Sleet

The kids finally hit the jackpot today. About a half inch of sleet fell and it was declared a snow day. The weathermen threatened it could happen all week. We have learned no to trust them too much. I was scheduled to work at ALC today. Benton Public Schools played the game "How late can we wait to cancel school?" I was dressed and ready to go by the time I received a phone call to cancel. That is soooo not fair. I took advantage of the day off to read almost the entire day. I did squeeze in some laundry so I don't have to feel too guilty. It is amazing how little ice it takes to drag the bushes and small trees down to the ground. Sarah invited a friend over. Clearly unconcerned if she could make it back home or not. They are currently playing with her dishes cooking and serving the sleet.

All is well here. Mike was scheduled to work in Oklahoma this week. Weather and other issues canceled the trip. He is thrilled to be home and not worrying about the roads. He is reading almost the entire Ted Dekker series. Travel has definitely made him more of a reader. We are both drooling over the new iPad. The Amazon Kindle is tempting but Apple will crush that easily.

Sarah has me hooked on a new cd. Owl City is the name of the group and Ocean Eyes is the album. It's happy, happy music. We are both addicted.

Arkansas Arts Center

A group shot after our tour.


A beautiful piece of sculpture. It changed shapes as you moved around it. Very cool.


Students looking at a Picasso.


Sarah and Jordan in front of a Monet.



Sarah and Jordan playing in the park.


Sarah's Wings class took a field trip to the Art Center in Little Rock on Thursday. We were both so excited to go. The new Pharaoh exhibit is on display. I could not wait to see the treasures and take pictures. The first thing I saw was a sign that said absolutely no pictures. Big sigh. They were very serious. Guards were on duty in every corner keeping a close eye on us. The display was interesting. Actual mummies and artifacts were there. A lot of statues and symbols of their many gods. Interesting side note, as we exited the exhibit a sign on the wall suggested we offer up a prayer to the gods that the mummies would be accepted into paradise. Hhmmm. It was very thought provoking. They made such preparations for their afterlife. My favorite piece was an elaborate beaded dress. The kids were crazy about the mummies. They were so small. A portion of bone was exposed on one of them. The kids loved that. The glass cases had measuring devices with the temperature and humidity levels recording.

The other areas of the museum did not have signs banning photography. I took the opportunity to take some shots. We had a good time. Sarah was bummed we did not visit the gift shop.

MLK Day

Three day weekends are always nice. The kids and I enjoyed an extra day off. Poor Mike had to get up and fly out early. The kids had friends over last night. Jamie had the band over. Our house has become the practice spot for the group. They are actually starting to sound good. Mike and I looked at each other last night and said "Wow, That sounds really good!" No one got very much sleep. This morning I found out the boys played hide and seek in the dark. The "It" person used Jamie's night vision goggles and searched for the others. He said it was great. Yeah. That was what we heard at 2 am. Sarah and her sweet little friend played quietly in her room.

I have become really addicted to Pogo. It's an online gaming site. You can play any game you can imagine from cards to Scrabble and more. The only excuse I can offer is word games and such are really good to keep your mind active. My Scrabble score continues to improve. If anyone wants to join me let me know and I will email you a free weeks pass. I love the cute little mini me. The chihuahuas are a perfect match to Bella and Dean.

I made the beach layout today. I wanted a simple layout that focused on my favorite beach pictures this year. I love it. I may frame it and hang it in the scraproom.

Tech Savvy

Sarah got a pink laptop for Christmas this year. It was the one thing she asked for. We kind of debated the cost but decided we would rather spend the money on it rather than toys that would not last. Mike shopped Dell for the refurbished items and found a good deal. Pink of course costs more than the exact same thing in black. Fast forward a few weeks, the kid is making movies and doing things I can't even explain. She is talking to Mike about downloading software and tweaking the settings to personalize it. Her screen image is a collection of Chihuahua photos she has arranged. She is researching sign language practicing the hand moves. Mike and I are just looking at each other. Who knew? She will probably be sending you all movies to your email boxes soon. She is also pictured here getting ready for pajama day at school. Her class won a pj party and a movie. The picture does not reflect how incredibly slooooow she was moving that morning. I think it is a preview of the things to come as we near the preteen years. She is working very hard to get her back handspring perfected at gymnastics. We switched to a new gym in January. Her focus is now tumble only. I haven't asked them yet if I can come in with a camera. I would love to get her mid air with out a spotter.

The scrapbook page is one from our beach trip last summer. I wanted to do a layout with just pictures of the Ayres family. I love the neutral brown cardstock with the beach colors. I subbed at ALC Friday. They are gearing up for a Special Olympics event in February. I think I will take my camera and see what shots I can get. They are serious ping pong players at ALC. I can manage a few minutes of it. They follow the rules strictly and run out of patience with me fast.

First Place

I started a new Bible study at church this week. It is a Christian based health program. It is mostly geared to weight loss. I didn't really take it for that. It was the one study that best fit my schedule. We had our first meeting this week and I loved it. The basic premise is putting God first in all areas of your life. The eating plan is simple portion control of the basic food groups. It is very similar to the diabetic food exchange program. It also focuses on Bible study with memory verses and group support. We have a group of 15 ladies all various ages and stages of life. This may become my niche. I could totally lead this kind of Bible study with confidence and joy. The introductory session was very motivating and impressive. I am thinking about taking some of my exercise videos next week to share with he ladies. It will be interesting to see if I actually lose any weight. My weight has been pretty stable for the past several years regardless of what I eat or how much I exercise. I would probably have to maintain a 1,000 calories a day or less to really lose any pounds. That is just unrealistic and not going to happen. We have to keep a daily food journal which is always a good thing. We don't always think about how much we eat until we sit down and add it all up. Portion sizes are always a huge eye opener. A handful of pretzels is actually several bread servings. I am so glad I signed up.

Cold but Sunny

We have had cold weather this week. Lows have been in the teens and highs barely reaching 30. The weathermen promised snow but we only got a few random flakes. It was very disappointing. Monday I drove to the store to get a few groceries. It was really snowing on the way there. A mere hour later it was completely gone. That will teach me not to stop and take pictures in the moment. The puppies refuse to go out in the cold. They take about two steps out on the deck and turn right back around and come inside. I have started opening the curtains in my room so they have a sunny place to nap. They stretch out and do what they do best.

Sarah took part in the school spelling bee this week. She won a spot for her classroom. She was very nervous. I don't ever remember her being that nervous. If she decides to do this next year we are going to have to prepare way more than we did.

The layout is for my Design class. We are still working on balance. I used this to scrap some of my many flower pictures.

Baby its Cold outside.

This doesn't happen very often so I had to take a quick picture. The dog's water bowl is freezing over. It never gets that cold here. According to my iphone the low on Thursday is 6. If that really happens we will be setting some records around here. Maybe a few flakes will come along with all that cold air.

We took the last of the Christmas decorations down today. Real life begins again tomorrow. School, work and the crazy schedules begin early tomorrow. It's not going to be pretty around here when the alarm goes off. We have been sleeping very late every day.

Mike and Jamie checked out a gun show this weekend. Jamie continues to collect knives. He loves to go to the shows and look at the knives. One of his Christmas presents this year was a butterfly knife. Let's just say he and Mike both are wearing band-aids on their hands.

The layout is cute little page I made. It was part of a color challenge. I had to use brown, blue and orange together. I think it's very cute.

If you want to play a fun addictive game scroll all the way to the bottom to play Sprint Scrabble. It's too big to add to the sidebar.

New Year, New Class

What better way to start the new year than with a Big Picture Scrapbooking class? I have signed up for Cathy Zielske's Design class. She is a photographer, graphic designer and scrapbooker. Cathy is also hilarious and totally fun. I can't wait. We'll make a scrapbook and each lay out will be an example of some design principle. One of the best parts of Christmas vacation is extra time off to scrapbook. These two lay outs are examples of balance and symmetry.

The dance pictures are from parent's night. One class a year we get to go in and observe the lesson. It's my one shot for pictures. The girls are awesome. I can't believe the energy they have to dance for two hours straight on a school night.

We all stayed up till midnight and rang in the new year. I have to thank God for this new year. We are all healthy and well. Mike has a good job. Today was a beautiful day with blue skies. Life is good. I am not making any resolutions. I just hope to make the most of each day and be a great mother and wife.