Girl Scouts

Hannah started girl scouts in January, mostly to get to know some other girls her age. Since she is only in school 2 1/2 hours a day, and most of that time is taken up with academics, she needed time to develop more personal relationships. She has had a lot of fun at the meetings, and has learned a lot about empathy and caring for others.

Some of the fun things they have done so far: 1) an art sale benefiting the Haiti relief fund. They spent several hours making their art work and manning a booth at our local Starbucks. They ended up raising $130! It was wonderful to see Hannah caring for people she has never met in a country she has never visited. 2) a "fun in the sun" sleepover. Hannah's group (all 5 and 6 year old girls) were invited to take part in the earlier portion of the area wide girl scouts sleepover. They dressed in fun summer clothes and played a lot of games in the school's gym. She had so much fun--especially getting to stay out until 10:00 p.m.! 3) a Father-Daughter Valentine dance. The theme was "Mardi Gras". 4) Pokeno night at Manor Care. Hannah and I had the opportunity to go to a local nursing home and play pokeno with some of the residents. They were a hoot! Talk about being competitive to win those quarters (and I'm not talking about the girl scouts)!

A fun side story about our visit to the nursing home. One of the ladies we were helping, Rhonda, was really wanting to win some quarters. After 6 games, she came very close, but never won. At the end, she dug into her purse and pulled out 2 quarters. She leaned over and whispered, "I want you to give these to Hannah because she did such a good job helping me." Immediately I thought of the story in the Gospels about the "widows mite". These quarters may not have seemed like much to the average person, but I knew she was giving to Hannah out of her relative poverty (this particular nursing home is for folks who don't have a lot of money). I was so touched by her generosity. Hannah and I walked her back to her room and were able to spend some more time with her. It was a treat for all of us!

We will have many more opportunities to serve our community and grow in our friendships over the rest of the school year through our girl scouts troupe. Sorry I don't have more pictures of all the events Hannah has been to! I keep forgetting to bring my camera!

Cheap Date

We did Valentines Day on the cheap this year! Ken's parents sent us a little money in our Valentines card and we put it to good use. Ken cooked us a wonderful dinner and I decorated the dining room in white Christmas lights (an idea I borrowed from a friend of mine). We put the kids down and enjoyed a quiet dinner and adult conversation that was long overdue!

So what was the final end result of our cheap-o date? Here's the run-down:

2 tenderloin steaks= $10.00

a bottle of wine= $10.00

steamed broccoli, buttermilk mashed potatoes= $4.00

Christmas lights + fine china= free

chocolate covered strawberries for dessert= donated from Ken's Valentines goodies

having a restaurant quality meal in your pajamas= priceless

Funny Valentines

We've been all over the place with festivities this Valentines Day! Ken and Hannah went to a Father-Daughter dance Saturday night, hosted by one of the local girl scout troups. They went to dinner first (Hannah picked Pei Wei because she likes to eat with "chinese sticks") then went to her school for the dance. It was a Mardi Gras themed dance, so she and I went shopping last weekend for her purple and green dress. They had a blast doing the electric slide, hula hooping, and playing limbo together.

Meanwhile, Harry and I had a romantic dinner together at a swanky little joint called Chick-fil-a. We had a sweet time visiting together. One-on-one moments are so rare with him--I cherish every one I get! He is such a little sweet heart. He will make one lucky lady very happy one day.

This morning we opened our valentines from each other. Hannah has been really into frogs lately, ever since her Pampa sent her a frog necklace. She really liked her chocolate frog. Harry was most excited about his cars that he picked out at Target last night with the money that Nana and Pampa sent him. He told me he had "saved up his money" for the cars. I had to laugh since he had just received the card with the money that morning. I guess not spending it for 8 hours is "saving" in his book! :)

Thanks to all of the grandparents for your thoughtful and sweet cards! Receiving cards/letters in the mail is one of our favorite things. We're happy you are our valentines.

Snowmen!

We've had a lot of snow here over the past several days (or weeks, really). This weekend we got enough snow that we were able to build our first snowmen! We've lived here for 3 winters, but this was the first storm that dropped really good "packing" snow--perfect for building snowmen, making snow balls and having snow wars.

The kids are standing next to the snowmen they created. Ken helped a little with Hannah's but Harry insisted on making his by himself. If you are wondering what all the red is on Harry's face, you are probably not alone. Right before we went outside to play, Harry decided to "paint" his room and his body red with a marker he had smuggled in from Hannah's room. He is not allowed to keep markers in his room, for obvious reasons. Such is life with Harry.