Catching Up

Happy Birthday to me.....

Emmye and Steve bought me a new pair of Emu's. They're Australian sheepskin boots. Nice!

We went to a Pow Wow a few weekends ago at NMU.

Lauren't science project, a tornado in a bottle. You mix the ingredients then shake the bottle. It is really cool and was a hit at school.

Jon has a science project due on Friday. His hypothesis is what kinds of common citris fruits can light a small lightbulb. We found out none. If i remember correctly you would need about 32 to light a small 12v bulb. I'm not wasting 32 fruit.

Just for kicks, here is our cat Tara. I don't usually allow the cats on the table but she was so darn cute!

Yvonne

Hi Yvonne. Guess what---you're not the only one that reads my blog! I'll tell you all about it when we do lunch. I'll try to post more pics but honestly, i haven't been taking many lately. We've been remodeling our basement and whew, it's been alot of work. Good learning experience though. Next, we are going to gut the upstairs bathroom. Later...

NMU Family Day

NMU's DeVos Art Museum had a "green" family day a few weeks ago. The kids thought it was pretty cool. If you brought recyclables, some art students added to a statue made out of them. Jon was really impressed with the solar laptop bags.

Japanese Culture Class

The kids took part in a Japanese Culture class offered at the public library. They really enjoyed it and learned alot. The last class took place at a local Japanese restaurant located in the building where I work. The teacher, Tomoko, was awesome!

Misc school pics

Lauren's class decorated a Christmas tree for the local library. They have a display every year with different groups decorating trees. I thought her ornament was particularly cute where it states that home is where "Jon loves me sometimes".

Lauren's school had a family fun night with dance lessons from members of the high school dance team.

Christmas

Reindeer at the mall.

Right after Santa came.

Steve must have been a good boy this year. Yeah, right.

Lauren got what she wanted. More Littlest Pet Shop.

Lauren't note to Santa. She answered.

Jon made a sign. I guess it was supposed to spook the old dude. He also set up door and motion alarms around the living room. Funny, they didn't work.

We visited with cousins from Wisconsin a few days after Christmas. It was sure good to see them. We wished they lived closer. The kids are growing so fast.

Wow, how this month has gone by fast. The kids had a really good Christmas. Spent alot of time hanging out with friends. School starts again on Monday, I wish we had 1 more week. I've really been enjoying just hanging around the house. I've tried to get some things organized, like their closets. Going through clothes, etc. and giving stuff away. Santa brought alot of utilitarian items this year so we don't have so much junk. Oh, and some Wii games, too!

Jon turns 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jon turned ten on Friday. He chose to have a small family party and get the gift of his choice (Icoaster) instead of a large party with all the extras. I was relieved. It's so much more relaxed. Steve took him and a friend down to Game Zone where they played video games for a few hours and then we came back to the house to have dinner and cake. Jon requested a "slime" cake from his Nickelodeon cookbook. It was fun to make.