Ice Cream Truck

Can I just say-- this is one of the many reasons I hate warm weather and wish I lived in a gated community: The Ice Cream Truck. Oh, that horrible sound! It was nice weather today, had all my windows open and what should I hear? That infernal ice cream truck. You know, they always roll through around dinner time. And I really detest that the one that rolls down my street leaves the music playing while the little kid is deciding what to get!  It just keeps going on and on and on-- then you can still hear it from the next street over. I think I hear that thing half way to the Saint Louis Arch! I saw one parked at Sam's Club one time-- I seriously wanted to slash that thing's tires. I know, I am a kill joy. I hate the ice cream man. It's a good thing I don't own a gun.

Percy

This is Lisa and Brycen's dog, Percy (like Percy Jackson).

Cute face!

He likes Jared and likes to hop in his lap whenever he is working on something there. He did it before while they were putting in the flooring last year, too. This time Jared was putting together a little end table. Percy jumped right in Jared's lap as usual. Then he hopped on top of the thing Jared was putting together and tried to help. He did not even mind the hammer pounding right next to him! He seemed to like it once it was completed! He is a cute and funny dog!

Just making sure he stays on task!

Quality Control

This job is complete! What can we do next?

Spring Break

Spring Break for us started by visiting the hours old baby Adycen-- see below for her birth stats! Lisa had a c-section, so she spent a few extra days in the hospital. She got to go home Wednesday after her birth on Sunday. We loved spending a few days holding her! 

Here's a few more photos:

The girls also got to spend a couple of days at their grandparents home and we celebrated my mom's birthday. We went out to a Mexican dinner- complete with waiters all singing happy birthday and clapping and mom wearing the sombrero birthday hat. I will respect her wish not to have that photo published! I baked her a chocolate marble cake - half of which came out of the pan- but I glazed it and we managed to eat it anyway! It was a chilly and rainy Spring Break, but a very special time with our family. Keep watching for updates on Adycen, our newest member of our family!

Introducing Adycen

Adycen Briar-lynn Wood
Born on Sunday, March 27, 2011
9:27pm
7lbs, 4oz
18 inches long
Proud parents: Brycen and Lisa
Even Prouder Grandpa: Jared!

CPCU

I should mention that a while back, Jared passed his last examination for his CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter). He now can add those 4 letters after his name! He's been working on this professional designation for several years now-- and it's finally done. I have never seen him study harder than he did for this last test on finance.  Now he gets a little trip to make it official. This year it is to las Vegas, but next year it is in Washington, D.C. -- so he may end up waiting and going next year to the conferment. Either way, I'm sure he's glad it's over and done! Congratulations, Jared!

Oscar Night (at our house)

 Gabrielle, Madison, and I had a little contest for the Oscars this year. We all filled out our Oscar Ballot ahead of time -- mostly guessing -- as we had not seen most of the films that were nominated. Then we watched the show. It made it fun, especially when we all got lucky on a couple of categories. It was also fun counting how many times Ann Hathaway changed outfits. I decided for the prizes, that they would get a prize for each category they got right. Gabrielle came in with 4, Madison with 6 and I was the overall winner with 10 out of the 24 categories. Most of my wins were when I chose "The King's Speech".  We were all bummed out though when that sorry Toy Story 3 won for the best song. All those Randy Newman songs sound the same. Anyway, it was a fun little thing to do together. It could be a new tradition!

Who needs the swag bag when you have the prize basket!

National History Day

Gabrielle has been working hard on this research project for her honors block class. They had to choose any topic in history and present it under the theme of "Debate and Diplomacy". She chose to do her project on Title IX. She did an exhibit and also had to write a process paper. After the school level, she was one of the ones chosen to take her display to the regional competition. She had to speak with the judges about her topic and explain how her topic related to the theme. During the process, she even was able to correspond with a woman that worked to get Title IX passed in 1972. She had three different sections highlighting women in sports, politics, and education. She learned a lot, but I am sure she is glad it's over! Good work, Gabrielle!