Real SNOW!!!

Yes, it actually happened. We got real, measurable amounts of snow. So what if it took until March to happen? We were totally thrilled, and the kids couldn't wait to get out in it. We never actually took an official measurement, but Shawn estimated that we had about 7 inches on the ground. That's the most snow that we've had in this area in over 5 years, and more snow than either of my kids has ever seen.

I, unfortunately, was in the midst of my battle with the flu and could barely lift my head off the pillow, so it was totally up to Shawn to take the kids outside (and take the pictures).

What you may not notice at first glance in this picture is what the kids have on their feet. Welcome to the South, where it never really snows, so parents don't invest in snow boots. Thus, when, defying all odds, it actually does snow, parents are required to improvise. What you see on my children's feet are tennis shoes that have been covered in plastic bags which are then taped to their legs - I'm not lying. Go on, laugh it up.

A real snow angel! WooHoo!!

Ben had a hard time staying on his feet. It's hard work when your legs are only about 5 inches longer than the snow you are walking through!

Here are a couple videos taken that day too.

The (Not So) Fun Girls' Trip

Spending time with the old college roommates is always on the top of my "favorite things to do" list. It's not as easy for us to all get together anymore, what with 11 1/2 kids among us, varying work schedules, etc., but we do try to see each other at least once a year. This long weekend trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. was actually planned last fall, and I think we've all been anxiously awaiting it.

I was totally geared up for a great weekend, that is until Ben threw up all over the table Wednesday night (the day before I was to leave). Terrified that the dreaded springtime stomach virus had arrived at our house, we disinfected like crazy and prayed that it was just a fluke. Lucky us, it was. Problem was, Claire woke up the next morning with a cough and a slight fever. I didn't really think anything of it, as she seemed ok. But she started to feel worse and worse as the day continued. Still determined to make my trip and fairly certain that Claire just had a cold, I left as planned Thursday night. All was well (apart from having to wait in the parking lot of Kroger for about 45 min. - thanks, late girls!), until Friday morning when Shawn called me to say that Claire's fever was over 102 degrees and he was taking her to the doctor. I started to worry. Can't help it; it's who I am. Come to find out, Claire had the flu (thanks, worthless flu shot!), and now Shawn had to drag a very sick Claire and a fussy, tired Ben all around town trying to get her prescriptions filled, get the kids lunch and into bed.

So, while he was dealing with that, I was doing my best to focus on my time with my friends and not worry too much. It didn't really work, but we did have a good time shopping and eating out in restaurants - events that don't occur too often for any of us anymore.

These were taken at the restaurant Friday night, after a day of shopping, so we all look a little wiped.

Friday night was Fondue Night - Yum! - You'll notice Andrea on her cell phone in this picture. Actually, this was a fairly common look for all of us that weekend - checking in with the husbands and kids while we were away.

Merica - really happy about that Fondue! (Notice Andrea in the background. She's "texting." Apparently, I am like soooo totally uncool because I don't text. It is the "in" way to communicate in Cleveland.)

Despite having so much fun with the girls, I was still feeling like I needed to be at home, and I think I probably should have listened to my conscience. I woke up Saturday morning not feeling quite right and continued to feel worse as the day went on. By that night, I was miserable.

This picture was taken Saturday morning at the cabin. Oh, I forgot to mention that the cabin was wonderful - apart from a non-reachable fire alarm that needed its battery changed and thus would squawk about every 45 seconds or so. It made sleeping interesting, to say the least.
In the movie theater. Yes, we dorks actually took pictures in the theater. Actually, I think this is a great one of them.

And Saturday night at dinner - Sorry, Andrea, just had to include it.

Notice there are no pictures of me and Rachel that night because she was sitting next to me, and I was leaning against the wall of the booth, doing my best not to slide under the table. Not fun.

Anyway, all in all, it was a good trip, and I was happy to spend time with my friends. However, next trip we plan will most definitely be scheduled nowhere near flu season (or stomach virus season - Rachel's son came down with that while we were gone too). I'm sure all the husbands would agree that this is a good idea too.

Claire - the Snowflake

Hoping to capitalize on her penchant for tip-toe walking, we signed up Claire for "Snowflake classes," a 6-week session of ballet at the local dance studio. The classes are very low-key and are essentially to help parents determine if their child would be interested in studying ballet in a more formal setting. Though she didn't wear high-heeled tap shoes and a beehive with spit-curls, Ms. Joyce certainly reminded me of my childhood ballet teacher. In fact, I really think her name was Ms. Joyce too. Anyway, this Ms. Joyce did not mess around. There was no playing around or time for coddling. It was, "hands on the bar, watch my feet, get back in line, etc."

Claire had a great time, and we are considering signing her up in the fall for full-time classes next year. Today was the final "snowflake" class, so all the girls got certificates of completion. Claire asked Shawn today if she danced in the fall if she would be called a "leaf."

These pictures were taken with Shawn's cell phone, so they aren't the best quality. Claire is all in pink, third from the front.

Ms. Joyce and Claire

Valentine's Fun

Shawn has pretty much guaranteed that any man in Claire's later life will have a hard time measuring up when it comes to Valentine's Day. Friday night, he came home from work with a dozen red roses for me, and three pink roses for Claire. As you can see, she was thrilled.

Saturday morning, Shawn handed out the rest of the Valentine's gifts. Both kids got cards from us and cards from Grandma. Ben was fascinated with his Thomas the Train card that whistled when he opened it. Claire got a small heart-shaped box of chocolate, and Ben got brand new Lightening McQueen pj's. He just saw Cars for the first time last week, so it was the perfect gift for him.

Here's a short video from the morning. They all think that I'm just trying to take a picture.

Here is Claire showing the camera her Valentine card from Grandma. It included stickers she could use to dress up the princess on the front cover.

The icing on the cake was Saturday night when Shawn took Claire to the Children's Museum's "Daddy Daughter Dance." They went to this dance last year, and Claire had such a good time that she was asking me about it right after Christmas. She begged to wear her "pink princess dress" without tights, and since it was fairly warm outside, she got to do just that. The night included museum admission, dinner, crafts, and dancing.

While Claire and Shawn were dancing the night away, Ben and I had our own "date." His dinner choice was Taco Bell, so after eating our tacos, we spent the night eating Valentine suckers and watching Thomas the Train videos. He was perfectly content. You'll notice that he's still wearing his pj's from the morning. He refused to take them off all day.

Claire was what can only be described as "smug" about the fact that Shawn took her and not me on a date for Valentine's day. I'm still holding out hope that my date will come soon. (hint, hint!)

Random Pics

Here are some random pictures that have been taken in the last several weeks.

Claire took this picture, and Ben was crying because he wanted to hold the camera. I swear I didn't pinch him.

Playing the drums


Stayin' Alive

The kids got sleeping bags and pillows from Grandma for Christmas, and here they are "sleeping" in them. Ben needs to work on his fake sleep look. Also, the little sweeties are holding hands. (click on the picture to see it better)

What Life is Like

I haven't posted in ages. I know the grandparents love the updated photos, so I generally try to include them in posts. Well, I haven't taken any recently; thus, no new posts. We also haven't really had any exciting new events taking place, so I worry that just posting about the "everyday" will be a bit boring. Ah well. It's my blog, right?

So I am officially an English tutor, and this part-time job keeps me surprisingly busy. The one student I "home school" requires me to come up with an entire course just for her. As any teacher knows, planning a course, writing tests, reading texts for the first time all take a lot of time. However, I find that I really do enjoy this job - such as it is. I get to teach just as I would in a classroom, and I don't have the piles of papers to grade afterwards! Win, win.

I'm also meeting once a week with two very sweet Korean girls who are boarding students at Salem. They are both very intelligent, but since English is not their native language, they are having obvious problems in their English and history classes. Anyway, one of the girls asked me to help perfect her English pronunciation. I am not at all trained for that job, but I did some research on common problems that Koreans have with speaking English, and we started to practice some of the sounds that are particularly difficult for Koreans to make. This practice generally involves me over-exaggerating the shape of my tongue and my mouth, so that she can see what my mouth is doing when making sounds. It's actually pretty hilarious. We spent a LONG time on the word "squirrel." She never really got it, but I did learn the Korean word for "squirrel." And it is actually much easier to say in Korean than it is in English.

Shawn's job is still going well, keeping him busy. We are actually very grateful for this, knowing that many companies like the one for which he works have not been able to survive the economic decline. Thankfully, they've had plenty to do, and the southern winter weather (such as it is) allows them to keep working.

As for Ben and Claire. Well, Ben's latest passion is for trains. He LOVES Thomas the Train and begs me to "play trains" with him all day long. Actually, he doesn't really beg. It's more like a command: "Mommy, you play trains with me, right this minute!" Imperious little stinker, isn't he? Actually, he says "right this mimit," so he gets away with the disrespect because he sounds so darn cute. He is still refusing his nap most days, but I just leave him in his crib anyway. He has become used to this situation and has now figured out a way to entertain himself for the duration. Yesterday this is what I heard through the door of his room:

"I'm going to eat my piggies for dinner. Yummy! (slurping noise) Those stinky toes are yummy to my tummy . . . ew, gross." (puking noise, followed by hysterical laughing).

Really, I have no idea where he gets this stuff.

He is getting closer and closer to really getting the whole potty thing. Yesterday, he actually told me he had to go to the bathroom and ended up with a dry diaper for most of the day. He still hasn't quite figured out when it's ok for him to take off his diaper (like when it's time to go on the potty) and when it isn't (like after he's pooped while in his crib). I've had more than one "finger-painting" clean up. It's hard to maintain one's sanity (and not cuss like a sailor) while cleaning up feces, so I'm really (really) looking forward to the day when he finally gets it.

Speaking of losing my salvation. Beyond poop clean up, not much drives me to crazy town like the daily struggle to get Claire dressed. If it's not her socks, it's the pants, the shirt, or her blasted hair bow. Tights drive her to histrionics, and we don't even attempt getting her to wear some type of shoe other than her CROCS. In light of this, Claire has finally started seeing an Occupational Therapist to help with some of her sensory integration issues. Her evaluation showed that she has some problems with the auditory, tactile, and vestibular (inner ear, balance stuff) senses. Mostly this therapy involves a lot of play, so she is really enjoying herself. We are hopeful that she can work through some of her fears and frustrations and can start enjoying more activities. I realize that this is totally not a PC thing to say, but one of my biggest fears for her is that after starting kindergarten next year, kids will quickly pick up on her little quirks and label her as the weird kid who walks on her toes. My heart breaks when I think of Claire sitting at a little desk wearing headphones because there is going to be a fire drill that day! Ok, it's a little funny too, but still.

Anyway, that's a brief (not really) picture of what life is like in the Black household right now.