icicles

 Emmitt was collecting icicles on the deck the other day.  He thought it was so so fun.  I thought he was so so cute until I realized he was putting all those icicles in his coat pockets!  When he found the raingutter downspouts and the foot long icicles, I wanted him to leave those alone until Matt suggested in front of Emmitt with a wink, that I put them in the freezer for later.  So, I have a baggie of foot long, 3 inch in diameter icicles in my freezer now!

Yesterday the three of us bundled up and headed to Kendal's school to help with the 1st grade Gold Medal Mile.  It is a program her school participates in to encourage better health and active lifestyles.  So after lunch on Tuesdays, all the first graders walk or run around the playground instead of heading to the playground to play.  When I heard of this program years ago, I was surprised because I wouldn't have stood for this as a 1st grader at Loa Elementary!  But, the school as been doing this program for many years, so the kids know what is expected of them and just do it.

All the grades have an assigned day for Gold Medal Mile.  The goal is to get 3 laps in before lunch recess is over, but winter makes that difficult.  So, my job was to make dots on all the 1st grader's hands with a marker as they passed by me while walking their laps.  Some kids get 3, 4, 5 and even 6 laps in, and some are lucky to get one lap completed.  They go back to class with dots on their hands that get recorded.  It was snowing and my kids were great.  Kenna loved it.  She just kept gazing at the sky.  I put my rag gloves on Kenna's feet because they were just so out there and I was worried about them getting cold.  It was a good time spent helping at the school.

And yes, Emmitt is wearing girl snowpants from the 80s!  He will survive!