Snow!

Wow! January went by so fast! We got home from our Christmas trip and just dived right back into school and work. Keeping busy distracts us from the grim weather. We’ve just experienced the “Blizzard of ‘11” - - about 2 feet of snow with heavy winds. The snow blew right up against the front of our house and it took me over an hour just to shovel a little pathway from the front door to the driveway. The snow was 4 ft. high in areas. Luckily we have not had to go anywhere and the power has stayed on, so we’re warm and happy. The kids haven’t had school for 2 days, but they will go back tomorrow (the blizzard was followed by sub-zero temps, which is what kept them home today). Scott is out of town and was concerned about us but we’ve been fine!

Scott has been traveling extensively, 3 or 4 nights almost every week. It’s stressful, but hopefully things will ease up in a couple more months. At least he enjoys what he is doing. The travel isn’t always fun for him though; I got an email from him yesterday bemoaning the fact that he was stuck on an airplane between 2 aggressive gum chewers. His worst nightmare!

I’m taking 2 classes this semester. One of them is just one credit: introduction to liberal studies. It’s pretty easy, just information about logic and arguments and how to write a convincing paper. The other class is much more time consuming. It’s called “Ways of Knowing,” and is about the scientific method, philosophy, etc. I’ve had some very challenging assignments. So far I’m doing ok, but I definitely have felt my brain working!

Meredith is such a cutie-pie! She is talking more and more. The other day she was carrying around a big bag over her shoulder like a purse. She would bring me a domino and set it down, then say “bye,” and go back to Noah’s room for another domino. She did it for about 30 minutes, over and over. So funny! She just loves to read and be read to, and we have about a million books, so I spend a good part of my day reading. She also loves Elmo and gets very excited when we watch and Elmo video together. She’s in nursery now and loves it. She plays very well with the other kids, although she finds it difficult to stay in her seat when I come in for singing time!

I love my calling as primary chorister and I am having so much fun coming up with ways to teach new songs to the kids. It’s a great calling because I’m only busy on Sundays, and I can do the prep whenever I have time during the week. I never pictured myself as a chorister, because I’m not much of a singer, for sure! But I really am enjoying myself.

(Meredith just came in the room and bit the end off of a crayon.) She loves to draw, but for some reason she keeps biting the crayons. Colored pencils are a better bet for her.

Noah has been doing a lot of drawing himself, and his pictures have become more detailed and recognizable. He likes to draw the family, the seasons (they’ve been discussing them in school), and animals. He drew a great lion the other day. He also has a little crush on a girl at school named “Hannah W.” He talks about her all the time. He’s been wearing his Sunday suit to school fairly frequently lately, maybe to impress her?

Ethan is working hard at school, especially on his math, which has become much more challenging. He will be registering for his high school classes in February, which is scary! He’s been accepted into several honors courses, which is great, but I don’t want him to get burned out. He went to the Klondike Derby last weekend and he and his fellow scouts worked very well together. He has fun hanging out with his friend Adam on the weekends. I’m proud of what a fine young man he is becoming!

Happy winter!