Belated Birthday

Since we didn't get to celebrate my Birthday on Saturday, we decided to have a belated Birthday celebration. After dropping Keree off at school, we braved the droves of people, who were also out trying to stock up for the incoming "Blizzard". We actually try to do our grocery shopping on Monday morning because there is no crowd and usually there are some great manager specials. Needless to say, my Mom and I tried to grab what we needed quickly, so we could get out of the craziness. Now, I was disappointed (ok, I really was crushed) because when I went to pick my Birthday cake out of the freezer, they didn't have my traditional Carvel Snicker Football cake. We decided after standing in the check-out line for almost an hour, that we would try one more store (actually it's where I have bought it every year since it became a tradition). I was so excited, they had 2 left in their freezer section. So, I grabbed it and again had to stand in a super long check-out line. Right as I was heading out, it started raining, freezing rain. Luckily, it was almost time to pick Keree up from school, so at least I wasn't having to pull her out early to beat the weather home. The summary at school said that they talked about families, how we are the same and different, read a book on snow and told us to check the tv for school closures. When we got home, we decided to move the computer into the bedroom, that way we could hunker down into two rooms, if the storm gets really bad. Keree spent her afternoon and evening writing, drawing and doing workbooks. For dinner tonight, I fixed broccoli cheddar soup. I wanted the ease of cooking, so it was from a powdered mix and honestly, I wasn't a fan of it. I guess, I'm starting to become a from-scratch snob. After dinner, it was onto dessert. I was so excited for my Snicker football ice cream cake. It started as a tradition 4 yrs ago, when I spotted it in a grocery store ad. We were really tight on money that year and I decided that all I wanted was that cake. I didn't think I was going to get it but at the last moment, my Mom surprised me with it. Since then, I look forward to my Birthday and Super Bowl. Because of course my cake is made in honor of the Super Bowl. Until you eat it, you just can't describe how amazing it is. It's funny because it's not only me who looks forward to it, so does my Mom and Keree. So, I savored every bite I took tonight of my Football Birthday cake.

Another Heartbreaking Loss....

Our day started out well, we took our time getting up out of bed and then slowly got dressed. We got there in plenty of time to gather outside in the hallway since the other teams were still playing. Once it was over, I accompanied my girl over to the sideline with the rest of her squad, I felt like some kind of over protective Mom. But seriously, she couldn't carry both her megaphone and pompoms by herself, so of course Momma is gonna help. So once I got her settled, I headed over to my seat. We scored prime seats directly across from the girls, too bad the lighting was shotty and I was shooting across a gym, so my pictures are funky looking. After the basketball players played 4 - 6 minute quarters, all the while the girls either cheering or chanting on the sidelines. It was then time for the girls. They announced each of the girls names over the intercom and they got to run out to center court. Then they performed one cheer and ran back to the sidelines so the basketball game to continue. After that, their was 2 more 6 minute quarters before the game was over and all the children gather in the other room to awarded with one of 5 colored stars. Keree earned her Spirit star this week (which is gold) because she did such a great job leading the girls in cheers. After the game was finished, we headed off for a few errands (needed to make the car payment) and since it was almost 2p, we picked up some lunch. Once we got home, both Keree and I laid down for a nap. She was exhausted and was starting to get really grouchy. I didn't think I was tired but before I knew it, I was asleep too. In my drowsiness, I heard the phone ring but decided it could wait till after I woke up because nobody wants to talk to me in a half-sleep stoper. When I woke up, I had totally forgotten the phone had rang, so I didn't check it right away. We had been up for about a 1/2 hr at that point, when suddenly I remembered the phone rang. I checked the id and it was a call from my Grandma's house. I was a little perplexed because she never calls me, I mean once in a blue moon (4 times in the last 6 yrs) she would call but usually I am always the one who initiated the call first. So I decided to check messages and it was from my Uncle T. I knew then that something horrible had happened. My Uncle T has not spoken to me since July 9, 2003, the day of my Grandpa's funeral. Before then, we had been close, we spent various holidays together, he was the first to reach out to us when my parents divorced, so losing him and his wife was hard. I paced back and forth not wanting to make the call, I thought I knew what he was going to say but I was in denial about it. I finally got up the courage and when the call started, he was being so formal, like I was a client or something. I just let him talk because of course I was crying on the opposite end of the phone. I think when I finally did speak and he heard the crack in my voice, suddenly I wasn't the enemy, I was just his niece, the oldest and only granddaughter who was just told her Grandma had died. He told me, she had passed on peacefully in her sleep. I was thankful because she had always told me that she wanted to die in her house, in her bed and in her sleep. He asked me if I wanted to call my Brother or did I want him too. Of course, there was no way in h*ll I was letting him break the news to my Brother. He gave me a quick run down on what he was planning and we said our good-byes. I sat there staring at my Mom with Keree sitting on her lap and then, I just broke down again. I told my Mom that there was no way I could call my Brother and begged her to call. My Mom knew my Brother was already having a bad day, so she didn't want to call either. So while she called, Keree crawled up on my lap. I was waiting to tell Keree the day of the funeral that Grandma had passed but she over heard my Mom. She looked at me and bluntly asked "Grandma passed on, so that means she's dead (said with some urgency in her voice), did they put her in the ground and put dirt on her?" So, I told her that yes, Grandma passed away and she's in heaven now. I told her that we would go to the church for a funeral, her body would be in a box called a casket and then they would bury her, but she's in heaven. She looked at me and just goes, ok. The rest of the night, I had a wide range of emotions. I can't sleep and my stomach is in knots over how this funeral will play out because this side of my family is so splintered.

Parent School Visit

This morning, even though our roads were horrific because they weren't clear yet, we still had to head out. We had to meet Keree's cheer coach to pick up her skort for tomorrow's game. Of course, they weren't able to get her the size we ordered, so it's still way too big. So, we slowly made our way to the gas station where we were meeting her and since we were already that far out, we decided to go ahead and head into school for the Parent's visit. Honestly, we wouldn't have ventured out and tempted fate on sliding off the road and crashing, but we had to pick up Keree's skort. Once we arrived at school, they were all amazed we actually made it in. I agreed with them that the roads were awful but we had to be out anyway, so that's the only reason we made it in. When there was about 4 sets of parents there, they explained that we were suppose to move around to each station and perform whatever the activity was. Since we were nearest the reading table, that is where we started. I had just started reading Keree the first page of the book Let it snow and there was a swarm a kiddos around us. So, I ended up reading to not only Keree but about 4 other kids. Once we finished our book, we headed over to the drawing table. There Keree was to draw a picture with chalk of a winter scene. Her first picture was of herself ice skating and a snowman. To set the chalk, you then spray it with hairspray (which was just messy). We were then headed to our next station but it was packed, so we decided to draw another winter picture. Finally, a space opened up at the next and final station. So we read the instructions and got to work. We were to make a snowman out of a rice cake, cream cheese, raisins, cheerios and carrot. The cream cheese was still hard, so the kids had a rough time spreading it out but eventually Keree got the hang of it. When she was finished, I couldn't believe how cute the snowman had turned out. Of course the best part was when she got to eat it. She was about half way through eating it, when the Teacher called them all over to the carpet to recite a snowman poem called My Snowman. It went "I make a snowman when it snows. I use a carrot for his nose. I put a hat upon his head. I give him mittens, blue and red. I give him raisins for his smile. Then I leave and play a while. When I come back, his face looks funny. His nose was eaten by a bunny." After they recited their poems, they sang the snowman song. It was really cute and I'm so glad I flipped the camera over to video. After they were finished, they were released back to the last station they were at. Keree decided she was finished eating, so I told her I would take the rest of her snowman home. She saw that the computer was free, so she quickly raced over there before someone else got on. Before I left, I did drag her away for one last picture, which was with the snowman that the class made together out of paper mache. Keree has been giving us updates about it every time she's at school. We left for a short time and ran a few errands. We ended up picking her up early, which was ok because all they were doing was watching video books. When we got home, Keree spent her afternoon drawing before it was finally time for a nap. I was planning on working during Keree's nap, got all my work out and the next thing I know, Keree was waking me up and almost 2 hrs had passed. Once we were up, it was a little before dinner time, so I made cheese stuffed shells. It really hit the spot and I really wish I had made more than I did, because it really hit the spot. We ended our night with making another batch of snow ice cream. It was good but not as good as last night. We discovered that you can't use a cheap brand of sweetened condensed milk because there is a big taste difference than name brand. Otherwise, its suppose to be another super cold night (below zero) mixed with a few inches of snow. Sorry the pictures aren't that great but for some reason the camera was acting up and I didn't realize it until I was downloading them at home.

Snow Day

This morning, we woke up to 13.5" of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. When I woke up, I sat there and watched tv to see if Keree's preschool and homeschool coop was canceled or not. I already had made the decision to keep Keree home because I knew our roads weren't going to be clear but it was nice to know she wasn't missing anything. It took us awhile to get bundled up to head outside but once we did, it was beautiful outside. Even though I hate shoveling snow, we got a nice path cleared off. Keree in the meantime was mesmorized with all the snow. She either ate it or threw it up into the air. She tried to make a snow angel but the snow was still falling, so she refused to open up her eyes while she made it. So all my pictures ofin snow and ice, I do appreciate how gorgeous it makes our world look. As for Keree, she had a hard time walking through the deep snow. I can't even count how many times she fell face first into the snow. She spent the majority of her time her

making it, look like she's laying in the snow dead. While she continued to play, I ventured around our property trying to see what kind of pictures I could capture. I have to say I didn't venture as far as I wanted too because I was unsure of my footing when I got towards the creek, all I could imagine was one mis-step and getting hurt. So I headed back and enjoyed playing. We finally headed inside when Keree's hands were getting cold. While inside, Keree curled up by the heater

and we continued watching the snow fall, we ended up getting an

additional 2". We spent the rest of our morning dealing with some business and Keree spent her morning drawing pictures and writing stories to go along with them. By the time it was lunch, the snow had slowed to almost nothing. We ate a light lunch before laying

down for a nap. I still have this cough and honestly it's taking everything out of me. So getting some extra sleep and relief for a short time makes me a little more bearable. This evening, we finally ran our Christmas gift over to our new neighbors. They were gone over Christmas and New Years, so we just hadn't caught up with them till now. Of course after we came home and since we weren't heading out anywhere in the van, we had enough fresh snow, to make up a big batch of snow ice cream. Keree was finally old enough to help make it and she was amazed that such a wonderful thing could be made with snow. We curled up in front of the heater with our bowls of snow ice cream and hunkered down for the rest of the night

Hump Day

This morning, I think it took every ounce of energy I had to get out of bed and then get Keree to school. Keree, well she could have stayed home but she when I picked her up, she was happy that she went. The summary said that they decorated their snowman, read a few books about snow and talked about the activities they are doing for the parents morning on Friday. After we picked up Keree, we ran to the grocery store since we are suppose to be getting a huge snow storm starting this evening, into tomorrow. I'm glad we did stop because we really didn't have anything in the house to eat other than canned soup and honestly you can only eat so much of it. When we got home, I did some work and Keree played with her toys. We ate a quick lunch and then laid down. Yep, I'm still fighting this cough and though it's not getting worse, it's not getting better. When we got up, Keree and I fixed dinner. Before settling in for the night, Keree was drawing pictures and writing stories to go with it. I was amazed when I looked to see what Keree had wrote and drew. She wrote "Once upon a time there was a girl she let down her hair it was Rupunzel." I don't think that's too bad for only being 4 that she only mispelled Rapunzel. So for the rest of the evening, we cuddled in for a night of wednesday shows on tv. Before heading to bed, we checked outside to see how much snow had already fallen. We were surprised that there was already at least an inch on the ground.

Errands

Well today, Keree didn't have school, they were off for something called school improvement day? Since the roads were finally clear, we ventured out and took my Mom to her appointment. Because the place was so crowded, Keree and I opted to sitting in the car, while she was inside. We drew, watched the traffic and talked about how much snow is still on the ground. When we got home, we took an early nap because this evening my Brother is heading into town for the weekend. We are all excited because this weekend we get to use our Christmas present, which was passes to the Cards Winter Warm-up. More than anything, I think we are excited just to spend time together as a family of 4. Keree misses her Uncle so much that it almost makes me want to sell everything and move closer to him. Once my Brother got home, we spent our evening helping pack everything we are taking this weekend, making a plan on who's autographs we were getting and just spending time together.

Unofficial Snow Day

Well this morning, we woke up to about 6" of snow on the ground. So, before waking Keree up, I sat there and watched the school closings on the bottom of the tv screen. I watched it go completely thru 3 times because I couldn't believe that Keree's school wasn't closed. The elementary and high schools were closed in the area but not the pre-school. Seriously, my road hadn't even been touched by the plows yet and I was pretty sure that most other country road hadn't been either. I wasn't willing to risk crashing or sliding off the road into the ravine with a creek at the bottom, so Keree stayed home. So with every snow, all Keree has been wanting to do was go sledding. And honestly it hasn't worked out for us to go sledding, so today was the day. We have a small inclined hill behind our pine trees, so I dug Keree's sled out of the garage and we walked the 1/2 acre or so to arrive at our small hill. I told Keree that I would give her a push from the top of the hill but she was in charge of dragging the sled back up the hill once she came to a stop. After, about her 20th time sledding down the hill, my Mom finally joined us. So that meant I got to stand at the bottom of the hill and try to catch some cute pictures. I lost count after awhile how many times Keree drug her sled up the hill and then sledded down. Finally, it was getting colder and Keree's hands were getting super cold, so we headed closer to the house. Of course, she had to throw a few handful of snows before heading inside. Once we were inside, we spent the rest of the day staying warm. We worked on a few workbooks, drew a few pictures and played. We kept a look-out also for the snowplows but even at 10p at night, they still haven't cleaned off our roads. I'm thinking there's a good chance I will be keeping Keree home tomorrow from school also.

Snowman

This morning after dropping Keere off at school, I ran to the store to pick up a few food items since we are suppose to have a snow storm moving in super late tonight. When I came to pick Keree up, the summary said that they worked on making a paper mache snowman and talked about how to make a snowman. When Keree came out, she said that the Teacher called her up front of class and they read what her shirt said. Who would have thought I would pick out the perfect shirt for today. Keree was also excited because she drew a baseball snowman for Uncle. After a low-key afternoon, Keree put herself down for a nap and actually fell asleep by herself. While she was sleeping, her Cheer coach called around 4p and they canceled practice this evening because of the weather. WTH, the bad weather isn't even suppose to move in till after 10p tonight. I couldn't believe it, when Keree woke up, I told her practice was canceled and she was beyond disappointed. This evening, I made do is yourself pizzas. I used harvest wheat thin bread for the crust and we weren't disappointed. I love the taste of their bread and I love that it's so freakin' skinny, Keree will eat it. We ended our night by going outside because the Weatherpeople said it was beginning to snow, so Keree and I was going to catch a few snowflakes on our tongues before bed. When we got outside it was sleeting instead of snowing and frigid cold, so we didn't stay out long, because we didn't have our coats on. With 5+" of snow coming, I'm thinking snow day for tomorrow.

Pancake Sunday

We all woke up feeling awful. Between Keree and I's cough and whatever bug my Mom caught, we were miserable. By the time we drug ourselves out of bed, we decided to fix pancakes. That way it would fill us up enough and we wouldn't have to fix lunch. So after eating brunch, we lounged around and watched a few movies, before it was time for a nap. Since I was working on a few things, my Mom and Keree laid down. They slept almost 3hrs before finally getting up. After Keree woke up, she spent almost the entire rest of the night playing dress-up with her kitty cats. She was having so much fun and she thought it was so funny how she put Big Kitty-Kitty in the red dress. We headed to bed early since none of us was feeling too our hottest.

New Squad

We slept in a little this morning, well if you can call 745a, sleeping in. We took our time getting going and before we knew it, it was time to head to Cheer practice. We had never been to this school before, so I looked up the directions ahead of time. Well, what the Coach failed to tell me is that there are 2 schools with the same name on the same road. How screwed up is that? After some drama, we finally got there. I have to say, I was a little disappointed because she was suppose to be on a Kindergarten team, instead her team is mixed with K-2nd graders. The practice went well, the spent the majority of the time learning each other names, they then learned a few simple moves (which Keree already knew) and then they learned one very simple cheer. Honestly, they could have learned quite a few of them but I guess the Coach wanted to take it slow. At the end of practice, they handed out there box, which was filled with their uniform, pompoms, etc. At the last minute, I decided to check Keree's box. They gave her the correctly sized top but not the right size skirt. I couldn't believe it because there's no way she can wear the YS that they gave her. The skirt goes down to her ankles. So, the Coach took the skirt and said she was going to get us the YXS she needs. We also ordered the turtleneck, which we ordered the smallest one they offered and we couldn't believe how big it was on her. Were not sure what we can do to shrink it. When we got home, I spent the evening working on fluffing her pompoms. Never in my life would I have thought it would take almost 2 hours to fluff one side. Needless to say, I didn't finish them before heading to bed.

Friday

It was quite a feat getting out of the house this morning, Keree didn't want to go to school. But finally we were out the door and gone. When I dropped her off, she wasn't too thrilled to go in but I could see why because it was total chaos. I mean I'm thrilled that we aren't having to deal with the daily drama of the Main Teacher but the Substitute Teacher seems to be being steamed rolled. When I picked Keree up, the summary said that they read a few books and played with puzzles. Keree now, she was hilarious. As we walked out to the car,she closed her eyes and tried to catch snowflakes. Then when we got home, she was walking around the yard trying to do the same thing. Since it was snowing so hard, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening inside. The ground was so warm that they snow never did stick. Which was a bummer because they estimated if it had stuck, it would have been about 8". So since we were stuck inside, we spent our time working on workbooks, puzzles and coloring. For dinner, I fixed roast beef and mashed potatoes. It tasted so good, even though I'm still battling this cough.

Three Kings Day

This morning, we woke up to the morning news telling us that our local gas station (a few miles from our house) was robbed last night. I honestly have to say it was very unsettling to hear but with the economy the way it is around here, it doesn't surprise me. Thank goodness no one was hurt. After getting Keree up and going, we headed off to school. After dropping her off and heading home, it was time to work on getting the tree, holiday decorations and cards taken down. Today is Three Kings day which means the official end to Christmas, today is the day that the 3 Kings reached the Manger to bestow their gifts on the holy child. We don't mark they day with festivities or presents like other cultures, but we do follow the tradition of taking down the decorations. Before I knew it, it was time to pick Keree up. I ended up running almost 8 min late to pick her up. But luckily, they were running late yet again in releasing them. Keree and I, peacefully walked out to the car because we were meeting with our Homeschool teacher today and needed to hurry because we didn't want to be late. Of course, I'll just add this side note in, when class releases and the kids walk out the front door, most of them go nuts. They run away from their parents, run out into the parking lot with no cares, up/down this hill and some even bolt into the street. And when their parents finally pick them up, there is usually tons of kicking, screaming and tantrums involved. It's just chaos and they always comment how good Keree is because she holds me hand and we walk peacefully away from that place. Well right as we get to the van, I open the door to let Keree climb in and into her seat and she yells bye to "that one girl". I left Keree's door open, as I opened my front door and I turn around to find "that one girl" climbing into my car. I tell her nicely that we need to go and she needs to get out. Needless to say, she keeps climbing. Her Grandma (who has custody of her) comes over and goes, "That one girl, come on, you have to get out of Keree's car". That one girl, is stomping back and forth the length of my van chanting "I'm going home with Keree." Her Grandma was like, "look you gotta come on, I've got stuff to do." And she's reaching over Keree, who was nicely sitting in her car seat, trying to grab her. I was like look "That one Girl, we gotta go, we have an appointment and I'm gonna be late." I was getting pissed and I was about to push the Grandma out of the way and grab that little girl out of my car. Seriously, WTH! Just as that was all going to happen, That One Girl, gets site of my face and I mouth "get out now." I don't know if she understood that or she could see the fury on my face but she got out. Her Grandma apologized again and I couldn't say anything back. I can't believe you can't teach this child manners, you don't climb into someones car, crawl all over and act a fool. So after strapping Keree in, I hurried off to our appointment. Luckily, she was running late, so she had no idea, we weren't there on time. Our session today was on tools and jobs done with tools. Keree did build this amazing tower with foam alphabet letters and pegs. Some of our time was spent counting, sorting and patterns. Of course, Keree flew threw everything she had planned and so we had over 40 minutes left to waste. We read some books, wrote words and talked. I'm hoping she realizes, she will need to add a few more activities into our sessions, because so far our sessions always end with lots of extra time. When we got home, it was after 1p. We took a few more decorations down, before it was nap time. Keree amazingly fell asleep but of course, my cough wouldn't let me rest, so I just sat there watching tv. Once she woke up and she ate dinner, we spent the rest of the evening working on workbooks before finally heading to bed.

Back to school

Keree didn't want to get up this morning at all. But finally after we were up, dressed, slice of cheese for breakfast (hey, I know I'm not gonna win Mom of the year), we were headed to the car. Luckily, once we were at school, she was kind of excited, especially when the computer wasn't being used. Of course, as soon as she got over there to play on it, she was told it was broke. I swear that computer is always broke whenever my daughter wants to get on it but seriously that's probably a post for another day. So, when I came to pick Keree up, there was no summary and they weren't in the classroom. They ended up going outside and actually released the kids to us almost 15 minutes late. Seriously, if we were 15 minutes late, they would have called the police to come pick up our kids but sure, they can release them late without a blink of an eye. So during that 15 minute wait, a Mom who has never talked to me, has avoided me like the plague and actually treated both me and my daughter quite awful, started to talk to me. Acting like she had never done anything, acting like I was her long lost friend, it was just plain weird. Since there was no summary, I asked Keree what they did at school today. She said that their new Teacher (the Main Teacher is on maternity leave) pretended to be a weather girl because the new pattern on their calendar was going to be about Weather. Keree said it was hilarious, otherwise, they played outside and she drew a picture. When we got home, we ate lunch, we drew pictures and I helped my Mom navigate some blog stuff. Which still cracks me up she's asking me for help, when you consider how boring my blog looks. I also hung up the rest of the Holiday cards we had gotten, because I wanted one picture with all of them hanging up. When it was time for Keree to take a nap, I was ready to too. I took some medicine and feel asleep before Keree did and she actually woke up before me also. Sick of this cough! We spent our evening putting together puzzles, drawing and finally ended our night with Wednesday night television.

Last day of Winter Break

This morning I got up bright and early, drug Keree out of bed, got her dressed, fed her breakfast and we jumped into the car. Keree was excited to be heading back to school today. We arrived at her school, to an almost empty parking lot (there was 3 cars there to be exact). I sat there for a few seconds and Keree asked me if we were getting out. And so I sat there a little longer, why wasn't there other parents dropping off their kids? Where was all the hustle and bustle. So I told Keree to stay put and I jumped out. And there on the door was No School from Dec 22 - Jan 4. Do you think I felt stupid at that moment? I kept thinking they went back to school on the 4th, nope she was still on vacation. I explained to Keree that I had the dates wrong and tomorrow she gets to go back to school. I was surprised because she was thrilled, she was excited to spend another day at home with me. So, I ran quickly to pay some bills and then we headed home. We changed the flags outside, along with putting a new outfit on our goose. Once we headed inside, we ate lunch and I helped my Mom on her new blog venture. I was feeling awful from this cough so, I laid down with Keree for a nap. But as she slept soundly next to me, I sat there staring at the television miserably. The new medicine seems to be working (or that's what everyone is telling me) but it's just not quick enough for me. In the evening, Keree and I sat in bed and just chilled. Of course, my night didn't end well, I got super sick (thanks alot mucus) and ended up pulling some weird stomach muscle. So after getting Keree ready for bed, I wrapped myself up in two blankets and pulled them up over my head in hopes of feeling better.

First Monday of the Year

This constant cough I have is making life miserable. Its so loud that I'm keeping everyone in the house up at night. Once we drug ourselves out of bed and were dressed, we drug our self out of the house and to the store. We were in hopes of finding some more deals to almost finish off all our birthday shopping for the year. I just love end of the year clearance. Unfortunately, the store didn't have really anything but I did find a few cute things to use for Keree's birthday party. Once we were home, Keree spent her day playing and I spent my day laying on the couch feeling miserable. In the evening, I freed some more of Keree's Christmas presents from their packaging and we played with them.