It is FREAKIN' COLD here

Ok, not by northern standards but by Houston standards it is way too cold too soon in the season.  Usually on Halloween night we are still in a sauna.  But not this year.  There is a theory I heard that Hurricane Ike sucked all of the heat out of the gulf and threw us into an early fall.  Early for Houston anyway.  The grass has pretty much gone dormant.  We haven't cut ours for 2 1/2 weeks and it isn't much longer than it was last time it was cut.

According to the Weather Underground, our stats for yesterday had our high at 67 and our low at 40.  Our normal high for this time of year is 78 and our normal low is 55.  Quite a difference.  Oh, and when it was 45 out this morning while O and I waited for the bus, it was also 80% humidity.  Let me tell you, it is 47 right now in my home town of Cheyenne, Wyoming but the humidity is only 36%.  Now tell me which place feels colder!  To me, the humidity makes it feel so much colder.  Now we might be more comparable to Webster, NY where my hubby grew up.  Right now they are looking at 36 with 63% humidity.  Good lord!  I had to turn the heat on yesterday.  And it is only October!  In Houston!  The HEATER!  I'll bet we get snow this winter.  It would certainly be nice to actually see snow here to make the cold worth while.  However, these southerners have no idea how to drive in ice and snow so I am staying home when/if that happens!

Yes, folks, I am officially a wimp.  Let the teasing begin.

Belle

The students were invited to wear their Halloween costumes to dance class yesterday so we were able to do a dry run.  M went as Princess Belle.  There was a lot of crying and complaining as I put her hair up and wrestling around as I put the earrings on.  It was the funniest sight to see this little princess crying her eyes out as she looked at the finished product in the mirror.  I asked, "do you like it?"  She replied, with tears streaming down her face, "I love it, mom."  I was laughing so hard.  I told her that it is painful to be beautiful and she agreed.  You couldn't guess from this picture that just minutes before she was crying her eyes out!

Then when we arrived at dance class, the other two girls were also dressed as princesses!  They were so cute!  Their teacher was wearing a pretty costume too.  What a beautiful ballet troupe they made!

We are headed to Space Center Houston tonight for a JSC party for the kids.  C took the kids last year and they had a ball.  They have different stations where they do different things and hand out trinkets.  There are games and food and lots of fun things going on.  I missed last year because of class.  This year I don't have class until 8 so I can go for about 2 1/2 hours with them before I have to head out.  (I'd just skip class but we are doing a review for our midterm next Tuesday.  Don't want to miss that one!)  O remembers the same party last year at SCH and is looking forward to it.  M is just excited to be Belle again.  I wonder how many tears we'll have today?  Maybe by Friday she'll be used to it and won't cry!  

More photos of tonight's party and Halloween later in the week.

O's first award

O's school has started a new discipline program this year.  It is all about treating others the way you would want to be treated.  The focus is on respect and being a good citizen.  The teachers and staff catch the kids doing good deeds/being good citizens and the kids are recognized for that either in the classroom or even during the daily announcements.  They encourage the kids to do the right thing even when no one is watching.  

Each 9 week quarter every teacher chooses 2 students from their classroom for a Ward Star Character award.  This student exemplifies a respectful, good citizen and Orion was one of the students chosen by his teacher for the first quarter!  I'm beyond proud of him.  Of all the awards he could get this is the one that makes me the proudest.  To know that he is a kind and helpful person and that other people recognize that makes me so proud.  Proud, proud, proud.  I cannot say it enough.

So, we get to  have this sign in our yard until Jan. 8th when we will return it to the school to go to the next quarter's winners.  At that time, O will get a certificate that we can frame.  Did I say I was proud of him?!  

They made it!

They made it safely back to earth.

A healthier addiction

My very first job was for Chick-Fil-A in my home town when I was a sophomore in high school.  The experience was a good one and I earned a $1000 scholarship that helped pay for my first year of community college.  When I moved to Jackson, the closest Chick-Fil-A was a 5 hour drive away in Salt Lake City.  I didn't realize how much I craved the stuff until it wasn't readily available!  Then we moved to Ann Arbor and I had gotten over my need to have Chick-Fil-A.  My darling husband (well, we actually weren't yet married at that time!) searched and found a Chick-Fil-A about an hour away in Toledo, OH.  He surprised me by taking me there for dinner for my 30th birthday! 

Once we moved to Houston we had 3 Chick-Fil-A restaurants within 5 miles of us.  We made it a Saturday night date every week to go eat there because I always wanted to eat there on Sundays.  They are always closed on Sundays for religious and family reasons.  What a great way to grow their following---being unavailable on a weekend day!  Now the kids are addicted as well and I take full responsibility.

Now there is another reason why I am a loyal customer:  Chick-Fil-A has removed all of the trans fats from their menu items.       

Going Green

"Going green" is all the rage these days and it can be really difficult to change our habits.  While I'm glad that the green movement is picking up speed, I hope it becomes a way of life for folks instead of just a fad.  Sometimes it just takes awareness---something that makes you see things in a different light and causes you to think twice about how you do it.

So, in that vein of thinking, here are ideas for enjoying a green Halloween. 

Now traveling daily to Denali

Ever since we lived in Jackson we have been in love with the work of wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen.   He photographs animals in their natural habitat and his landscapes are breathtaking.  We have 2 smaller limited edition prints of his work which we love but we really wanted something that we could look at every day to remind us of those areas of the world that we love and miss.  (Read:  nothing you would ever find in Houston).  We wanted a print big enough to get lost in.  We are fortunate enough to have a large bedroom that can accommodate such a print and we found the perfect one we can wake up to every morning:   September Snows

You can read about it on Tom's web site and get a better view of it there as well.  Now we can dream every morning of someday actually traveling to Denali Nation Park and taking in its vast beauty with our own eyes.  Some day we will get there.  I'll bet this print will mean that much more to us then.  But, for now, this is as close as we can get.