Because No Household Is Complete Without...

A giant, four foot, paper, Emperor Penguin!

When I saw Wally get off the bus with this guy, I threw my head back and laughed! There was been no shortage of paper creations coming home with Wally. At least two five foot snakes, and a UFO the size of an ottoman, are the largest that pop into my head. Wally earns points at school for good focus, and work. His reward when he redeems his points to to make some kind of paper treasure.

Mr. Penguin was a class effort. He is stuffed with cotton batting, so he is nice and full. After the class made him together, there was a drawing to see who would take him home.

Last night was Parent/Teacher Conferences. The first thing Mrs. Pawelko said when she saw me walk through the door was, "So what did you think of the Emperor Penguin?!"
She said she could not believe it when she drew the piece of paper with Wally's name on it, because she had just been telling her husband that there would not be any kid that would appreciate the big penguin more than Wally. Her husband even said he could not wait to hear if Wally won the drawing.

Yes, Wally does have an eye for quality paper productions.

So we seem to have a new member of the family. He has already made the rounds. Georgia immediately informed me that the penguin would be taking a nap with her. There was not much room left in her bed for her to squeeze in once we got him settled.  Walker has been dragging him around. And this morning Will spent some time doing a spinning dance with Mr. Penguin in the kitchen. We will see how long he survives all the love.
But it seems he was meant to be ours.  Welcome to the family Mr. Penguin! And thanks, Mrs. Pawelko!

The Thaw

 Wally kept Walker entertained while I made dinner by attaching the Valentine's balloon bouquet to his shirt. Walker felt pretty cool.

The weather kept us frozen in time last week, it seemed. We tried not to go anywhere we did not have to go, and it seemed hard to use any energy we did not have to use. I guess that is what -35 degrees with wind chill does to a body. And mind. But on Sunday that thaw began. And Valentines Day made our hearts warm with love, and sunlight. I actually broke out the stroller, bundled Walker within an inch of his life, and encased his stroller in plastic, so to be sure he would not freeze, and went for a run.

Heaven.

Even with the wind pounding away at my the entire time I ran North.

I ended up being a crazy, busy Valentines Day. Making sure everyone was ready for school parties, almost missing Wally's bus, and having a neighbor witness me having a "moment," when Wally was spinning in circles in the car instead of getting out and running for the bus as it pulled away, Young Womens Presidency meeting at my home while having a water softener installed, and feeding the sister missionaries from our church.
But the best was when the sisters came around at about 2:30 in the afternoon wondering if they might use our restroom. Great! Except that my water was still turned off because of the water softener installation. I felt too horrible sending them out the door with no help. I would definitely want someone to help my daughter find a bathroom when she needed one, if she were on a mission. So we headed out the door, and traipsed around my neighborhood, knocking on doors, looking for a bathroom with running water. I think I scared at least one off when his visiting mother answered, left to go find her son, and then no one returned to let us in. Oops.
But my WONDERFUL neighbor, Jen came to the rescue. As usual. She is always a champion of helping me in a jam. And we were able to send the Sisters on their way. And we were all relieved, if you know what I mean.
We got to share a not so lovey Valentine dinner with the missionaries, which included Del knocking a tall glass of water over, narrowly missing one Sister's lap, Walker pulling a pitcher of water off the table, narrowly missing his head, but giving himself a nice, icy shower, and lots of running around, yelling, and not listening, by all of our children.

I went to bed tired, and grateful that at the end of the day, hectic or not. More times hectic, than not. I am able to see my supportive, and amazing husband walk through the door.  I am lucky to have such a great Valentine.

The Snow

It took over the state this week, that is for sure! School, and just about everything else imaginable, was canceled for two days, and when the roads were finally cleared, they were half their usual size. The plows could not stack it any higher, so tractors were brought out to scoop the lanes free. They don't believe in a middle turn lane where I live, I swear, so all this made things extra complicated. But hopefully now the -35 degrees with wind chill will leave us, and the snow can get to melting. Mid westerners are hearty folk, and it is no wonder why! I have never been in a snow storm that also had thunder and lightning! That is unnerving!

The pictures I took did not turn out to be very exciting. Just very white!

Time to dig out. Everyone pitches in to get each other cleared. A short meeting of neighbors in the middle of winter. That is great because most years we don't see much of them all season long. Too cold!

Thar She Blows!

Here it comes! Apparently it is the snow storm of the century and I am sitting in the middle of it. So I put my seashells from our beach trip to North Carolina on my mantel to remind me that I was once warm. And I will be warm yet again, after this awful winter blows over.  Outside that window it is already heavily accumulating, and the actual blizzard is not even here yet. I will let you know just exactly what "blizzard" entails over the next 24 hours.

I ran out to grab some vitals this morning, things like frozen pizza, a new vase, and some gasoline. You know, all those things you can't live without in a snow storm. I did see some pretty funny storm scenarios already being acted out. Turns out that those income tax places that have the dancing Statue of Liberty guy out on the curb don't call him in, even when record breaking snow is falling.

There he was, bouncing and waving, when a big plow truck came barreling down on him with a shovel full of wet, dirty snow. I smiled as he ran for his life and dramatically acted out his relief at escaping the avalanche. He almost made me want to stop and have my taxes done by his establishment. That is job loyalty!

So we will wait it out, dreaming of white beaches, instead of white outs. It all makes me grateful for my snug home, with a furnace, oven, children, husband, down comforters, and a mantel for my shells.