The Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon

The other day, Jen had her very own Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon. She came home seemingly normal in all respects, her attitude, her smile, and she appeared to have no damage from flesh wounds or teeth bites.

But then it happened, the truth came out as I was making dinner. The tale of the MEANEST, GREENEST teacher flowed out of the mouth of my 9 year old sweet girl...

It all started at about 8:00 in the morning when she walked into her 3rd grade classroom at SES. There she was, a woman she had never seen before. She was tall with straight blond hair, she even wore glasses.

She started the class by telling everyone her name. It was, it was, it was.... 
(Jen didn't seem to remember that one. I guess her demeanor was so frightening that her short term memory could not function.)

 Her name was... Mrs. Long, Mrs. Longer, Mrs. Longly, Mrs. Longston... something with Long. 

"She is MEAN and has VERY GOOD HEARING!" the sweet girl said.
"She has 2 children and they say she has very good hearing too."

(at this point, laughing hysterically to myself, I about fell out of my seat, well, I would have if I was sitting.)

The sweet girl went on...
"All day, she wouldn't let anyone speak at all. If you talked, you would get on HER LIST!"
Gasp...
"She even took Shane's toy away!"

The mother then asked, "Did you get on the list?"
The sweet girl replied with relief, "NO. No one did!"

(The internal laughter started again...)

The sweet girl proceeded to say that Lilly got to go home early.
"She is LUCKY!  Lilly was glad too."

And that is the story of the Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon.
It is all true, Ms. Long**** really did have GOOD HEARING and she really did have
A LIST, and she was REALLY MEAN!!!

I don't know what she did it, but she had that sweet girl and the whole class grasped in horror.
The proof was on the board... no one was on HER LIST!

But hey, maybe they learned something that day! 

SNOW!

We look forward to days like this ALL YEAR!

We all wait for those calls at 5:30 in the morning when you answer there is a computer voice on the other line that says:

"Due to weather conditions the schools are closed today and all practices and activities are cancelled."

Usually when we get calls that early on snowy mornings we know it will be a call from the school and let the answering machine pick it up so that the kids can hear the message from their cozy bed so that they can stay there a while longer.

Monday wasn't any different. We got the call, let the answering machine pick it up, and I smiled as I heard shouts of joy coming from the kids' bedrooms.

At this point Andrew anxiously calls up the Base Hotline to see if the base is closed to non essential personnel. To all of our dismay, it was just on a delay. He went out and cleared the driveway to go to work. The kids were already planning the day of sledding and snowmen.

He couldn't help but take the day off as well.

The weather was perfect! When the younger kids went down for a nap, the rest of us bundled up, started up the 4 wheeler, tied up the sled, and were off for some of the most anticipated fun of the year.

December

Our December was fun. I am sad to see it end.

Now we are in a rut trying to get back to our routine, schedules, and real life.

 Here are some of our highlights:

Hannah had her birthday that she had been waiting for forever!

 (I mean FOREVER!)

Here she is in her new birthday dress.

We had lots of fun walking the streets "downtown" meeting Santas reindeer.

We almost lost our cute pony Blaze to collic. He was born on our farm in April.

Here he is at the "hospital".

We made yummy gingerbread houses that we munched on during break.

Our furnace broke.

We were so cozy with our stove that we didn't even know it was broken for a few days.

We are so glad to have our wood stove.

Sometimes.....

... until the kids find the ashes. Lets just say big, mess, and baths.

 (I think they had fun though)

And finally Christmas! New PJs! And Fun times!

(And a little "Settlers of Zarahemla", our favorite ;) )

So, that is our update. There always seems to be something going on.

It makes life a bit more exciting.