addtitions to previous items

So apparently my bed can sleep 3, if one of us is a cat! Mackie has taken to sleeping on the other side of the girl, probably cause she sleeps all up on me, in my back.

More competitions have been added to the house Olympics. However, as the commissioner, I have closed Mt. Stairs, as the turn at the end is too hard to make, and the wall is right there. Too dangerous, and I would rather not explain it to the ER. I will include the Mt. Stairs events on our list though:

1. Hallway Hockey. How we have more than 1 stick is a wonder! At least the puck is Nerf!
2. Dinner table short track. How many laps can you run at top speed?
3. Kitchen floor figure skating. Complete with a few ice cubes on the floor to melt as you are jumping & spinning!
4. Living room curling. Shake a mop or broom as you blow out your mouth monkey like to show your strength/speed!
5. Downhill Downstairs. The only event on Mt. Stairs that is safe, as you run down at top speed.
6. Pizza box luge/skeleton. Good thing we haven't had pizza lately!
7. Laundry basket bobsled. The helmets chosen were their construction hats!
8. The plan for today is to create a Super G track around the outside of our house. What else are we going to do with the snow?

It is STILL snowing!! Will this winter ever end???

last night's conversation

Me to girl, "You need to start sleeping in your own bed. At some point I will get married again, and then where will you sleep?"

Girl, "Right here in the middle, cause he will be my daddy, not some boyfriend of yours. You can't have boyfriends sleeping in your bed."

I was floored. How smart is she? I LOVE THIS GIRL!

olympics

Are anyone else's kids playing olympics through the house? The downhill/downstairs has been a favorite of ours so far!

My vacuum has not been working well for some time. Today, the hose part of the vacuum wouldn't even suck up popcorn. I got frustrated, made one kid unplug the thing, the other get my tool kit and big screwdrivers. I unscrewed the back and stuck my finger in the tube. I pulled out an old crayon blocking the way covered with dust and hair. I then put the screwdriver in it and got out more dusty hair. I then stuck the screwdriver in the hose end, and got a few crumpled up papers, followed by fur balls. GROSS. But then my vacuum was working well, picking up popcorn and pennies! My floor is cleaner than it has been in months!

failed theory

So the boy's theory failed Sunday night. He thought maybe it was because his underwear was on normal, so that went on inside out, backwards, and on top of his pj bottoms (I insisted on a clean pair for this) last night. School did not get cancelled. So that theory has been busted.

another (hesitant) success claim

So far this school year, the boy has been successful with his inside out/backwards pj's the night of a large snowfall and cancelled school the following morning. Will this streak continue???

don't want to claim success yet...

But the chore chart is working! Or at least it has been for 3 weeks now. The girl won the first week, signing off on the most chores, and chose a dinner of tater tot casserole, and homemade cheesecake (that finally got completed on Friday due to meemaa's computer crash). The boy won the 2nd week, with the girl doing chores as I totaled to get her choice of broccoli with cheese added to his meal of shrimp and curly fries.
This week brought some disappointment to the kids when they came home from their dad's to find I had done a round of chores (sometimes the house needs a deeper cleaning than the kids can provide) and was winning. The boy told me he didn't think it was working, I told him to finish out this week, he did, and is back into it. The girl barely won this weeks, and the boy is happy with her choice of cheeseburgers grilled outside (will be fun dragging a grill out of the garage and doing this in the snow!), fresh broccoli with cheese, and tater crowns (NOT tots).
I'm thinking this is going to be a success as it gets the kids more responsible for the house, they know what is expected of the chores, and it gets up eating more together!

Check back in another month to see if it keeps working!