Beautiful weather.

We've been having some real beautiful weather this last week. The buds are starting to pop and the kitty LOVES being outside.

Car thief.

Some crazy person broke into my car on Tuesday night. They left the trunk ajar and the car a mess. When I opened the driver's side door I saw all the little trays and compartments that slide in and out of the dashboard ripped out and laying on the seats. The glove compartment was left open and all it's contents on the seat. Luckily, I don't keep any personal information in there; like insurance cards and registration. . .those stay in our wallets and the garage door opener is in mom's car which is in the garage. From what I can tell, he stole about 47 cents from the ashtray (yet he left the other 20 cents in a separate compartment. . .even though he left that compartment open,) three quarts of motor oil that was in a bag in the trunk, and my rhinestone sunglasses. He probably saw the fake rhinestones and thought he hit bank. . .yeah, those glasses are worth about $2.50! I was relieved to see that he left my Gap Kids knitted gloves in there; those things are my favorite! But I swear I had two feminine napkins in the glove compartment and now there's only one. . .

:)

We called the police just to let them know about it. . .it's not like I want to find the guy so I can get my rhinestone sunglasses and 47 cents back! An officer came to the house and told mom that there has been a kid that breaks into cars on the other side of the main road next to our neighborhood, but we were the first ones to report in our neighborhood. A guy had a security camera watching his yard and it caught the kid. He rides a BMX bike and wears a black sweatshirt. The officer said it's only a matter of time before they catch him. So, I have the police department's phone number in my cell phone. . .so if I ever see a kid on a BMX bike wearing a black sweatshirt, they will get a call from me. And I will pursue this kid until I knock him off his bike! :) I was joking with mom saying that if I saw him, I'd stick a branch in his bike spokes so he falls off and then I'd kick him in the shins. Or I may just get our super-soaker squirt gun ready with some kind of household cleaner like, say, bleach. . .or ammonia? He he. (I was only sort of kidding.) :)

On Tuesday, it was pouring down rain when I brought Emily home from school and I remember leaving the car door unlocked. I didn't want to go back out in the rain just to lock my stupid doors. . .but then that very night, after the spirit kept telling me to lock my doors, I got my rhinestone sunglasses stolen and I'm now 47 cents poorer.

A lesson to us all; lock your car doors and have a super-soaker and a branch ready if you ever get robbed by a kid in a black sweatshirt on a BMX bike.

Funny students.

I'm lucky to have some pretty silly students. I was talking with one of the parents of a student yesterday and she was telling me that she had a conversation with her son that went a little something like this...

"Hey Mom, do you know what I want to give up for lent?"

"What?"

"Piano!"

Yeah, right, not happening! :)

Last week, I had a student who was sight reading his new recital song, when he stopped right in the middle and said, "What in the world does poco rit. mean?" At first I was thinking, "Have I taught you nothing?" Then I went on to say, "Poco means 'a little' and rit. means to start slowing down." He just sat there for a second and said, "Why does music use such dumb language? They just need say, 'slow down.'" I don't think reading his statement is quite as funny as hearing it. He had this ticked off tone in his voice when he said, "slow down" and I just started cracking up the second his said it. Then he looked at me like, 'What the heck is your problem, lady?' Oh how I love my students.

Then, one of my students yesterday was saying, "When we get a new teacher will we still be able to come to this house for piano? Or will your mom and sister not live here anymore?" It's so funny how comfortable children get with their habits and daytime routine. I was like, "No, you will have to go to a new house even though my mom and sister will still be living here." To which she quickly responded, "Well. . .I guess I'll just have to quit piano!"

Nothing to blog about.

You know the Rayner family has nothing to blog about when they start posting pictures of their cat. We seriously haven't taken any pictures lately...except of our cat. So...

Here is what we found in the family room the other night. Who has a cat that sleeps on TOP of the pillows on the couch? There is no cat around that is more dysfunctional than ours.

Ashley likes to sleep under the covers whenever Mom takes a nap. . .so Emily got a few cute pictures.

And this is seriously the most ridiculous sight in our house. Whenever we start a fire in the fireplace, the cat will walk into the family room and plop herself down right in front of the hearth. She couldn't be any more ridiculous if she tried!

Holy cow!

Oh my goodness! Linda (sister-in-law) just put this on her blog of Mikaela! We always say how Mikaela looks like me, but seriously, I can't believe this! Too cute! Same smile and everything!

How's this one for ya?

Old pictures.

We've been scanning some old pictures that we want to get on a CD and print out.

Oh yeah.

The most adorale thing EVER.

Our neighbors have this cute little box that we used to think was a bird house. . .but a couple of weeks ago we realized it was a little storage box for a squirrel to hide nuts! We were looking out the window and noticed a cute little squirrel running along the back fence. Then he jumped over to the tree and lifted the lid to the little 'house.' He pulled out a nut and started chomping away! It was so cute! Emily didn't get a chance to see it; she only got to hear about it from us, and if you know Emily, you'd know she was totally bummed out to not be able to see an adorable little critter in the back yard. But a few days later we noticed him jumping over to the tree again! Emily finally got to see it! (And we actually got to get a picture of it!) (And you know there's really nothing to blog about once we start writing about a squirrel eating his nuts!)

Snow!

On Tuesday, it started snowing around 2:00. It just kept snowing and we eventually had 5 inches in just a few hours! The funny this is, the weather forecast showed no sign of snow! What a treat! Luckily, we got our errands done by 3:00 because shortly after that, the freeway had bumper to bumper traffic, and all the streets near the freeway were grid-locked. Totally crazy!

We got several really pretty pictures. . .



Emily took this picture of me in my new 'Eskimo' coat I got for Christmas. . .what a perfect time to use it!



Emily just gets so excited when it snows. . .obviously her favorite thing to do is eat it!


We sure hope this wasn't the only time we get snow this year, because it only stayed around for a day or two. . .although, we don't want a repeat of last year with the whole 14 inches of snow and everything!

Thanksgiving.

I know Thanksgiving was like a month and a half ago, but we need to get these pictures up.


I just have to say that Mom makes the best turkey ever and we always love when it's time to eat. Philip was especially having fun with those turkey forks. . .I love the look on his face while he's trying to poke Mom.


And we can't have a post with Philip without a funny picture of him. (That's what he gets for being such a trouble-maker!)

We had so much fun visiting with Philip, Kaylee and baby Kayden. We couldn't believe how much Kayden has grown since the last time we saw him. He is such a doll and the best baby ever! He always has a smile on his face.

We miss them so much and we can't wait to see them again!