ice skating starts again

The new ice skating session started yesterday. It was great to see Cooper going out confidently on the ice. I didn't notice him falling at all. It is such a big difference from when he started last session (which was his first time learning to skate). He's taking the same level he did in the fall, but whereas in the fall most of the kids were around his age or just a little older, this session most of the kids are bigger than him. He was talking to everyone as usual, of course. I noticed him talking to the two teenagers in the class several times.
Kestrel is taking ice skating again as well, but she moved up to Beta, which meets at a different time (unfortunately).

In the picture below, Cooper is on the end in blue.

And here he is smirking as he was coming off the ice...


And just for fun, here's another picture I took of Kestrel this afternoon with Sassy (on the shoulder) and Sandy.

oh rats!

Meet Sandy (left) and Sassy (right)

Their new home (they are in there somewhere sleeping)

Kestrel got her pet rats yesterday. We've been waiting for them for quite a while. We were on a few breeders' wait lists for a couple of months, and finally were offered a pair of female rats from Sweet Genes Rodentry. The babies were ready to go home this week, and Paul was in the area yesterday for work, so he picked them up and brought them home last night. Kestrel is so excited, and has played with them several times today. They sure are cute, and pretty friendly already. Sandy is the fawn rat and Sassy is the beige one. They are 5 1/2 weeks old.

By the way, the kids are home today because school was cancelled due to the cold. Hmpf! Right now it's about 6 degrees. Seems like they should be in school if you ask me.

it's nice to have options

Today out of the blue Cooper said to me "Mommy, you have a million options." After I thanked him he said, "Actually, you have a googol options." Don't ask me. I have no idea what he was talking about. He wouldn't elaborate. But, I do appreciate the encouragement.

Also, on the way to school this morning he told me I was the strongest and mightiest mommy he's ever seen. Alright!

just what are they planning?

Today we were driving by a lake in a nearby neighborhood, and noticed more Canada Geese in one spot than we've ever seen before. We turned around to get a closer look and noticed even more. This picture only shows a few of all the geese that were there. I couldn't fit all of them in the shot. There had to be more than a thousand. I thought it looked like they were having some kind of a meeting, making some sort of big geese plans. If you look closely you'll see they are all looking in the same direction.
By the way, Kestrel and I have been reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Can you tell?

aye aye captain

Here's Cooper driving the tugboat yesterday at our local children's science museum. He was asking to go to the museum so I took him yesterday while Kestrel was at a friend's house. He just loves playing in the boat.

By the way, its 5 degrees outside as I write this. Brrrr.

up a tree

We had another nice day today. Not as warm as early in the week, but bright and sunny. We went out to the park again with Harry.
Kestrel just can't pass up a tree to climb. Here they are in the favorite climbing tree at our park.

Sick of puppy pictures yet? Too bad.

january thaw

I don't know if this weather is technically a January thaw, because I think that is supposed to be late January, but it was so warm today (for winter). Just last week we has temperatures in the single digits. Today it was in the 60's!
We jumped at the chance to get out to the park after school. The kids rode their bikes and I walked with Harrison. It was great to be walking outside and in the park. Unfortunately, I forgot the playground is covered in wood chips. Harrison is obsessed with eating non-edible things, such as wood chips, rocks and other more disgusting things. Ah, the joys of a puppy! So, we had to keep him on the grass. Some friends of Kestrel's showed up, along with a boy Cooper's age, and they all had fun playing. Kestrel was enjoying showing off her puppy.

happy new year!

This was Coop 8 minutes before midnight. So close! Right before this he was laughing and playing. We woke him up to ring in the new year, but I'm not sure he noticed.