Only this time…we really did get snow. I’d say anywhere from 6-8 inches probably. I was glad we didn’t have school today. I found out about 11:30 last night. So that meant I didn’t have to stay up to get my stuff ready for a meeting I was supposed to conduct on Wed. morning. I am heading up the committee for planning for Reading Month in March at one of our schools. I am only at each school part of the day every day, so I don’t usually head stuff up…I help out once in a while, at one school or the other. But I really enjoy the whole reading month and theme thing. This year we are doing pirates and I think that is a really fun theme, so I am looking forward to it, I just didn’t have everything together that I needed to. Now I won’t have to do it till Friday or possibly next week. Anyway, I spent some time today doing laundry. Oh and after the kids got up and had breakfast I went back to sleep for a little while (can I just say that I love that my kids are finally to that age where I feel like I can do that!?) So then we sorted and bagged a bunch of Sam’s sideshow buttons. He is selling them on Sideshow World so we were getting them ready to go out for him. Then the kids wanted to paint. Grandma sent little foam model airplanes for the boys and a paint by number for Savannah. So I had to supervise that. Savannah gave up on the paint by number after a while though. It was a small (5×7) canvas and it was hard for her to paint such tiny spaces…so I ended up finishing it for her. Then we went to Cyndi’s for lunch. When we got home we got dressed for playing in the snow and we all went outside and the kids played in the snow while I shoveled the sidewalk and front steps. After a while, Max and Savannah had come up with me, I started wondering where Karson was…so I went to the back and started to call him…no answer…I started to get just a little panicked when I glanced in the garage and saw his face looking out the back window of my car. I opened the door and asked him what he was doing in there and he exclaimed, “Mom. I’m freezin!” Only Karson would climb in the car so he wouldn’t have to be in the cold snow! Too funny. I had a good laugh about that. So then we went inside, made hot chocolate and took naps. Savannah had a basketball game tonight before church, so we went to that and then had dinner at like 7:30. It was a fun day, any day is a fun day when you don’t have to work, right?

The other day, as I was working at my computer and Karson was playing in the playroom, Karson got really excited and kept saying “Mom, me made a widdle (little) man!” over again…and then “Come ‘ere!, Look!” So I finally did, and sure enough, he had DRAWN a little guy on the puppet theater chalkboard. So, so cute!
I was very proud of him. This is the first time he has drawn any representation of a person (that I know of). Yeah Karson!

Savannah recently had to create a model of a building in our community. She was assigned the church. We built this from priority mail boxes and cardstock…I carved the brick stamp that we used…we drew the shingles…glued on little green pompoms for bushes. She was very proud of it.

This weekend Sam and I took a quick trip to Florida. We left on Wed. night and got back home late this afternoon. It was a fun trip and so nice to get away to somewhere much warmer than here. We got to visit with Sam’s Aunt and Uncle, who we rarely see and their 2 granddaughters, which was a real treat. Unfortunately we didn’t spend a whole lot of time there as we were off doing all sorts of things during the day. Except for Friday, we were out of the house around 10 and didn’t get home until late at night. But we had to pack a lot into our short little vacation. We were so blessed to be able to leave the kids with Jasmin at home. They had a lot of fun together too.
I took along my journal, the one I made last year, and did a few drawings. Most of the drawings I did were at the airport or on the plane…because we were running everywhere any other time, though I did do some writing about what we did. Here are a few of my drawings that I did. On Wednesday night, we had a stop in Atlanta for an hour and a half…but because we were not watching the time very carefully, we missed our flight…by like 2 minutes. Crap! We were kind of upset, because all we wanted to do was get to Florida. But we decided to make the best of it. We got a discount voucher for a nearby hotel and after getting checked in and gathering all the toiletries the hotel would give us (since our luggage had gone ahead of us) we went to our room and settled in to a nice comfy king size bed and had a great night’s sleep. In the morning, we made sure we were up and over to the airport plenty early, so that we had no chance of missing another flight. We got into Tampa around 9…and then took our time getting over to Aunt Pat’s. We drove by this cute little Cuban sandwich shop on the way and got the most delicious Cubans. Sam loves them, but nobody makes right up here, so he always makes sure he has some when he comes to Florida. I like them too…but I won’t eat one every day, like he does. Anyway, we also spent some time at the IISA (International Independent Showman’s Association) trade show in Gibsonton. Basically it’s a bunch of Carnies getting together and then vendors bring in their new stock and stuff that the Carnies use for their games, concessions, and rides. All kinds of fun stuff to see. Cool food to sample and stuff to buy. Sam’s other Aunt and Uncle (they own food joints) and cousins (who own games) were there too. So we hung out with them a lot, plus we met a lot of new friends. Sam arranged a meet up of some people from Sideshow World so he got to know some of the people he’s been in touch with from his group. We also made a couple of trips to the Florida State Fair…found out we could get in free with our badges from IISA…so that was definitely a bonus. That fair is so huge. I think they had like 5 ferris wheels or something. Of course Ward and Chris’ World of Wonders sideshow was there and we went and saw them. Sam had offered for me to paint mini-banners for anyone who wanted to meet us at the trade show, so I made these before we went. Three, for Chris, Ward and Little Pete (Poobah), were given at the state fair, because they had to be there working. Everyone loved them and thought they were cool. I was glad I could put a smile on their faces. Sam also made up some cool sideshow buttons, and we passed some of those out as well. On Saturday, Sam and I went over to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaids. I have always wanted to go there, but never had the chance. It’s pretty run down I guess, from what it used to be, but we still had fun and saw the mermaid show which was pretty cool. There are rumors that it may shut down, so I am glad I got to see it.
It was a great trip and we were very grateful to have the opportunity to go. It’s so nice to have a break from the routine…and especially to some place warm! Anyway…back to the real life here in temps under 20 and a winter storm coming tomorrow from which we are expecting 8-12 inches of snow…fun!

Check out more of our Florida pics in our Flickr album to the right—>

In a few of my spare moments today I drew a pair of salt and pepper shakers that I found down in Sam’s ebay room. He probably picked them up at a garage sale…in hopes of selling them…but they haven’t made a listing yet. It looked like there was a little sticker on one, or part of one anyway, that said Japan. I have tried to figure out what it is that they are each holding, but I really don’t have a clue. Hmm. Anyway, they are kind of cute.

So this morning it was -10 degrees (F). School was canceled around here. So I got another day to my weekend, which I so needed because on Wednesday we are leaving for Florida. But we had an unexpected turn of events. My sister took Ava to the doctor today, and they sent her to the hospital. She has RSV and has to spend 24 hours at least in the hospital. So I have had my niece and nephew here today along with my 3 and it has been just a bit crazy. I am longing for even 2 minutes of silence.
These ATCs are for a trade that I am doing tomorrow night at our Jackson Traders meeting. The traditional candy hearts with little messages. I got these at the dollar store and I think they are like defects or something. Half of the messages aren’t even all the way on the hearts. They taste fine though. I drew them with Sharpies.

Hand drawn with Sharpies and a black Gellyroll glaze pen.