These lil' cuties were so excited to finally get some snow.  Poor Anna was taking a nap - we'll have to get her in on the action next time.  Even after all of the times I've seen her pull this, her little poses make me smile every time.

 I didn't take any other pictures of Thanksgiving.  So, I'm glad to at least have these.  The girls helped make the banana cream pie.  Looking at the after math it's seems a little more clear why Anna would be inclined to cut her hair!  (It's usually pulled up.)

Video of Anna's new hair

Anyway - Mother Teresa

An old friend of mine had this posted on facebook.  I liked it so much I copied and pasted it where I wouldn't lose it.  Thanks Jocelin.  This is one worth committing to memory, and, better yet, to practice.
 Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

 Mother Teresa

Happy December Sunday

Anna, the ballerina, is the teacher.

The girls had just exhausted themselves dancing around the living room when we came back to the classroom. Anna and Rissie taught us a few more things before the end of school.

Her words are unintelligible, but obviously intentional.

Where is your Ami?

A Happy Day

Mouse in the house

We (meaning Jon) just flushed our second live mouse for the day. That makes four this month. Eek! I think/hope one of them was the little guy I saw scurrying across the dining room floor yesterday that we spent the next 45 minutes in a failed attempt to trap with a broomstick and towel. Oh wait...I think I just heard it in the wall. The one we chased was actually pretty cute. His name is Jerry.
The girls were pretty excited about seeing him. After I announced (okay, screeched) that there was a mouse all three of them came running into the kitchen where the four of sat watching and waiting for it to make it's escape from under the china cabinet. Rissie tried coaxing it out with a high pitched, "squeak, squeak."
After a little while, Lauren asked me, "Do you even know how to get a mouse? I mean, they don't even speak human." Ha ha.
Jon got in on the action and toweled off a few of the crannies where he might be able to escape. Then after a few minutes little Jerry dashed out from the cabinet and under the table along the tile floor. The girls all squealed, "There he is!" In an instant he'd made his way to us and while Jon kept him from heading the other direction he ran straight for me and with towel in hand I threw it over him and he was trapped! All eyes were glued to the towel heap as we slowly flattened it to determine where he was exactly - only to discover that Jerry was NOT there! Perplexed we sought out any possible escape and finally determined that he must have jumped over one of the cranny towels and flattened in one of the vertical cracks of the (solid) gate (that we use to keep Anna out of the kitchen and off the counters and cupboards).
About ten minutes later I saw it running towards me in the hallway and into the room where Jon and I were. We hurried around the room blocking off this and that and then chased it around the room for another 25 minutes or so. We almost had him a couple of times, but finally he escaped into a itty-bitty hole in the closet that is near non-existent.
I suspect that he is still in the wall (Jon plugged the hole with one of Kade's diapers.) I hate that there is mouse in our house, but the other part of me is proud of that little guy - he was so close to being a gonner-mouse so many times and probably so scared. When he finally escaped I was a little relieved that we didn't have to flush him. He really was so cute.