I get by with a little help from my . . . daughter. She knows how hectic the mornings are on school days, so she took over this little chore of mine. Before bed, Madison is the one who gets both lunches ready except for the sandwiches - we don't like mushy stale sandwiches. Don't you love all of the labeling? The unreadable paper on the counter is the checklist so she doesn't leave something out and I don't forget to put it in the lunchbox. I love that girl!!
They don't need it, I do. Instead of hopping in the car to go get ice cream, we rode our bikes the two and a half miles over the river and through the woods to get to the ice cream shop. The girls can't wait to do it again!
It's earth hour tonight from 8:30-9:30 p.m. and we've turned off all of our lights. If the city of Beijing and the Sydney Opera House can do it, so can we. Nobody said anything about turning off the t.v. though, so we didn't.
Maddie had a blast at Book Celebration today. The students could participate if they read and passed an AR test on at least eight of 20 books. Maddie read nine which is quite a stretch for her since she hates to read. She really wanted to participate in this day of fun, though. There were three schools in attendance for games, pizza, and prizes. This is Maddie and her group playing Wheel of Fortune.
I pruned the Bradford pear and willow trees and couldn't bear to throw these beautiful stems into the compost bin. They are lovely on the living room table.
The instructions are to build, launch and do a detailed analysis of the acceleration, speed, and force produced by a water-filled two-liter rocket. This is middle school physical science. The fact that Jordan doesn't like her science class doesn't help this cause, nor does the one week time frame to complete the project. An hour of research, four stores and $30 later, the three of us were shocked that this "rocket" actually launched. However, we couldn't figure out how to calculate the rate of acceleration of the launch (final velocity minus starting velocity divided by time), nor could we accurately measure the height attained (how tall is our garage?).
Every three days Jordan has to change her insulin pump site. Today was the day. It was also the first time we remembered ALL of the steps in the correct order. Yay!
The walk for Jordan from the bus stop is quite a long one, especially when wearing a 20 lb. backpack. Maddie decided to give her a hand by bringing the wagon to haul the heavy load.
This is Madison's "Student of the Week" Bulletin board. On it are displayed all of her favorite things - Hippey, her cousins, her family, Shannon, all things cheetah, pink, penguins, flowers, some of her crafty papers and tags, and a Texas Ranger star representing her time spent in Texas. She is looking forward to sharing this with her classmates tomorrow. She also plans to give each of them five erasers of their choice from her mini eraser collection.
Jordan spent several February evenings preparing applications and most of Valentine's Day interviewing and testing for two high school programs she was interested in attending. The first is the International Baccalaureate Program - she insisted when we were leaving Texas that we find a place where she could continue with her IB education (completely forgetting that she would have to first be accepted into the high school program). The second choice is the Center for the Arts program where she could concentrate on visual arts education. 
Another sign of spring. The forsythia, crab apple, and bradford pear trees are all blooming. Unfortunately we have only the pear trees in our yard, but the others are in the neighborhood for us to enjoy. Jordan snapped today's photo.
What a difference a week makes. On this day last week we were on our third snow day off from school, this week we are enjoying 80 degree temps.
This is my favorite time of year - when the birds come back from their southern winter homes. Our bird feeders have been a non-stop source of food for so many different birds, a few squirrels, and at least two chipmunks. I especially enjoy the blue jays and cardinals stopping by for a bite.
The very last performance of Snow White. What a fantastic run! Approximately 90 amazingly talented students participated in this production. Jordan is sad that it is over. She made a bunch of new friends. I am happy to be back to a normal schedule tomorrow.
Maddie sent a flower and note (paid for with her own money) to Jordan backstage during the play tonight. Jordan was so touched by this gesture, she wanted a photograph to remember the flower long after it's gone.
Jordan and her cast mates have been rehearsing for this play since November. Show times are tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. Today the students were released from class at 11:30 a.m. in order to rehearse many, many times because of the three snow days canceling classes during this crucial dress rehearsal week. They performed very well tonight and I believe they can only get better!
Another snow day tomorrow. Not because more snow fell, but because of the 11 degree temperatures and the icy secondary roads. The kiddos are ecstatic!
This snow storm shut down Richmond and the surrounding areas today. The kids had fun playing in the snow all day today and will get to do the same again since school has already been called off for tomorrow.
It's finally snowing!!!! We're supposed to get five inches accumulation overnight. School is already called off for tomorrow. This was taken on I95 coming back from IKEA in Woodbridge (near Washington D.C.).
