Yes, again :(

Snow pillows form an abstract scene

I know that everyone is sick of hearing about my weather. I'm sick of living in it!!! All but a few feet of our yard was completely bare. We woke up this morning to snow. It's one o'clock now and hasn't let up yet. We must have 3-5 inches and EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY COVERED AGAIN!!!! I just want to scream. Tomorrow is MAY for goodness sake. You would think we lived AT the North Pole instead of IN North Pole :) I have been teased enough over the last few weeks - it just keeps snowing and melting, snowing and melting. I'm sure this will melt again in the next few days - but will it snow again in May? Only time will tell....

New Blog

School Days

I don't have enough things to do, so I decided to start another blog last week :) I will still be adding things to this one (mostly for friends and family). The other blog I have geared specifically towards our homeschooling adventures in order to share ideas with other homeschoolers. You might not want to see what curriculum my kids are using or look at their school assignments, but then again maybe you would!
If you would like to see it, here is the address:

http://islandacademy.blogspot.com/

We decided to name our school Island Academy since SOMEDAY we'll be moving to the island (If I can ever get Andy to retire!)

Snow again

Snowflake, Close Up

Yes, we got snow again. Andy was going to clean up the yard today, but he has been saved - at least for now. It is supposed to turn into rain later today and hopefully it will all melt quickly. It's still depressing though! It seems like we'll never see spring or summer. I know we're not the only ones though - Andrea got snow in Montana too. How did we both end up in such cold places??

The baby is coming soon :)

I had another doctor's appointment today. The baby is doing fine and it's head is down and ready to go :) The doctor said that since I have had quick labors in the past, it might not be a bad idea to start the process at the hospital to make sure that I make it there in time. The thought of having the baby at home or in the car is kind of scary, but we live close to the hospital (Unfortunately the gate to post that we live next to is closed at night - and I have had them all between midnight and 2 in the morning!)
The decision is mine though and I am not excited about the thought of being induced. I am 36 weeks right now. I go back in 2 weeks and she said she could strip my membranes and then have me stay at the hospital to see if labor starts. If I don't go into labor, she offered to induce me at 39 weeks. I am thinking that I will just wait until I get to my due date and then let her strip my membranes (I had that done with Lexie and Nick and had them that same evening). I hate to mess with nature unless absolutely needed. I figure the baby knows when it's ready to come. I've had 4 pretty easy labors - I would hate for the 5th to be a nightmare because I was induced.

The kids' plans for the future

Last night as I was putting Lexie to bed, she told me that someday she wants to be a mom. How heartwarming :) Then she said she wanted to be a mom because then she could #1 tell Ellie and Kate what to do and #2 make macaroni and cheese. I just love her reasoning!
Then she decided that she wanted to be an animal doctor also. She really does love animals. She wants to take care of them all :)

Kate wants to be a scientist and a swim teacher.

Ellie wants to be an archaeologist and a fashion designer.

Our Yard

The last of the snow is hanging on as long as it can. We will soon be able to rake up all of the leaves and give the grass a good mow. We were planning on doing it this coming weekend, but I looked at the forecast and we have possible rain and snow!! I guess that saves Andy for one more week :) And there is our poor greenhouse, crying out for some attention. We have started seeds inside the garage to transplant when it's warm enough (there is a furnace and electricity in the greenhouse but it isn't connected/set up). I'm hoping to get inside the greenhouse this weekend and check to see what it looks like (the snow was piled up in front of the door and I couldn't open it last week!).

Ellie and Nick

Heating Oil

The cost of heating oil up here has gotten absolutely ridiculous. We have had ours filled in October, December, and February for about $900 each time (it was about $2.71 a gallon in Oct). Today they came and filled us up (with less gallons than we had used before) for $1200!! It was up to $3.74 a gallon. I don't know how people can afford to live here forever!! Yikes! At least the weather has finally warmed up and we won't need a refill until fall again.

Sick again

The kids woke up sick. Must be the change in weather or something. We're going to have to cancel gymnastics today and make a trip to the store for some more Kleenex :) It looks like it's going to be a lazy day...

BREAK UP IS HERE!!!!!

Do I sound a little bit excited? I am! It is actually 60 degrees out today (and is supposed to be 55-60 all week long!) The snow is melting fast and our yard is full of melting snow and puddles. We have opened up the windows and aired out the house. The girls are outside playing in the yard - without sweatshirts or coats! Andy is out in the gazebo grilling ribs. The drip, drip, drip sound of melting snow is music to my ears :) This is the first time we've seen our yard since October....

Sleeping Beauties

No, these pictures were not taken after the ball. The girls are still awake with extra energy, reliving the ball :) This was taken the day before.

Father- Daughter Ball

Andy took all 3 girls to the Father-Daughter Ball tonight. Don't they all look like little princesses? They had such a good time. Kate of course was enamored with the chocolate fountain where you could dip strawberries. We will be dry cleaning her dress :)

I Spy Down

Lexie has always said "I Spy Down" instead of upside down. I just think that's the cutest thing. I think she actually learned to say "Upside Down" today though, so I won't be hearing her cute little saying anymore....

More Snow :(

My hopes are dashed again. The snow from the weekend had melted off and I could see parts of the yard for the second time. But it was not meant to be. It snowed overnight and it has snowed all morning so far and we're supposed to get a few inches at least. I'm starting to think that we'll never see our yard again.

Daddy

Here is a picture of Andy, drawn by Lexie.

Crummy Weekend

What a crummy weekend. First of all, we had SUCH nice weather last week 40-50 degrees. By Friday, we could actually see about 1/3 of our yard. The snow was melting fast and I was getting really excited about spring. We were going to get the yard cleaned up this weekend and venture into the greenhouse to clean it up too. Well, it's Monday now and we have at least one inch of new snow - and a forecast of a chance of snow all week. It's only 12 degrees out and everything that I could see last week is now again covered in snow. The roads are slippery again and it's depressing. AAHHHHHH!! When will it end??

Secondly, we found a new home for Buster. While that is a good thing, it was a very sad. I took the kids out for a milkshake while Andy stayed here to meet with Amy (the lady who took him). That was not a fun ride. Lexie has taken it the hardest. She is definitely the animal lover in the house. She was pretty upset and let me know how she felt. We will have to get another Yellow Lab once we have settled down in Washington. The family that he is with are just perfect though - they have 4 kids also (older than ours) and have been desperately wanting an adult yellow lab for a couple of years. They have another dog and a cat and Buster has gotten along very well with both of them so far. Amy has kept me updated on how he is doing and we have offered to petsit for Buster if they ever need it. It has been a couple of days now and the kids seem ok with it. I can't believe how quiet the house is! Buster never barked, but I didn't realize how noisy he was - the jingling of his tags and his feet on the hardwood floors. It seems almost silent in here without that constant background noise - well as silent as a house can be with 4 kids in it!! We were very sad to see him go, but we're convinced that we made the right decision for him.