Snow Days

Because we've had 3 (going on 4 now) snow days, we've had a lot of time to spend together here in the Hartman household. I'm going to post a link below to Kodak Gallery where you can view them at your leisure.

We spent Tuesday playing in the snow, playing games inside (Qwirkle and Wii Mariokart), reading Little House in the Big Woods and staying up till 10pm watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. Emily had already been exposed to this awesome TV series but I think it was David and Ella's first time watching it (being able to realize what was going on). They all three sat in front of the TV mesmerized by the show, aren't you proud Boppy?! I had to take a photo so that one is included too.

Wednesday I got called off work (a first for me) and Jason did some work from home but mostly used the day to catch up on some needed sleep (slept in till 10am, two and half hour nap in the afternoon) what a life! Jason did get out and ride around on his quad some and took me out for a little ride to get some nature photos. We saw two people out on snowmobiles and Jason got jealous ("Why can't I have one?" My reply - "Um because you would use it MAYBE once a year!"). Emily, Ella, David and I did crafts too! We made two crafts out of the recent Family Fun magazine. We made quadropuses (octopus with 4 legs) and made candy iPods for Emily to give out as Valentines to her friends.

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Hope you're staying safe and warm and enjoying the beauty of this occasion. Until next time!

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Here's the link to the photos. You'll have to either click on the next photo in the slide show or press the play button above the photos. Email me if you have trouble viewing them!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16kir12b.3ea46lnf&x=0&y=-g1q1kl&localeid=en_US

Good News And Bad News

We have a new tradition at our house. During dinnertime each night we share our good new and bad news from the day. There are only a few rules for this (these are still evolving) which include....

1) You can only use the bad news of "you had to get up too early/you're tired or sick" once per week (Emily loves to use this one),

2) The menu choices at dinner are not your bad news,

3) Yes, you do have something positive to report, God has blessed us tremendously, pick something!

Some of my favorites to report from the dinner table have come from David. In December, my brother and his girlfriend (Katherine) were in town for a few days and on the second day of their visit David reported that his good news was that he liked Katherine. On the other hand his bad news was that she was not spending the night at our house. My other favorite was (and this is before Rule #2) David reporting that his good news was that we had cooked carrots with dinner but his bad news was that the chicken looked weird!

The whole point of me sharing these stories is so that you can understand a little about our past week.

Good News:

1. Jason and Emily had an excellent time skiing with the youth group last weekend in PA.

2. Alison, Ella, and David spent a lot of time together the same weekend watching movies and playing "I Spy" on Wii.

3. Jason got his official stamp in hand on Friday for being NEBB certified (see previous blogs for explanation).

4. Alison may possibly be on Channel 12 news for their medical minute (the doc I work with a lot had a procedure taped but the most you'll see of me is my finger pushing buttons on a machine, if that much).

5. Emily continues to improve in her trombone playing abilities and passing tests each week in band (she's not sure she wants to continue next year though).

6. Ella and Jason made their quickest Pinewood Derby car (took less than 2 hours total to make).

7. Ella won 3rd place for workmanship at the Pinewood Derby for her "Lightning Log".

Bad News:

1. The transportation time and sleeping accommodations at the ski trip left a lot to be desired (40 degrees in the cabin in the morning when they woke up).

2. It was discovered on this past Saturday that Ella, David and Alison have lice! (EEEEWWWW!!!!) - We're as disgusted as you are!

3. Ella had it the worse and we don't know where she got it from!

4. I (Alison) have spent the past 36 hours cleaning the house and doing laundry (including 2+ hours at the local laundromat so I could do 10 loads at the same time!).

5. We're a social pariah at the moment.

I know that through all trials we learn something we didn't know before and that we grow in ways we never thought possible but learning to identify and remove lice was not at the top of my "Top 100 things to do before I die list"! Hopefully this will be an isolated round and we won't have to deal with it again! Right now I'm sure you're "itching" for me to move onto another subject so I won't continue to gross you out with lice details.

Might I also suggest that you watch the Lifehouse video at the following link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

I was really touched by this video. The lyrics for the song sung can be found at.....

http://www.lyrics007.com/Lifehouse%20Lyrics/Everything%20Lyrics.html

Here are some photos from the past two weeks for all to enjoy!

These are Emily's past Pinewood Derby cars

(the turtle was never entered, it was not within the width

and height restrictions; also the bone had a dog on it at one point.)

Here are the parts for Ella's "Lightning Log" car before being put together.

And then, Ella's car all put together!

Here are some shots from Jason and Emily's ski trip, including the cold cabins!

Until next time!!!!!

Christmas 2008

Happy New Year!

Go ahead and take a deep breath, sit back off the edge of your seats

because the first Hartland post of 2009 is here! YEAH!

These past couple of weeks have been busy for all of us around here, as I'm sure it was for all of you. We had many family gatherings to attend and relationships to catch up on. Christmas was almost like Hanukkah for us (no disrespect intended). We had some type of celebration everyday from Dec. 23rd till Dec. 27th!

I think the highlight of the season was having Thom home for a few days! He and his girlfriend, Katherine, were only here for 4 days and 3 nights. The first night they joined our immediate family in going to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. It was very misty but not too cold, thank goodness! After enjoying the animals and the lights we went out to dinner. While waiting for our food we played some serious Uno!

Thom, Katherine and their penguin friend!

My side of the family was able to get together and get a family portrait done at Portrait Innovations, the last time that happened was probably the better part of 20 years ago! The family sure has changed since then!

The rest of our break we played a lot together as a family. We got a Wii and had a good time making our individual players (Mii), Jason had me practically rolling on the floor with laughter as he was making his Mii. The kids have really enjoyed an I Spy game that I got for the Wii and Jason has been busy trying to rack up as many metals as possible. We also played a couple of new games, Qwirkle and Escalation! I especially like Qwirkle!

Here's a video of Thom playing Wii with the kids!

Jason with Ella and David playing Qwirkle

We, minus Emily (again), spend New Year's Eve at some friends house and the kids were up till 1 AM going strong playing Rock Band and whatever else they could find! Emily had joined one of her friends at their party and was reportedly up till 1:30 AM. It was an enjoyable evening and I got to hear Jason sing!

This may come as a surprise but we went down to "The Land" (our camping land in Kentucky) this past weekend. Jason's parents, Mamaw and Papaw, went for the weekend but we just went down on Saturday for the day. Mamaw and Papaw bought a new (to them) trailer and we were down there trying to figure out the logistics of moving their old one (which will become our new one). In general playing Ring around the Rosies with all the trailers to get them to their new spots is what it is going to come down to, wheeeeeee! I'll definitely have to post that when it happens!

That's the long and short of it. Enjoy the slide show at top, the pictures and the video I've posted!