First Snow of the Season

Our first snow of the season hit last night on Friday, November 28th. And it was... in Alec's words, "Light, but good enough for some nice snowballs." Notice in the video how Alec is grooming his baby brother in the fine art of how to throw snowballs at your dad!

Happy Birthday to My Sis and Me

I have had the luxury of sharing my birthday with my sister for the last 36 years. She is here in town visiting me for the holiday season. And no, we are not twins...we were born three years apart on November 25th. My mom says it wasn't rigged...but with c- sections, you never know. We are Turkey girls, but we like it! And despite looking younger than me...she is my older sister. My parents and brother have been here as well and we have enjoyed some delicious mexican food...thanks to my mom who thinks throwing together some chile rellenos is "no big deal." I think I've gained 8 lbs. in 8 days!!!

Thanksgiving...Maxine Style

Thanksgiving With Maxine

Ra Ra... Ra Ra Ra... GO COUGARS!

Last weekend we had the chance to go to a true "nail biter" football game where BYU played CSU in Ft. Collins. They would score...then we would score...then they would score...and we would score! The game was total insanity. Being the football fanatic that I am, (not) I managed to bite off my stubby little nails even shorter than they already are. To my surprise, I actually paid attention to the game the entire time!

Thankfully, the cougs pulled through in the last few seconds of the game and BYU survived to play another football game! The best part was celebrating as we slapped all of the players hands as they ran around the field after the game. One of the players was even nice enough to pick up and hand me my sunglasses that had fallen onto the field. Good times with some great friends!!

Maybe I Won't Teach After All

I substitute taught yesterday for the first time in 4th grade here in town. All was going well until it was time to line up after recess and this lovely boy from another class asked me who I was.

"My Name is Mrs. Ahlstrom," I said.

How old are you? he said.

How old do you think I am? I replied.

"50?" He said.

"I look pretty good for being 50...don't you think?"

This is dedicated to the lovely punk kid who thought I was 50.

What Did You Learn at School Today, Ethan?

A day in the life of a Kindergartner...

Today, as I do everyday, I asked Ethan what he learned in school. Most days, he simply says,"I don't know...I can't remember." Today, however, he had 2 bowls of Lucky Charms cereal in the morning and somehow remembered everything.


"I learned about decomposers. The first decomposer is a worm and the second
decomposer is a cockroach. They eat leaves, banana peels, orange peels, other bugs, and sticks. The worm has no eyes, a light sensor, a huge mouth, no legs and five hearts. All of the worms in the whole world are boys and every worm in the whole world is a girl. They are all boys and girls at the same time!"

"Cockroaches feel scaly, smooth and a little bumpy. Every cockroach in the whole world is not a boy. Some are girls and some are boys. Both of the decomposers eat their dead friends to turn them back into dirt for new plants to grow."

"Ethan, that's a lot of information. Can I write down everything you told me today about worms and cockroaches?"

"Yea, I better sit next to you in case you forget something that I told you."

Basement Finish Part 3-Finally!

One toy room, bathroom and closet down....1000 sq.feet to go. Stay tuned in 2009 for the rest of the work. YUCK. Oh yea, don't look too closely at the closet. We still need to build the shelves for all the TOYS!