These pictures were taken yesterday. Tomorrow I will post pics of the snowman Jennifer made today.
Whoops! The basketball was left outside -- and got covered up with snow.
Jennifer's handprint in the snow.Thursday, March 22, 2012
More snow day pictures
The kids had another snow day today. Later in the day, a lot of the snow was melting away and I started to see some green again. The newspaper, however, reports that we may yet get more snow tomorrow, but not as much as before.
These pictures were taken yesterday. Tomorrow I will post pics of the snowman Jennifer made today.
Jennifer's handprint in the snow.
These pictures were taken yesterday. Tomorrow I will post pics of the snowman Jennifer made today.
Jennifer's handprint in the snow.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Oh, no! Snow!
This week, we welcomed the first day of spring. That’s what it says on the calendar: “First Day of Spring.” Yet it would seem that Old Man Winter is not ready to leave us just yet.
I woke up shortly after 4 a.m. because of a bad dream. I decided that, while I was awake, I would let the dog out. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I did that! As soon as I opened the blinds and pulled them back, I was greeted with the sight of my backyard covered with snow! I thought we were done with snow! But, nope. Apparently not!
And they say to be careful what you wish for. The other day, I was thinking we didn’t get much snow this winter. A little, sure. But not a whole lot.
Well, today, we got a whole lot! Quite a bit of snow, in fact!
Because of the snow, I did what I always do on such days: I turned on the local news to find out if the school would be closed. Didn’t get that information until 6:30. Yep, school was closed. Today was a snow day!
I took a lot of pictures of the snow. Later, Jennifer went over to her friend’s house to play in the snow with her. Then she played outside with Jesse. They also managed to build a little snowman and I thought it was really cute.
My dog was NOT happy about the snow (he was born and raised in the desert, after all!) so he tried to avoid going outside as much as possible. Every time I told him it was time to go outside, he looked up at me from his little doggy bed as if saying, “But I’m all nice and warm and comfy here!” Heh.
Here are some of my pictures. I will post more until I have shared all of them. (Gotta get the important ones from today on here first!)
I woke up shortly after 4 a.m. because of a bad dream. I decided that, while I was awake, I would let the dog out. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I did that! As soon as I opened the blinds and pulled them back, I was greeted with the sight of my backyard covered with snow! I thought we were done with snow! But, nope. Apparently not!
And they say to be careful what you wish for. The other day, I was thinking we didn’t get much snow this winter. A little, sure. But not a whole lot.
Well, today, we got a whole lot! Quite a bit of snow, in fact!
Because of the snow, I did what I always do on such days: I turned on the local news to find out if the school would be closed. Didn’t get that information until 6:30. Yep, school was closed. Today was a snow day!
I took a lot of pictures of the snow. Later, Jennifer went over to her friend’s house to play in the snow with her. Then she played outside with Jesse. They also managed to build a little snowman and I thought it was really cute.
My dog was NOT happy about the snow (he was born and raised in the desert, after all!) so he tried to avoid going outside as much as possible. Every time I told him it was time to go outside, he looked up at me from his little doggy bed as if saying, “But I’m all nice and warm and comfy here!” Heh.
Here are some of my pictures. I will post more until I have shared all of them. (Gotta get the important ones from today on here first!)
The snow at 4:30 a.m.!
This is one of my favorite pictures. I love pictures of snow-covered trees and I took A LOT of those. Will be posting more soon!
Me with my dog, Chewbacca (who turned 18 two weeks ago)
I actually went outside to see how deep my hand went into the snow. Hm, quite a hole!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sick before Spring Break!
It started on a late Thursday afternoon. Jesse was complaining of a sore throat and he felt feverish. When I took his temp, it was 100.4. After I told hubby about this, we both made it a point to keep an eye on him and see if anything else turned up. He said if Jesse was not better by Friday to take him to the doctor.
Well, Jesse wasn’t better on Friday, but we decided to give him medicine instead of taking him to the doc. The medicine seemed to help, but this was not an indication that Jesse was getting better. In fact, he got worse. On Friday evening, he was throwing up really, really bad. He just felt miserable and his temperature would not go down, despite my efforts. As it was, hubby had to come home from work early to help take care of him. Jesse was VERY sick and I was really distraught seeing him in such poor shape.
On Saturday, however, he did seem a little better. No more vomiting or fever. I figured we got through the worst of it.
Then yesterday he started coughing pretty bad. We decided if he was still coughing this morning, he would not go to school today.
Well, he was coughing this morning, so we kept him home. We didn’t have cough medicine for him so hubby had to go buy some.
And he had to buy me some medicine, too. Because now I am sick, too! I have come down with a cold.
It was pretty bad today and I was off my feet a lot. So Jesse and I both vegged out on the couch today. I told him, “You and me are two sickies." We took turns taking care of each other when we had the energy. At one point, I told Jesse I had to eat something so that I could get my strength back. He brought me a cup of milk (that he had poured all by himself!) and some grahams. I thought that was SO sweet!
Jennifer was a big help, too. She took care of her brother so that I could get some rest. (The body aches and head congestion was pretty bad.) I was so proud of her. She even offered to massage my feet -- but I declined. It really wasn't my feet bothering me, but she was sweet to offer.
Jennifer and hubby are the only ones who are not sick. I hope it stays that way. Next week is Spring Break and we have travel plans. I am hoping being sick is something that will have passed us all by when it gets here so that we can stick to those plans.
Well, Jesse wasn’t better on Friday, but we decided to give him medicine instead of taking him to the doc. The medicine seemed to help, but this was not an indication that Jesse was getting better. In fact, he got worse. On Friday evening, he was throwing up really, really bad. He just felt miserable and his temperature would not go down, despite my efforts. As it was, hubby had to come home from work early to help take care of him. Jesse was VERY sick and I was really distraught seeing him in such poor shape.
On Saturday, however, he did seem a little better. No more vomiting or fever. I figured we got through the worst of it.
Then yesterday he started coughing pretty bad. We decided if he was still coughing this morning, he would not go to school today.
Well, he was coughing this morning, so we kept him home. We didn’t have cough medicine for him so hubby had to go buy some.
And he had to buy me some medicine, too. Because now I am sick, too! I have come down with a cold.
It was pretty bad today and I was off my feet a lot. So Jesse and I both vegged out on the couch today. I told him, “You and me are two sickies." We took turns taking care of each other when we had the energy. At one point, I told Jesse I had to eat something so that I could get my strength back. He brought me a cup of milk (that he had poured all by himself!) and some grahams. I thought that was SO sweet!
Jennifer was a big help, too. She took care of her brother so that I could get some rest. (The body aches and head congestion was pretty bad.) I was so proud of her. She even offered to massage my feet -- but I declined. It really wasn't my feet bothering me, but she was sweet to offer.
Jennifer and hubby are the only ones who are not sick. I hope it stays that way. Next week is Spring Break and we have travel plans. I am hoping being sick is something that will have passed us all by when it gets here so that we can stick to those plans.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
She Googled me!
Last year, Jennifer’s class was introduced to using laptops in the classroom. I thought it was great that the kids were getting hands-on experience with technology, but I started to feel nervous after we received a permission slip to allow Jennifer to access the Internet. Normally, we didn’t allow her to get on the Internet before, because she was too young to understand Internet safety. We held off for as long as we could to allow Jennifer to use ANY Internet, at home and school, but this year, we had to give in. We had to allow Jennifer access to the World Wide Web.
Yikes!
When she first started using the Internet, her dad and I gave her a speech about Internet safety and the dangers of using the Internet. We also let her know you cannot trust people you don’t know on the Internet. We have told her that some people are nice, but other people can be really mean. She read a book about cyberbullying, but we have also talked to her about being careful with ANYONE she doesn't know who she talks to on the Internet.
Still, at 10 years old, maybe it is time for her to learn how to be safe on the Internet.
Ever since she started using the Internet at school, we have allowed her to use the Internet at home, as well. But we have explained to her that she cannot use the Internet without supervision.
Still, there have been a few hurdles. Like the time she accidentally downloaded a Trojan virus onto the computer. (She has since learned to be more careful about links she clicks on.) And she’s had to accept my refusal to register her for games on SOME web sites, because there are some sites that cannot be trusted and some that use your email to send a crapload of spam. (She’s still not happy about this but perhaps one day, after she has personally had to delete a bazillion spam emails from her email inbox, she will understand.) She knows she cannot give out her real name, address or phone number on the Internet. One day she will understand that it’s important to exercise that same caution with your email address.
Well, today, after school, Jennifer logged on to the computer. I figured she was going to play her usual games, and while she did play games or watch Dragon Ball Z Kai videos, she also ended up on Google. I noticed that after I found her perusing a page of links to LinkedIn profiles – all names that were mine!
I looked at her and asked, “Are you checking me out?”
She laughed and said that she wanted to look us up on Google in case there were people saying bad things about us. (Side note: I have reached a point where I. Just. Don’t. Care. If people are saying bad things about me. I have way too many other important things to worry about! But I didn’t tell Jennifer that.) I told her that if she wanted to Google me, then not to use my married name. (I have noticed there are quite a few “Dawn Wilsons” out there!) I told her I use my maiden name for my writing so I wrote it down for her. Then I said I also use the name “Dawn Colclasure-Wilson” but only on Facebook and for legal stuff. Armed with this info, she went right back to Google!
I walked off to the kitchen to get a VERY late lunch (it’s been a busy day) but I couldn’t help but smile. Wow, my little girl was Googling me? Really?
I have actually Googled myself before. Us writers are told we should, just to see if our work has been reposted somewhere without our permission and to see where our names have ended up. I have had some surprises with this. One time, I found that someone DID copy/paste something I wrote (a blog post) on their site, but they totally mangled it. They messed up all the words and it was just terrible. I asked them if they would kindly fix it but, instead, they just took it down. (Hey, either way was fine with me!) I have also seen how people have mentioned me on their web sites, along with my web site link (thank you, peoples!) as well as comments I have made on blogs showing up.
So this time, I was curious about how this would affect my daughter after Googling her mom.
While I sat at the kitchen table eating pasta, Jennifer ran in and said, “I found your web site!” I smiled and said, “That web site has been there for a while.” (That's like someone in my family FINALLY noticing one of my books on a shelf and going, "You're an author? Really?") When she ran back to read it, I started to wonder just what she’d click on from my web site. Would she go to the blogs? A book review? Would she check out one of the books I have on there?
I decided not to fuss over that so much and just let it be. Later, I noticed she’d had her Google fill and had decided to log off.
Before she went to bed, I asked her, “So what did you think of my web site?”
“It was cool!” she answered with a grin. “I learned a lot about you.”
That made me smile. Who knew that all of this Internet stuff we moms do could actually produce a learning experience for our children?
Yikes!
When she first started using the Internet, her dad and I gave her a speech about Internet safety and the dangers of using the Internet. We also let her know you cannot trust people you don’t know on the Internet. We have told her that some people are nice, but other people can be really mean. She read a book about cyberbullying, but we have also talked to her about being careful with ANYONE she doesn't know who she talks to on the Internet.
Still, at 10 years old, maybe it is time for her to learn how to be safe on the Internet.
Ever since she started using the Internet at school, we have allowed her to use the Internet at home, as well. But we have explained to her that she cannot use the Internet without supervision.
Still, there have been a few hurdles. Like the time she accidentally downloaded a Trojan virus onto the computer. (She has since learned to be more careful about links she clicks on.) And she’s had to accept my refusal to register her for games on SOME web sites, because there are some sites that cannot be trusted and some that use your email to send a crapload of spam. (She’s still not happy about this but perhaps one day, after she has personally had to delete a bazillion spam emails from her email inbox, she will understand.) She knows she cannot give out her real name, address or phone number on the Internet. One day she will understand that it’s important to exercise that same caution with your email address.
Well, today, after school, Jennifer logged on to the computer. I figured she was going to play her usual games, and while she did play games or watch Dragon Ball Z Kai videos, she also ended up on Google. I noticed that after I found her perusing a page of links to LinkedIn profiles – all names that were mine!
I looked at her and asked, “Are you checking me out?”
She laughed and said that she wanted to look us up on Google in case there were people saying bad things about us. (Side note: I have reached a point where I. Just. Don’t. Care. If people are saying bad things about me. I have way too many other important things to worry about! But I didn’t tell Jennifer that.) I told her that if she wanted to Google me, then not to use my married name. (I have noticed there are quite a few “Dawn Wilsons” out there!) I told her I use my maiden name for my writing so I wrote it down for her. Then I said I also use the name “Dawn Colclasure-Wilson” but only on Facebook and for legal stuff. Armed with this info, she went right back to Google!
I walked off to the kitchen to get a VERY late lunch (it’s been a busy day) but I couldn’t help but smile. Wow, my little girl was Googling me? Really?
I have actually Googled myself before. Us writers are told we should, just to see if our work has been reposted somewhere without our permission and to see where our names have ended up. I have had some surprises with this. One time, I found that someone DID copy/paste something I wrote (a blog post) on their site, but they totally mangled it. They messed up all the words and it was just terrible. I asked them if they would kindly fix it but, instead, they just took it down. (Hey, either way was fine with me!) I have also seen how people have mentioned me on their web sites, along with my web site link (thank you, peoples!) as well as comments I have made on blogs showing up.
So this time, I was curious about how this would affect my daughter after Googling her mom.
While I sat at the kitchen table eating pasta, Jennifer ran in and said, “I found your web site!” I smiled and said, “That web site has been there for a while.” (That's like someone in my family FINALLY noticing one of my books on a shelf and going, "You're an author? Really?") When she ran back to read it, I started to wonder just what she’d click on from my web site. Would she go to the blogs? A book review? Would she check out one of the books I have on there?
I decided not to fuss over that so much and just let it be. Later, I noticed she’d had her Google fill and had decided to log off.
Before she went to bed, I asked her, “So what did you think of my web site?”
“It was cool!” she answered with a grin. “I learned a lot about you.”
That made me smile. Who knew that all of this Internet stuff we moms do could actually produce a learning experience for our children?
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Walking before midnight
We finally had some nice weather in Eugene this week. Yay!
It started yesterday, with a weather forecast of clear skies and even some sunshine. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised and one friend told me of how she planned to enjoy this nice weather. My own plan was to go for a nice walk. I love taking walks but I don’t get to do them often because of the bad weather.
But, unfortunately, it was not weather that kept me from enjoying a walk yesterday; it was pain. Stomach pain. For some bizarre reason, I had a sharp, stabbing pain in my stomach almost all day. It started in the morning and just got worse. It got so bad by the afternoon, I was doubled over and unable to keep my mind off of it with other things.
I was not able to pick Jesse up from preschool; the pain was that bad. However, I found a little relief just from lying down. So I did a lot of THAT yesterday and the pain finally went away in the evening.
This morning, once I determined there was going to be a repeat of nice weather today (yay again!), I was DETERMINED to get my walk! Pain or no pain!
But thankfully, I didn’t have any stomach pain or other pain, really. I set out for my walk and despite huffing and puffing as I made my way uphill, I was soon enjoying a brisk wall and just basking in the sunshine. It was WONDERFUL! And I was happy to get my heart pumping with some good walking exercise.
I was happy to be able to enjoy a nice walk in such beautiful weather. And I saw other parents walking with their young kids, too. Or pushing them around in strollers. It just felt GREAT to walk again!
Jennifer does not have school tomorrow so if the weather is good again tomorrow AND if there is no pain to deal with, I think the kids and I will take a walk in the neighborhood. We like to walk to a nearby bridge and point out the ducks, or even to a nearby park. I enjoyed a walk today and I’m hoping the three of us will get to enjoy a walk together tomorrow.
It started yesterday, with a weather forecast of clear skies and even some sunshine. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised and one friend told me of how she planned to enjoy this nice weather. My own plan was to go for a nice walk. I love taking walks but I don’t get to do them often because of the bad weather.
But, unfortunately, it was not weather that kept me from enjoying a walk yesterday; it was pain. Stomach pain. For some bizarre reason, I had a sharp, stabbing pain in my stomach almost all day. It started in the morning and just got worse. It got so bad by the afternoon, I was doubled over and unable to keep my mind off of it with other things.
I was not able to pick Jesse up from preschool; the pain was that bad. However, I found a little relief just from lying down. So I did a lot of THAT yesterday and the pain finally went away in the evening.
This morning, once I determined there was going to be a repeat of nice weather today (yay again!), I was DETERMINED to get my walk! Pain or no pain!
But thankfully, I didn’t have any stomach pain or other pain, really. I set out for my walk and despite huffing and puffing as I made my way uphill, I was soon enjoying a brisk wall and just basking in the sunshine. It was WONDERFUL! And I was happy to get my heart pumping with some good walking exercise.
I was happy to be able to enjoy a nice walk in such beautiful weather. And I saw other parents walking with their young kids, too. Or pushing them around in strollers. It just felt GREAT to walk again!
Jennifer does not have school tomorrow so if the weather is good again tomorrow AND if there is no pain to deal with, I think the kids and I will take a walk in the neighborhood. We like to walk to a nearby bridge and point out the ducks, or even to a nearby park. I enjoyed a walk today and I’m hoping the three of us will get to enjoy a walk together tomorrow.
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