Post-Snow-Day Catch-Up Post

Wow, the last thing I posted about was our trip to the zoo?!  Hmmm . . . here are some other things that have been going on:

 *Pikachu got neutered.  He had started spraying little droplets all around when he hopped around the school room, and that was not cool with any of us.  Also, whenever the boys would change his litter, etc. in his cage, he would gently drop some droplets of pee over their hands and feet, which again, was not cool with them, lol.  A friend of ours, who also happens to have a bunny, told me about a small animal hospital just a few minutes away from us that did some surgery on their bunny.  I called, and they would neuter Pikachu, so that saved us a much longer drive.  Also, Bob did some internet searching and discovered a certificate you can get from the Humane Society that knocks part of the fee off.  Pikachu recovered well!

 *We had a very late birthday party for Faith on March 3 at the ice rink.  She has been dying to have a party, and finally I don't have a little baby as well to deal with, so we figured it was time!

 This was Verity's first time to wear ice skates.  She was not sure of the whole idea, but since all the older boys were there, she didn't lack for strong males to help her out!  I had invited all the Rivendell kids from last year and this year, and so it was really fun to see everyone again.

 Drew also needed some big boy help, although he had been on skates before.

 Micah was quite a confidant skater, although he fell on his rear a zillion times.  It didn't bother him a bit, and he just popped right back up!  Instead of staying by the edge of the rink and holding on, he was right out in the middle the whole time!

 After the skating was over, we all came back to our house for pizza and cake.  Faith and the girls decorated this cake.  Faith had definitely ideas for the scene here.  In the picture, the cake is upside down, so you have to use your imagination!  It's a wintery scene, with a frozen lake surrounded by trees. The big blue part is the sky, with clouds.

 That same day, Faith got to go to a Father/Daughter dance with Bob.  The other girls had each gotten to go with him one time, and she has been eagerly waiting her chance!  They had a really fun time!

 This past Thursday, Mar. 9, Anna and Amanda L. celebrated their joint birthday of Mar. 28 early, while Amanda was home on spring break.  They went out to Cheesecake Factory for lunch, walked around the mall (she bought Anna some adorable earrings, which now Anna wears all the time), and then to watch the Lego Batman movie.  So much fun!  Anna is everlastingly grateful the Lord saw fit to have her be born on Amanda's birthday!

 On Saturday, Anna and Grace's basketball team won their championship, and Caleb's team won theirs a few weeks ago, so it was a good showing for our family this basketball season!  It was a 5/6th grade team, so Grace was technically a year too young and had to play up, but it was worth it to not have 2 teams to worry about for them.  She was by no means the worst player either, lol!  Now we are all very glad the basketball season is over, and we have our weekends back!

*Nathan was also home from spring break last week!  He and some friends made a trip to New York City, taking a bus really early Tuesday morning, and getting back Thursday a little after lunch.  One of the friends grew up not too far away from there and made more frequent trips, so that was really helpful in knowing how to get around.  Also, this guy has a cousin who lives there, so the boys were able to crash on his floor in sleeping bags.  They did all the tourist-y things and had a great time.  Nathan was glad he went, although he has no desire to actually live there.  I was glad he went too, with his friends, since I have no desire to even visit there, lol (see the previous zoo post . . .).

 Everyone here was still glad to see Nathan while he was at home!

 Nathan came with us to church and then left early so he could pick up the other 2 guys who rode back down with him.  Now he reports that it is a frozen tundra down there, with temps in the teens and wind chills lower than that.  Not the weather you expect after spring break, for sure!

 *We had a snow day yesterday!  Our elementary co-op was cancelled, and since this looks like our only snow of the entire winter, we decided to cancel Rivendell as well.  Even though the snow was really wet and heavy, that didn't deter people from playing outside in it!

 Here they are sledding at the end of our street.

 Even Verity went down the big hill!  She was a lot more enthusiastic about the snow this year than last year.  She's wearing the adorable snowsuit that the L's handed down to us after Jessica and Amanda outgrew it.  She's the last one to wear it now--so sad!

 After the big blizzard last year, I bought snow shoes, which I have wanted for a long time (and which would have been so useful to have during that week when we weren't plowed out).  So naturally this year we got no snow until this storm, and this one was really a pathetic storm, with such messy snow.  And our street was plowed even before we got outside Tuesday morning!  But I decided to try the snow shoes out anyway.  It was fun, but since the snow was so crusty, it wasn't like you sank down and floundered in it, so they weren't really necessary.  Oh well.  Maybe next year.

 Grace is demonstrating gymnastics even in the snow!

 Poor Verity was tuckered out by all the playing.  She fell asleep on the couch with Bob, who took a much-needed day off.  She is wearing a purple leotard underneath her shirt because she loves leos and actually only wants to wear them.  It's a battle to get her to put on a shirt and pants over them, even on cold, snowy days.  Funny girl.  She sure does love and idolize her big sisters!

 *Since it was Pi Day yesterday, we spent the afternoon making pies.  I made 2 chicken pot pies for dinner.

 We made an apple pie and a chocolate pie for dessert.  Yum!

And this is how our entry way looked last night  after a day of playing outside.  I got it all cleaned up again--and now everyone is back outside playing on the now-hard-as-ice snow this afternoon.  Ah well, what can you do.  It's good exercise and fresh air--and quiet in the house for me.  Ha!