The Moon is Whole! (And other happenings in MO)

As we were driving to Brian's basketball game on Tuesday, this is what we saw on the horizon.









OK, so I didn't actually take this picture. Not that I couldn't have, since, you know, my photography skills are so awesome {snort}. I stole this picture from Wikipedia. But this is exactly what the moon looked like Tuesday night, hovering right above the horizon, a huge, orange orb suspended from heaven. Joe spotted it first and said, "Look! It's a Whole Moon! Wow, the moon is whole!" We all agreed that, yes, the moon is whole. And it's FULL, too. He then said, "Yeah, and it's shaped like a 'suh-phere' (sphere), too." The things you learn in Kindergarten. And from kindergarteners.

So, in know-it-all Mommy fashion, I told him that a sphere is a circle. Then my know-it-all 4th grader had to correct me by saying, "Technically, a sphere is shaped like a ball."

I really need to go back to school. Am I smarter than a fifth-grader? I don't think I want to find out.

According to Wikipedia we were seeing a Wolf Moon, not just your regular, run-of-the-mill whole moon. The Wolf Moon is a full moon that occurs in January. Its name comes from hungry wolf packs that would howl outside the villages of Native Americans. Cool. Sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.

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We woke up this morning to a balmy 7 degrees Fahrenheit. It's cold. I'm glad the wolves aren't howling outside our village. Brrr.

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The know-it-all 4th grader just won first place in her grade for her Smoky the Bear poster contest. Then she won first place in the district competition. 6 dollars total. She shrugged and said, "Cool, I'll add it to the rest of my money." The girl has more money than I ever did at her age, and more than I do now. She saves every cent. Her cousin talked her into spending some on a shirt and jeans one day. Cousin said, "Aren't you tired of my hand-me-downs?" Natalia said, "Nope!" I had to return the clothes a couple of days later, since Natalia decided she would rather have the cold hard cash in her hands than non-hand-me-downs. She's so practical.

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Brian's in the middle of basketball season. I would post a picture, but every time I take one of him on the court, it's like a picture in a great big cave. The lighting in gymnasiums is not ideal for photos. It's so fun to see how much he has improved each year that he's played basketball. Andy was kind of disappointed when Brian was told he would be a substitute. On the "B" Team. I said,"What do you expect? There are only 2 seventh graders playing on the combined 7th and 8th grade team, and the 2 seventh graders are substitutes." And he's played at least half of each game, and played well at that. I keep telling him he needs to be a little more aggressive, though. Maybe it will come with age. Or maybe he will just take after his Auntie Tara. hee hee. I'm hoping he grows into his size 11 feet, though. He's taller than I am now, although Andy likes to say "That's not saying much." So I'm vertically challenged. You wanna make somethin' of it?