Greetings from Eau Claire!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I'm looking forward to learning more about this format, as well as the prospect of being "penpals" with a bunch of loved ones all at once. After all, anything that gives me a chance to show off my kids HAS to be good, right?

We're all well here. It's late at night, and the kids (and Jon) are all tucked upstairs, snug in their beds... which is a good thing, because it's freezing cold outside! Winter is finally upon us. Yesterday we had a snow day from school because it snowed five inches the night before. It's below zero and with the wind it's pretty nippy out there.

Tonight we had a Girl Scout meeting at the house. I'm the leader of Emma's Daisy troop, and I'm still very much learning the ropes. It's not easy to keep a group of kindergartners quiet and focused! But we had a good meeting tonight, and I'm starting to think I may actually get the hang of this after awhile. The main thing is that the girls are having a good time and (I think) learning something from the experience.

Tomorrow night I have to work "late" (till 5 pm). Usually I get to be done with work when the kids are done with school, but tomorrow night my boss has requested that I attend a building rep meeting and take photos. We need some good photos of members for the union's website (which I am now responsible for updating)! I also edit the organization's newsletter. Part of the fun is designing advertisements for people. But while that may sound impressive, I should also admit that I'm the one who counts out the newsletters, stuffs the envelopes, and carts the boxes over to the school district's mail room.

Thursday night is party time! Whoo-hoo! Actually, yawn. I'm having an "At Home America" party at my house, which involves snacking, visiting, and shopping from the comfort of my living room. My in-laws are coming over, as well as Aunt Margy and a few friends.

Friday night is the Pinewood Derby! Jon helped Mikey carve his racecar, and I helped paint the detailing (to Mikey's specifications). The car is black with a red stripe down the middle, and it has snake eyes and snarling teeth. This is our first Derby, so we're interested to see what goes on. Apparently they run the whole thing very seriously and it's quite the competition.

Well, you get an idea of what my days are like! Except add to that house cleaning, meal preparation, and homework supervision. And in case that sounds too unrewarding, remember that each day also has lots of hugs and funny moments and surprising statements from the kids.