Toys

I live in a house that is full of nice toys, and sometimes my children actually play with them. But you should see the way they fight over this piece of junk! I saw it in the car and meant to toss it, but didn't. Wish I had. They did take a break from fighting over this last night when they came across a sticky eye ball from the dentist and we didn't know for sure who it belonged to...

Hula hoop

I'm not sure how she learned, but Susanna is great at hula hooping! This morning, inspired by an old episode of Full House (current favorite here), Brad counted her hoops and she got as high as 349 in one go. She already holds the hula hooping record on the Wii, but I think she's even better in real life. And in this house she has no competition whatsoever!

She can sing, walk, and even jump, all while making the hoop go round and round! Yay Susanna!

Short hair

Brad took Susanna for a haircut at one of those little girly salons. She decided to go crazy with a short hair cut! I love pulling her hair back in ponytails but I do think that short hair really suits her. Of course I haven't been able to style it like this myself, but it looks cute no matter what!

Life in January

So once again its January and I have nothing to blog about! But its been a while so I'll think of something...

The kids are still enjoying their schools very much. Both are quite used to their routines, and enjoy their teachers and classmates. Next year they will both go to the new elementary school in town, and sometimes we drive by to see how it looks. Right now it looks like a big brick building surrounded by lots of dirt and chain link fences. We are eager to see what the playground will look like! Today we got our first email from the principal, asking us to vote for a mascot. Ben voted for Chargers because its the name of a pro football team. If you name a city (with a team), Ben will name the team. He's getting pretty good at the alphabet too!

Susanna is in the middle of her first basketball season. Its a lot like her first soccer season, in that she seems to be on the easiest-to-beat team. The basketball hoop is at 8 feet, which is a challenge in itself. Add in dribbling, passing, and everything else and its harder than I expected it to be. She seems to enjoy it but is also excited to go back to soccer in the spring. She is also continuing with ice skating and Girl Scouts, and today starts an after-school art class.

Ben played 3- and 4-year-old basketball at our gym, and that is now over. It was kind of silly as the kids were too small to play by any rules. But he liked being part of a team (which sometimes was just him and his buddy) and having a chance to play ball. He is signed up for T-ball in the spring. For now, he is also ice skating (on hockey skates now) and we just signed him up for a karate class.

So, we're busy enough this winter, but there is still time for them to play with their friends and each other. The weather has warmed up quite a bit since the big freeze, and its been really nice. I wonder if I'll remember these mild January days in the middle of July...

Freezing

Its freezing in Dallas this week. Apparently this is the first time its been so cold since 1997.

People are quite excited about it. The night before the first scheduled freeze, people were talking about covering their outside faucets. Having lived "up north" all my life, I have never even heard of this (nor has my friend from PA who has lived here for about 5 years now...) And there its freezing most of the winter. I got a bit worried about it and went to Home Depot and Lowes and asked the first person I saw if they had these faucet covers. Both stores were sold out. I looked them up on-line and it looks like its just a big, thick styrofoam cup that goes up against the wall of your house. At this point, we're just keeping our fingers crossed.

When we make it to the bus stop in the morning, we are the only ones who walk. Everyone else drives. In the afternoon, its usually the same - I am the only one not picking her up in the car. I make my child walk past 6 whole houses in the cold!

But other than walking to the bus stop once or twice a day, I prefer to stay indoors. Ben and his buddy wanted to go outside to play football yesterday, and I sent them out back even though they prefer the front. I watched from inside... They lasted about 2 minutes. And Ben never gets cold!

There is no snow in the forecast despite the freezing weather, which is too bad. But next week its supposed to get back up to the fifties, so at least we have that to look forward to.

It's Girl Scout Cookie time!

Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?

Here are some reasons why you should (from the order form):

• Mint is good for your breath. (No need to brush your teeth today!)

• Samoas have real coconut. (Not that horrible fake coconut.)

• Milk and cookies strengthen your bones. (Milk does nothing for them alone.)

Order some now!!

Oh wait, no one is allowed to sell cookies on-line.

And if you even try to sell any before the official start date (Friday), they* will come after you.

Its been over 25 years since I sold these things myself, and it seems that not much has changed. Most of the cookie varieties are the same (but you will find less in the box.) There are still incentives for selling more and more cookies (though I'm not sure they're worth winning.) And, of course, there is still an official start date.

I remember being a Girl Scout and cookie time was such a big deal. My neighborhood had about 64 houses and at least a dozen Girl Scouts, so competition was fierce. There was always a race to run home from the bus, grab your form, and sell sell sell! Some of the girls (or was it the moms??) were so enthusiastic about it that they got picked up at school so they could start a few minutes earlier than those of us who rode the bus.

Fortunately our neighborhood here is much bigger, and the Girl Scouts are scattered about. Susanna is excited to sell and has set a big (prize-based) goal for herself. I suggested that she aim a bit lower; then she can be happy if she exceeds her goal. We are already at a disadvantage, having no relatives nearby who would be obliged to buy cookies, whether they want them or not. And really, I'm not sure I want to go door-to-door selling to strangers.

I've promised to take Susanna out selling Friday after school. I really hope this is a good experience for her, and that she enjoys Girl Scouts as much as I did.

* Not sure who they are, exactly, but I don't want to be the one to find out!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2010!