Snowman

Have you ever thought about the true Christmas spirit? What does Christmas mean to you? A simple snowman changed the way we think about Christmas and we wanted to share it with you. Hopefully you will read this and really appreciate what you have and what you can give to others. Here is the story behind the snowman pictured above...

As many of our readers know, Mom is a teacher. She teaches at an inner city school. Mom doesn't get Christmas presents from her students, nor does she expect to. Her students come to school hungry and often don't know where they will sleep at night. Not only does she teach in the inner city, but the domestic violence safe house and the homeless shelter are both in her school's district. Anyway, she got the lovely snowman pictured above as a gift. Mom teaches two sisters who bounce around from place to place. They have been in foster care due to neglect. These two sweet girls brought Mom the snowman for a Christmas gift on Friday. It was dirty and ragged. The bottom and the back were covered with pet stains. Mom started to cry when they gave it to her. The girls, of course, were so proud of the gift. It touched Mom's heart that these girls would think of her and want to do something special for her. As scrappy as the gift was, it was a symbol of how special Mom is to the girls. She knew that they had given her one of their possessions. One of the girls told Mom that they didn't have a tree and the snowman was one of their only Christmas decorations. Mom tried to give it back, but they wouldn't take it.

Anyway, think about the gifts you receive this season. They may not be what you want or what you would pick out for yourself, but someone went to the trouble to give you a gift. We should all be thankful for the gifts we get. Most of all, we should be thankful that we have a warm bed to sleep in and a home to go home to. We have enough food for our bellies and the love and support of our families.

"Eye" Can See...

After this simple procedure, Mom can see! On Thursday, December 2nd, she had iLasik surgery in Bloomington. Before the surgery she could only see 20/500 in her right eye and 20/400 in her left. Her vision was only correctable to 20/40 with glasses and contacts. One Valium and approximately 15 minutes later, Mom was a new woman. When she went back on Friday for her 1 day post-op surgery her eyesight was 20/15. 20/15!!! She can see and is amazed at some of the things she didn't realize she was missing out on. The top 3 discoveries she made are:
1. People can actually read the numbers and addresses on mailboxes from their cars.
2. The back-up camera on her van is actually in color.
3. there is a sign at the end of our road (where it dead ends) that says "Spang St.". Mom didn't even know that sign was there and we've lived in our house for 11 years!
The procedure was simple and painless. If you have ever even thought about it, DO IT! As Mom can tell you, it is "life changing"!

I Can't Believe My Eyes!

Yes, the title tells the truth. We are still alive and well, although we seem to have fallen off the face of the blog world in recent months (well, really many months). We are giving this a trial run again. So much has happened in the past nine months. Here's a brief synopsis of what is going on:
Jake
Jake has graduated from 5th grade, turned 12, and started middle school. He made it through his first season playing tennis. Last week he tried out for the 6th grade basketball team at his school. Over 40 kids tried out and the team was cut to 12. He made the cut! You can look forward to seeing some pictures and updates on the basketball season.
Syd
Sydney started 5th grade, her last year in her current elementary school. She is currently on the newspaper staff, serving on student council (and campaigning for president at this moment-- we'll keep you posted), involved in math club, and Girl Scouts. Mom and Dad are currently trying to persuade her to take up either basketball or volleyball, due to the fact that she is 5'3" and the tallest kid in her school. Did we also mention that she probably also has the biggest feet? She currently wears a size 10 in women's!
Owen
Owen graduated from kindergarten. He was nervous about moving to 1st grade because "1st grade work is too hard". Over the summer, he turned 6. Needless to say, school started and he reluctantly started 1st grade. He is doing very well and now claims the work is "too easy". he has had 100% on all of his weekly spelling and reading tests and on both of his two math unit tests. Owen still loves to run around outside like a mad man and climb like a monkey. He is really beginning to love reading, as he can read many books by himself. He loves reading to his little sister. He can't wait for basketball to start in a month and wants to play soccer in the spring.
Kenna
The baby officially started public school this year. We were fortunate enough to be able to send Kenna to the elementary school she will go to for a brand new morning preschool program. She is kind of like a guinea pig. Hopefully the program takes off and they will be able to offer a morning and afternoon session next year. She thinks she is a big girl going to school everyday with Mommy, Syd, and Owen. Kenna has also developed into a little fashionista, so be careful. the girl can SHOP! Everything has to coordinate. She refuses to wear certain items in her wardrobe because "that's ugly" or "that's not cute". She has started taking ballet class once a week and acts like a prima ballerina. She has yet to decide if she will participate in the spring recital.
We promise to do a better job with keeping everyone up to date. Mom got a new Nikon camera and is really getting into photography. She has tons of pictures she has taken and will post some this week for your enjoyment. Thanks for hanging in there and being patient with us. We promise it will be worth the wait!