He's a Sweetheart...

The boy was asked to the upcoming girls-choice "Sweetheart Dance" at the High School....his first "official" date! Although he does hang out with members of the opposite gender quite often in groups, so it's no big deal, really. I did tell him to tell her that his parents only allow him to date in groups...so she'd better get a big group together!? He said "mooommmmm...." so I know I'm doing my job well!

In My Car...I'll Do The Drivin'....

Once upon a time there was a family who owned a mini-van, a Mazda and a Honda. Then a 15 year old boy with a learner's permit wrecked the Mazda ...his dad bought an old blue Honda to replace it. The family rotated vehicles; the van went to the college student, the Honda went to the mother, and the old Honda went to the dad.
One rainy night, the work-weary dad began driving home in his old, blue Honda. It leaked; his shoulder was wet from the rain seeping in. But he didn't mind; it got pretty good gas mileage and he knew that his girls were driving the nicer vehicles that hopefully would not break down.
Suddenly, as he began to enter the freeway on-ramp, he heard a loud clunk and the old blue Honda drew it's last breath.
A tow-truck and 2 hours later he arrived home.
The family had two options: drive to Logan to retrieve the van and leave the starving college student sans wheels, or go car shopping.
Now the lucky mother of the family is the proud owner of a 2006 Toyota Camry...complete with heinous car payment. The dad has his beloved red Honda back; he feels like the king he is and will no longer get wet when driving in the rain! The college student can still drive to Sonic for drinks when she needs them....and they all lived happily ever after.
((Thank you Oxford Learning Source/Academy for employing me so I can pay for the car!))

Way to "Bee"

Grace participated in the school Spelling Bee...
She made it through the first 4 rounds; then into the Championship Round! She worked her way up to the 4th Grade list. Then out of the blue the announcer began the next round using words such as "paramecium" and "microorganism" and "extraterrestrial". Seriously. The next 12 kids were knocked out in short order. Grace was one of them.
I was proud of her for wanting to be involved. But I'm going on record here: I tried (gently and unobtrusively) to talk her out of it. I've been through Spelling Bee's with the 3 older kids. I hate them. I wind up in knots, not only over my own kids, but over each one as they stand there and spell. It's extra-exquisite torture when it is my own offspring at the microphone, however.
W.A.Y T.O B.E.E G.R.A.C.E!

Reality Check

Jillian's roommate, Marissa, dropped her own laptop this week. It broke.
My oldest called me yesterday to say, "Do you know what regular people have to do when they break their computers??? DO YOU!? They have to spend $$calling the GeekSquad, then spend $$ over at the whoseywhatsis building setting up yada yada yada....then...and then...and then...$$...and so you KNOW what Windows7 cost!?!?!?"

It went on for awhile. She said repeatedly, "We are SO spoiled! We just call Uncle Dan..." then her voice became hushed, "We're so lucky..."

It's true. Thanks Goob. You're the best and definitely appreciated. Our own free familial GeekSquad...we love you!

We stayed up until midnight...

Grace is excited about the hourly bags with fun stuff in them..
Puzzles...apparently Kenzie is a puzzle fanatic/champion! Who knew?
Ty enjoyed the model magic picture that was supposed to entertain Grace for a while...they finished it before the night was over.
Andrew trying to conquer the Wii...
All in all we ate too much, laughed, balanced on the Wii, competed with each other, passed some pigs, scared the puppy nearly to extinction with noisemakers, and rang in the new year all together. Grace even made it to midnight! She actually wasn't ready to go to bed even then :)
I mentioned to my spouse that this is likely to be the last time for a while that all 6 of us will be together for a New Year's Eve.
Here's wishing for a happy year.