My good student

Just wanted to share a couple of things from Josh that made us proud.

First, his lastest report card. All As and Bs on subject material! A few conduct problems started to rear their heads (unfortunately on the days leading up to grade reporting day), but mostly his conduct scores are very good, and he has addressed the two problem areas and his teacher is very pleased with his progress. Good work Josh!


(Remember that you can click on the picture of the document to open a larger version.)

Next, his student essay about a person he considers a hero, and why. I thought it was really great work.


You are a great student Josh!

Snow Day!

We had a fierce storm roll in last night that woke us up in the middle of the night. The weather people had forecast sleet around the time of the morning rush hour, and perhaps snow or a "wintry mix" through the afternoon. We awoke around 3 am to strong winds, even some thunder, and chipping rain. I suspected the rain was frozen to make that sound, and finally got up to investigate. The ground outside was already completely white by then. It was around 4 am. By 4:30 it was piling up and our school district finally announced schools were closed. I went back to bed to squeeze in some sleep before the boys awoke.

When they woke up, they didn't realize it was past school time, and they didn't look outside. So we got to give them the clue to "open the door and look outside!" They were SO excited when they saw the white wonderland outdoors. Josh exclaimed that it was the happiest day of his life.



We also discovered that our storm door is not airtight (nor snow-tight):



It was bitterly cold outside, but Josh ran around and played for as long as we would let him, before making him come in to thaw out. Lucas was a different story. He'd hang in there as long as he could, about two-three minutes, and then come to the door to say it was too cold. And it was, particularly when the wind blows. Even Sammy had no interest in staying out there. Only Josh was undeterred.



Lucas is bracing himself against the wind. Josh is getting ready to receive a ball ...



... for snow soccer!



It looks like the roads are starting to melt a little, but with another freeze coming tonight, who knows what we'll have tomorrow. I'm hoping for a late school opening. I don't want to drive on ice in the early am, but I also don't want Josh and John to have two snow make-up days. For now, we're cuddling up with some books and movies and keeping warm!


P.S. Keep in mind, as demonstrated in the post below, that it was 70 degrees here just three days ago.

Fort Worth Stock Show (and Carnival)

Yesterday we visited the annual Fort Worth Stock Show. It is a really big deal here. So big that Fort Worth schools will be closed Friday for "Stock Show" day.

We live near the arena where the stock show is held, and it lasts for three weeks, so the boys have seen the ferris wheel and other rides in the show's midway for about two weeks now, and every day they ask if we can go. Since we were battling illness (Lucas' 22-hour vomiting spell, followed by more vomiting two days later) last weekend, we held them off until this weekend.

We knew the carnival would be the big draw for them, so we went to see the animals first. I quickly realized why almost everyone (except us) was wearing boots. It wasn't just to look the part. It was because there was poop all through the barns. Seriously, I don't know how people deal with so much manure. I guess if you love your animals, you get used to it. I've certainly dealt with my share of scooping up after Sammy, I guess. But between the crowds and the smells in the barns (not to mention the heat -- it was in the 70s here yesterday), I quickly needed to wrap up and get out of there.

Lucas made friends with a sheep and kept laughing hysterically because "he's looking at me!" And he was; that sheep was really interested in Lucas. It was cute. We saw 13-day old piglets, who were adorable, and an array of rabbits ranging from small dwarfs to a big fat "Californian" breed. We saw so many, many calfs. They were getting washed and blown dry to look pretty for their turn to show, and their coats looked as fluffy as Sammy's. It was a little sad to think about where they will eventually end up (our dinner plates).

In the FFA Children's barn, we saw chicks riding a baby chick ferris wheel (it had food in it, so they'd step in to eat and ride a loop around to get off again), which Josh loved. And then, we saw other chicks being born! They had a table full of eggs that were hatching that day, and we could stand there and watch as chick after chick broke through its egg shell and was born. It was pretty amazing.

After all that, we awarded the boys for their patience with some cotton candy, and then it was off to the carnival section!

First up was the trucks for Lucas and the bumper cars for Josh:


















So much fun. Then, the giant slide for Josh.



And we all took a ride on the Ferris wheel. Josh rode with our friend Brandon and his son Everett, and Lucas rode with Mommy and Daddy. You can see some of the downtown buildings behind him.





Lucas popped a wheelie on the motorcycles:



And Josh led the way (with Lucas close behind) on the dragon roller coaster:









A few kids had to be let off the ride because they were scared. I was so proud of Lucas for not getting intimidated.

Josh also rode a second roller coaster with Everett:



Both Josh and Lucas were fun and adventurous, and we all had a great time!

Christmas morning

I woke up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, sick with a cold and unable to go back to sleep. So I made some hot tea, a cup of Alka Setzer Cold, another cup of Emergen-C, and hit the couch to down my liquids and watch TV until I could sleep again. Eventually, of course, Josh woke up to use the bathroom, saw the lights, and came out to find me as well as the tell-tale signs that Santa had been here. I felt bad that I couldn't share his excitement about Santa's visit because I just felt too crappy. But we cuddled for a bit and he went back to bed, showing an astounding amount of patience, given that the Santa gifts were RIGHT THERE.



We all have two sets of handmade stockings. John's mom made the boys each a stocking with his name on it, and my mom ordered personalized stockings made by a fellow Bull Islander for each of us as well. So this year, we put one set on the mantle and one set on each of our doors.

Just to make sure, Josh left Santa a note near the fireplace. "Dear Santa, if you go strate you will find four stockings. Please put candy in them. Thanks." He wanted to make sure Santa filled both sets of stockings. Santa is a sucker, and Santa complied.



Finding their stockings filled on Christmas morning is always one of the biggest and best moments for Josh and Lucas, and this year was no exception. They just love to find and empty their stockings and admire all their loot.



The first "present" they opened, because I put them inside the stockings, was a card to each of them from Nana and Papa Mickey, with cash inside! They have reached the age(s) where they LOVE cash!



Then they divvied up the gifts from under the tree and got ready to engage in some serious gift opening.

Josh got a new hat, and now he goes by Josh Bieber.

Daddy got a World Series Champion SF Giants tee shirt (the same design as the team wore during the victory parade), but Josh couldn't resist modeling it:



Josh gave Lucas some Shake-n-Go vehicles from the Cars movie, one of Lucas' favorites:

Lucas and Josh also each received a sports-store gift card, or "credit card" as they have taken to saying, and they are so excited to get some gear for their spring sports:

A Lite Brite!

Here they are modeling Lucas' new hat and Josh's new jacket, and opening up their new Screature! They love this dinosaur -- depending upon how you pet it, it will purr (for a good pet), spit at you (you can load it with water to squirt out) (touch the tail), or growl, bite, and spread its wings as it lunges at you (for a bad pet).

They received talking banks from Aunt Alyne:

And Lucas took all my coins because he loved hearing Scooby talk to him when he put money in his bank!

Josh finally received a wallet, which he's been asking for due to his increasing savings. He LOVES this wallet. He went to work with me every day between Christmas and New Years (so John could study for a test next week) and wore his wallet every day, with the chain looped to his belt loop on his pants. Surprisingly a lot of people noticed and somehow knew it was new, and he was so proud! And when we went somewhere and no one said anything, he'd wonder why: "Mommy, why didn't they say anything about my wallet?" He paid for his own lunch for two days, just so he could use his wallet. It's adorable.

(He is also modeling one of his two new pairs of shoes in this picture. It turns out that, in our pile of hand-me-down shoes awaiting Lucas, there is a pair very similar to these that Josh outgrew some time ago. They are still about three sizes too big for Lucas, but he's been wearing them every day since Josh noticed the similarity. They are calling themselves twins and loving their matching shoes! It's pretty cute.)

They received two remote-control cars: a race car and a police car. Vigorous chase scenes have been playing out in our house ever since.

More remote-control fun.

The RC race car and police car, plus two remote-control "bumper cars" (the blue and orange ones): if you hit just the right spot in the other person's car, it ejects the driver and you win! Lots of fun.

(you can also see in this picture Lucas' breakfast plate -- we had beignets for breakfast, and they were SO GOOD!)

A pile of new games for Family Game Nights:

Santa also left some new fruits in the boys' stockings: a pomegranate in one and an Ugli fruit in the other. They were so yummy. We will be asking Santa to continue the tradition of introducing us to new fruits in the future!

We had a very nice, relaxing, and fun Christmas morning. Then we took long afternoon naps, which was also very nice!

Next post, our Christmas evening activities!

Presents from Santa

At long last, it was time to open the presents from Santa!

Lucas had a really big box:



And inside was a really big bear!



As big as Lucas, in fact!



Lucas LOVES him. He calls him Papa Bear.

Josh, meanwhile, was very confident that he knew exactly what was inside his box from Santa: a remote-controlled snake.

And of course he was right!

He LOVES his snake just as much as Lucas loves Papa Bear.

He says he wanted it so he could scare people.

And since the snake's eyes light up as he slithers toward you, it does in fact scare you if you aren't expecting it. So future visitors, you've been warned!

Lucas also asked Santa for a "bad dog." He received Walter the Farting Dog. When you squeeze him, he farts. Both boys think this is the funniest thing they have ever seen.

And Josh's second request from Santa was a remote-controlled flying airplane. He loves it, but it is somewhat difficult to fly while also easy to damage. Daddy and Josh are starting to get the hang of it though.

After we opened Santa's gifts, we finally had our Christmas dinner. The boys had a tree-shaped pizza:

And John and I had crab claws. Delicious!

After dinner, we played and played and played.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!