Happy Birthday Daddy!

Last week we celebrated Dave's birthday and the kids were so cute about it.  This was the first year they actually thought of their own gift ideas.  They love their daddy!

Caleb didn't even think about it... Beef Jerky it was for daddy!  Caleb loves it too! 

For weeks, Hannah has been whispering in my ear that she wanted to buy daddy pajama pants.  She just couldn't believe he didn't have pajama pants like hers.  She wanted ones with either flags or candy on them.  Well, we found plaid ones and we were lucky to even find those at this time of the year!  She was quite happy with herself.   

Josiah had his heart set on getting daddy a snowblower.  When I explained to him that it wasn't in the budget, he settled for getting a much needed new shovel.   

 The best part of Josiah's gift was that he wrapped it...the whole shovel.  When I first told him that we didn't need to wrap it, he was so disappointed because Hannah and Caleb got to wrap theirs.  I went with it.  I gave him the paper (yes, Christmas paper is all we had!) and tape and let him go for it.  He wrapped this shovel by himself and was so proud...as well he should be! I don't think I would have had the patience!

We took daddy to Cracker Barrel for his birthday dinner.  And he hates when the waitresses sing to him but I did it anyway...for the kids of course!

Friends of ours gave us a Light Bright.  The kids had it out for days and loved it.  But what's funny about the new Light Brights...the pegs come in together in 2, 3 and 4 pieces.  Not the like the old school days when you had to put in one peg at a time!  But they loved it just the same.

Hmmmm...could that be Dave Libby's son????  We are working on our basement and Caleb was happy to help daddy paint.   

Just Keep Swimming...

One of my favorite lines in the movie Finding Nemo was when Dory kept saying "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."  I can't tell you how many times I repeat that line on certain days.  I gotta just keep moving no matter how hard some days seem.  So I know I haven't touch base in a month but we have been swimming, I assure you!  It's that time of the school year.  February and March are always the tough months.  The newness has worn off, Jumpstart January is over and we are just truckin' along.  I remember this happening when I taught in a classroom too.  The time of year when you want fresh ideas, when you have gotten to know your students so well that you may need to find new learning styles.  Caleb and Josiah are different in so many ways and one of them is the way they school.  Josiah has a different style and I am learning to tap into that a bit more.  Meanwhile, we did have a nice visit from Nemo...the blizzard that is.  Last weekend we got over 2 feet of snow.  The drifts were unbelievable (and still make pulling out from streets difficult!), there was a state of emergency and even a driving ban until 4:00 on Saturday.  The last time there was a driving ban was for the 1978 blizzard in which I was in utero for!  SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!  The kids were out in every chance they got either building their tunnel, sledding down the drifts in the yard or  helping daddy shovel.
Next week we are going to take a Winter Break along with the MA schools.  Not only are the breaks needed for the kids but they are needed for this mama too.  It's nice to have less of schedule and be able to tackle some projects that I don't always have time for.  Here are a few pics of my snow bunnies!

The kids just sunk in the snow... 

This was actually not the blizzard but a snow we got earlier but it was Jonas' first time in the snow so I had to add it in of course! 

He actually really liked it.  He walked around the yard and let the kids pull him on the sled.   

This is the snow beside Dave's truck.   

BLIZZARD 2013 ~ This is in the front of our house on the side of our driveway right by our mailbox...so much snow! 

The kids were so excited to finally get the through the snow to make their tunnel

These blankets were the kids Valentine's Day gifts this morning.  I made them over the past couple of weeks but they sure could have used them for our blizzard days!

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!