Grocery List

Rod sent a picture of a grocery list the kids made together for him, in my absence. I don't see any fruit or vegetables on this list. Evelyn's pickles don't count!

BTW, the notepad is on old one I found from when my Mom was doing clinical drug trials and I have no idea what Mucosa is, so don't assume anything... Smile.

Math Pentathalon Practice

Both kids are participating in an after-school program called Math Pentathalon, which is training in math strategy skills. They will eventually compete in teams against other Austin-area "Math Pentathletes" in tournaments. I volunteered to judge at the tournaments, which don't occur till April and May so I have some time before I've figured out what I've gotten myself into!

I am heading to Japan and Taiwan on Tuesday morning through February 27th. It is the longest I've ever been away but I'm sure Rod will do great (and Nana is around to smooth things over!).

Dear the Simmons Family

Evelyn celebrated her 8th birthday last Sunday. The party went very smoothly and all the kids did a great job with the decorated shirts. I am happy to feel that I've contributed to bringing back a puffy paint trend that was last popular in 1988. All the grandparents made it for the birthday, which is a first. Evelyn was so glad to see them. We have been doing a couple of thank-you notes each day and for the most part, Evelyn has been enthusiastic about what she chose to write in each note. However, (sorry for spoiling the surprise, Elizabeth) she must have been getting tired when she got to Elizabeth's note (the picture is above):

"Dear the Simmons family, Thank you for the gift card. I cannot thenk what I am going to get with it. Evelyn"

LOL.

Culdesac Visitor

The kids spotted a hawk on our rooftop the other day. It has hung around the culdesac for several days now. Kenneth captured a few photos of our visitor. I hope he stays around so he can eat any stray mice that might want to wander into my garage. It does finally explain the enormous piles of bird poop on our driveway, though. One of the picture shows the hawk cocking its head at Kenneth as he took the picture.

Last weekend we went to one of our favorite parks. Kenneth and Evelyn wanted to try to fish, even though the pond has a catch-and-release policy. No luck on the fishing, but they did find a duck egg that looked like it had been abandoned, although they were careful not to touch it in case the mother duck was out for a swim.

We are looking forward to the weekend because we will see all of the grandparents in one place for Evelyn's birthday party! She will be having her 8th birthday at the house with a few friends. I bought some plain t-shirts at Hobby Lobby and some fabric 'puffy' paint so that it can be both an activity for the kids to decorate their shirts AND the thank-you-for-coming birthday treat.