Footh Tairy

So, this is mostly an update of our week, but, if you're just skimming, look for the Tooth Fairy comment...

Monday Chad took Micah to Harrisburg for the day.  In the afternoon, he felt about 20 min of pain while he was driving.  Didn't mention it to me.

Monday pm we got 3-4 inches of snow, so kids had no school on Tues.  I went to Dulles for the day to spend time with mom and dad on their layover.  Got home around 5pm.  Chad had been having that pain for a little while again, and he didn't look so good.  We had 2 friends over for Claire and Micah, and they needed a ride home to Williamsport.  Since Chad was in pain, I took them home around 6:30.  Got home and we decided to head to the ER.  (BTW, we went to Meritus, the "new" (4 yrs old now!) hospital in Hagerstown.  Hadn't had to be there yet.)

While at the ER, Chad's pain went away, but on the CT scan, they found a 6mm kidney stone.  So far, this has turned into a bit of a rueful joke.  He hasn't had any more pain (except a small bit yesterday morning) yet, but he feels like a walking time bomb.  And he's hearing all sorts of horror stories from people.  Really makes you look forward to getting this over with, you know?

Anyway, Micah lost a tooth Tuesday while I was in D.C.  With everything going on, it got rather forgotten.  He went to bed with no mention of the tooth that was on the counter.  On Wed, he mentioned it, and I said the tooth fairy hadn't felt well so it didn't work out (he knows Chad is the tooth fairy :).

Then Wed was nuts for me.  Besides being really tired, I had to drive Katie to Spring Mills, get a couple groceries, teach 13 lessons and one Fine Arts rehearsal at Grace, drive 3 kids home, teach one lesson, go get Katie from Spring Mills, get leftovers on the table and run out to a longer bells practice.  Church was cancelled because of snow/ice, so they all stayed home and I got back around 7:30.  Micah went right to bed when I got home.  Again, the tooth remained (buried under a bunch of paperwork) on the counter.

Finally, yesterday evening, we had time to deal with the tooth.  Micah reminded me before he went to bed, so he could put it in the little tooth pillow and take it with him to his room.  One of the girls said, "The tooth fairy didn't come yet??"  Micah's response, "No, the tooth fairy has a kidney stone!"

Boys Trip to Whitaker Center

On Monday we had no school because of President's Day.  Chad and Micah took a boys' trip to Harrisburg.  Went to breakfast with Gpa and Gma (Micah LOVED his Piggy Pancake at Bob Evans) and they went to the Whitaker Center.  Micah thoroughly enjoyed this place.  Chad ended up paying more in parking than he'd planned because Micah was so into all the hands-on science stuff. 

This was the parking garage-- of course Chad and Micah had to go all the way to the top just so they could experience going down the whole thing. :)

Gears all interacting when Micah turns the crank

Giant bubble maker

Micah's climbing Mt. Denali!!

A mind game... They sit across from each other, put on the black headbands,  and then are just supposed to relax.  The more you relax the more the ball goes toward the other person.  If you are thinking too much, the ball comes back toward you.  

A paper airplane launcher

Launching the plane and trying to get it thru the hoops

Micah is vacuuming up beads or balls or something

Sand and water on an incline

Hurricane Chamber

Valentine

Really fun Valentine's Day-- nice when it hits a Saturday!  Chad and I went out to lunch (tried out the new Noodles and Co and loved it!) and then we had a Valentine supper at home. 

Above is Jenna's creation.  She saw it online and wanted to try it-- turned out cute and tasty!

Notice the beautiful roses from my wonderful husband!

16 1/2

Sorry it's a bad photo.  Wanted to you to see what we gave K on her half bday.  It is a fairly significant half bday because she's now legally allowed to drive other people around (besides sibs). 

And this is very timely for us... The carpool situation we had enjoyed for 1 1/2 years is no more because the other girl got her license and wants to drive every day.  Instead God blessed us with another family to work with. Katie picks up their 8th grade daughter, Elizabeth, every day.  Some days she uses our car and some days I drop her off at E's house and they go to school in E's dad's truck. 

Happy half birthday, Katie-dear!

First Ski Trip!

So, we've had 3 days off school so far this year.  I'm not complaining too much because I LOVE being home with the kids those days, but there's no way they needed to cancel any of those days. :)  It IS fun to be home, tho.  One of the days, Chad went in to work and then, after he came home at 4pm, he took Katie and Jenna for their first time skiing!  They went to Whitetail in Mercersburg, PA.  Katie picked it up very quickly and thought it was a blast.  Jenna was terrified the whole time (are you surprised?), but she also really enjoyed it and would like to go again. Too bad it costs and arm and a leg.

Reunion

On Saturday, we had a Wingert/Hess/Lehman reunion, all set up by my wonderful husband.  We met in a separate room at a buffet restaurant in Chambersburg.  Great solution to the space issue and the no-need-for-extra-work issue.  Very nice time of catching up with his aunts/uncles/cousins as well as seeing all kids.

Chambersburg Ice Fest

On Saturday we spent an hour or two at the Chambersburg Ice Fest.  Fun community event for a short visit.  Claire, Micah and Chad tried out the ice slide and we all enjoyed seeing the ice sculptures.  It was not a frigid day, but the kids all enjoyed the hand warmers I had brought for them. 

Enjoying Snow

The kids are itching for a great amount of snow-- so far, they have made do with our puny little bits.  We've had 3 days off school, but only 1-3 inches at a time.  This particular snowfall was nice for sledding in our yard because it was really wet and rather icy.  The kids have found out that the new slope we made beside the new (wonderful) steps makes a nice little sledding hill.  Of course, they have to go across our driveway and end up just about in the neighbor's yard, but it they sure have had fun with it-- esp when Chad spins them on the saucers.  

Since our lot is pretty hilly, you'd think we'd have more sledding spots, but there's always something in the way-- trees or rock outcroppings or the house. 

Pile Up!

I told the kids about how my sibs and I used to do this after every meal.  (I wonder how long we kept that up?)  They decided to try it.  From the looks of things, I think everyone enjoyed the experience except Jenna. :)