The Mitten

Mena's preschool class read The Mitten by Jan Brett and then created their own mitten and animals to tell the story at home.  Mena was very excited to tell Maggie and I all about the story.  On another day, we saw a glove someone had dropped on the ground and Mena referred to this story.

Gluing

Maggie working very hard to squeeze glue out of the bottle!

Maggie yelled, "Ta Da!" when she glued the two pieces of paper together.

Mena created two snowmen with egg cartons, paint, paper, markers, and glue.

"I DID brush my hair!"

I told Maggie I needed to brush her hair and she replied, "I DID brush my hair!"  She was mad that I made her stand still and let me brush it again.  Such a strong personality!

In Memory of Merlin A. Olson

On January 18th, hospice called us in because Grandpa was doing so poorly.  The girls were at their dad's so I was able to go to Fremont nearly immediately.  I was able to say good-bye and offer some company to my mom, dad, Grandma, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Char.  I was so glad that I'd gone up, because the next morning Grandpa passed away.  I had picked the girls up from their dad's and we were at church.  I got Mom's message and called her back.  Mena was so sweet.  When I got off the phone, I immediately started crying when I told her.  She wrapped her little arms around me and hugged me while I cried.  Maggie was already in nursery so we didn't tell her until after church and Sunday School were over.

The girls went with me to both the visitation on Wednesday evening and the funeral on Thursday morning.  The procession from the church to the cemetery was led by a fire truck.  As we drove past the fire station, we saw all the trucks pulled out with their lights flashing.  All the on-duty fire fighters were dressed in their gear and standing very stoically at the end of the driveway. 

At the cemetery, the VFW did the folding and presentation of the flag to Grandma since Grandpa was in the air force.  Then the dispatcher announced over the fire fighters' radio that Grandpa had been laid to rest and they honored him for his years of service as a fire fighter and as fire chief.

This bouquet of flowers says Grandpa and Great Grandpa on the ribbon.  The three pink roses were for us 3 girls and the 5 yellow daisies were for the 5 great grandkids.

This bouquet was sent by Dan, my first boyfriend since the divorce.  The girls heard me talking to my family about him, but they haven't met him.

I saved 2 white roses and the purple flowers from the bouquet that Dan sent.  I saved the pink rose and yellow daisies from the Grandpa bouquet.  I kept them in this glass for about 24 hours and then Maggie and I were so stuffed up that I knew we couldn't keep them.  I plucked the petals off to save them in the glass as a reminder for us.

No Cavaties

When the girls last went to the dentist, they were each given a coupon for a free ice cream cone for having no cavities.  It was freezing cold and windy, but we bundled up and went to Dairy Queen for snack.  Seems a funny reward for no cavities, but we'll take it!

Mena's Art

"We put on the feathers after we painted the things and then we like let it dry.  Then the next day we did the black thing spider web.  It's an owl.  It's a background and we painted it white.  Bats fly at night and owls fly at night.  Owls fly out of a light window."

As best as I can gather, Mena's class made these after reading a book during group time.

Painting

I'm glad my girls enjoy art projects.  They each painted 3 egg carton cups white to make a snowman and then watercolor painted a piece of paper.

Jake Sleeps Over

Jake spent the night at our apartment while Peg and Jon went to Peg's work holiday party.  The kids had a lot of fun playing together.  I was a bit smarter at bed time.  Last time I had Jake, the three kids were all in the girls' bedroom and I had trouble getting them to go to sleep.  Last time I asked Jake do you want to sleep in the bedroom with the girls or on the couch in the living room.  He chose the cot in the bedroom with the girls.  This time I asked if he wanted to sleep on a big bed in the living room or a small bed in the girls' bedroom.  He chose the big bed and all 3 kids went to sleep relatively quickly!

Durham Museum

Durham Museum still had their Christmas Tree up.  We look miniature next to it!!

The girls sat with Grandma in one of the train cars.  They love going up and down each car and trying everything out!

Their second favorite part of the museum is the houses display.  After going through the houses once, they took a seat to rest in the rocking chairs.  When the girls got up, Mom and Dad sat down to wait for the girls to go through the houses 3-4 more times.

We went through the other displays and ended at the trolley, their favorite display.  They played until I asked if they wanted to go get some lunch.  We got to visit and eat lunch with Aunt Beth.