Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I last wrote. Here's what's been going on in the Bentz household.

• I registered Allie for Kindergarten this week. We went to the District Office to drop off the forms and I turned to Allie and said, "That's it. You're now registered for Kindergarten!" Allie jumped up and down and said,"Hooray! Can I ride on the bus with Isaac tomorrow?" I told her, "Not yet. You have to finish preschool first and then you'll go to Kindergarten in the Fall."
• We are under a Wind Chill Warning from 6pm tonight (Wed.) through noon Friday. Area schools are expected to be cancelled. Tomorrow's high is minus 5 degrees and the wind chills are expected to be between 35 and 45 below zero. Even if school isn't cancelled, I'm keeping Isaac home!
• Isaac and I went to Cub Scouts last night. He decorated some lovely votive candleholders and colored a page that showed the Food Guide Pyramid. Afterwards we went to the library to get some books and videos to ward off any cabin fever we might get in the next few days.
• Last Friday we had friends over to watch our favorite TV show "Psych" and play a board game called Settlers of Catan, which I got for Christmas. We had a great time. The game went for an hour or two and we opened a bottle of wine which I got for Christmas from Dad and Diane. It was good red wine from Steuben County, IN, called 101 Lakes.
• Allie has her first eye doctor appointment coming up in a week or two. It's not required for addmission to Kindergarten, but they strongly recommend it. I'm curious to see what her vision is, because we're forever telling her to back away from the tv.
• Isaac seems to be doing well in school. He's reading at a 2nd grade level. I wish he enjoyed reading as much as I do. I can only get him to read the books he brings home for homework. Otherwise, he wants me to read to him. I bought him some chapter books recently to try to peak his interest. Some of them are simplified versions of books like "Treasure Island" and there's also a book about the history of chocolate, which he loved.
• I have an appoinment with my ear doctor in a few weeks to test my hearing and talk about whether I qualify for ear surgery yet. In case you forgot or didn't know, I have a dead bone in my ear that needs to be replaced when my hearing gets bad enough. Aside from temporary hearing loss from my headcold and allergies, I haven't noticed any dramatic hearing loss, so I'll be surprised if I qualify for surgery yet.
• I just finished cleaning the kids' toilet upstairs, a job I hate. Brock had an accident, which is rare and totally fine and understandable. There was pee on the floor and on the sides of the bowl, which I cleaned up. While I was there, I cleaned the toilet and the walls and floor around it because Isaac keeps missing the mark. I'm so glad I painted the walls with semi-gloss paint! Cleaning that toilet would be so much easier if he made the mark.
• I've enjoyed seeing my Mapes aunts and uncles and cousins on Facebook recently. If you don't know what Facebook is, it's a social networking website. I've been in better contact with them lately than I ever have been. What a blessing it's been to get to know my family all over again. Many of them live in the Fort Wayne area. Others live all over: Southern Indiana, San Diego, Seattle, Tucson, Ft. Sill, OK, Phoenix, and Arkansas. I've also been able to reconnect with old friends from high school and college who I thought I would never see again.
• I'm currently reading a large volume of short stories about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as "Memoirs of a Mangy Lover" by Groucho Marx. It's not Groucho's best work; I far prefer his autobiography called "Groucho and Me," which I own a copy of and read it over and over again because it's so funny. Back to Sherlock Holmes. The stories are very interesting and often have plot twists. The stories take place in London in the late 1800's. If you know me, you know that I love English literature before 1900. They have a way of writing with such wordy conciseness (an oxymoron, I know) and they sometimes use big words that stretch one's vocabularly. Perhaps later this year I'll look into Charles Dickens' books too.
• Time to go read to Brock and Allie before naptime. Brock usually sleeps from 2 to 3:30. Allie usually stays up and plays quietly. Today, I may have her take a nap because she's been such a grouch. Wish me luck! :)

Sickness and Snowstorms

Poor Allie is sick today. This afternoon her fever climbed to 103.6. It's very rare that my kids would ever have a fever that high. I had the day off from babysitting, which is good, because I don't think I'd be able to hold Allie all day and give Brock the proper amount of attention he deserves. She's been lethargic and not eating or drinking very much until this afternoon, when she had her next dose of medicine. When it wears off, you can really tell! I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow morning (in between snowstorms!).

Tonight we're supposed to get 3 to 6 inches of snow. Thursday, we're supposed to get 6 to 12 inches of snow. Therefore, I felt a sense of urgency to have Allie looked at by the doctor before we're snowed in! To make things worse, our temps have been in the single digits with the wind chills below zero. This December feels more like February! Last December was bad, too, and that set us on course for a record snowfall. I hope we're not in for another record snowfall this season!

The kids are picking out a movie for tonight and we're going to stay home, stay warm, and help Allie get some rest. I've been fighting a cold myself, and my head has been pounding all day. :(

Christmas Party

We had a very good time at the I.T. Christmas Party that we hosted last night. (I.T. stands for Information Technology, Shane's department at InterVarsity. ) Our house was the cleanest it's been for a long time! The kids played upstairs in the playroom while the adults visited downstairs. We had a White Elephant gift exchange and then took turns playing the Wii. It was fun seeing people play Wii who have never played before.

Today, I'm exhausted and going to bed early. I spent all week cleaning, tidying up the place, and baking Christmas cookies and banana bread. It was a full week. I'm starting to feel a little run down, like I'm fighting a cold virus. I've been taking allergy-sinus medication and that has been helping some.

Tomorrow night is Allison's Christmas program at preschool. We'll be sure to take pictures of her on stage with her classmates. It's going to be so cute! It's hard to believe this is our fourth and last year of the program. Isaac did it for two years, and Allie for two years. Then next year my baby girl starts Kindergarten.

Halloween 2008

Allison was a kitty cat and Isaac was a Power Ranger again for Halloween. (Click on the pictures for a larger view.) We went trick-or-treating with our friends and neighbors, the Krauses, the Fishers, and the McFarlanes. It was fun going as a group this year. Shane stayed home and handed out candy and enjoyed interacting with all the kids and commenting on their costumes. Shane and I will glad when the candy is all gone, as Isaac asks for it nearly every day! Not to mention that we get into their pumpkins after they've gone to bed. Not very healthy! :)