Backyard Soccer

 Caroline is currently conditioning/trying out for middle school soccer.  Maggie has decided she wants to play soccer also.  So this afternoon we went outside to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon.  You would NEVER know we had snow yesterday.  Caroline is working hard to teach Maggie what little bit she knows about soccer.  Maggie isn't exactly thrilled to listen unfortunately.  However, they both had a fun afternoon playing.  I can't wait to see the outcome of this for both of them...

Another snow...two weekends in a row!!

At the beginning of the week, Andy's weather app showed us getting snow again.  I thought it was too far out and what are the odds we would get snow two weekends in a row?  Well folks, I was WRONG!!!  We once again woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland.  The first picture was taken at 4:30 when I saw snow!  It was coming hard and fast.  

By 8 AM most of the snow had fallen.  There were a few flakes here and there but not much.  This snow was so much prettier than last week.  Last week we had a lot of snow and ice...this was snow only.  

We had an inquirers class at church this morning at 8AM.  Andy and I were in charge of picking up coffee.  The roads were great.  How often do you get to see snow on the awning at Krispy Kreme?

The girls were over the snow...sadly they didn't want to play in it this time.  I still made them walk around the neighborhood with me!  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I was the most excited member of my family!!!!

 

Sweet Parents!

 I truly believe that we have the absolute, best parents in town!!  Today during afternoon carline, one of my sweet parents handed me this!!  It said "You made it to Friday!"  Our parents know that we are working super hard to have a normal school year and they are so supportive of us!!  I had tears in my eyes as this sweet momma told me how much she appreciated me and that their family of 5 (3 kids) think "Mrs. Rita is the BEST!!!"  We are gonna enjoy a yummy treat this afternoon!

Mr. Moderator

 

Last year, Andy was chosen to serve as the Moderator for our local presbytery.  If you know Andy, he isn't a fan of public speaking.  He prefers to prepare things for others to present.  He has spent the last year becoming familiar with Robert's Rules of Order. He was still a little nervous about it. Several folks from church, our life group and friends were praying for him.  He said he could physically and mentally feel the prayers. He did a great job and several folks even complimented him on how well he did.  I am so proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone!! Next one is in 3 months. 

What a day!!!!!

 What a day!  I'm sitting down to have lunch and it's 2:45.  I walked into my office this morning at 9:15.  The red light on my phone was flashing which meant I had a voicemail.  From 9:15 until 10:00 I received 7 COVID calls...7 cases in 45 minutes.  2 resulted in closing classrooms.  It was NUTS!  I am mentally exhausted!  I wonder will this ever stop?  I am so grateful that the Lord has sustained our program and sustained me through the last 21 months but I am tired...I want to put on my pj's, crawl into bed and enjoy a good book.  However, I have another carline and two afterschool activities to complete before I even eat dinner...

Science Experiment

 I walked into the kitchen this morning to find this...I couldn't help but bust out laughing!!!  I love middle school(ers)!!  

Nail Salon

Maggie loves any excuse to paint her nails or anyone's nails for that matter.  When her friends came over today, she was more than happy to paint their nails while they played with the American Girl stuff.

 

Snow!!!!!!!!

Last week the weather forecast showed snow for our area...it hit about 2 hours away from us but all we got was rain.  I was so bummed.  Earlier this week they began predicting snow for our area.  I as pumped!!!!!  I love snow...like not snow that shuts us down but snow that is pretty for a day or two and then gone.  At first they said the snow would arrive early Friday night...then mid morning Saturday...Caroline and I tried to stay awake to see it start but when it didn't start before 11 PM, off to bed we went.  Andy woke me up shortly after midnight to let me know it was snowing.  It wasn't much but it was definitely snow!!  

I was so excited!!  I fell back asleep until around 5:30 when I woke up to a winter wonderland!

Caroline brought her school camera home in hopes to get a few fun snow pictures.  The girls and I took a stroll around the neighborhood.  If I had been a smart momma, I would have gotten all our waterproof stuff out last night!  So I told the girls we would walk around, then come home and get all our stuff together.

We took Charlie out for his morning potty break and he wanted NOTHING to do with the snow.  SO Caroline had the great idea to make him some booties with Maggie's old socks.  He was precious!!!!  He not only went out to potty but played in the snow. 

Maggie lost her hat when getting up from making her snow angel.  We thought Cocky made a cute snow angel!

This snow wasn't great for making a snowman.  But each girl made their own creation. 

Caroline made a snowman family.  She got extra credit in one of her classes for building a snowman and singing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the movie "Frozen."

Momma got one of her favorites, Daddy's famous snow cream!!!  It was SO good!

 

eLearning

According to the weather reports this week, we were expected to get rain starting yesterday afternoon through the day today.  The scary part of the weather forecast was that it was supposed to drop below freezing at 7 AM.  So of course school was cancelled and moved to a virtual day of eLearning.  Poor Caroline has to sit in front of a computer just like she was in class...she has been there since 8:30 for each class period. Maggie had a few Google meets and some independent work.  Thankfully Maggie's school day is over!

 All our clothes are washed, folder and put away. Our generator is prepared and ready.  We are hoping that the freezing rain stays away and the snow takes its place!!!  I want SNOW, not ICE! :-)  We shall see what we get!  Either way, it is extremely COLD outside and I am thankful for our warm home!!

Maggie's First Chapter Book!!!!!!!!!

 WOO HOO!!!!!!  We are so proud of our girl!!  She just finished her very first chapter book all by herself!!!!  This is huge!!  She has worked so hard this year and is improving in so many areas!!  It is SO hard to watch our children struggle but my goodness gracious victory is SO SWEET!!!  Way to go Mags, we are so proud of you!!  

Backyard Fun

Last year, we set the tent up in the backyard one winter Saturday.  Maggie has been asking when we were going to do it again.  Well today was the perfect day to do that.  It was chilly outside but felt great inside the tent.  We played games, read books and enjoyed hot apple cider.  For lunch we roasted hotdog wieners.  For dessert, we made smores.  They were great!!  We spent 5 hours outside and I loved every minute of it!!  So thankful for a fun Saturday with the girls!

 

Can't out give God!!

 COVID is running rampant right now!  Things have picked up drastically at my school as well as at the girls schools.  I know how hard it is for me to manage by students and families, I can only imagine what it's like in a public school. SO yesterday I went by our local bakery and picked up some cookies and other treats for the nurses at Maggie's school this morning.  Well today during my carline at school, one of our parents brought me a box of munchkins and a hot drink.  I smiled and thought "Once again, I can't out give God!"  Kindness is returned abundantly to me!  

1988 carline vs. 2022 carline

 Maggie has a Google Slides report that she is working on.  We had a some things to take care after school so we decided to use my phone as a hotspot so that Maggie could work on her Chromebook.  She did great!!  I was amazed at how much she knows about Google Slides...inserting pictures and links...this definitely looks a lot different than it did when I was in second grade!