Nice days mean great fun outside!

Yesterday was a good day to be outside

Uh, Oh! Crazy face! Ahh...that's better, Vitali. Get some work done!

And see what a couple of cuties these guys are?
And they weren't just posing, either:

The kiddos call this, "Kid's Club," but really? It is just playing that involves paperwork.

Also, it is a good way for everyone to play with Hannah as the Boss--

I mean, ahem, The President.

My new dryer means a big box to play with!Thank you, Vitali, for defending the fort.

See that apple that Misha has?

Here are the seeds:Max saved his too, and they decided

to plant apple trees.

Misha is wearing a hat and coat but that is just because he has been having a few earaches on and off the last week or so and he is being careful. Really, it was a very pleasant day! Love it!!

And I saw a whole bunch of robins in the trees this morning! These are just some meadow birds, though.

Would you look at my handsome boy...

And now today it is pouring...That's spring, for you!

Happy 90th Grandpa!!

Grandpa Anderson turned 90 years old this past Monday!! We have been so fortunate to have him living nearby since he and my parents converged here in Knoxville three or so years ago. Great Grandpa, or Pra-dedushka to the Ukrainians, is a real favorite in our family tree! And he and the boys share a common interest, Walker, Texas Ranger!

Ivy's favorite spot is usually on Great Grandpa's lap. That night was no exception!

Steve thought we should put 90 candles on his cake but the one we were having was too small. So he ran to Ingles Grocery Store just down the road and got a sheet cake that was on sale since it had passed its prime. Then, He bought several boxes of candles to put on the cake.

See the roses? First of all, there were three, now in this picture there are two. I just plain got a small spatula and lifted one of them off of the top of the cake and ate it! YUM! And you'll see the other two again in the last photo...Evan and Steve lit the finished product together. They were trying to hurry before all the candles melted! Grandpa got a real kick out of it! ...
...And he did not get them all out in one blow, despite the fact that he is quite young for a 90-year-old! But then, I had trouble when I turned thirty-something!

Lots of candles to lick!

Misha thought Grandpa would look good with a candle on his head.

And this was my piece of cake...Mmmm...and no, I am absolutely positive that it has nothing to do with those pesky four pounds; why do you ask?!

All Muscle.

So, I have been working out. I have always enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) aerobics. I don't know why. I think maybe it is the challenge of keeping up and mastering the moves. I lose interest, though, if I buy a video because once I master it, it becomes boring. Then I quit.

Actually, the last time I did aerobics was probably a Denise Austin VHS 8 years ago! I bought a Salsa dancing exercise DVD but now I find that time is an issue so I have never done it. That and....something else but I'm not sure what. After Annette was born, I found that I really enjoyed belly dancing (don't laugh!) and did a workout video of that sort for a while. It was fun! I did it at random right through my pregnancy with Ivy.

Now, though, I have discovered YouTube. Video clips galore. New stuff everyday. I can even select my videos according to the time I have available (something is better than nothing, right?).

Today I did a 10 minute beginner kickboxing video and found that I don't like kickboxing. No problem! I can go back to dance aerobics tomorrow! After the 10 minute video, I had time to do an abs workout for 4 minutes and a legs and butt one with some dumbbells for 6. I feel good and it's fun! Relatively.

And, here's some interesting news: I already have a four pound difference to report! Unfortunately, the scale is moving in the wrong direction. Must be muscle...

Dryer fire...Yippee!

Sitting in front of my squeaky dryer sorting clothes last week turned out to be more eventful than usual. Suddenly, in between the noisy squeals that my dryer normally makes, were popping noises like the sound you hear striking a match and watching flames burst forth at its tip! Sure enough, That is what we saw! Giant sparks and thin tongues of fire shooting a foot or two out from the cracks around the door. POOF! POOF-POOF! POOF-POOF-POP! After the initial paralyzing nanosecond of, WHAT WAS THAT?!!, I jumped up and reached over the dryer through the grayish blue haze of smoke that had already formed and yanked the plug! The sparking and flames stopped and a smell like fourth-of-July sparklers settled on the room. I don't know why I didn't just open the door but now that I think about it, I guess I was smart. After all, if the clothes had been on fire, opening the door would have been a bad idea! I am glad I am smart. It was worth it all just to find that out.

Anyway, the good news is that we are going to have to get a new dryer! One that has a capacity matching my washer. This means no more drying half-loads at a time. I am very glad about this. Shhh...don't tell!

And do you want to know some very good news? My second-choice dryer that my frugal self settled on because of the cost turned out to be out of stock. So my very wonderful husband said to just get the better one! I need to make that boy some cookies or something...

Yippeeee!!!! (I can't believe I just said that about laundry.)

I (HEART) Bethany...

These yummy cookies are good for you. I know because my sister never eats anything that is not good for her. And she eats these. In fact, she gave me this box for Valentine's Day. It is nice to know that these are healthy. Especially if you have eaten 15 of your Valentine-Trader-Joe's-Candy-Cane-Joe-Joe's-Oreo-look-a-like cookies, for goodness sake!

This is how I get three times the nutritional value!:
Hope you all had a happy Valentine's Day! We did around here! :-)

Fun in the sun!

It's definitely springy here--cold then warm then cold then a thaw....

The warm days are my favorites!




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Happy Pseudo-spring in Tennessee! I love all the stuff I get done with my spring fever!

This weekend is supposed to be back to winter here...

My baby girl...

Ivy and I spent a while curling her long locks the other day. I just love to be with my little girl! I don't know if it that she is such a little flirty-charmer, or that she is still my baby, or that hair of hers, It could be the fact that she sincerely thinks I am the prettiest mommy ever, or her innocent intentions of being a princess when she grows up, or the way she is so quiet most of the time so that when she talks you just HAVE to listen, or maybe the fact that she is just the right amount of chubby...
I suspect it's all of the above. Anyway, I got all done curling her hair and she was so excited that she asked me to take a "pitcher" of her. So I took twenty. :-) Here are three:

A swiped post.

I saw this on a web-friend's blog this morning and thought it was so funny! I think you'll get a kick out of it, too:

Hymns and Choruses: The Cows are in the Corn

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. “Well,” said the farmer, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”
“Praise choruses,” said his wife, “What are those?”
“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.
“Well, what’s the difference?” asked his wife.

The farmer said, “It’s like this--If I were to say to you: ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you: Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN, then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus.”

As luck would have it, the exact same Sunday a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. “Well,” said the young man, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs.”

“Hymns,” said his wife, “What are those?”
“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the young man.
“Well, what’s the difference?” asked his wife.

The young man said, “Well, it’s like this-If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ that would be a regular song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God’s sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn.
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.

Then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn.”

Sun and Snow...

Sunday we had such beautiful weather! I don't know what the temps were but after the kids played in the yard awhile, we piled everyone into the car and went for a walk on the Dam near our house that is paved on top for walkers.

We had a great time and, in the sun, I was comfortable in a sleeveless top and sweatpants. We walked to the end of the walking area but instead of turning around, we climbed down over the rocks (PHEW! What a workout!!) that are meant to keep the banks from eroding and walked back to our car through a field. It felt like spring! Look at that sunshine!



Then, Monday brought a change in the weather....

Snow! The good kind of snow. The kind that falls when it is in the upper 30s. It fell in huge flakes and the kids were all hanging out my bedroom windows watching it pile up quickly. They hurried to get their morning jobs done and begged for a snow day from school (we settled on a half day).(Five of the six--Misha was doing something else,
I guess--hanging out the window of my bedroom)

Then they rushed out to play--"Rushed" being relative to the tedious amount of time it takes to suit up to play in the snow.
Everyone came in for lunch chilly and sopping.
See that big heap of wet clothes in the background?

They ate, and did Math homework, and then were back out again that afternoon (It was 42 degrees--perfect!) to help me build our yearly snow person.

My feet were wet but not cold as we ran in the snow and played snowball fights for quite a while. Steve came out and took some pictures. He got a bunch of really good ones that captured the explosion of snowballs on impact! It was fun to look through them all!(Haha! this is one of my favorites! Look at that smile on his face!

If only he had eyes in the back of his head...)

(Annette was inside defrosting by the time we took this picture)

The snow is still there this morning and I think i will allow another half day of school. This time I will opt to get some work done in between suiting and drying suits of little ones! We'll see how that goes.

Have a great day, everyone!