Aksel's Rainstick

While Lachen slumbered off a fever, Aksel sat chomping on his after-school snack. He lamented how he hadn't made any instruments this year. You see, the school music teacher invites students to make instruments and bring them to music class. Lachen made several shakers last year, as well as a great shoebox and rubber band guitar. Aksel said he wanted to make a rainstick. We used to have a real one from Mary, but at some point it broke and slowly littered our house with little stones. Before putting it in the compost bin (it was made out of a certain tree trunk), I examined its structure. Toothpicks had been tapped in all over the place, and the sound of the rainstick is made by the rocks hitting the sticks.

Lo and behold, I had stashed away the cardboard tube that some drapery fabric had been wrapped around. Sometimes my pack-ratting tendencies come in handy! Here is Aksel's creation. We used aluminum nails and rice to make the tinkling noise.

Tae Kwon Do Belt Promotion

Once a week after school, Lachen and Aksel go to Tae Kwon Do lessons. Their instructor is from South Africa, and she can get Aksel to stand still longer than I ever thought possible. Lachen's board had a big knot in it, but he still manages to conquer it with a fierce "ki-ya!"




Watch the blue bag in the middle.
Lachen and Aksel are in the same line next to each other. Aksel was a bystander last year, and how he gets to do all the moves Lachen knows. They tell everyone about their legendary cousin, Joe, and his astounding TKD skills. Thanks for the inspiration, Joe!

Pond Hockey

Much of the last week has been spent on the pond. Shoveling, skating, boot hockey, cocoa in the warming house. Good times. Shawn did have to give his team a tutorial in pond ice management. Their high school brains thought they could be human zambonis, and they pour water onto the ice. No so much. And, they needed to learn proper shoveling. They're learning a lot more that just hockey skills. Maybe not resume worthy, but these are life skills, right? Check out www.stmarksschool.org for more great photos.

Only at this wacky boarding school would we have leather chairs and oriental rugs in the warming house. No gas logs in the fireplace. If we build a fire, we do it old school.

I am reminded of a story of Nanny, my great-grandmother, shoveling her own walk for years and years. It is amazing exercise and when I have Lachen and Aksel begging for more playing surface, I'm highly motivated. No treadmills for me on days like this!

Cousins = FUN!

What's better than lots of fluffy, fresh snow? Fluffy fresh snow with your cousins, of course! The four cousins built a snowman on Grandma and Grandpa Reid's lake on a beautiful Minnesota morning. And...Uncle Blaine ROCKS! He gave the four cousins passes to the amusement park in the Mall of America. It's always fun to be with our Reid cousins!

Grandpa's Retirement Party

While in Iowa for the Christmas Tour, we went to Grandpa Hemberger's Iowa Department of Transportation Retirement Party. There were lots of co-workers there, and Lachen, Aksel, and Shawn did a fine job documenting the event. They had great fun pretending to be "workers" in Grandpa's office. And, there was a hard-to-resist, mysterious ladder in the breakroom that they both had to climb. It started halfway up the wall, and it led to a secret hatch! What's up there, Grandpa?!?
Now that Grandpa's retired, we're looking forward to seeing both Grandma and Grandpa Hemberger in Florida in a few weeks. Jeanne and Pops will be in on the party as well. But, Daddy has to stay home and work :( Hopefully, he works harder than he did during his time at the IDOT.

Gold and Black Jerseys

By now, I'm sure you're getting tired of seeing Lachen and Aksel in gold and black jerseys. But, since the Bruins, Lachen's Triboro Team, and the Framingham Learn-to-Skate team all share these colors, these are the colors the boys are sporting most everyday. These are from a recent trip to a Bruins game with Lachen's hockey team. Later, the popcorn bucket became a rally hat. It worked: the Bruins pulled ahead in a tie game to win: 6-3.

Wintertime

Now all of your Midwestern readers know that zero degrees is no reason to go into full freak-out nation mode. But, here in Massachusetts where the thermometer has not read 0 degrees in four years, it's the topic of EVERY conversation. This is a region where children do not have outdoor recess if the windchill is below 20 degrees. It's also a place where Aksel has to ask, "Why do we have rain days here instead of snow days?" because the two school cancellations are because it's raining, and the temperature MIGHT drop to freezing. Seriously. What a bunch of pansies.

So, in full Midwestern vigor, my boys played outside today after school for over an hour--probably to the horror of all who saw them out their windows. C'mon. I'm just glad the pond near our house is finally frozen for skating. It never froze last year. Now it's wintertime. Wa-hoo!