Oh, the Snow!!

There is only one of us in this family that enjoys the snow, and you are looking at her. Maya would play all day outside in the snow. It does not matter how cold it is, how cold and wet she is, if she has to play alone or with friends, she will always jump at the chance to play in the snow. Tonight after school that was the first thing she wanted to do. She gave her friend a call and they decided to have a quick after school snack and meet outside in 5 minutes. They played until it was dark and had a great time. The hot chocolate was waiting when she came in.

How Do You Make a Teenager Happy?

You buy him a pool table for Christmas! Alex has been trying to talk us into buying a pool table for a few years now. Troy found one for a great deal, and on Christmas Eve we had each of the kids open a present. One had a pool ball, one had a ping pong ball, and one had a ping pong paddle. (There is a top that goes over the pool table that lets us play ping pong.) Alex couldn't believe that we had really done it. He kept saying, "Are you serious?!" So far it has been getting used every day, by everyone. Just be ready if you come over and play a game with Maya, she knows all of the rules and will not let you get away with anything.

Science Fair

Ethan has been working on a science project for the Science Fair coming up at his school. He chose a project where you use batteries, magnets, and copper wire. The wire runs in between the magnets and each end of the wire is touched quickly to the battery. The wire then jumps around a bit. There is more to it than that simple explanation. It took Ethan quite a bit of time to get it figured out, but he did it. I was proud that he did not get discouraged when it wasn't working, he just kept trying. I know I have said it before, but Ethan's mind just isn't wired like mine. He can understand and think through things I would never be able to. Everything he tries academically comes to him so easily, and he has great plans for his future. Yes, his future does involve a mansion with a room for his mother (to take care of his kids)!!

The Cake Boss

Maya is becoming obsessed with Buddy Valastro from Hoboken, New Jersey. We started watching these shows on Netflix over the Christmas break, and little by little she has developed a crush on him. I don't think that she really cares about the cakes, although she does think some of them are pretty cool. She is obsessed with the members of his family that work in the bakery, with Buddy's children, but especially with Buddy. She can tell you how all of the family members tie into each other. She can tell you all about Buddy's children, especially his daugher Sophia (Maya actually looks alot like Sophia). She can tell you all about Sal and how he was important to Buddy and that is why he named his new son after him, but now Sal has passed away. She can tell you about the character traits of Buddy's sisters, and how she doesn't think they need to act the way they do. She can tell you about the times that Buddy gets angry and yells at the workers, but she thinks he probably needs to do that sometimes. Her favorite part is the opening of the show, where Buddy talks about Carlo's Bakery. She says that she really likes the way he talks, she really likes his voice. Tonight, however, really showed me how much she loves him. She told me that when she gets to be "Student of the Week" in her class at school there will be a poster that she gets to fill out. On that poster, on the very top even, is a spot to write what your hopes and dreams are. She let me know that she will be writing down that she wants to go to Hoboken, New Jersey and see Buddy. This is not the way I thought my little girl's first crush would play out! But it is really very sweet.