Misc.

A few pictures to play catch-up.  And because there isn't much to go with each picture.

One time a year we go major clothes shopping: after tax return.  We all really needed some new clothes.  We did get a few items that weren't needs.  And I got a few items for friends little ones.  I miss shopping for a little girl.  

This is how C spends shopping time.

A group of homeschool mamas got together to make some baking mixes.  I came home with 9 different mixes (cookies, baked oatmeal, bread, French bread, muffins).
In the background is my 25 pound bag of flour.  Makes some yummy bread!

The beautiful flowers I got for Valentine's Day.

Friends from Cincy came to Indy for a quick family weekend.  We got to meet them for dinner.  I've known his family for FOREVER!
His older sis and I were pen pals all growing up.  I was in her wedding (there is a story there).  It was a good time!

I am so ready for spring!

The back patio today.  One solid sheet of ice.

I am ready for warmer weather.  And flowers.  And longer evenings.  And my garden.  And baseball games.  And green grass.  And fresh strawberries.  And no heavy coats.  Or gloves. Or hats.  Or scarves.  C'mon Spring!

Co-op Valentine Party

We had our co-op Valentine Party February 12.  We did a few games, a craft, had pizza, and the kids exchanged Valentines.  It was a good time; and we actually didn't take forever (like usual).

The kiddos working on their craft.

My Pinterest "somewhat fail."  My creation on the left.  What it was supposed to look like on the right.
Oh well.  They still tasted yummy.

I got to bring this little cutie with us.  She was such a good girl!

All the stuff C came home with.  He got a ton of candy!  And a bouncy ball that's still driving us nuts!

If you know my C--I thought for sure he would want to keep EVERY.  SINGLE. ONE of his cards.  I asked what he was going to do with them.  Of his own accord, he threw most of them away.  He kept one that could be used as a bookmark and one other.  Good for him!

The other think I took.  I thought it turned out really good!  Tasted good, but got dry very fast.

C's Valentine box.  Isn't he cute!  It's Dave from the movie Despicable Me.  

The Valentine card C made for the little cutie.  She calls him Bubby.

Elephants?

Yesterday afternoon--well pretty much off and on all day--it snowed and blowed.  So bad that there was a 40 car pile up on I70, about 25 minutes from us.  It affected every other interstate in the area.  And some of the roads that have exits off of I70.  People were stuck on the road for hours.  If I remember right, the accident was about 2 pm.  The road did not open up until almost 10 pm!

One of semi trucks that slid off the road, had some elephants in it.  Not sure where they were going, but hey!  This makes for a good story.  They (their trainers I'm assuming) had to unload the elephants from the one truck and load them onto another.  Could you imagine sitting in a huge back up and see 3 elephants walking down the road.  I'd be thinking "I've sat here too long; I'm seeing things."

As the news said:

They are in the care of their trainer and have not been injured.

At no time were they loose on the interstate.

They have since been re-loaded onto the truck and left the scene.

Nice to know.

The Indianapolis Star

Our co-op homeschool group went on a field trip to our newspaper, The Indianapolis Star.  (We were supposed to go to a local TV station too, but that got postponed.)  A few of the moms in our group know the editorial cartoonist for the Star.  He is a Christian.  He showed us the news room and then took us to his office.  We also visited one of their conference rooms where many famous people have visited (the first one he named was Bono; all the kids said "Who is that?")  He showed us some of the cartoons he was working on and explained to the kids how the cartoon got to be in the paper.

 A few side notes:

1. You can follow Mr. Varvel and his cartoons on Twitter.  His "handle" is Varvel.

2. Mr. Varvel and his sons have started a Christian movie company that has produced one movie (The Board) and is in post production of the sequel (The War Within).  The Board is a very good movie depicting the inside story of the human soul, represented by a board of directors including Mind, Memory, Emotion, Heart, Will, and Conscience. Check out the movie company on Facebook: House of Grace Films.