What do you do when Tiny can't sleep?

First you play Hide & Seek Reveal, when Tiny hides in the exact same spot every time :)

Then you make Daddy "Ring Around the Rosie" a few times, until you get too dizzy to keep going.

Then you snuggle with Mommy and have a one last snack. 

Phew. Round 2: Now sweet girl can sleep :)

Some fun with my girl

While Mommy is grading, "lellow" (aka coloring) is a good way to pass the time and look equally important.

All colors are either "lellow" or "loo"

 Dedicating brain power to making sure she knows at least the sound or the name of every animal in her bucket. (Love those curls and the pony tail!)

Mmmmm, yogurt. Trix IS for kids! :)

Family selfie. Because it's fun :)

This baby girl cracks me up. She's picking up new words like crazy, wants to learn anything we can figure out how to teach her. Loves to "eat!" and loves her family. 

Oh, and a funny story from preschool yesterday:

Allegedly, Clara kept grabbing her little classmates' hands and trying to get them to spin around and around while saying "ashes" over and over and then falling down. Her teachers figured out she was trying to get her little friends to play Ring Around the Rosie with her. Rather than having one child yanking kiddos around without them having any idea why, the teacher decided to teach the entire class ROTR. At first she would do it one on one, but Clara kept dragging more and more kids over to the circle until the entire class of 10 kids was playing with both of their teachers!!! This story cracked me up. The girl child likes to get things done! 

Senior Self-Perception

Today in the 12th Grade English class we read the prologue to Ellison's novel the Invisible Man. After we finished reading it, I had them use the format of the beginning of the prologue to create their own version. In the Invisible Man's prologue, the narrator is stating what he is and what he is not according to how he perceives himself. I had them all write one using their own self-perception. I was so excited about the assignment (dorky teacher alert) that I decided to write one for myself, too.

Enjoy them!
(In case you can't read them I will translate below)

These are so precious, and I already told the students not to plan to get them back because I will treasure them forever :) Keep in mind this is Legacy's very FIRST graduating class! We have 5 seniors and they will be graduating this May!

Top left: Alex

I am intelligent.

No, I am not stupid; nor am I ignorant.

I am loving and thoughtful – and I might even be said to be a good listener.

Top right: Me

I am colorful.

No, I am not in costume; nor am I covered in paint.

I am a mommy with juicy applesauce on my shirt and bright red spaghetti sauce in my hair, and a teacher with red pen marks on my hands and white chalk dust on my black slacks – and I might even be said to be wearing mismatched socks because I’m as tired as I am loving my colorful life.

Middle left: Emily

I am blessed.

No, I am not ungrateful; nor am I selfish.

I am understanding, and a leader at times – and I might even be said to be one of a kind.

Middle Right: Raymond

I am unexpected.

No, I am not noticed; nor am I forgotten.

I am raising up, and not slowing down – and I might even be said to make it far.

Bottom left: Katherine

I am unsure of the future.

No, I am not afraid; nor am I trying to control it.

I am letting my worries drift to tomorrow, and being bold – and I might even be said to take the path less traveled.

Bottom right: Colby

I am funny.

No,  I am not corny; nor am I cheesy.
I am sweet, and nice – and I might even be said to be a man of confidence.

Ice Day Playdate

Today was a(n) snow ice day for our area. Bryan and Clara both had work/preschool cancelled, and I work from home on Tuesday/Thursdays so we had an unexpected weekday family day!

We hung loose at home and played with lots of animals, crayons and books and took a nap, but this afternoon post-nap we decided to meet up with our friends Ms. Michelle and Zachariah (and Mr. Logan once he was off of work) at The Woodlands' Children's Museum. 

Icicles

As soon as we got there both kids made their way straight to the play house/kitchen area. They put away food in the refrigerator, washed dishes, and made us a snack. They even swept and mopped when they were finished! (Isn't play food the best?)

Then they took the fire truck for a ride.

Loves to "drive"

Mommy! Are you watching!?

Dug up some dinosaurs with her buddy

And played with dry rice.

Made some gears spin.

I love watching Bryan play with his baby girl :)

Those are REAL BIRDS Mama!!!

(4 mini-parrot-type birds in a cage nearby. She was SO excited, especially since she learned the word "bird" just yesterday! "cheep cheep")

It was surprisingly empty there this afternoon so we actually got to play with all of the giant foam building blocks and tubes. I think Bryan was even more excited to play in there than Clara :)

I was more of an observer for this particular activity.

With her buddy

She walks away and climbs up. "Yay-Clara!" :)

climbing is just so much fun

"ba" = ball

Driving the truck, and even changing gears

Oh boy water table time!

Michelle, Z, Bryan and CB

Despite the nifty water protector thingys, it turns out your child can still get drenched if they decide they are thirsty :)

Daddy took Clara's shirt into the bathroom to hold it under the drier while Clara wanted to keep playing :) I got a couple of side-eyes from other parents, but seriously it's COLD. Better to dry the shirt and let her be half naked for 5 minutes than her go outside in 32*F weather with a drenched shirt, right!?

love her expression

One last fun thing to check out before it was time for closing.

Then the 6 of us made our way over to Crust's Pizza. Clara ate over half of my pizza! The girl loves chicken, pineapple and cheese :)

Stuffed and tired, it was almost time to go home.

love these 2!

When we got home Clara rode her truck around the house a few times just to get any last energy and wiggles out before bedtime.

(Sorry so many of the pictures today were blurry - it's hard to catch toddlers keeping still, and I wouldn't even want to when they're having so much fun! :)

Night night!

Hope you stayed warm today!

Houston Bound

We had such a lovely time in Midland, but it was time to come home today.

The travel situation was a little interesting since the United check-in was NOT staffed, and apparently no one else could check our car seat in, so we missed the flight we were scheduled for. Thankfully we were able to get some help before the next flight to Houston and there were seats on the very last row for us :) Hooray!

Waiting and waiting and waiting for anyone to come to the United counter even after being paged repeatedly!

Still waiting, but having a seat ...

Still waiting but now dragging the seat ... 

SUCCESS AT LAST!

New boarding tickets in hand we got some fruit and a muffin to share and went to the gate.

Can you guess where Clara is in this picture?

Yep, IN the phone booth :)

 Lulu is a saint, people.

Make sure to apply liberal amounts of chap stick all over your face!

And comb your hair.

We just LEFT!? We're not there yet!?

 Clara wanting a seat of her own

:)

If we crash, I know who I'll be asking for procedures.  

Landed, got our stuff, car seat ready to go. This sweet girl was out cold in 2 minutes flat and slept the entire way home. Traveling is such hard work for tikes, especially when it interferes with bed time and nap time!

Thanks again for having us Grady and Marissa!

And thank you for taking us, Lulu!!

Midland Relaxation

Phew. Still have enough energy to keep going?

We didn't after that walk! So everyone took a nap (except for Marissa and Lulu I think?)

Uncle G read Clara a story

And Lulu gave both girls snuggles. It's hard to only have 1 Lulu!

Even MORE fun with Uncle G!

Video:

Then I had the chance to visit with my freshman RA, Carrie for a little while, which was really nice!

Time for dinner, yuummmm

A few pictures of the girls before bath time:

Clara was a big helper!

Once Molly got out, Clara wanted to check out her nifty bath chair.

All clean, lotioned, and PJ-ed up.

It's a good thing Uncle G has 2 knees, huh?

:)

Once the girls were in bed Lulu & I tried to help G & M figure out how to decorate their pretty new house. We had such a great time!! It was going to be an early morning getting to the airport, so it was bed time pretty shortly after that for the rest of us too!