Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The eyes have it. 90/365

Another chunk of our money. The furnace, the washer, the cat, my arm, her diabetes, her eyes, when will it end? This is all within the last three months. I am so glad we decided not to remodel this house. With this economy and all of the money we've had to pay out in the last few weeks, we're lucky we can still pay the mortgage.

Monday, March 30, 2009

I get by . . . 89/365

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!!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Exercise. 88/365

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!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Earth Hour. 87/365

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.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Book Celebration. 86/365

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.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Twin Day. 85/365

Today was Twin Day at Maddie's school. She and her friend wore the matching shirts, jeans, earrings, headband, necklace, and shoes. They even wrote with matching pencils and ate the same Cheese Nips for snack and peanut butter & jelly for lunch. Aren't they adorable?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Blooms. 84/365

This is what Jordan and I have been doing while watching TV in the evenings. Don't ask what we plan to do with them, though, because we don't have any idea.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Not a great day for Jasmine. 83/365

Last Tuesday Jasmine spent the day at the vet's office - urinalysis, an x-ray, a sonogram, and an antibiotic injection. She was diagnosed with a bladder stone (her second - she had another one removed about two years ago) and a urinary tract infection. Today she had a successful surgery to remove the stone.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Beautiful Blooms. 82/365

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.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Rocket Science. 81/365

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?).

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009

Puzzles. 79/365

One of our favorite pastimes.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Building Penguins. 78/365

It's harder than it looks!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Third Day. 77/365

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!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Erin Go Bragh. 76/365

Yes, they went to school dressed like that!

Monday, March 16, 2009

The long walk. 75/365

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.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Student of the Week. 74/365

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.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Congratulations! 73/365

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.

Today she received acceptance letters to both programs. We are so proud of her!! She is extremely excited about her accomplishment!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Enough already! 72/365

Here's another squirrel because the blue jay won't let me photograph him. I am amused by this guy's skimpy bottle-brush tail acting as an umbrella. We had this rainy, snowy mix falling all day, but the precipitation didn't hinder the activity at the bird feeders.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Changing Seasons. 71/365

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.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Hopscotch. 70/365

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.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Visitors. 69/365

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.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Can't we all just get along? 68/365

This picture just goes to show that you don't have to be the biggest kid on the block to stand up to the bully. This little chipmunk had been going back and forth between our deck and his home in the wooded area out back all day. He scampers from the woods, up the stairs to the deck, fills his cheeks to capacity with whatever seeds he can shove in there, and runs back down the stairs to his home in the woods to unload and start the process again. One of his trips though turned nasty when this mean old bully squirrel showed up. But that didn't keep my friend the chipmunk from dodging squirrel fists in order to get the food he needed to feed his little chipmunk family waiting patiently in those woods.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

End of the Road. 67/365

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.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Touched. 66/365

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.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Encore, Encore!! 65/365

Awesome production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We're proud of our Flunkee!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Snow White. 64/365

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!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Hello Mr. Verde. 63/365

This is what was accomplished after three days. There was an urgency to complete Verde since there will be school tomorrow - a two hour delay start, but school will be in session. We also received heat this afternoon. The furnace was finally repaired and we can move through our house without wearing a winter coat.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Make that three. 62/365

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!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Two snow days. 61/365

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.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Yay Snow! 60/365

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.).