Midwest Keech

On Tuesday, I took Adam to get a haircut after cub scouts. I had the strongest urge to get a haircut too. I resisted temptation (because I had no idea what I wanted and would've probably been disappointed). Well, I resisted for a couple of days. Last night, I decided to whack it all off. My hair is SUPER thick, and it WAS a bit lower than my shoulders. The stylist kept at it, cutting & marveling at how much hair she was having to "take off". There was literally more hair on the floor, than was left on my head. She cut it a tad shorter than I had initially anticipated, but I love the way it turned out. This morning, I blow-dried & took some time styling my hair, but I think it was a great choice for me. With my curly hair, I can scrunch it for one style. I can straighten it for another, bob-like style. This is definitely what I needed to break up some of the winter blues & cabin fever.

"This is ...., superintendant for .... schools. Classes for tomorrow, January 16th, will be cancelled due to inclement weather..." I have recieved this call a couple of times recently. Today, we're going on 3 "Snow" days. We do have snow on the ground. We got several inches Sunday-Tuesday, but the "inclement weather" is not the snow. It is frigid here. Yesterday, it "warmed up" to -11 or so. Yup, that's without figuring the wind chill. It is crazy-cold. Right now, it is +1. Today, we actually braved the elements & ran a couple of errands. I promised the kids we could eat lunch at Sam's Club on payday. The girls have been talking about it ALL week long. I hate taking everyone out into the cold because of all the layers and gloves and boots and hats... But, I think that WE ALL needed to get out of the house for a little bit. I think today was actually a pretty good day to venture out. It's really cold, but not too windy. The win...

Apparently, my girls want to be part of the Bishop's family. They were playing with their Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty Polly Pocket dolls. Adelaide introduced herself to Mia..."Hello, my name is Cinderella Hafen." To which Mia replied, "I'm Sleeping Beauty Hafen." I know it's probably because they saw their friends in Primary today. But, of all their friends, they chose to be part of Bishop's family?? Is this a bad sign? Seriously though, this is a new year and means new teachers and changing classes for most. Allison has been going to nursery since August (yippee!). Adelaide was in there with her, so she had no problem with separation anxiety or other issues. I am happy to say, that she continues to LOVE nursery...even though Adelaide has moved on, and she is now attending alone. Adelaide is the one I worried about. So far, she loves going to Primary & attending Sunbeams. She is very excited to be a "Big Girl". She loves singing ti...

NOT to be confused with Powerpuff Girls.... Yesterday was not a good day around here. Aside from needing to do the laundry, it wasn't supposed to be a big deal. Well, the girls made a huge mess! Amelia & Adelaide emptied an almost-full baby powder all over their room. I was SO MAD!!! I was proud of myself for grabbing the camera instead of them. It gave me a minute to calm myself ( a little ). Here, you can see footprints in the powder. The girls had powder ALL over them, but especially in their hair. I was coughing & hated breathing the stuff. Didn't the dust bother them too?? Luckily, the majority of the mees was on one side of the room. I know I could have cleaned things better, but I made them clean the other half of their room alone. They had to do it if they wanted to take a bath instead of a shower (which is a punishment for these girls who HATE showers). The video shows the disaster much better. I still feel the dusty film in the hallway upstairs. Aaah!!!

On New Year's Eve, I decided to take the kids to our local Children's Museum. Silly me, when I planned to go, I didn't think about the fact that it would be PACKED with people. Oh well. Adam invited a friend & we were on our way. We started with the paint wall like we always do. The girls love painting & this is the one place I don't mind them doing it. Hey- I don't have to clean up the mess. Bonus! The other kids went over to the Lego table. Poor Allison, another little kid took her wheels. Because it was New year's eve, there were crafts & noise makers for the 12pm (noon) countdown. The girls decorated crowns with markers & sequins. Of course, they had a blast decorating, but then didn't want to wear them. They even had a snack. There was another station set up to make-your-own snack mix. They had a couple of cereals, raisins and M&M's. The kids ate-'em-up. Adelaide is probably the one who is most like I (am) was as a child. We ...

For years, we've been spending Christmas Eve with my in laws . We like spending time together & eating. For many years, it was tradition for my Mother-in-Law (MIL) to serve cheese fondue & chocolate fondue. A couple of years ago, she got a chocolate fountain which also became part of the fun. What's the point? Well, I adapted this tradition to better suit us & our little family. We invited our good friends over & had an appetizer party. We had shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms, veggies & dip, mini quiche', chips & salsa and (of course) chocolate fondue and a non-alcoholic egg nog . Another tradition we have is that everyone gets to open one present on Christmas Eve. The last few years, we've been & my BIL's (Bro-in-law) home & have opened the gifts from them. I like the idea of opening new PJ's for Christmas Eve. I have mentioned "My Projects" a couple of times, rather cryptically, because Adam occasionally reads the ...

My kids are pretty early-risers, so I had to get up even earlier, so I could shower & feel "human" Christmas morning. We woke the kids up & they were SO excited! Good morning Mia. Allison coming down the stairs. She wiggled out of her PJ pants. Another tradition we have, is to take turns opening our gifts starting with the youngest. That way, we all get to see what everyone got & their reactions. It also gives us the opportunity to say thank you, before forgeting who gave what to who. So, after having our yummy breakfast of Butterscotch Rolls, we began opening gifts with Allison. It was SO funny. She pulled off the 1st, small piece of paper & went to put it in the garbage can. Whatg a good little trained monkey. Then, she pulled off more & took them to daddy who had the garbage bag. It's been a long time since we've had a large variety of play food, so that's what she got. It was too funny to see her pounce on it once she saw what it was. She w...