Proficient with Distinction, again!

So who cares if the other day he went to school with his shirt on backwards and his pants on inside out? (True story - it really happened) It's a little known fact that Cole has a bit of the Absent Minded Professor in him. But now I'm putting his necap scores here so you will all know what I've know all along - Cole is practically a genius. Following in his brother's footsteps, he scored in the "proficient with distinction" range in both math and reading. This was Cole's first year to take the necaps and he was very nervous about it. He had heard that the teachers dim the lights and play scary music during the testing. Well, despite the spooky atmosphere, he did very well.

Great job Cole. We love you for how unique, unusual, and intelligent you are.

More Dance!

Professional photos came in yesterday. Thought you'd like to see. Photos were taken on a Wednesday evening - we went straight from school to piano in Greensboro, and then back to school for to pictures with only time for a quick change into costumes. No time for any hair styling! Oh well.

copyright Don Whipple Photography

 The tiny little girl in pigtails is a classmate of Heather's. She is 4 days older than Heather. The twins in the front row left are also classmates with Heather.  

copyright Don Whipple Photography

Heather's Dance Recital

Today, Heather had her first dance recital.

You are about to be amazed by what you'll see. Keep in mind that it took six months of practice to learn all these intricate dance moves.

The camera was struggling with the lighting in the gym.

Six months of skidding down to the town hall, every Saturday morning, through snow storms and freezing rain, while also trying to get everyone to a basketball game will get you this:

The girly costumes, fun hairstyles and smiles make it worth it.

9 Today!

Happy Birthday Sweet boy!

Newborn Cole meeting big brother Wayne.

One year.

Cole turning 2! 

Cole's 3rd birthday.

4 year old Titanic fanatic.

5 years old in preschool with some April Fool's cupcakes for his little classmates.

Turning 6 with the infamous April Fool's meatloaf cake with mashed potato frosting.

Sadly, I have no photos of Cole's 7th birthday, because I was with my Dad in the hospital before he died.

Cole and Heather decorate his 8th birthday cake together!

And today he's 9 years old. 

We love you Cole. Happy Birthday!

William and Zephyr are Cole's two best friends.

Boiling Sap

We are boiling sap today. We got a new pan to boil in, from Uncle Eddie, so it looks kind of strange on our tiny burners. Here are some pictures.

By Wayne

Happy Easter

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Maple Sugar Candy

Every once in a while, Wayne wants to make maple candy.

 We haven't made any syrup yet this year, so we used some left over from last year.

 This is the recipe we used (above) but we didn't shape it into leaves, we just poured it in a dish and cut squares.

 Heating any sugar to any certain temperature always makes me nervous. It's so fussy - miss the mark by even a couple of degrees and everything goes wrong. We've had that experience before and it's very disappointing.

 Luckily, everything worked perfectly this time and the results were heavenly!

Snowshoeing in the Woods

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago. Heather and I took advantage of a beautiful, warm day to get out into the woods on snowshoes.

 It was her idea to bring some snacks and drinks. She packed a backpack for the two of us all by herself. It was also her idea to head to the "fort" for our snack picnic.

 Heading back home we had to shed our jackets, because despite all the snow,  the temperatures were actually pleasantly springlike.

Heather Lost a Tooth!

She's been waiting a long time and it finally happened. On Monday, March 18, at the age of 6, Heather lost her first tooth.  Thank goodness, because she (and it) had been driving us all crazy for weeks. She'd spent a lot of her spare time wiggling it and gauging its looseness day by day, speculating when it would fall out, how much money she would get from the tooth fairy, and complaining that she was the last kid in her class to lose a tooth.  Mrs. Dudley said that it had occupied a lot of time and attention in kindergarten as well. So, now that it's finally come out, we can all relax and life can get back to normal. 

She had a dental check-up a week prior to losing the tooth and he gave her the keychain above. It's a little container for keeping the tooth in, in case it comes out at school.  She was actually laying on the living room floor, wiggling the daylights out of it when it finally came out. She wrote the tooth fairy a letter, asking to keep the tooth, but to please leave some money anyway.

You can see the big tooth coming in behind the space.  It's very big. The dentist even said, "Don't be alarmed when they come in..."  Dental x-rays show lots of huge teeth ready to come into a small mouth. Good-bye perfect, straight, little, white teeth. 

Hello orthodontist.

Happy Birthday, Jedi Joan

Jedi Joan

Joanie Wan Kenobi

Happy Birthday Joanie. May the Force be with you.

Creativity by Wayne.