Snow

It's the morning after the fifth (5th) snow day of the year.  Even Kieran has figured out that snow days are not good and it'll be made up later.  He did not want to listen to the message from the superintendent canceling school (although Central's superintendent is actually fun to listen to on his message - his disgust with the weather is apparent), Kieran covered his ears when the message was played.

Chaska, Norwood, Delano and most of the area schools canceled --- this time due to snow, the previous four were all due to cold temperatures.  Officially, we received 9.9 inches of snow, bringing our season to date total to 57 inches (average season to date is 39.5 inches).  Why do people live in Minnesota?

We're running out of room where we can put the snow....the piles are taller than our vehicles...

We struggling to even look out our windows downstairs....

Anyone want to go swinging in the back yard?  Yeah....we can't.

Here's a picture of the over-worked snow shovel (nothing fancy like a snow blower, it's all human powered here)...

There's actually trouble coming with the shovel....let's zoom in on 'Old Blue'....

Had 'Old Blue' since the winter of 02-03...she's reliable, hardworking and trustworthy....she's dealt with some huge snowfalls and then some winters where she was bored with the lack of snow.  Either way, she's been a winter constant.

But, can you see the problem she's having this winter with her old age?  Let's zoom in a little more....

Yeah...there it is....'Old Blue' is dying.  We don't know how much time she has left.  It's only February 22nd and we haven't even got to the state tournament snowstorms yet, let alone the possible April snows we got last year (that better not happen this spring).  There is no retirement home for shovels, she's needed this year yet and we'll continue to use her....the trouble is we don't know how much time she has left....

We hope a good death finds her....not on a 1-inch snowfall...something big...it better be worth it....

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday evening of Valentine's day, dinner is complete and hopefully things begin to quiet down.  Luke and Lex are happy with their valentines (another car that transformers for Luke and a Dora book for Lex).

Kieran is busy counting the number of football cards he has now --- something like 96 cards representing 95 players --- after getting some more for his valentines...

Both boys have come home with large amounts of candy associated with the valentines they received there.  Check out Luke's valentine box that was made at home and taken to preschool!  I had nothing to do with it...Maddy designed the dinosaur and the box, Luke did a little coloring of the dinosaur's face.  It's probably the most elaborate valentine's box I've ever seen!  (I helped Kieran make his valentines box/bag that he took to school --- thankfully I didn't take a picture, because Luke's/Maddy's box puts that one to shame).

Dinner tonight consisted of a Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza for the kids...

A veggie delight pizza for Sarah....I had a few slices of that too, turns out it was better than the pepperoni pizza...

The three youngest kids are now watching Wall-E on the Disney Channel.  Maddy has been lifeguarding all night, works the 4:00-9:00 shift (part of being the low person on staff, you work days like this).  Sarah has been studying since about 4:30 --- after 5-6 months of class almost every Tuesday and Thursday, her final written and practicum tests are tomorrow morning!

Me...I'm trying to stay out of everyone's way...and trying to stay awake too (then I can watch some Olympics after the kids go to bed).

Again....Happy Valentine's Day!

Pinewood Derby - update

Here's the results of the pinewood derby:

Kieran took 3rd place in his den (the small group that meets monthly...keep in mind there are only 4 members of the den and I'm pretty sure one wasn't even there, but oh well).  If I remember correctly, Kieran's car averaged something like 132-135 miles per hour.  The overall winning car averaged right around 145 miles per hour.

Kieran's wolf den was also the fasted den in the pack.  The pack is comprised of 5-6 dens, so together with the other boys, Kieran and his den averaged the fastest overall speed.

Edit:  It's currently -18 degrees with a wind chill of -37, schools are closed for the second consecutive day.  This makes 4-5 days that have been cancelled this month alone, all because of cold temperatures/wind chills, none because of snow.  I am seriously considering moving.....

Pinewood Derby

The Cub Scout Pinewood Derby is tomorrow (Saturday, January 25).  Last year, Kieran wanted a semi-truck that was painted like Optimus Prime.  Well....this year he wanted to paint his car so it would look like something from the 'Seattle Seahawk Football team' (did you know the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl?  Kieran will certainly tell you!).  He still wanted the semi-truck though.

He knew we still had left over paint from painting the treadmill/bike room, so that was the base.  Don't worry about all of the washers on the back end, the car cannot be over 5 ounces, we will modify the number of washers after the first weigh in.

There is still a little work to be done, like outlining the windows and grill in black sharpie, but essentially it's finished.

The last piece that needed to be finished was the number 3 (Russell Wilson's number - quarterback) and the Seahawk emblem on the top.  Since those were both well beyond my expertise, Kieran asked Madeline for some help.  She made a stencil for the emblem on the top of the car and painted them yesterday when school was canceled for her (it's been cold here).

I asked her to text me a few pictures when she was finished with the car, here's how the transcript went:

Me:  (after getting the pictures) That is awesome!  Thanks.

Maddy:  Yea no problem.  The stencil didn't work so I had to just do it freehand

Me:  Are you friction kidding me?  Freehand!  Wow....

Maddy:  Thanks

I was impressed.  After I forwarded the pictures onto Sarah, she texted Maddy to say good job on the car and apparently Maddy responded that she 'thought it looked bad.'  No....bad is what it would've looked like if I painted it.

We'll see how the car runs tomorrow!

'Polar Vortex'

Why do people live in the middle of a continent, far from the influences of either warming or cooling maritime breezes?

Look at these two pictures when you think about that question.  The first taken on August 26th at the MN State Fair.

Yeah, the heat index was 106 at the time, though it actually got a little higher.  The second picture was taken this morning.

Yeah, trust me....it did (and still does) feel like -45.  Taken together, that's a 150 degree swing in a little over four months.

Govenor Dayton cancelled classes for all public schools on Friday, three days ahead of these really cold temperatures.  Actually, it never got as cold as it was predicted, no records were set today.

How do we spend our unexpected day off?

Luke crashed and feel asleep at the top of the stairs after lunch...

Lex took a nap after lunch as well (that's not unusual), but she is still wearing her pajamas!

Kieran is taking his football obsession to a new level.  We set up the PlayStation 2 this morning and he's been playing Madden football ever since....

 After getting some chores done, Madeline is now in her room.  Pretty sure she's hiding from Kieran, as he tends to want to talk football to anyone who is in listening distance.

 Sarah's at work and I've read two magazines, plus done all of the laundry.  As of right now, Madeline does not have school tomorrow, but Kieran and I are both 2 hours late....

***Update - now school is closed for Kieran and I tomorrow....

Metrodome - Last Game

Yesterday was the last game in the history of the Metrodome (32 years old), it will be deconstructed starting in a few weeks and a new stadium will be built on the same site.  Here it is on the way out...

Craig and I have spent a lot of time (and probably too much money) walking up section 217...

The last time the Vikings came on the field at the Metrodome....

It was probably the largest attendance of the year yesterday, apparently a lot of people wanted to see the last game...

We had to take a picture showing that we were there (at least Craig was there)..

We probably spent about 10 years sitting next to SLP -- that's the blond in the picture below.  We called her SLP because she was from St. Louis Park and we always forgot her name (I think it was Nicole).  For a while there, SLP brought a different guy to every game, but lately she seems to have settled on the guy next to her --- good for her.

Probably gonna miss the old troughs at the Metrodome.  Definitely going to miss all the times when Craig would go down to take a leak, when he'd come back I'd ask 'how'd it go?'  He'd answer - 'didn't go, got the fright.'  That was always funny.

Just to the east of the Metrodome, they've already started digging the hole for the foundation of the new building....they don't waste a lot of time.

They were pretty hardcore about security yesterday.  All the people in yellow are from a private security company, you also might notice the Minneapolis PD in blue.  They did not want a repeat from the last game of the Met Stadium in Bloomington -- fans stormed the field after the game and ripped anything off the stadium, ground, goalposts that they could.

If you've ever been to the Metrodome, you might remember the air pressure pushing you out of the stadium.  They haven't opened these doors for a while, but they did yesterday.  One last time, here is the air pressure forcing people out of the stadium.

Kiwanis Holiday Lights - Mankato

On Thursday evening, Sarah and I took the kids to Sibley Park in Mankato for the Kiwanis Holiday Lights.  The lights are turned on from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm and is open through December 31st.  If you can make it, we would recommend you go see the lights.

There are thousands of lights, some are set to music, others are static.  You can drive around the one-way street or get out and walk (it was around 30 degrees the night we went, so we walked), there is a skating rink and concessions.  All for free --- they do ask for food shelf items or a small donation.

Who can pass up a sign where you can stick your head through and see a silly image?

They have cartoon cutouts.....this particular one was a hit with one of the kids, can you guess which one?

There are snowmen....

Tunnels of lights...

You can even ride the 'Christmas bus'...

Lots and lots of lights...

Hope you had a good holiday season...

Christmas 2013

Everything started Tuesday night, Christmas Eve - the boys were reminded that they would be able to track Santa Claus throughout his journey by a post from their uncle, David Clemens.  Well, for the 45 minutes remaining before church, both boys never really left the computer so they could watch Santa (keep in mind, he was supposedly in Africa at the time).

Christmas morning was the time for presents at the house.  The one who really got aggressive with the presents was Lex.  It was always....'where's my present'....'can I open that present'....etc.

An example of Lex searching for a present of her own....

Good thing that she got enough Dora stuff to tide her over.....she likes that Dora!  That shirt she is wearing is also a new Dora shirt.

One gift that was really enjoyed (and will probably get a ton of use in the future) was a Nook.  For all of you 'old school' types who pick up books and read them....well, you don't have to do that anymore. You digitally download the books and read them on the Nook.  When you don't have anymore space for books, the Nook is a space-saver.

Luke's Christmas wouldn't be complete without Dinosaurs --- we actually went to the movie 'Walking with Dinosaurs' on Christmas Eve.  Luke really wanted to see it, if you go, the first 10 minutes or so are...um...interesting.

Kieran didn't really stand still long enough for a good picture, how about a picture of him and Luke opening a gift together?

The kids put together a calendar for Sarah with pictures of them throughout the year.  

Lex, of course, had to check it out....caring only about the pictures that were of her!

Kieran was utterly confused that there is a board game that doesn't involve Transformers, football, Bey Blade, etc.  Not sure how the game 'Clue' will go over....

Where ever you are, from our family to yours, we hope you had a great Christmas!  Hope to catch all of you later....

But, what Christmas would be complete without driving to Holiday in town?

It took us about 45 minutes to get to Holiday and back (no we didn't go directly there).  There was no yelling, screaming, panic, etc.  We made it just fine.  Perfect day to drive around town actually, few people were on the roads, everyone was too busy.