Viking Fest!

The final weekend in February is the Nordic Fire Festival in Charlotte.  It has been a cold, snowy February,  and today's weather was finally calm enough to brave the above freezing temperatures!

Just like last year, we parked at the high school & hopped on the shuttle.  There was a bit of a line when we arrived, but we were done in no time!

We met up with the Pritchards, who had already arrived.  (Grace was so excited, she didn't want her picture in the Viking cutout above.)

We ventured inside after viewing the Viking settlement recreation.  They were serving up hot chocolate and had games and crafts set up for all of the kids to enjoy.

Hay was a welcome floor cover inside, since the ground outside is currently a mixture of snow that has melted into ice, mud and water.  The kids entertained themselves while waiting for a turn at the face painting station.

The artist this year had some fancy jeweled designs for the kids to choose!

As they finished up, they paid a visit to the Viking on stilts for some extravagant, portable balloon art.

From here most of the group headed out to enjoy some physical activities.  I waited for Alice to finish her art, and then we went to collect some of our all time favorite candle scent, but they sold out of them yesterday night. = (

We grabbed some food, and met up with the others.  Since my hands were full, I didn't get a single picture of the sword fights this year. We were pretty worn out at this point, so we sat down to eat, then headed in for one more craft.

As we were leaving the line to attend was at least 20 minutes deep!

There were more vendors and exhibits than last year, and even more patrons.  I'm so happy to see them grow, and already excited to go visit next year!

later days

Winding Down Spring Break I

I didn't make the time to blog yesterday, but I did knock out all kinds of to do list items.

The first unexpected task came about when my radio in the bathroom (that we run to remind us of the heater being run) was no longer charging my ipod, but it was still playing the music.  I tried a few things, messaged my sister who had me try a few things, but without success.  It was not the best way to start the day.

Next up was my coat.  I'd lost a button, and had been meaning to clean it.  I sat down with a full lint roller, a needle, thread, and scissors. I repaired the button, and went over and over my wool coat with the roller, but it still does not look as clean as I'd like.  Once I find one, I will try a lint brush and see if that make it look clean.

At this point, I'd put off any issues that my children had brought over, so it was time to help them with their tasks.

In the basement, the previous owners had left some outlet cover paper.  Since it was a free project, I flipped the fuses and got to work.  Before and after pictures.

The nightlight was my test piece to make sure the power was off before using the screwdriver near an outlet. = )

It didn't feel like an endless project, however, I don't love it.  It looks marginally better, but the sticker was not overly sticky, so the edges are pushing out along the edges.  Also, I don't think it will clean well.  If you catch the rag in just the wrong spot, it will rip the covering.  So, at some point, I'd like to get the actual metal covers that we had in our Houston home.

Also, we had four packages arrive yesterday, including liquid seaweed for my green lovelies, and some additional 3M hooks.

I had tired of having the measuring cups and spoons on hooks in my utensil drawer (and it'd be worse still to have them loose. )  So, the vertical space on my cabinet doors has simplified my storage. = )

The kids enjoyed playing in the boxes that delivered my goods, and would play together between rounds of roblox, wii games and videos on their tablets.

When Billy came home, he recommended using a toothbrush on my radio connection. It totally solved the problem! = )

**************

Today I was less ambitious, with only two things left on my list, and supplies to complete only one of them. lol.

Grace talked me in to spending 2.5 hours making waffles (since each pair has to cook for 15 minutes on my new, less loved waffle maker.)

While they were cooking,  I prepped ingredients for homemade oatmeal packets:

I make a double batch, while I have everything out.  And I use my super fancy Canadian* maple syrup to make the brown sugar. Billy approves, so it's worth the time to make it, especially since it is also cheaper than buying the packets.

My mom picked up the two ingredients that I needed for my final project, so if she swings by in the next 24 hours, I will be able to finish my to do list for the week!

So far, we've thoroughly enjoyed our break.  And this weekend in the Viking fest!

later days

*I actually know a real Canadian that sends it my way!  = )

Daily Entry

How awesome would it be if I documented every day instead of once every couple of weeks, or once a month?  Well, today I'm updating the blog again, even though I just posted some entries yesterday. It's a little entry, but I think lots of little entries are more desirable than one big post.

So, today, we made Texas shaped blueberry muffins.  They came out better than I expected (I pictured them sticking in the mold and coming out in pieces) but were too much work for the return. = )

Over the weekend, Grace got sick.  She woke up retching, and soiled all of the sheets & blankets she was using.  I had to wash them in shifts, on sanitize, and the comforter pictured was thrown in with a secondary blanket we pulled from the closet.  This secondary blanket is green, and despite being purchased used, managed to tint everything in the wash green. = 0

So, laundry fail on my part, and now I want Andes mints each time I see it. lol.

Emily's VIP day is coming up the first week of March, so we took the time to make her poster.  She picked out close to 50 pictures.  We compromised, and she selected 9 large ones, and the rest I printed 4 per page.

I tried to find Alice's from last year, and couldn't find it in the blog or on facebook.  It's not a great picture of her, so maybe I skipped out on posting it.  But I had to sow the personality difference of my two older girls.  

I'm pretty sure I spent more time printing Alice's pictures than she spent assembling her project. Emily spent at least an hour choosing, prioritizing, counting and displaying. = )

It was a nice day, even though I spent time I had allotted for one of my 'to-do' list items filling out surprise paperwork and paying unexpected bills. = (

later days

Saturday Fun

Last week, Vivi's grandmother invited my entire crew to Vivi's 6th birthday party!  We didn't have much time to plan, so she got gift cards. = /  Hopefully she can pick out the perfect thing.

When we arrived at the party, it was in full swing.  They had booked a meeting/community room and there were tons of kids!  Vivi has a twin sister, as well as a sister in Emily's class, and a brother in Alice's class!  

We started out at the photo booth:

But there was also a bean bag toss game, knock down the pyramid of cans, and ring the bottles.  Juliet was more interested in the glow bracelets that they were using as rings. = )

The birthday girls were both flitting about, but William was able to sit next to one of his other school friends.

Vivi's grandmother told us that we could stay if we wanted, but that we could also go and come back.  Since the room was very full, and it was a confined space, we chose the latter.

As we were preparing to go (telling the kids that we were leaving, and that they needed to stay in the building, etc...) the food was ready.  So, I served up some hotdogs to my dear ones before we left.

We checked out the tiniest dive bar ever....Billy loved it. ; )  This was the best picture of the ones I took.  We ordered the fried mac and cheese appetizer and pretzels and cheese.  It was pretty good, and a great impromptu date.  When we finished we played a round of pool, and then headed back to pick up our children. 

The kids were in good spirits, except for Emily who had to stay inside with "the little kids" even though Alice got to go out.  What I think happened was that Vivi's grandmother let Alice go out to play on the playground with the other kids, and then had second thoughts since we weren't there, so kept Emily in.  Though, she didn't call Alice back, which was very upsetting to Emily. = (

This upset was not enough to ruin the party, and I think everyone had a good time.

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Luckily for Emily her I had a special event planned for her after the party.  We dropped everyone off, and I took Emily to audition as an extra in a movie that's being filmed locally.  I prepped her as well as I could for the long wait ahead of us, and we brought in some beads that entertained her for the first hour or so of our wait.  I offered her the opportunity to leave if she wanted, but she was content to stay.

For a while she played with a photo app on my phone:

Then I gave her some riddles to solve (and eventually had to look some up on my phone.)

We then went back to the blocks for a while.  As we entered hour three, I told her that we could go and call it a night.  She wanted to stay on.  We were both getting a bit hungry, but not long after we started the third hour, she was called up.

It was a very informal group audition, but the director told us that they were only expecting 60-100 people and 400 came through!

I'm sure that the time could be classified as a waste, but getting to spend 3 uninterrupted hours with any of my children is never a waste.  I was really glad that it was just the two of us, I would not have lasted that long had I had to chase down children for three hours. = )

I think Emily had a good time, but I don't know that she wants to do it again.  At least not any time soon.

later days

What's important

...or what sparks joy, if you will.  I'm pretty good at cleaning things out as I go, but sometimes I keep things "just in case" or for "one day."  So, that is my current trial.  I'm trying to clean out the things that are not important, to make room, space, and ease for the things that are.

It's going pretty well.  My sewing craft tub in our room is what I currently have the heart to clear out.  My sister found a new thread rack for me, so that I could start by cleaning out the spools that were tucked away and wouldn't fit on my single rack.

I hung it up today, and loved it! Since it hangs, and my children don't have easy access to it, I put the threads back in color groups.  It looks so good!

However, now that I've sorted out my small and medium spools, I've found that I really need a rack for my large spools. = )  I'll go shopping* for one once the kids are back in school (and I've had adequate time to make sure that it will truly 'spark joy' long term, and not be a hasty decision (and waste of money.)

Emily found that puzzles (about Texas in this case) were worth spending time on this morning before Avia took them to see the new Lego movie.

Normally Juliet is already loaded up on the bus by the time I help Emily with her hair, but today she watched me braid Emily's hair and wanted a 'fancy' style too.

George enjoyed basking in the direct sunlight (for the first time since he came home with us.)  It was so sunny today!

In fact, the sky looked like a painting as I drove to pick up my groceries.

And sometimes a box is enough to make you content enough to sleep, at least if your name is Grace. = )

It was a nice start to our week off.  In addition to the groceries, I cleared the snow and ice from the driveway, washed the final load of laundry from Grace's weekend illness, and found that a magic eraser will take dried paint off of the kitchen flooring!

later days

*I tend to be a very patient shopper. I know that over time any thing I want will show up at a thrift shop or garage sale.  However, things that are not often spotted at those types of establishments I weigh heavily before purchasing.