Forest and Snow Days

So Ashley had her first project due this week. I knew it was coming and we kind of started but then put it off for awhile...then I looked at what she needed to do and we kicked it into high gear. 5 paragraphs, title page, bibliography and diorama including at least 3 plants and 3 animals in her biome and their adaptations.

The diorama was her idea...I just helped her make it happen.

She painted a backdrop and we looked for household stuff and old craft supplies to make her Forest.

Voila!

We have a Ponderosa pine with a flying squirrel (she used a paper towel role). Her idea to make a bench and have a bear eating out of a trash can (a mini plastic cup). A fox..another tree...the main thing was she was happy with how it turned out.

More dog tragedies....the squeakers are coming out...don't know if thats necessarily a bad thing...

Ashley actually found a tooth the other day...I think there is only one or two more teeth hanging on...I don't know if all the stuffing in all her toys will make it until then ...

Taylor officially started track practice this week. He was surprised that they didn’t call his name at roll call. When he was running and met up with the girls he found out why…they called off his name on the girl’s roles. "See Mom I told you guys you gave me a girls name" Sorry Taylor.


At the parent meeting for track Coach Corona was telling everyone about having Jeff in high school and he kept saying “And now I have his daughter on the track team” (because his name was still on the girl’s roles) It wasn’t until afterward that met Taylor and apologized.

Taylor says Coach Corona is a little rougher around the edges than the cross country coaches...I guess he yells a lot through the megaphone...lots of cuss words and when Taylor tried to approach him about something he said "I don't know who in the he## you are!" Guess he didn't remember he was Jeff's son :)

On Friday there was a huge rainstorm. Doesn't stop them from running though...

Taylor came home soaked, except for his back which was dry from the shoulders down. (Probably because they are running into the rain.

So I've been trying to be good about working out and eating better. It always seems to start out good....

Like I made the family cinnamon rolls for breakfast....

while I eat my oatmeal instead.

Good intentions but some how, some time during the day I get off track and start slipping a few naughty foods in there.

Example we went to see tangled at the dollar movie (very cute) I actually brought myself an apple to eat instead of the candy. Very good until after the movie when I ate some left over chocolate.

Lets just say Valentines Day and a box of sees candy was not my friend this week. It didn't help that I've been a victim of my own cookie baking as well.

Well I'm ready for a new week :) 

Monday the kids were home from school and I wasn't in the mood to spend another day off cleaning, doing errands or just hanging around the house all day.

Jeff was up for coming home early if there was something to do...how about playing in the snow???

We always say we will do it every year and we never do. There never is any snow when we want to go, we aren't available when there is snow...we dont have snow gear...every excuse you could think of...but today was The Day.   We drove up to Wrightwood which isn't as windy as Big Bear and no chains required :)

 

While we were driving Jacob asked "Why is there snow on one side of the road but not the other?"

We told him "Its called shade, and sun."

"Oh."

We had Taylor and Jacob's friend Josh over for the day too so he came along. Come to find out later this was only the 2nd time he'd been in the snow. He had fun too.

As I was getting stuff ready to go I realized our lack of gear would probably make for a short, cold trip luckily I thought of Penney Vincent who just got back from their annual Idaho winter trip...they were a wealth of snow gear, in all sizes.

They outfit us all in boots and pants, gloves and toboggans. We were set thanks to the Vincents.

Jacob won the award for being the most covered up the whole time.

Ashley won the award for making me take her gloves, hat, and outer jacket off,

then on again,

then off again,

then on, over and over.

Taylor won the award for being the most fearless. He went over every kind of jump, flew down with no fear on every run. At first Jeff was stressing but in the end he was laughing with the rest of us.

Taylor was a little too good...our freshly purchased saucer only lasted 2 runs.

Getting ready to sled.

Josh getting some more sledding experience.

The down side was coming back up the hill...but Ashley never complained.

Ashley was my sledding buddy the whole day.

Daddy/daughter sledding.

While I was waiting for our turn to sled I looked up to see a rainbow in the clouds.

I thought it was some weird reflection in my glasses at first...so I took them off... 

It was still there. I think it was a cloud of ice crystals and with the sun shining through the whole cloud was a rainbow!

I've never seen anything like it before!

We finished the day with building a snowman.

Nice job guys.

A great day!

Everyone slept good last night! :)

And the winner of the most hills flown down, jumps taken and crashes is....

Taylor.

Too bad I didn't get a picture of him running into the stump.