We Spend Cold Days Indoors, Mostly

Bernie Sanders memes are a thing ever since the inauguration, and they are hitting all my fandoms.  People are so talented and so funny.

Emily and Grace dressed up as "wildlings:"

School is still virtual for the district that the kids would attend, but even if it weren't, this, somehow, would not be a snow day!? = 0

In a book about Jamestown Colony, the narrator was talking about making berry ink.  Since the science experiment was in an alternate book, Alice, Emily (and William too!) made berry ink as our "science" time today.  I don't know what type of berries they were, but they squished up nicely since they've been out in freezing temperatures for a couple of months now!

Spider boy!

Mermaid Bobble Head Juliet:

I finally put the seam binding on another pair of oven mitts for a friend's housewarming gift!

And more snow!

Erin Elise and I decided to make each other "mystery decals" for one another.  These are the ones I made her, because I couldn't decide what she would like best.  Her cup is shiny purple. = )

And, while I had my machine out, I also made some labels for some of my dry stores.

One of my friends posted these containers, for free! = 0, on her page, and I went to pick them up after my grocery pick up on Sunday.  I was so excited to use them, I even hand washed and dried them so that I could use them the same day! = )

We've been doing what we can to stay warm.  We've really been enjoying our homeschool curriculum.  It's hard to believe that we are just a couple of weeks away from our 2nd round of exams!

later days

Life in the New Year

We've been going strong in our routine, and now have 2 weeks of school under our belt already!  Billy is still working from home.  He only has to travel occasionally, so it's been nice having everyone all tucked away during these cold winter months!

William's final Christmas present finally came in (Jan 16th) and I ordered them December 13th! = 0  I knew the wouldn't arrive before Christmas (I'd missed the cut off) but I thought they'd be a couple of days late, not over a month! He did like them though, so I guess that was a win.

One of my Facebook friends posted about these adorable little among us necklaces that her daughter had made and was selling.  Since I've not been shopping like I used to, I was trying to think of something that would be special that I could get for them.  Since 4/5 (not Alice) are really into Among us right now, I thought they would be perfect!  I made up the cards and added the necklaces. = )

For his birthday, my mom and Sarah were set to watch the kids.  When I made the reservation, I was unable to find where to make the dinner reservation that would accompany the room.  When I went out the Monday before, they were book solid! = 0  She offered to move the room to the following weekend, so that we were able to have dinner in the conservatory too.  This change interfered with Sarah's work schedule though, so my mom held down the fort alone.

No piano this time. 

We could see one of the conservatories from above!  I was rushed in my picture taking, because we were 10 minutes late for dinner when we arrived, but they served us just the same. = )

They had two heaters in each conservatory.  A table top one and a larger one (I got the lucky spot!)

I decided a few weeks ago that we would be homeschooling next year, but sadly they were out of stock when I attempted to make my purchase!  Since the decision had been made, I checked daily or every other day and they finally had 12 in stock!  I happily clicked away, and am always excited when they arrive.  Now I just need to make the time to sit down and see what books we will actually use next year, and what books we have that I can sub in.  = )  

Uno is quite popular these days.  They like to play with the reverse card during free time too.

Grace: "mutti look! Canadian hair bows"  (We actually bought them on our St. Louis trip, but they do resemble the Canadian flag.

On the day that the $enate was confirming the electoral votes from the +rump/13iden election, there was much chaos when dozens of American citizens entered the Capit0l forcing the $enators to take cover and then escape.  Many have been arrested since then.  From what the news says, they are taking precautions at all 50 state capitals in the says leading up to the election.  Lansing has closed down all the roads in the immediate vicinity of the Capit0l building (Jan 17th) until further notice.  People online are very unhappy, they've started deleting accounts and shutting down websites.  I don't know if this is the beginning of a big change or just a small blip on the radar.  I am hoping for the latter.

For his 39th birthday, Billy requested a Grand Traverse Cherry pie.   Since the downtown location ahs been closed since November, so I drove all the way to Okemos just for pie.  = )  I also bought a chocolate pie that most of us had for breakfast that morning. ; )

I don't recall what we were watching, but the twins were happy to snuggle with daddy!  This was sadly the night before his kidney stone made for a rough weekend and lonely trip to the ER!

The twins were working on a money unit, and really enjoyed holding the coins in hand during the lessons.

Emily's simile made me smile. 

Alice did not care for drawing with the new drawing pad that we bought her for Christmas, but she does use it during math!

Juliet wanted to try something new, so I flipped her ponytail. Her hair looks just like Alice, back when she would let me style her hair.

Finishing out 2020

295th Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 34F.  I woke up this morning to a very quiet street.  When I looked outside, I was greeted with white everything.

By the time I got on my layers and made it outside with my shovel, several of my neighbors were also out clearing away the snow.

Against our snow gauge:

The consistency of the snow was strange.  It was fluffy and frozen on top, but mushy and wet on the ground.  So, I wasn't slipping around as I cleared aw the snow, and the road seemed to be pretty clear as well.  Once I finished clearing the snow, I decided to make the slow trip to Sam's club to get salt for the water softener.  My first stop was the car wash though, because Billy's side and back windows were pretty dirty, and I needed all my line of sights as clear as possible.

At the carwash I found that my mom was willing to make the trip out with me, so I went to Sarah's to pick her up.  All the roads were plowed, and some were only wet, not even slushy, until I got to her neighborhood.

The trip up was uneventful, and Sam's was not as busy as usual, for a Saturday anyhow, I'm sure.  Our next stop was the new urban Meijer in downtown Lansing.  There was plenty of parking, and it was a very nice store.  I'd heard lots of good reviews of their sandwich shop online, so we split "the Lugnut" sub.  It was very good!

When I arrived home, Billy and I had to make several trips to unload all the salt that I bought.  Billy had put together the camping stove in my absence, so once the groceries were tucked away, we loaded it up with wood and even cooked up some eggs!

The stove puts out lots of heat, and I can see how it would make a tent (or any enclosed area) warm enough to be hospitable. 

For dinner we had leftovers and sandwiches.  Everyone snacked so much on the fruits and other goodies that I brought home from Sam's that I didn't make the cornbread casserole that Juliet and I assembled yesterday.

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294th day of Quarantine.

The expected high today was 32F,  which gave us a snowy rainy mix, and made the roads and sidewalks slushy and nasty.  Then tonight, they will freeze over. = (

For a late breakfast I turned the leftover bread from yesterday into French Toast!  It was quite good! 

For the afternoon and evening, I put out a charcuterie spread.  I also made some cornbread muffins, but they weren't nearly as good as the last round.  I must have used the other mix last time.

Emily was not a fan of my cornbread muffins.

Today felt like a good day to do a pantry clean out!  I threw out half a dozen expired things, and placed a few things that I hadn't even open in the pile to see if my mom or sister could use.  Once I finished that, it felt so good, I cleaned out the bathroom closet next!  I threw out bags of expired creams and medication, and managed a small box of things to send to the thrift store.

My resolution this year is to learn how to do something new every week.  This week was how to make a plastic bag rope, without using any tools.  It was a really easy start, and hopefully by the end of the year, I will know 52 new useful skills!

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293rd day of Quarantine.

32F was the expected high.  We got a little snow, but it must have been on the 'frozen' side of 32F because it didn't melt on the ground and just stayed powdery.

I finished my "winter break" to do list today!  The final item was to run copies of the the math pages for WGJ, and I did it!  Grace even helped me hole punch them and get them into binders this time. = )  

We broke out the hats early, so that we could celebrate the entire day, since I had no intention of staying up until midnight.

I made up an egg and ham casserole to finish off the rest of our Christmas ham.  I'm pleased to say that we threw out very little this year (and it had all be made into other things, but we just ran out of time to eat it!)

I also baked a loaf of homemade bread today! (I had to mix it up yesterday though so that I could sit for 24 hours.)  This is something that was super popular to do in 2020, but I didn't have a big enough, oven safe pot.  Since Billy got me a dutch oven for Christmas, I have now checked a box off the popular to do in 2020 list!

For dinner we had leftovers.

New year at 9:30, but we didn't get to watch the Netflix ball drop, because I could not find it. The kids didn't complain, since they got to make lots of loud noise and drink sparkling grape juice. = )

And, now I've updated my blog every single day, for an entire year!!! #resolutioncomplete

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292nd Day of Quarantine.

38F is the expected high.

Sandwiches made to order for dinner.

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291st Day of Quarantine.

The expected high was 30F.

Today I went to the thrift store with Emily, and we met up with Avia. It was the final Tuesday of the month, which is their 50% off of everything day.  Had we not been meeting my mom, we would not have even gone in.  We were after some puzzles, since we knocked out the one yesterday in one evening!  Sadly, they only had one 300 piece puzzle, and it was the type with a single interlocking shape (versus the lovely assortment we had in yesterday's puzzle.)  We waited in line a long time to check out, and they had all three registers going.

We did come home with 3 new puzzles, which Emily, Grace and Juliet put together all in one evening!

My mom sent us home with a pot of New England boiled Dinner that she made with the ham bone from Christmas dinner.  Everyone enjoyed it, once they got over the cabbage smell. I even had a second helping, since it's been years since I've had it. 

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290th Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today was 32F.

Emily, Grace and I went to two different thrift shops today. We made a donation at our first stop, then bought some books, a puzzle, and a few toys at the second.  Our final stop of the day was menards to get some cedar blocks.

Juliet was very excited to work on the puzzle, so we spent some time working on in, before our "watch party" with Aunt Wanda.  She sent us a very cool Nutcracker popcorn tin that was a music box!  Then, at 7, we logged into Amazon and watched the Nutcracker ballet, while we chatted with her off to the side!

William wasn't terribly interested in the ballet, but did come over to enjoy the popcorn.

After the show, we finished the puzzle!  It turns out that it was one piece short. = (  So, we marked it on the box so that the next person will know.

Coming home so close to our watch time, all I managed to do was throw together some leftover ham and other cold cuts for dinner with some sliced up fruits and veggies.

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289th Day of Quarantine.

The high today was a dry 38F.

After online church, I ran the recycling over to Sarah's, but was noisy enough that it upset Seven and I woke her up anyhow. My next stop was getting gas and groceries.

Avia came over after her church service ended (and I wouldn't have run by the recycling if I'd known that!)  She played a long round of Uno with Emily, Grace and Juliet.

I knocked out my sewing project that was on my to do list.  Sarah requested a new (larger) Aggie dog collar for Seven.  It didn't take me long once I sat down and worked on it.

We had oven heated pizza for dinner,

I watched a couple of Christmas movies, despite Christmas having passed: Noelle and Godmothered.  Both were really cute.

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later days