Got green?

Here we go with another week!  St. Patrick's Day is coming--did you notice that my blog is wearing green?

        

Wednesday 3/2  Joe and C found this green, mint flavored milk at our local dairy.  D drank most of it, though.  It must be whole milk--it leaves a great green mustache!

Thursday 3/3  Yes, this picture is posed, but it is to illustrate the fact that Copper sleeps on the floor right next to me.  You may be thinking, "What a good and loyal dog!"  Well, he is, but in truth, I think he does it not to protect me, but so I will protect him!

Friday 3/4  I don't really know what this is.  Every March, it shows up on the door to my garage.  Joe makes it with a used match, and it has something to do with an Italian superstition, and the Ides of March.  He also chants some sort of incantation as he makes it.  And all this time you thought HE was the normal one.

Saturday 3/5  This is C at her basketball game.  She isn't shooting, but she is the other one in blue, facing the camera.  I've got to get a better camera that can take action shots before next season!  They won their game, but it was very close, and pretty exciting!

Sunday 3/6  This morning when I got up, you could see the grass.  I was hoping for a big melt by the end of the week.  Within the hour, it was snowing, and it just kept coming.  Hopefully this is the last big one of the season!  We pretty much holed up inside watching movies,and tried to pretend it wasn't happening!  Luckily for me, I had D to hug me and keep me warm!

Monday 3/7  we actually had a Snow Day today.  Only the 2nd one all year!  By afternoon, it was sunny, and we were all digging out.  D and I heard a woodpecker, and we tried to find it, but no luck.

Tuesday 3/8  It's Mardi Gras!  We celebrated with our tradition of eating dessert first at dinner.  This year's treat was brownie sundaes!  The bad news:  C stayed home sick from school today--fever last night.  Good student that she is, she was angry with me for keeping her home.  The good news:  I saw 2 robins today while walking Copper, and one later from my car.   I need these signs of Spring to help me get through Lent!

Week8

Ok, so I'm still a little bit behind, but here is the latest update!

 Saturday 2/19  C. is a voracious reader.  I bought her this book yesterday afternoon.  Can you see how much she has read already?  The good thing is that she does re-read many of her books.

Sunday 2/20  Today was the last day of D and Joe's basketball season.  I didn't get many pictures, because all of the gyms they play in, seem so dark!  Here he is about to shoot a free throw.  ( He made it, by the way.  He also put the first points of the game on the board!  You can see Coach P. on the far left in the background.  Final score? St. Mary's (us) 43, Holy Family 17.  There was no glory in this win, considering the fact that we had no subs, and they had 3, but what can you do?   All in all, it was a great season for St. Mary's, as they only lost 2 games!

Monday 2/21  We are on Winter Break, but we are staying home until the homework/projects get done.  At one point, D. took a break to eat some blueberries, then came and said to me, "Mom, my fingers are turning blue!"  I said, "Oh No! That means your tongue is turning black!"  "No it's not." he claimed.
"Yes it does."  I said.  "Wait, how do you know?" he asked.  "Because I know how your fingers turned blue!"  I replied.  (Quick dash to the bathroom to check)  "Oh, Cool!" (from the bathroom).  Actually it's gross.

 Wednesday 2/23  It took two days to get the schoolwork done, but today we're finally able to do something fun.  We went to the Everson Museum Art, (which was designed by I.M.Pei, by the way).  Then we went to Clinton Square to see this ice castle that was built as part of Winterfest.  It looks even cooler at night, when it is lit from inside!  What's funny, is that there is a stuffed cat on the top.  No explanation was given as to why.

 2/23 Continued   After tromping around downtown, it was time for a visit too Starbucks!  I love the warmth in this pic, contrasted with the coldness in the previous!

 Thursday, 2/24  Tonight was our traditional night out with Joe's brother and his wife, as part of Diner's week.  Several local fine restaurants create $25 dinner menus, and we always take advantage.   We went to a Thai restaurant, and these were some of the elegant desserts!  The Chocolate Stiletto is pictured above, and below, you see the Chocolate Can-can, along with the Red Balloon.  Delicious!

 Friday 2/25  Today I had delusions of a domestic goddess type, and decided to make cupcakes.  I apparently over-filled the cups.  Although still delicious, you can see it was more SNL skit material than Martha Stewart!

 Saturday 2/26  This photo is EVIDENCE.  He IS using his sister's iPod Touch without asking.  While it's charging.  Apparently the urge to play Angry Birds trumps facing her wrath.

 Sunday 2/27  Everyone is grouchy today, and no one wants to even get dressed.  The weather is lousy, and it's the last day of winter break.  Only Copper would pose for a picture, and even he doesn't look too thrilled.

Monday 2/28  12:45 am.  It's official.  Winter break is over.  Everything is ready, so they can get ready for school QUIETLY, because Mom is sleeping in after working until midnight.   Thanks guys!

Tuesday 3/1  Spring isn't here yet, but the sun is shining, and I saw this beautiful sign of it in the melting snow next to my house today.  Hurray!   Guess it's time to put up the bunny wire.  Most people call it chicken wire, but we aren't keeping chickens in, we are keeping bunnies (and Copper) out!

Bonus SF Photos

Here are some bonus pictures from my trip to San Francisco.  I will add details later in the week. :)

Missy and I took this while in Golden Gate Park.

M's daughter is playing spin the Polar Spin the Wheel game--such a doll!

Some views of the Japanese Tea Garden--Always beautiful, even in winter!

M, A, and M.  They don't look too cold, considering they are standing in front of an igloo!  Happy Birthday to my cousin!

M and A playing with their polar stickers--they are so cute!

Waving to us in the Butterfly rainforest at the Academy of Sciences

Jellyfish are so cool!!

A's daughter--isn't she beautiful?

One of the parrots of Nob Hill hanging out at the dog park with us.  I hadn't ever seen them before!

Castro Street--one of the most exciting neighborhoods in the world!

The beautiful Bay Bridge--I took this while sitting at the table at the restaurant!

San Francisco at sunset--as seen from the deck.

Lassie and her stick.  She is in charge here at the dog park--She definitely walks softly and carries--a big stick!

This is a little boy who shares all of the dogs at the dog park, because he doesn't currently have one at his house.  He has just turned 2, and is the sweetest thing!

The Palace Hotel.  I know Eloise must have done a stint here.

Brunch at the Palace: Sushi, Dim Sum, made to order eggs and dessert crepes, belgian waffles, cereal (seriously?), prime rib, ham, poached salmon, danish, salads, including ceviche!, and a desert bar to die for!

The rose at our table

A special flower arrangement for the lunar new year.

Look at these two lovely ladies (Ha ha!)

Can you see me in the reflection?

Beautiful San Francisco, as seen from Sausalito.

My sister and Lassie.  Two gorgeous gals.

I have to say this is classic Arnie!  See those two bowls?  When I was a kid, one was always filled with pistachios.  At least until I filled the other bowl with shells.

And finally, Shimon, relaxing in the evening.

Catching Up

I have returned!  I know I promised a surprise, and now I doubt many will be surprised, because it took me so long to get around to uploading these pictures!  But, here we go!

 On Tuesday, February 1, I had to pack.

 On Wednesday, I said goodbye to my family, and went to the airport,

 where I took this picture of the day's headlines, and hoped my re-routed flight would make it out of Syracuse.  The airport was practically deserted, so it didn't look good.

 However, I made it to San Francisco, and spent Thursday with Arnie.  I took this beautiful shot of the city at sunset.  Arnie made me his famous General Tso's Chicken for dinner.

 On Thursday evening, my sister arrived, and on Friday, we spent the day with our cousins and their children at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  It was fun to catch up, and explore the combination museum and aquarium.  Since it was sunny and in the 70s, Missy and I also stopped at the Japanese Tea Garden, and had tacos just outside of the park while sitting in the sun.

 On Saturday, Arnie took us to brunch at this nice restaurant just below the Bay Bridge.  The cherrystone clams were raw, but delicious, and we had a wonderful and relaxing meal.

 We also made an afternoon stop at the dog park, where Arnie has his own bench (no kidding!)  Shimon and Lassie definitely know that this is their place!  We had crab fest for dinner.  Yummm!

 On Sunday, we had brunch at the Palace Hotel, took a drive to Sausalito, and came home across the Golden Gate Bridge.  What a lovely visit!  We just ate, relaxed, and ate some more!

 On Monday, it was already time to return to cold, and snowy New York.  But before we left early Monday morning, we were treated to this beautiful sunrise!

 Another view of that sunrise.

 In San Francisco, I picked up this real dog toy that is like the kid toy we were letting Copper play with.  Here he is playing with it on Tuesday, Feb. 8th.

 C. is playing one of her favorite computer games on Wednesday the 9th.

 The Valentine's Day treats the kid's gave to their friends.

 D. is working on a book report.  Book reports take up a lot of your time in 5th grade!

 D. is asleep at 9:30 in the morning on a school day.  Very rare on any day.  He had developed an ear infection Monday evening.

 Joe had the cold, too, but not the ear infection.

 Copper likes to make a nest in the sorted laundry.  He pushes the clothes around with his nose, circles around the requisite 3 times, then plops down to relax after all of his hard work!

D. made a mobile of the element Nitrogen for his Science class.  For all you chemists out there, the 7th electron is hidden behind the nucleus.  The mushrooms are the protons, and the foil circles are the neutrons.  We were glad he was able to finish it on time, even though he had a few rough days this week.