there's a new master of puppets in town...

Do you think Jim Henson started out this way?

This is part of a project that Nicholas is doing for his h-i-s-t-o-r-y class.  Yup, history... I don't get it either!

frozen shut...

We seem to be having a bit of an ice problem by the back gate this year...

birthday wish fulfilled...

Nicholas wished for a day off from school on his birthday.  Sofia wished for a day off from school on Nicholas' birthday.

Happy 15th Birthday to Nicholas!  :-)

we got alot of snow...

Ozzy loves it!

oblivious...

~*~

~*~

choosing to be busy...

So, here we are at the end of the first week of 2011 -- and I feel as if I am still going at the same speed as I was before the holidays.  If I don't think about it, I'm okay.  But if I do, then I need to sit down right here at the PC and give myself a little mental and physical break.  Right now I'm looking outside at the snow and dreaming of springtime...  Downstairs, waiting for me, is this pile -- I need to move it so that we can work on finishing part of the basement area.  The area that you are looking at in the photo is the southeast corner of the basement.  This area will have a couch and TV.  The floor will be wood laminate with an area rug.  There will be recessed lighting fixtures in the ceiling.  The walls will be sheetrock painted in a warm, lovely color.  There will be some open shelving to display collectibles and house dvd's, video games, etc.  I love the fact that the sun shines in through the single window until about noon -- so it is not a dark and dingy corner of the basement.  You cannot tell from the picture, but this part of the finished basement area will be approximately 16' x 16' or a bit larger.  Yes, this is only part of the project.  Stay tuned for more...  

So, that is where I am headed today -- while I am dreaming of springtime... 

new year....

new school...

Today was Sofia's first day back to school following holiday recess.  The building behind her is the -- long awaited -- finally completed -- new school!  It is HUGE!  It was supposed to be completed by September 2010 -- but there were some construction delays -- and then there was a fire on the 3rd floor (in the part of the building where Sofia's official classroom is located).  Because of the damage from the fire, Sofia's current classroom is in a different part of the building -- until the fire damage is fixed.  Since this school is "around the corner and down the street" from our house, Sofia doesn't have to take the bus anymore.  She is VERY happy about that.  While the weather is cold, I will probably drive her there -- but when it warms up, I think this would be a nice excuse for us to put on our walking shoes. :-)

This is another little piece of our community history that we are happy to be a part of.  As I stood outside of the school this afternoon at pick up time, one of my neighbors commented on how many children were within walking distance of the school -- we are talking about hundreds of children...

And to think, when we moved here, we felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere!

The view was a bit different when these photos were taken in Aug. 2008!