety.

Alpha is playing basketball.

They had their first practice tonight. When she told me she wanted to play, I was like, "do you even know what basketball is????"

Turns out, she's not half bad! There are 6 girls on her team and they are all 2nd graders. At least two of them go to her school. One other was in her class in kindergarten, but now goes to a different school. So she knows over half the team already. Ah. Relief for a nervous mommy.

But her playing style.......well, like I said. She's not half bad. She made a couple of baskets and could dribble the ball. She didn't understand how to play defense. But neither did the girl she was supposed to be guarding so they were about 10 feet apart the entire time. I have a feeling she's the one we'll be yelling at to, "run the other way!"

Our first game is Saturday. THIS Saturday. They've had approx 45 mins of practice and then they have a game. This should be interesting......I'll have to video some of it for y'all.

So tomorrow night we have to go shopping for basketball shorts. She wore her pink skort tonight with the heart on it. :) (Yes. She played basketball in a skirt.)

I hope I can contain myself during this game. I'm certainly not going to yell stuff at her. She doesn't listen to me at home in the quiet. Why would she listen to me on the basketball court? I just hope she can play and have fun and not come home feeling bad if things don't go too well.

Why is this stuff always harder for the parents than the kids?

On our way home, she said to me, "See, I told you I can play basketball!"

Applied For

Well, that's that. It's done. My CPA license application has been sent off. Now I cross my fingers, hope, pray, and try not to think about it....

I have not completed my 120 hours of CPE yet. However, back before Christmas, the state board sent me an application for my license. Why? Beats me. I didn't think I could apply yet. I thought I needed a form to get my CPE approved BEFORE I applied. Oh well. Far be it from me to look a gift-horse in the mouth! I called the state board last week and was told that I could apply. So I did.

And it's making me nervous! I'm so worried they're going to get me on a technicality. I hope some human with a heart (and a brain) reads my stuff.

Maybe I'll just keep work on my brain so I don't even think about it.

TV

Jim got me started on watching The Biggest Loser. I avoid reality shows like the plague. I think 99.9999999999% of them are trash. However, somehow we ended up watching one of the last shows of last season's The Biggest Loser. It was actually heartwarming and inspiring. So tonight was the two-hour season premier.

I watched it while I walked on the treadmill.

Man, talk about motivation! I kept cranking the treadmill speed up as I went along. LOL!

It was ok. There are a few things that bother me about it. The lady trainer is mean. I couldn't stand listening to her. I know anger can sometimes be a big motivator, but I thought these people needed encouragement more than fighting words. The guy trainer was nicer.

I also wonder how they can lose 20 and 30 pounds in a WEEK! I thought that wasn't safe. I mean, these people obviously have lots to lose, but isn't that a bit much? Is that healthy? I also wonder how they will do once they are home. Anybody could go exercise constantly, eat very little and drop 20 pounds of water weight easily. But I didn't think that kind of weight stayed off.

I may tune in next week. It really wasn't a bad show.

What I WON'T tune into is the show that comes on after that. I have no idea what it was. Probably a CSI variant. I didn't click the show off before the next one started. It was about a teenage girl who had been abducted at age 14 and held as some guy's sex slave for 4 years. She finally escaped. The detectives were trying to use her to locate the guy, but she wasn't cooperating. I finally turned it off after she slit her wrists and was rushed to the hospital.

YUCK!!! Who can stand to watch this trash??????????????? WHY would anyone want to fill their mind with these horrible, disturbing thoughts? These shows have always given me nightmares. I am still thinking about it. I will probably be dreaming about horrible stuff during the night, and then when I wake up, I will STILL have this type of thing on my mind. Shows like this scared me as a child. They TERRIFY me as a parent!

I think I'll stick with Food Network. On the treadmill, of course. :)

Pictures from the last few days.

Here are some pictures I've taken over the past few days with my brand-new Nikon D40 DSLR camera! (My honey got it for me for Christmas!)

Our first artificial Christmas tree. Or should I call it our "faux" tree? It actually looked pretty good once we fluffed the branches.










The 2nd Kane sleepover! We piled all 4 kids onto the hide-a-bed. It was New Year's Eve and we ALL stayed up until midnight! But once the lights went out, they all crashed.









Thursday night, we were treated to a star party! We got Alpha a telescope for Christmas. Thankfully, Jim paid more attention in science class than I did, so he figured out how to focus it. We found the moon and got to see all the craters! It was pretty awesome. This is a picture of the constellation Cassiopeia, The Crown. It is in the shape of an M. (If I had a tripod where I could position the camera looking straight-up, this would be a much better picture.)

This is my latest project. A coworker began selling products from Uppercase Living back in September or so. I bought one, but just hadn't had the time to figure out what to do with it. At Walmart yesterday, I bought a frame and today I completed it. This is hanging in my kitchen. The only problem is that I start singing Malotte's "Lord's Prayer" every time I look at it! LOL!

No Year's Resolutions!

I do not make New Year's Resolutions. I think they are quite silly. To decide to change something just because the calendar flipped to January and you have to write a new date on your checks, doesn't hold out much hope for success. I believe that, in order to change ANYTHING about your life, you must WANT to change. You can't just wake up on Jan. 1 and go "Ok. From this day forward, I will now _______."

Now, if Jan. 1 happens to be a good starting date for you, then that's ok.

But I feel that, if it's important enough to change, you should do it when it becomes important, and not wait for an arbitrary date on the calendar.

I believe that is why most "new year's resolutions" fail. People are just saying them because they feel they have to. They don't really WANT to change. They think, "oh yea, it's Jan. 1. Time for a new year's resolution. Let's see........lose weight, drink more water. Oh, and exercise." Then, on a cold, gray, rainy Monday morning in January, are they going to get up and exercise? Heck no! (I personally think January is a bad time to decide to take up morning exercise. It's so cold.......Better to start that in the summer so that it has become a habit by January. Then you'll have a better chance for success.)

So, with that said, I have no things I feel I need to change about myself at this moment. I have plenty of things I feel I SHOULD change, but none that I want to work on at present. :)

Now, for something that will seem ironic given the diatribe above, I have been wanting a treadmill to walk on for some months now. My loving husband found me one and gave it to me for Christmas! I have tried various ways and forms of exercising over the past couple of years. I love walking around our neighborhood, but during the winter, well, it's cold. I like walking at the Boys & Girls Club, but that means driving over there and taking time away from my family. I like doing exercise videos, especially really dancy ones, but that involves finding a clear space of floor with an unoccupied TV and keeping two little girls at bay while I grapevine and sashay. (sp?)

So I will now attempt the treadmill. We had one at our old house, and I used it quite a bit. It's annoying that they're so darn big and ugly, though. Thankfully ours is hidden in the bedroom now instead of our living room. I've got it set up so I can watch TV, OR, I can use my new ipod armband holder that Katy (Jim's sister. :) got me for Christmas to listen to music while I walk.

While I have no resolutions, I do have one goal. Get my CPA license. That's been my main goal since, well, nearly 8 years ago. It's annoying that I still don't have it, and even more annoying that I have to do all this extra work for it. But it will be worth it. Plus, I'm closer now than I ever have been. I've got 68 hours of CPE towards my 120. I've also already got the next 26 hours planned out. My goal is to be eligible to apply by July. And if you know me very well, you know I'll make it. :)