Artsy Fartsy!

It is time! The artistic call has been heard, I need to create. So what to do? Do I stick with what I know? Venture into uncharted waters and try a "new" craft. Blame it on my old pal Daphne, I told her she was my "Muse." Maybe it is her creative energy coming through the web, or maybe it is all those clever fellow Bloggers that I follow, whatever it is I NEED to do something. I bought yarn and needles to knit a blanket for my soon to be niece. However, I do not know how to knit but the will is there. I bought some fudge striped cookies, Reese's mini cups, and frosting to do Ms. Abby's "Hats" (Check out her blog, in my sidebar. She is also a Muse! Thanks Abby!) I have all my scrapbook stuff out from a recent scrapbook weekend. I accomplished 21 layouts. Impressed? I am! I still have a few more layouts to do. Who knows maybe tonight? Regardless of what I do, it has to happen, and happen NOW!

Ballerina and a visit from a friend

It is official, Lavinia is now in Ballet! Yep, following after her good ol' Mom's footsteps. Well, actually I did not start dancing until I was 8. We have talked a lot about it and decided to sign her up. Her face says it all! She went right into her class with Miss Heather (what do ya know!) and was ready to start being a prima ballerina. At the end of her half an hour class, we were getting our coats on when the next group of children were coming in. The class after ours is Tap. Lavinia immediately stopped putting her coat on, stared at their shoes and promptly looked up at me with excited eyes and said "Mom, what are those shoes?" "Tap shoes" I answered. She took another look, got a huge smile on her face and said " I want to do that too, I LOVE them!" So, will she stick it out in Ballet or go for a more energetic approach? Well if you know our daughter, I am sure you can answer this for yourself. However, she may decide to do both. It has begun!

Liam brought home a friend from school. His name is Longneck. Do not fear, a parent did not name their child this, but our friend is a stuffed giraffe. Liam's classroom is named the "Giraffes" and Longneck is their mascot. For an activity, the teachers pick a child to take him home over a weekend. He comes with a digital camera and a binder of instuctions, and past journal entries made by the children (with a some help from us) The goal is to have the children include Longneck in their activities, then on Sunday sum up what they did with him over the weekend. Liam took this "job" very seriously and made sure that Longneck had a busy and fun time here in the Dreier house. We were all sad to see Longneck leave, and we hope to have him visit soon!

Oh where have I been?

Has it been that long? Time certainly does fly by! I realized that I have not posted in some time, so not like me.
Life is good. Busy, but good. School for me is totally crazy. I have had a very hard time getting back into the swing of it. Maybe it is having that long holiday break, or the fact I am taking day classes this quarter rather than night. Who knows. I am finally feeling like I am getting into it and it is midquarter, sigh.
New on the home front...
Brian did not get the job he had hoped for throught Toledo Public Schools. Bummer, but we fully believe there is a reason for everything. So he will continue working hard at his current job.
The kids are always changing, so much I could be on this computer blogging until the my fingers fall off. Lavinia is really advancing in her letter recognition and was able to start sounding out sight words. We have mastered the words, "of" "see" "the"and "your." It probably does not help that Mommy has her first degree in Early Childhood Education. She was so proud of herself the other night. I love when children realize they did something that makes them "more grown up."
Liam, what a hoot! This kid is such a funny little frog. He started branching into the Art area at school. Now I have more artwork to frame and hang up.
Avin, what grown up he is becoming. You know that it is happening when your stinky little boy is no longer smelling like a sweaty boy, but a older, sweaty boy. Is it possible my first born will be 10 soon? Yikes, double digits. I seriously have issues with these kids and them growing up.

Back in the saddle again.

The holiday break is officially over. I started school this week and it is going to be a heavy quarter. Not too hard, just a lot of busy work/reading/organization. (Right up my alley!) I am happy to back and just need to get back into a schedule.The calendar is my best friend! The kids seem to be getting back into routines too. Liam has regressed a tad about going to preschool. Having two weeks off, being sick again and being home with me, has set him into crying jags when I drop him off. My poor baby!
Avin got his grade card, yea! He did great again. They want to test him again for the Horizons program. It is a program for children that are gifted in areas of Math and Reading. He participated last year, and did not want to go this year. But we really think he needs to go to keep him stimulated.
Devin got accepted to University of Toledo for next year. Wahoo! We are pretty dang proud of him. He is still going into Psychology and has looked into other schools for his graduate work. Will this be the Dreier's best year?

What did we do in a snow storm?

Living in Northwest Ohio you never are really sure if you are going to get the snow. Most of the time it hits Lake Erie and goes to Cleveland and Buffalo. However, we definitely got hit. We had a level 2 snow emergency, which left us home bound. I have to admit it was nice to be all cozy. So instead of looking at the downside of this, we joined in the wintry fun!

After my third time shoveling, (that counts as exercise, right?) I finally got smart and "hired" Avin to shovel. We got the kids all bundled up and walked down to our local park and went sledding. It was a blast! Brian pulled Lavinia and Liam on the sled which they loved. After a few times, going down the hill Liam was ready to go. Lavinia on the other hand is a big snow baby. Every time we went down she laughed so hard, jumped up and drudged up the hill for another turn. Avin is always ready for adventures. I did a snow angel, bringing back some more memories. The hardest part was walking back home while wet and cold. Hot chocolate anyone?

The kids also made sock puppets and had a puppet show. They set up Lavinia's dolls as the audience.

After dinner I decided to break out a 750 piece puzzle. I always remember my Papa and Gram doing puzzles during bad weather. I forgot how much I missed doing puzzles. Brian and I stayed up until 2 am doing it and then spent about 3 hours today. Just when I could not take it, and swore "there are pieces missing!" Another one would fit and the will to continue was born again.

Needless to say, Brian just found another one to put together. Hmmm.......