100th Day

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school. Only 80 more to go...wahooooo! This is a big deal in Kindergarten because of the "100 Day" project. Each student is supposed to create a project that represents 100 of something. The projects are all displayed in the main foyer area of the school and they have a 100th day celebration in class. A lot of projects are 100 pieces of food. Goldfish, cheerieos, lollipops and hershey kisses seem to be popular each year. This year I saw two cakes with 100 candles. We thought long and hard for Connor's project. I didn't want to do what everyone else does (a lot of the projects kind of look the same or look like they took all of about five minutes to throw together). We brainstormed together and came up with..."Me at 100 different places in Harrison Township".

Harrison Township is made up of three towns...Mullica Hill, Richwood and Ewan, so we took a couple of hours on two days and drove around the township stopping to take pictures of Connor in front of 100 places. Connor and I had fun doing it, especially when we decided to jump out of the car in the middle of intersections and streets. Safety? Who cares about a little dangerous traffic when you've got a school project on the line. At each location, Connor posed in front of a sign so that you could tell where he was. We went to businesses, all three post offices, the police station, the fire stations, development entrances, entering the township signs, and random road signs. He put all of the pictures into a photo album, labeled it and project done! So much more fun and creative then gluing 100 pieces of food to poster board (no offense if you did that and are reading this...I'm sure it turned out great).

Front of the photo album

Two of the 100 pages

breakfast conversation

The boys went to the KMart Hot Wheels event so breakfast was just the girls today. When Connor is around, there are usually topics of conversation (and a lot of teasing between him and Emily) but with just the girls, one comment leads to another and so on and none of it really amounts to anything. Conversation between the girls is often funny and very random. Here's a one minute sample of this morning's breakfast conversation:

Emily: Is Grace a cow?
Camryn: Nooooo
Emily: Is Grace a bear?
Camryn: Nooooo
Emily: Is Grace a cat?
Camryn: Nooooo...Yes
Emily: Poker Face
Camryn: Lady Gaga
Emily: Poker face
Camryn: Lady Gaga
Mom: (singing) PPPPoker PPPPoker Face
Camryn: Do it again
Mom: (singing) PPPPoker PPPPoker Face
Camryn: Do it again
Mom: (singing) PPPPoker PPPPoker Face
Camryn: Dance
Mom: You want to dance?
Camryn: Em
Mom: You want Em to dance?
Camryn: Yes
Emily: Dance pants, that rhymes.
Mom: It sure does.
Camryn: Sure does!

Emily: Bo buzz

Camryn: Bo buzz

(Both were laughing hysterically)

the beauty of snow

Around our home...

snow in love

We've had two major snowstorms in one week and I love it! I forgot how much I love the snow. I know, there's problems with it...schools closing, messy roads, shoveling...blah, blah, blah. It's just not a big deal to me. People complain about it so much it's ridiculous. Is it cold and messy? Yes. But it really is great. And the kids love it too, which is really what makes it totally worth it.

I think I've lost track of just how much snow we got this week. Something around 24 inches last weekend and 20 inches this past Tuesday into Wednesday. We (Connor and I) had a one hour delay Monday from the weekend snow and had off Wednesday and Thursday from the second round. That brings our total snow days up to three, which means we go three days longer in June. I'm not even going to bother complaining about it. We've been outside shoveling (yes, I did help) and we've been sledding twice. I drove for coffee in the middle of a blizzard on Wednesday morning and Carl went out for pizza when the snow slowed down a bit later. The roads were not that bad and everything is so beautiful.

Our sledding adventures...

something's gotta give...and it's been the blogging

All kinds of interesting things have been going on over here at the Heil house since my last post. Unfortunately I have discovered that I am, in fact, not Superwoman. I have not been able to find time to blog. My typical time is right now, 10 p.m. at night, after the kids are in bed and after I've cleaned up for the night. Lately though, this time of night has been devoted to the treadmill and ab roller. There just isn't enough time to do anything else. I need to pick one thing to do with my time and blogging has been losing. I need to lose weight and get in better physical shape. And if I have one more person tell me that's ridiculous, that I don't need to lose weight, I'm going to scream. Trust me, if I didn't have to lose it (and I'm talking 20 pounds by the way) then I wouldn't be doing the treadmill and sit-ups after 10 p.m. at night each night. I'm eating less in terms of portions, counting calories and trying to stick with meals only...no snacks or treats. I'm also in a weight-loss competition at work so that's helping with the motivation. The most time consuming change though has been the exercising, which is a good thing...but something's gotta give and it's been the blog. So for now, I'll have to summarize all of the fun we've been having. Just for now though, until I figure out how to do it all. ;)

We've had snow, a Chuck E. Cheese visit, power outages, music classes, snow, a visit to the auto show, snow, playroom organizing, oh...and did I mention snow? And in between, the kids have been growing and changing in every way. Connor is blossoming as a big brother...so many moments to be proud of; Emily is truly becoming a preschooler as she gets closer to three...able to interact, listen and play at such a higher level; and Camryn's language growth alone over the past few weeks is just unbelievable...speaking 2 to 3 words at a time.

Here are some pictures that capture our last few weeks:

Emily and Camryn on the simulated roller coaster at Chuck E. Cheese

Connor and Mommy in the tunnels. As I was crawling through I couldn't help but think about all of the germs. I think pumping Airborne through the ventilation system would be a good idea.

You can't tell, but the kids are sitting in the dark. Our power was out for about 24 hours. I took them to McDonald's for dinner, hoping the power would be back on in time for the bath/bedtime routine. It wasn't...so we skipped the bath and I set up a picnic in the family room. I got them in their jammies, got their nightly snacks together and grabbed a pile of books. We hung there, snacking and reading until bedtime.

Above and below are shots taken during some of the playroom re-organizing. It's still in the works...before and after shots to come.

Philadelphia Auto Show. Connor's favorite car, above. He's in a Camaro, below.

Coming soon...a blog about the snow. Pics from the recent snowfalls, complete with sledding fun, deserve their own blog. Another 18-24 inches is expected tomorrow into Wednesday!