finally festive

So, after a few days with a naked tree in the living room, we finally got the lights on last night.










Then, when I got home today,
the tree looked like this-------->
Notice the dark mid-section.


Well, we found where a cat had chewed through a cord (which they have NEVER done before), so Bryce stripped it and reattached it, and now we're back to normal. But, we'll have to be sure we're always close by when the tree is lit!

snow dog on patrol

Cosmo has been out on his perch for over an hour this morning, monitoring the neighborhood. The only thing that changes is whether he's sitting facing our house or facing the road!
(Notice his new soccer ball on the right-- he'll often use it as a pacifier if people walk by.)

first grade fun

I wish I'd had my camera yesterday morning at school. We are in our "weather" unit for language arts, and I had the kids keep their snowpants and boots on when they arrived yesterday... because we were heading outside to measure the snow depth! And, they were adorable. They each had a cheapie bendable yardstick, and it was great watching them venture into the deepest of snow. They realized they couldn't get a good measurement in the play areas, because the snow was packed so hard. Most of them held the rulers the right way, and when we came in, I had them record the snow depth in their science journals. All I wanted to be sure they had was the date, and the depth in inches. But some of them added illustrations of themselves holding the yardstick, with some shouting the measurement in speech bubbles! What smart first graders; they impress me all the time. And then, later they were doing a test-prep piece of writing about what they can do in the snow, and a few of them mentioned that they can measure it! We will measure again next week, so I'll try to remember my camera.

when domestic and wild collide...

An excerpt from my mom's "backyard trauma" email:
"I recently mentioned the cute little possum we've seen in our backyard recently - he truly is a cute little guy and we have been enjoying watching him out there eating seed and sticking his little nose in the air to sniff things out! Anyhow - Scott left earlier to DG out at the course so I was here by myself. I looked out the kitchen window and much to my horror saw a little dog that we've seen running loose in the neighborhood lately ATTACKING our little possum! I yelled NOOOOOO!!! And knocked on the window! It was AWFUL!! I ran to the dining room all the while yelling no (I think!) and knocked on that window and the dog ran off and the possum was just lying there motionless. I was furious and grabbed my jacket and while I was putting my boots on to run out after the dog, I saw the possum get up slowly and slowly walk over to the brush pile seeming to be okay other than walking slow - he was obviously "playing possum" during the attack! When he was under cover I went out to "hunt" the dog down - he was in there at the edge of our property on the curve so I ran out yelling at him waving the broom! Yes, I am sure I looked like a mad woman! :) It ran a short distance and turned around and kept barking at me! Brat! So I walked back in the side yard by a tree and waited - that little brat started coming in our yard again - surprise! I ran out after him with the broom and he finally took off. I looked around the backyard and there was no evidence of blood or fur so hopefully the little guy wasn't seriously hurt and will be fine. The horror of it all... Geesh! I also know it is natural of dogs to chase little animals and cats to chase birds but this dog is always running loose and has no business being out and about being a pest and picking on little animals. We saw a HUGE possum in the front yard last night in the dark - he would have given that dog some competition! Scott was dismayed when he got home but glad I saw the little guy walk off. All I could think of when I saw it lying there was how sad Scott would have been when he had to go out there and move it!"

my preferred work environment

As I crank out the pages to go into my portfolio, there are a couple of mood details that increase my productivity... incense burning next to my computer,

and 3 record albums stacked and playing.

I won!

And now I must pay.

But really, what a deal-- 31 Serendipity and Earth Angels books plus a video!

My first independent e-bay purchase... got frazzled a bit at the last moment and spent 4 dollars more than I'd planned. But when you wait for the last 50 seconds, the adrenaline really kicks in.

Anyhow, Serendipity books rock, written by a couple of hippies... My first graders always end up loving the Serendipity series, since I rave about them so much.

Lucy's bounty: 8 of Bryce's socks, 3 of mine, 1 pair of my underwear

Lucy has a sock fetish. Two nights ago, I laughed out loud when I got to the top of our stairs, because this was by far the largest sock trail she has left... Keep in mind, she always pulls a couple out of the laundry baskets (usually Bryce's-- even though his basket is tallest and he often tucks the socks way down deep inside of it), but I thought you might enjoy following this trail, as I did two nights ago.

This first photo is at the top-- stairs on right, suspicious cat tail in the lower left corner...

These photos show our little scamp with the entry to our bedroom in the background...

On the left, we have Lucy and Zoey, with our bedroom floor beyond them (more socks!). And on the right, past the mess and the fan, are our two laundry baskets.

Below, the not-so-innocent kitty.