February 2010

We had 2 weeks of very cold weather here and more snow than we had hoped for! The children were loving it. Since Texas doesn't typically get a whole lot of snow, they don't have snow removal vehicles, other than the buckets on the fronts of backhoes.....so only the main roads got cleared. As a result, we didn't go anywhere for a week! :) There was a nice slick layer of ice under the snow. It's amazing what meals you can come up with when you have only certain ingredients and some staples but NOT some others! :)
I THOUGHT about taking some pictures of the meals we ate, but never did! HA!

Everyone except Savannah. :)

Johnny brought flowers home on Valentine's Day! Some were for me, and each of the girls got one as well. It's so cute to see those roses on their dressers. :)

The littlest homeschooler. :)

Firemen rescue cats from trees, but how many people have to rescue their DOG from the roof???
(The best part of this picture is the chagrin on the beagle's face!!!)
This whole event was crazy. When I heard shouts of alarm, I headed out the front door.....and saw one of our way-down-the-street neighbors running with all his might to get here. From HIS house, he had seen Marissa standing at the top of the ladder holding the dog's collar to keep the dog from jumping to the ground. The neighbor was petrified that she was going to try to lift this fat dog off the roof herself and especially concerned that "No one was holding the ladder"! Poor guy. He's come to our aid on more than one occasion. I don't think that the ladder police would entirely approve of Jessica's position on the ladder in this photo either! :)

Oh yes, someone is sure to ask in the comment section HOW THE DOG GOT ON THE ROOF!??! Someone had an upstairs window open and she squeezed through onto the roof.
Whoever named this dog "Angel" wasn't thinking straight! LOL!

Our neighbors are very kind....all of them. They keep their suspicions about us to themselves. It's almost confirmed, however, that we're a different breed and definitely not city-folk.
Since the girls created another Ballenger-kids-vehicle out of a couple dog leashes and a stroller this week....thus a CHARIOT!....I'm sure we will officially be branded. The girls were all laughing last night that the neighbors probably say to themselves, "Those poor kids. Their parents won't even buy them any real toys, like a Wii or XBox. "
Especially since they've taken this chariot contraption right down the center of our street (in plain view of anyone who cared to peer out of their garage or picture window), shouting at the horse to "giddy-up", "haw", etc........ (see Emelie's video below, if you wish. And IF I posted it right!)

We're just out of our element! LOL!