January -- So far . . .

Already the year 2009 is passing quickly by. It's the middle of January and I am not quite sure how that happened. In a few weeks my main project will be to get my in-law's house ready for them to move back into. Looking back, this year has gone by so quickly. One minute I am wondering how in the world I will survive without my in-laws and the next I am hardly noticing that they are missing. Not that I don't want them back - I just learned to live without them -which was good for me.

Okay, now what have I been doing in January?

SNOW DAYS

After 5 days off of school (before and after Christmas break) because of snow and ice it has been wonderful to get back into a schedule. But being on a schedule does mean I'm busy from sun up to sun down and beyond. The school district will be making up all 5 schools days this year (last year they loop holed out). My kids are quite devastated that it will encroach into their summer break.

SPORTING EVENTS

Just before January, Chad won some tickets to attend the Spokane Chiefs hockey game. With all the crazy snow we didn't know if we would be able to attend or not. So I didn't make a big deal out of it (or even remind the kids) until that night when we had decided it was a go. This was the first time our kids got to go to a hockey game. They really had fun but were a little confused to see professional grown ups fighting during a game. But they were highly relieved when they learned that there was a time out box (penalty box) for those that were fighting. They liked seeing the players be sent to time out.

The Spokane Chiefs getting ready to play.

Getting into the game.



Sean and I were there too.

One sporting event we never miss is the Rubber Chicken Game. It is the big rival basketball game between Ferris and LC. It is a competition of basketball and spirit. This year Ferris choose the theme of Chuck and the Chocolate Factory. (Chuck is the name of the rubber chicken you are awarded if your team has the best spirit.). LC's theme was Geek Week. (Extremely lame if you ask me.)

The girls game didn't go so well, LC beat Ferris by a lot. The boys game was great. It ended with Ferris winning after over time.

I thought Ferris was way more creative in their spirit theme, but LC did have a lot more members in their crowd and I have to admit, a lot more spirit. (Halle wanted to be a traitor and join the LC crowd because she thought all their props were way cooler than ours.) So LC won Chuck again this year.

It was still a lot of fun to go to.

Cheering with our purple handed props.

The Principals dressed up as the Grandparents in the bed.

Dancing Wonka Bars.

The "Geeks" of LC. They are masters of military drill dance, but not as creative as our dance team!

HAIR TROUBLE

As soon as you mention the word, "hair," all sorts of complaints come spilling out. Who likes their hair? It is either too thick or too thin. It is too straight or too curly. Someone else's hair is always better than yours. Halle and I were blessed with the very thin kind of hair. Thin hair is hard to rein in, it defies gravity, it breaks very easily, and any little amount of damage is very noticeable.

I always figured we would have the haircutting incident and braced myself for that event. Well as of yet it has not happened, at least not how I thought it would happen.

Halle loves playing with her hair. She is always twisting it and pulling it, putting elastic bands in and pulling them out. Well thin hair is not meant to be played with. At first I noticed the sides of her hair getting a little shorter and thinner. And then the back of her hair became an odd angle instead of a nice straight line. As I started brushing her hair I noticed huge chunks that were way shorter than the rest of her hair. Having her hair straight down looked like a mess - like her head had been caught up in some machine and ripped out.

So finally I had to do it. I had to get her hair cut. It made me cry. I love long hair. I thought that cutting her hair short would be a sort of punishment (she keeps saying she wants to be like Rapunzel). It wasn't, she loves it short. And I do have to admit it rather suits her. Oh well.

Halle and her new look.