Snow Days

Last Thursday morning there was snow on the ground, but nothing on the streets, so I had the kids up, dressed, and eating breakfast before I decided to just check and see if there would be a delayed start at school due to snow. I really didn't expect there to be since there never is on the days when the streets are covered. To my SURPRISE there wasn't a delayed start---school was CANCELLED! What? We have only been here a year and a half, but the schools have not been cancelled due to snow yet. Due to "expected blizzard like conditions" all schools were closed for the day! My kids were THRILLED!! I was just sad I hadn't known earlier and slept in!! It started snowing around 8:00 and didn't stop until about 4:30. Around 2:30 we decided to get all of our snow gear on and head up to a school pretty close to our house with a big hill---good for sledding! It was FREEZING outside with the wind blowing at about 20 mph, but we braved it since we haven't had a really good snow this winter yet. The boys were excited to snowboard and Annalisa loves to sled down the hill with Ben. After Ben and Annalisa would get to the bottom of the hill I would hear, "How are we going to go down this time, Daddy? On our backs? Stomachs? How about we go down backwards?" She was so excited and loves to try new things! Cole snowboarded pretty well and only fell a few times! Ben also snowboarded....pretty good for an old man! Jacob found a new way to snowboard....he SAT on the snowboard and sledded down the hill on it. It was pretty funny to watch because the snowboard was so skinny under him! He did stand on it a few times down and did a really good job with it, but he preferred sitting! After about an hour of sledding we got back in the Pilot, headed home, changed into warm clothes and drank hot chocolate!! What better way to end a day of playing in the snow?

EDGE

When I got home from work on Friday there was a letter waiting for me on the kitchen table. I opened it up and read it.....here is what it said:

To the parents of Cole Newton.
Congratulations! Cole has been accepted to Horizon Community Middle School's EDGE program for the 2009-2010 school year. EDGE is designed to provide a rigorous challenging curriculum for our most intellectually talented and highly motivated students. Students in EDGE receive advanced placement in language arts, math, social studies, and science and are placed on a team with students of like-ability.

Based on teacher recommendations as well as qualifying test scores of Proficient High to Advanced on the spring 2008 CSAP in reading and math and/or High or Very High test scores on the district's winter MAP tests for reading and math, your son/daughter qualifies for Horizon's EDGE program.

Then there was some more information about a summer class they will be offering the students for a week to get used to being in middle school without all the other students being there.
We are so proud of Cole and he is very excited also. They didn't even interview Cole (which was supposed to be part of the acceptance process) because the counselor told me his test scores were so high they were just going to accept him without the interview! WOW! Way to go Cole--and I guess Ben and I can take some credit too since we have helped him and raised him! I just can't believe my first born will be starting middle school in the fall!

Monsters!

I can clearly remember being 10 years old and scared that someone was hiding under my bed ready to grab my ankles when I put a foot to the floor. I would jump off of my bed as far out as I could...supposedly farther than their arms could reach should they try to grab me. I also would make my bed while sitting ON it instead of standing BESIDE it. Once again, I didn't want to give the person under my bed something to grab onto! I know that I never really thought through the whole thing logically.....I mean who would wait under my bed for HOURS at a time just to grab my ankles and pull me under? Wouldn't they get hungry or have to go use the bathroom? I never thought about those things--I just thought that someone was there. Now I have Jacob, my 9 year old son who refuses to sleep without this "night light" that was given to him by my mom a few years ago for Christmas. It looks more like a TV screen and it shows the planets in space going across the screen. It pretty much lights up the whole room, and last night I asked him why he even uses it since he wraps himself up like a mummy when he sleeps---head to toe wrapped up! He is in complete darkness inside his blankets, so why the "night light"? He said that he has to turn it on because the monsters are scared of the light. Really? So I asked him, "Jacob, when was the last time you saw a monster?" He matter of factly replied, "Never...because they are scared of the light." (Duh, MOM!) Ok then....point for Jacob. I said, "Well, Jacob you haven't seen any because they don't exist." He then said, "Well, you can believe that if you want to, but I don't believe it." Ok then....so when Ben went down to tell them good-night I told him to tell Jacob about all the monters that live in his room! I bet that helped! I just think it is so funny that kids get these things in their heads that they believe to be true and then scare themselves silly over it!

100th Day of School

I think that the 100th day of school is probably the MOST fun day of school for all kindergarten and 1st grade students out there. This past Wednesday was that day for Annalisa. She had to make a vest out of a grocery bag and decorate it with 100 things. She used my stamps, stickers, and markers to draw hearts and circles. It took her a while to get 100 things on it, but when she was done she was proud of the finished product. When she was at school she made glasses that are the number 100 and a decorated hat. Here are a few pics of her in her 100th day ensemble.