Squid Dogs

It was a long afternoon of being in the car. We had to drive to Jim's work to pick him up and then go to the tire place to retrieve the Grocery Getter (which eventually had all 4 wheels removed at the price of breaking several tools and us having to buy 20 new lugs--ugh..) So when we finally got home, we need a quick dinner. We were inspired by Aunt Becky's post about what they had for dinner so we busted out the Family Fun magazine and made our own Squid Dogs. Recipe for Squid Dogs: First cut up a hot dog. Then stick uncooked spaghetti noodles through it. Boil and Enjoy
Annalise worked very hard creating her dinner.

Even Jim got in on the action.

According to Evie "This is a good dad and daughter activity" All that and mom didn't even have to make dinner.

A steaming plate of Squid Dogs.

The kid who normally only eats the bun of a hot dog even ate the hotdog part (only after all the noodles were gone). You may have noticed that she is still in her Jammies. It was Jammie day at school. These were clean this morning, but she has informed us that she is wearing them to bed.

Evie also enjoyed eating the squid dogs. Uncle Kevin, we are looking forward to your future post on squid dogs. We know you get Family Fun.

Princess Saucy and the Chicken Farmer

Well, the good news today is that the sun finally came out. We opened all the blinds and curtains to let the sun in the house because there was no way that Annalise would agree to going outside. The sun came out just in time too because I was about ready to jump in the Honda (with it's bad tires and all) and drive south until I saw the sun. I was hoping to make it to the Keys. Anyway, Annalise and I played the morning away. This afternoon, one of the neighbor girls came to play with Annalise so I could take a break. It was a break for her mom too. A win-win situation. Annalise and Ella (the neighbor) dressed up and played princesses and fairies. The difference was that Ella put her regular clothes back on, but Annalise stayed in this very lightweight skirt until bathtime. I bet she was cold.
Aunt Becky, this one is for you. When do you want her?

Meanwhile, Evie decided to construct chickens out of paper plates as she saw in a book. It kept her busy for a long time.

She did this all herself. What an artist.

Sewing and stuff

Quiet day here today. The girls and I hung close to home while Jim tried to get new tires put on the grocery getter. Seems that the last people to rotate the tires tightened the bolts so tight that no one can get them off. What was supposed to take 45 minutes will now take all week. Hurmpf.... Anyway, after Annalise got up from her nap, we decided to get some sewing done, just like Mary and Laura would have done on a winter afternoon. Evie is sewing a tooth pillow for her friend Laura.
This is Annalise's first shot at sewing. She did a pretty good job of making it all away around this piece of plastic canvas. This is another skill we didn't know that she had.

We are also getting ready for a trip up to the Dells next weekend. I had to make sure that we have swimsuits that still fit so I dug them out and made the girls try them on.

Here they are pretending to lay on the sandy beach. We had some painting done on Friday. This is the color that the guest room, foyer, hallway, kitchen, stairway, and back hallway are. NO more butter yellow color that doesn't go with anything. We have only the RED bathroom to paint and then all the filth on the walls will be all ours.

Aren't they so cute?

Annalise decided to stay in her swimsuit until bedtime. This is how she stayed warm.

Blue Friday

It's official. We have one foot on the Colts bandwagon. We aren't planning any Superbowl parties or anything, but we are starting to get interested in this whole NFL thing. I do maintain that NFL games are almost as boring to watch as televised golf, but I can do other things while the game is on--like blog, crochet, take naps, spring clean the basement, etc. It's not like college basketball which requires my full attention. (Did you see that IU has won 9 games this season?? And UNC has lost 3 games in a row?? I heart NCAA basketball) Anyway, the world seems to be getting the #18 train. Even Evie decided to wear the jersey that is in the bottom of her drawer (I know, she's not a football player nor is she going to the game,but at least it's not pink) I guess the school has a competition of which class can show the most Colts spirit. I'm all for team spirit so we even busted out some blue ribbons to put in her pigtails.
When Annalise saw the ribbons,she waivered on her usual ban of pigtails (or anything) in her hair so she could have ribbons too. See, she finally has more than 10 hairs!

And here she is giving her best Colts snarl. Watch out Jets.

(For the record, Dad is wearing an old man plaid work shirt and mom is wearing a purple monochromatic sweat suit--the price of being a stay home mom)

Sweet Georgia Brown

Jim has long wanted to see the Harlem Globetrotters. It was one of his childhood dreams much like getting a fridge with water that comes out of the door. So last November, we had an opportunity to get some tickets for today's game of the Globetrotters v. The Generals. The exhibition wasn't much of a game, but it was spectacular. Not to mention, on the way in to the Fieldhouse (the best basketball venue ever), we got to look in on the Pacers practice and saw my favorite player, Mike Dunlevy, and my least favorite player, former UNC Tyler Hansborogh.
Annalise was pretty antsy. She wasn't really into the show except when the mascot was out playing around.

We were in the fancy Club seats (thanks to Jim's work) and the front row of the balcony. The glass partition was clean when we arrived, but then had lots of grubby face prints on it by the time we left.

Us at the game with a goofball. Mom is too busy looking at the crowd and wondering what possesses grown adults to wear Colts jerseys to a Harlem Globetrotters game on a Monday. It's not like Peyton and crew were going to show up and practice. What makes these people wake up and look in their closets and say "Today, I feel like wearing a jersey." In my book, there are only 2 times appropriate to wear a jersey, if you are actually a football player and for the non football players, to a game. Otherwise, keep them in the closet. Don't even get me started on those pink jerseys.

(By the way, Aunt Becky, have you considered naming your baby Peyton if it is a boy and Payton if it is a girl???)

A spectacular slam dunk. These guys were fun to watch. The Generals had 2 Olympic gymnasts on their team, but 4 foot girls don't slam dunk the basketball, so the Generals lost, again.

We did buy the bottomless bucket of popcorn ( I have a weakness for the smell of gym floor wax and freshly popped corn. Takes me back to FHS and how I spent my Friday and Saturday nights for 6 years. Go Apaches) Anyway, Annnalise could see the cotton candy vendor walking around and she kept asking for some. The last time she had it she didn't like it. She responded by saying that she likes it now that she is 3. So we got a bag and she ate exactly one bite and announced she still didn't like it. Fortunately, Evie was able to step in and eat a good part of the bag.

And I ate some too. I'm sure that the sugar used to make this cotton candy was organically grown, sustainably harvested, fair trade and was colored using only natural ingredients.

We tried to trick Annalise into eating some, but it didn't work.

Toward the end of the game, one act of entertainment was sending the mascot down the floor to knock down soup cans

When asked, this was Evie's favorite part of the "game".

By the way, it was also 12 years ago today that Jim proposed to me. What a way to celebrate. I'm glad I said yes.

Contraption

Evie is into inventing things. She works on a plan and then constructs it out of Legos with her assistant, Annalise the destroyer. This invention involved making a horse escalator. I guess there is a market for that.
Here comes the horse up the slide.

And it makes it to the top.

Here she is with her detailed plans. We are signing her up for Civil Engineering Day camp at Purdue for the summer. Right between Bible School and Swim Team.

Interpreting Art

Evie goes to religon on Mondays after school. I have to drive past the Kroger to drop her off and pick her up. Sometimes I stop to pick up fruit or milk. I have learned that Kroger discounts their flowers on Mondays so I always check the Manager's Specials when I'm there. This week, I picked up a boquet for $2 because I needed to see some green in my world of white, gray and brown. Evie took a picture of the flowers.
And here, she drew her interpretation of the flowers. But the real suprise was Annalise. She sat down and drew the flowers too.

This may not look like a big deal to you, but this is the first picture that Annalise has drawn that we can tell what it is. She worked really hard on it and we were so proud of her. Annalise suffers from 2nd child syndrome. When Evie was this age, she could write her name and draw pictures of people. Annalise hasn't shown much interest in those types of things (because she is too busy tending to her baby farm animals??) so we were surprised that she could put her mind to something and do it! Now I will have to start working on letters with her.

Legomania and other stuff

It's been a quiet week here in Carmel, out there on the edge of suburbia. We had our first big snow. Snow, the kind that floats down in big flakes but isn't severe enough to cancel school, which all the parents love. But, we were stuck inside because Annalise doesn't care to go out and get bundled up in boots and snowpants. Jim was also out of town this week so we retreated to the basement like any other good midwesterner would do during the winter (how a person can go without a basement is beyond me--what do they do in January when its cold outside or when tornados strike?) We got out Jim's childhood legos. His legos were mostly space legos that aren't good for building houses because they are all flat and are teeny tiny. They make good vacuum cleaner bait if you know what I mean. We did get creative and make this moonscape complete with misson control and rocket launchers.
I have to say, I get really into legos. Good childhood memory for me. I sat and made lots of vehicles.

Annalise was the lego durablity tester. If your rocket car didn't make it down the slide, it needed to go back for reinforcements.

Evie constructed this car and was working on a second.

Uncle Kevin, this is our collection of rocket cars. What can you and your kids make this week?

And since every time the kids go out and play in the snow, they think they need hot chocolate. We have been eating (and playing with) a lot of marshmallows this week.

Annalise, as much as Aunt Becky would like, Klements Sausage doesn't stick to your nose.

And finally, Aunt Becky and Uncle Bran, we know you are hurting this weekend from the Bengals 2nd loss in a row to the Jets. Look at it this way, if the Bengals would have won, you would have just been delaying the eventual defeat by the future super bowl champs and their 4 time MVP quarter back with his laser rocket arm. Anyway, you may think you had a lot invested in this season, but clearly not as much as this guy. That's something else. Custom. One of a kind. Can you do this to the mini van for next season? (Bray family--we spotted this in Oakmont!! I thought you lived in the classy part of town)

Measurable amounts of Snow.

The biggest storm of the decade hit today. Fortunately, the kids both had school and we didn't stray from our normal routine too much. Jim had the pleasure of firing up the snowblower (which we use about once a winter) and blowing out the 4 inches on the driveway. Evie piled up this snow and she and Annalise made a tunnel. And yes, we still have our lights on. We are "those" people.
They had great fun crawling through it. I was just happy that Annalise decided to go outside because someone left her whine switch on high.

Evie appears to be stuck, but made it back inside when she heard about hot chocolate.

Those are some rosy cheeks. That's what happens when you face plant into a snow pile.

Annalise is rosy, and chocolately.

OH NO!

Update on the camp out. After a potty run at 9:15, things settled down for the night. Jim said that they fell asleep around 9:30. He also said that he woke up around 3:00 am and was feeling pretty sore from sleeping on the floor. Guess he is getting old. They came up around 7:45 am and went for donuts. This camp out thing may happen again if Jim gets an air mattress for his birthday.

In completely unrelated news, we took down the Christmas decorations today. When that was finished, we were contimplating how hard it will be to take the wall paper in the foyer down. I reached up and pulled.

As they say, the rest was history.
Evie and the neighbor girl help out too.

The noise of the tearing woke Annalise up from her nap and she was very distressed that the girls were pulling paper off the wall until we told her it was ok. In the end, all the decorative stuff came off pretty easy, it's that paper backing that is sticking hard in some places. This isn't a project that is going to be completed this weekend, but we will take our time with so we don't damage all the woodwork. So watch out if you come to visit, you may get put to work.