Snow Day...Jacob woke up very excited this morning since school is closed today due to ice. The PTA president called at 6:15am to let me know so I could call the parents in Jacob's class on my half of the phone list. It didn't take long but my brain turned on and I never got back to sleep. Bummer, man! But I did get a little quiet time to myself before the household woke up...nice. We aren't expecting any more snow today. It is sunny but very windy and cold...20 degrees...yikes!

Go Cowboys! OSU and TX Tech went into double overtime last night and OSU pulled it out to win! Go Pokes!!!

Rolling Along...Finally finished the baking for the bake sale. I tortured my family for 2 days making goodies they couldn't eat...ha! Finally broke down and made extra cookies and an extra pecan pie for John. John had a one day trip today and tonight he and our next door neighbor, John, are headed into Manhattan to the Zinc Bar to listen to live Brazilian jazz and go to some famous pub that has the best beer anywhere from what I've heard. Our neighbor used to play in a band and is quite an accomplished guitarist so sometimes the two John's get together for some guitar pickin'. They've been trying to find a night to go do this for quite some time so they were both excited. In fact, our neighbor was practically knocking on John's car window when he got home today to see if they were still going...ha! Love the enthusiasm. I've had an upset stomach today so the kids and I have kept everything low key (other than the remote control truck up and down the hallway...thanks, Uncle Doug). Tomorrow we are planning on joining our church so we are really looking forward to that.

Good Report...I went back today for my followup dermatologist appt. She removed the rest of my mole, cauterized it, and gave me samples of the chemo cream to start in 5 days. Then I have to use that for 8 weeks. They gave me 2 samples and a $100 off coupon to use when I fill my prescription. Apparently, it is some pretty expensive cream. Must have magical powers...ha! Anyway, glad to have it done and moving into the recovery mode. It was really no big deal but a little stressful. Oh well...Thank you God!!!

Playdate...Had a good time with Brona yesterday at our playdate. Julia made 2 new friends, Hannah (age 3) and Cooper (age 1). Hannah and Julia are only 1 month apart but the height difference is hilarious! Hannah kept saying Julia was 4 yrs old, not 3 . We played puzzles, candyland, and drew pictures. Julia was especially facinated that Hannah had 2 birds and 2 fish. According to Hannah, the birds are named "2 birds in a cage" and the fish are "2 black fish". Pretty self-explanatory...ha! Kids are funny!

Party Hoppers...We made the rounds yesterday at Superbowl parties. We were invited to a party at one of Jacob's classmates, Michael. His mother, Karen, and I do a lot of class stuff together plus since they are also walkers after school, then we see them everyday. So, that was fun and the kids got to play. We left there at half time and came home. Then John and I took turns stopping by our next door neighbors, John and Brona. They were all excited because they had borrowed a professional fryer from one of the chefs at Sutton Place and were frying up a storm on the front porch. I had to laugh...welcome to the south! Although this was a much fancier fryer than I had ever seen. The other fun thing is that usually John and Brona's parties are all people with no kids and lots of freedom. However, since John's sisters have both had babies it was an entirely different atmosphere. When I stopped by, there were to babies with all of their supplies and 2 pregnant women. I told Brona it was like coming to my house...ha! Her husband did the Polar Bear swim yesterday morning. It is a big annual fundraiser were CRAZY people swim in the freezing cold ocean to raise money. It was the coldest day we've had so far this winter. Even he had to admit it was dog-gone cold. As of last week, he was trying to tell me the water wasn't that cold, it was just the air that was cold. I don't care. You aren't catching me in that water.

Our neighbor, Brona, is now babysitting for a one yr old boy and 3 yr old girl several days a week. So, Julia and I are headed over there today for a playdate. So, that'll be fun for the grownups and kids.

This Week at the Elliotts...This week we were pretty much back to our routine. It was nice to actually be able to get things done. Except poor John has a bad headcold. Jacob and Julia were both back in school. Jacob had a fieldtrip to the post office. We was really excited that he was mailing us a surprise (turned out to be a sweet postcard telling us he loves us). His class has been visiting a lot of local businesses like the bank, grocery, fire dept, police station, etc. It is all building up to Community Day at his school when each of the classrooms at his school are turned into different businesses and the kids can go door-to-door shopping at the businesses. I will be helping out that day so it should be fun.

Jacob is enjoying basketball on Saturdays. I am doing a lot of baking this week as next Saturday is a huge annual fundraiser for Julia's school. I am now volunteering in the nursery at church about 2 Sundays a month . And John and I went to a meeting at church this week and it looks like we are going to join our church here in a couple of weeks. We have been so thrilled with our church and really enjoy it and all the people.