All Dressed Up

This is how Will decided to get dressed this morning.  The only reason he allowed me to take a picture is because I told him it would make Aunt Krissy laugh her head off!

My Dog Loves to Eat

This is the picture I keep in mind when I'm slaving over cooking food for the dogs!  Who knew chicken, rice, and peas could bring this much joy!  Napoleon does this EVERY time we feed him.  Today I actually saw his nose clear the countertop! (Check out the height he gets at the 35 second mark!)  Josie on the other hand patiently sits and waits.  Though if we ever forget to feed them, she is the one who scratches her empty bowl to remind us! 

It's Freezing! (rain)

After the incredibly cold weather last week I was relieved to hear it was supposed to warm up some this week.  As it turned out warming up meant trading powdery, fluffy snow for sleet, ice, and freezing rain!  We woke up to about 2 inches of it this morning and it's supposed to rain all week.  : (

I'll take the arctic air with snow I can play in over sleet and ice any day!

While I was looking for the silver lining to my cloudy day I did
discover that the ice was pretty hanging in the trees.  : )

 

My big, fat, (cold) squirrel who learned how to steal my
birdseed by hanging upside down by his back legs!
Isn't he cute!

How NOT to Spend Your Money

Unfortunately, we visited the dinosaur show that came to Altoona over the weekend.  It turned out to be a poor choice for entertainment for us.  We paid way too much (about $50 for the three of us) and got way too little in return (just over an hour). 

The show consisted of about 15 of this type of dinosaur scene with
informative plaques.

Will did enjoy the set-ups where you could push buttons to control the dinosaurs'
movements and sounds.

Then he enjoyed taking a few pictures when I let him use my camera.
He would have enjoyed using my camera anywhere - that was nothing specific to the show!

We ended up spending most of our time watching the video they showed
and playing in this sand box!

 
We thought some bounce houses, a dinosaur ride, and fossil mining (sluicing) were included as well but it turned out that those things were an additional $30!!  I guess we would have gotten a better value if Will was super fascinated by dinosaurs, but of course he's not since dinos don't have wheels!!  : )

Actually, for me the most amazing part of the show was seeing how many people were there with multiple kids!  Either there is tons of disposable income in Altoona or there were lots of people desperate to get their kids out of the house for a while.  I guess we fell into the second category!  : )

Oh well!  Live and learn!   : )

It's COLD!!!

It has been so very cold this week - I don't think it has gotten above 18 degrees even during the day!  That's great weather for sleeping at night but it has made for a few really long days this week.  Play day at the Community Center was cancelled due to weather on Wednesday and it's been too cold to go outside so Will has had lots of pent-up energy. 

We've gone through lots of indoor toys this week.



Thanks for the craft kit Aunt Andy!
(And thanks for reminding me that this is a great opportunity to use it!)
Will enjoyed painting rocks.  : )

 

We got about an inch of snow yesterday and about 4-5 more today.
Will helped me shovel the driveway.  We were both glad to
get out of the house even though it was only 16 degrees out there!

He worked the whole time I did and was really a good help this year!
I remember last year he shoveled more INTO the driveway than out.

I made snow ice cream as a treat after dinner.  Snow + sweetened condensed milk + vanilla.  YUM!
(This face has been Will's new pose for the camera)

Brittney, you would be proud:  my snow-cream got two thumbs up this year.
I made it a couple of years ago while Brittney was visiting but
it got lumpy that time.  Will reported no lumpy ice crystals today! 

Napoleon's Tent

Today I suspected Napoleon is more sly than I give him credit for.  Will has this little tent that he's been using for Perry and the couple other stuffed aminals he has taken an interest in caring for as pets recently.  After Will went to bed this evening Napoleon helped himself to a cozy spot in the tent!  It's a good thing Will was already in bed because he would have had a fit about Napoleon taking over the tent he set up for Perry.

Looking back, it makes me think twice about assuming Napoleon was innocent when he took Will's stuffed hampster a while back (which Will has never really forgiven him for by the way)!

It's just like a bad case of sibling rivalry!

Playing Games

At preschool the kids are working on memorizing sight words, specifically the color words.  When they have learned all of them they earn a certificate.  I asked Will about it when he brought the flashcards home and he was very unimpressed by the whole thing.  He said "Yeah, if we learn all the words we get like a little piece of paper or something like that."  I wanted to help motivate him since this was really the first time he had been asked to do any type of reading so while we were at Kid to Kid in State College over the weekend I found a Phineas and Ferb board game for $4.  (It turned out to be the deal of the day because I think it was brand new.)  He was excited about that being his prize for memorizing his words, which he then worked very hard on!  : )

He earned his certificate today so he and I got to play a round together!

During this round Will had to balance Frankenstein's brain on the timer while blindfolded!

Will used my camera to capture me bouncing the brain off the wall
and trying to catch it blindfolded.
(no, thankfully not every task requires the blindfold!)

A Sunday Drive

I wanted to get out of the house today so we went for a short ride to the Aitch Recreation Area at the lake.  It was still a little cool but it was warmer than it had been and wasn't raining.  We walked out on the fishing pier where Jerry and Will took turns trying to throw rocks out to the frozen portion of the lake. 

Of course it was beautifully foggy and misty on the lake but I didn't bring my good
camera so we only have a couple of blurry pictures from Jerrys phone.

My son can't resist making silly faces at the camera!  : )
(at least we got him in the picture - that's always an accomplishment!)

A Visit from Jenny & Craig

As we were loading up in the car to go snow tubing, Jenny was digging though her purse for something.  Will saw her and asked if she had anything in there for him.  She said, "I have some Gas-X.  Do you need any of that?"  Will replied, "Well, probably!" 

When we parked at the mall Jerry asked Will if he knew what those sticks were for (the ones they put around the curbs to guide the snow plows).  Will immediately said "Yeah, I know what they're for!" And in the next breath asked, "Which sticks are you talking about?"  My son may only be five but there's nothing he doesn't know!

We went to the Meadows for ice cream and Craig gave Will a quarter for the vending machines.  Will ended up getting a ring and when he got home he decided he wanted to attach a gemstone to it and give it to Sammie, Brittney's friend, to marry her.  He worked a long time on the ring, trying everything from glue to tape before I finally helped him attach the rock with some stretchy jewelry cord.  When it was done he took it over to Sammie saying "Hey, wanna take a look at this?"  She made over it and asked if it was for her.  Will's reply:  "NO!"  Obviously he liked the result so well he couldn't part with it.  Later he (I) made a ring for Jenny that he actually gave to her.  He explained at that point that if he gave the other one to Sammie, "I'd have been stuck with that girl forever!"

Obviously we had a fun visit this weekend!

Will loved tubing and went down alone all but twice!

"Nenny" and me

Will and Brittney working on Sammie' s ring

Jenny' s ring

I caught Will off guard with Craig' s hat on.
It turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of him!
I wish I could catch him unaware more often   : )

New Year's Eve

Grandad, mom, and her boyfriend, Tom, came up to celebrate the New Year with us.  We went to State College on New Year's Eve to see the ice sculptures then came home and had a nice little party.

Will anxiously waiting for our company

Ice sculpting in action at the First Night celebration in State College

Tom and Will enjoyed the ice slide

Here are a few of the smaller sculptures we saw

Party time!

Enjoying a few hands of Texas Hold'em.

Will was excited to join us for a game of "poker" since he knows Jerry plays poker with the guys.  He won by building the tallest tower of chips!