Dear Daddy, Please Hurry.

It is Groundhog Day, and if you live in Punxutawney, you've got another six weeks of winter coming your way.  We found this out this morning as the three of us watched a live feed of the ceremony, complete with singing, top hat guys, proclamations, and of course Phil the Groundhog.  He woke up, and Madison immediately thought he was a cute little guy.  We were still on time for school, although a little later than we usually are.  It was worth it though, because we got to see a real slice of Americana there.  Thousands of people were onhand to see the groundhog up in Pennsylvania, and it had to be pretty cold.  And yet they were all so enthusiastic, considering the hour and the temperature.  We had the luxury of watching from the warmth of our home!

The South's groundhog predicted an early spring, which by judging the forecast seems likely.  It doesn't appear as if we'll get any snow at all this year, although we still have the month of February to make it through.  After all, the groundhog got the prediction perfectly wrong last year.

Madison has her groundhog family lined up on the couch.  There is the groundhog puppet, which after yesterday is now officially Mrs. Groundhog.  There is another one from Build-A-Bear a few years ago.  And then there's a mini-groundhog, who is the obviously the kid of the family.

So it was cold today.  We were at ballet tonight, and as we were leaving, Daddy stopped to talk to a mother that happens to go to our church.  While we talked, her kids were in her car, and Madison was inside my car.  And that's when something funny happened.  We were obviously talking too long for Madison, so she breathed on the car window from the inside to create a bit of condensation, a foggy window.  Then she drew a rectangle on the foggy area.  This was her piece of paper.  And on "piece of paper," she wrote:  "Dear Daddy.  Hurry up."

The mom and I immediately burst out laughing, and got the hint!  Madison has a great sense of humor!

It was amazingly windy this afternoon, and bitterly cold.  We stayed indoors all day today, outside of the trip to ballet.  We cleaned a bit, and also wrote a bit too.  Dinner tonight was spaghetti, which for some reason Daddy was craving - and he didn't even realize it.  We haven't had spaghetti in 2015, so this would make our first of the year.  It is gluten-free, and it tastes just like any other pasta.  It was made just right!

We had homework to do - some spelling assignments.  Also, another math drill.  She is regularly doing 50 problems under three minutes, with ease.  The new thing this week will be multiplication tables.  There is an assessment test on Friday, but Madison already knows her 0, 1, 2, 5 and now 9 times tables.  If you don't know the 'finger trick' for the 9X tables, then you should learn it right away!  It's as if God knew we might have a hard time remembering that one!