Spring Break

We stayed put for spring break this year, after moving it 2 weeks, so that it could follow a crazy week, instead of being just before a crazy week.

We tried lots of new recipes.  Alice made some garlic bread from some homemade baguettes that I made.  We ate it with spaghetti that night.

At the same time, Emily and Juliet were making dumplings from the ingredients that Emily and I collected from various grocery stores around Lansing.

The recipe made dozens of them, so we froze a third of them for us, froze some for Sarah & Avia, and then set some aside to bring for snack on enrichment day.

We had a few leftover dumpling wrappers, so Emily found a desert dumpling using strawberries and chocolate.  I overcooked the sauce, but it was a strange combination anyhow, so I don't know that we would have used it even had it turned out.

The following night we tired our creations, some pan fried and some boiled.  They were a big hit.  We are looking forward to eating our next round.

The only group outing we made was to the zoo.  It was a chilly day, but not rainy, and we had the place almost to ourselves.

The otters were very playful.

The red panda sign was an even bigger hit than previous visits thanks to Turning Red.

Once upon a time they all fit on the turtle at the same time.  No longer. = (

The lion's roar was so loud it was startling.  We read that it could be heard up to five miles away!  We could hear it again as we were almost to the exit, that is quite a loud sound!

I took some zoomed in images of hard to spot animals in the reptile house to show those who couldn't spy them.

The tarantula was difficult to spot even with the zoom!

The spiderweb is a new installation (at least for us) and the kids sure enjoyed it, even in the cold!

We could only convince Alice to stay for a single hour, luckily, we were cold and hustling, and finished the whole circuit in that time. 

Later that afternoon, Emily had a (make-up) dentist appointment, since she'd been ill the previous week when she and Alice both had appointments.  Grace tagged along, and we went to Five Below and Target to do a little birthday shopping beforehand.

On Thursday, Juliet lost her front tooth, so now she and Grace are mirror images of one another. = )

Not doing much was really relaxing and it was a needed break for sure.  Now we are in the homestretch of the school year and looking forward to warmer weather.

later days

Spring Break 2021

When I planned out our school calendar, I lined our spring break up with the cousins, because if I've learned anything the past year, I don't really know what 5 months from now will look like.   We didn't head to Texas, but did enjoy taking a week to play and acclimate to the time change.

These were technically our science projects that we did on Wednesday, but I'm throwing them in just the same.  We floated a needed on water, and painted with shadows.

Emily and I finished a 500 piece puzzle that was one week in the making!

It may not look it, but those rocks are tricky!

Billy had a craving for chocolate, so we brought all the kids to the chocolate shop.  I told them they could pick out one thing.  I didn't realize that the would have their Easter selection up, so they all came home with giant, solid, bunnies.  There was a building nearby that the kids enjoyed to do some "parkour."

William exploring practical physics in his free time.

Billy and I had a Sunday afternoon date to Dimes (again courtesy of my awesome mother.)  We hadn't been since before the lockdown, and it was nice to get out.

Something pushed a brick into the basement! = 0  I still don't know what type of animal it is.  And the first two places that I called (on a Friday) were not able to help me out.  So, It's a battle that has been pushed out until Monday.  It did give me a chance to clean up though, so the shelves look better than they did, just with fewer bottles on the shelf.

St. Patrick's day came and went without much fanfare.  We did have fun hats and green milk though.

My mom treated us to Raya and the Last Dragon.   We went to the first showing, and there were very few people there.  It was very cute, and it felt nice to go out into society a bit.

One Wednesday, we had less fun, with an afternoon dentist appointment in Ann Arbor.  Since William had such early tooth loss, his teeth shifted, and he's been referred to an orthodontist (also at U of M.) Of all my children he dislikes the dentist the most, so I feel bad that he will now have to go more than the others.

Alice and I went in search of some Japanese treats (we kept the wrappers from Christmas) but didn't find much in the way of Japanese cuisine.  We did find lots of other goodies.  The biggest fail: rose flavored Turkish delight.  The biggest success: a coconut. lol.

Billy had to drill a hole into it, so that everyone could try the coconut water.  Emily genuinely liked it.  Everyone else enjoyed the novelty.

It wasn't the most spectacular of spring breaks, but it was nice to recharge (and recalibrate) to prepare us for the final 9 weeks of our school year!!

later days

April 4th, "Stay indoors" Day 22, Day 2 of Spring Break!

The expected high today is 48F.  Last night was the first night of the year that we were able to sleep with the window open!  It's been rainy and dreary all day.

Today I worked on catching up on some of the laundry that had been put on hold with all the extra bedding going through.  And I managed to sneak in an afternoon nap too!

Billy went to the local grocery store to try to collect some of the things we were critically low on, he was mostly successful.  Canned bread was the most disappointing unavailability.

When he came home he grilled up steaks and hot dogs and potatoes for dinner.

We enjoyed a lovely third wine tour in a "French winery." = )

Today would be a perfect, rainy Saturday in my book.

later days

February 23rd

The expected high today is 50F. Billy says were it not for the wind, that he would eat on an outdoor patio. I disagree, but will concede that is not bitterly cold.

Alice and the twins went with Avia to church. The others came with us, but we left about halfway through, because my throat was hurting again. With Grace's recent diagnosis, I thought a trip to the urgent care would be prudent. Billy dropped me off while he, Emily and William went to the nearby McDonald's.

The Urgent Care was not terribly busy, and it took me longer to fill out the extensive paperwork than to wait for the test. The in house swab for strep came back negative, but she was going to send it out for a culture, to be sure. I'm glad that it's just a sore throat and hope that I don't hear from them at all.

We are gearing up to go back to school tomorrow. I'm always astounded at how quickly the week passes. Only 6 weeks left until the next spring break. = )

Billy and I replaced my rear blinker bulb before we left for church, since it went out on our way to the museum last week.

I recorded my car light bulbs and gave the tub a QR code, so that I wouldn't have to guess whether or not I had a particular bulb at home like I did yesterday.

We had sad news from Emily's class today, one of her class mate's lost her mother over the break. There was a fundraiser at a pizza place in Old Town, so Emily and I went to get dinner and pay our respects to the family. Emily did get to see her classmate, I am so sad for the family. It was a lively, lovely celebration of life though!

So, for dinner we had pizza.

I think we've prepared all we can for our regular routine tomorrow.

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! = )

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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!  = )