Crafts

The last month has offered some exciting opportunities for crafts, and Emily's birthday has its own post, because those were not individual projects, as she is a willing helper. I also cut hearts out of coke boxes for over a month, in preparation of Valentine's Day, but it was a bittersweet day to be sure.  I've included the picture here too, because the other post is a work of emotion and reflection, which I may not feel up to revisiting each time I want to recall a very sweet Valentine's Day memory.

Around the time of a snow event, my mom asked if the big girls would be willing to make a homemade baked good for the church's bake sale at the chili dinner. With the snowy roads, I declined, but as the roads cleared had a change of heart, and made the baclava, for which, I already had the ingredients on hand.  I delivered it to the church, along with some cookies that Sarah made (since I was stopping by her house en route.)  My mom sent me a follow up report, telling me that it was gone quickly, and the bake sale was a success.

The three rounds of snow days gave me the time opportunity to get started on, and ultimately finish end of year teacher gifts for the little ones' teachers.  I don't think I have the persistence to make the 14ish bags that I would need for the big girls' teachers, so I'll have to come up with a different gift for them.

I considered making two bags for the twins' teacher, but ultimately decided that she probably did not need two bags (if she even needs one) and put their handwriting on either side of a single bag.

The t-shirt that I cut up to use for William's teacher was a very slippery material, and my machine did not care for it. It took many failed attempts, and finally an iron on fleece to stabilize it enough to make it useable.  (Also, I hope he never sets it near something hot, because the iron brought out a faint smell of cigarette smoke, which was not present at room temperature.)  And, it wasn't until ironing out the embroidery hoop on the twins' teacher's fabric that I realized it would melt and shrink under a hot iron (I guess the iron had been 'heating' on previous presses.)  So, I ended up trimming it a bit before sewing, and it looks okay in its finished form.

Despite all the setbacks and periods of ripping out failed stitches, I managed to finish!  Surprisingly, this is not even the earliest I've ever finished end of year bags, but it feels good to have this project finished!

Emily and her bag were home long enough that I was able to repair the handle cover on her strap.  Sadly, with the repair, the hook could no longer fit through, and so I had to cut apart the strap itself and then reattach the hardware (twice, because the strap ran through the cover twice on the pass over.) = 6

When the girls' Easter dresses arrived (I shopped around Christmas time) I made William a matching bowtie.  I love the colors of their dresses!!!

I'm glad I waited until the dresses arrived, because the pictures made me think that the dresses were much darker in color than they turned out to be.

I'm thankful for the gift of time.  The hours of dropping off and picking up the children never sounds like much, but it might just be enough to get in one extra craft.  = )

later days

Processing

A week ago, Monday, Grace and Juliet were both recovering from some sort of illness that had them vomiting Sunday night.  I was scheduled to work Monday, so they stayed home with Billy, both were feeling better, but they hadn't cleared the 24-hour window to return to school.  I woke up feeling okay, so William and I dropped off the big girls as usual, but when we arrived at his school, I suddenly had a headache.  William had been complaining about how unfair it was that the twins 'got' to stay home, so when he complained about not feeling well, I gave him a wait and see response.  Especially so close to covid recovery as a society, no one wants to be around a sick person, so after ensuring that my charges would be well cared for, I took my leave and went home.

I slept, and around midday the office called me to come get William.  He was moving slowly, but managed a quick recovery once home with his recovered sisters.  Billy, Alice and Emily did seem to escape any ill effects though. 

That night, we caught word of the MSU shooting.  Memories of my own college days flooded back, how carefree they were, unlike the covid ridden and mass shooting society of today.  My heart breaks for all of the MSU students and staff, and the effects were felt throughout the entire Lansing area.  

Despite or because of* what was going on in the world outside of our walls, I laid out Valentine's gifts** on the table for the morning.

The majority of Ingham County schools were closed Tuesday, and since the little ones' district is based primarily in Ingham County, they were off.  The big girls go to Eaton County school, so they had classes as usual. Since I was already out, I followed my usual Monday shopping routine, since I hadn't managed to work or shop the day before, and Billy was home with the small ones.  

We received updates via email from WG&J's teachers. They made plans to adjust Valentine events for later in the week, and sent out information offering help and support if needed.

On Wednesday, everyone was back to a regular schedule, though the world felt a little off kilter.  Avia sent a valentine's gift of cash to enjoy an Arby's meal.  Since we barely muddled through Tuesday, we held off for the Wednesday, on which the little ones would get out before the big girls and be forced to come collect them with me.  We went straight to Arby's, but went inside to place our very large order.  The woman behind the counter was patient and kind, and helped the little ones get what they wanted for their individual budget of $7 (which can go quite far during happy hour!.)  When we were finished and the order had been checked and rehashed, an older gentleman (wearing a Spartan cap, which I feel could be an important detail) offered to pay for the meal.  Of course I protested, our meals are quite pricey, and we had gotten milk shakes and other treats, but he insisted.  His eyes were tear filled,  my eyes were tear filled, the woman taking the order had tear filled eyes.  It was the kindest gesture from a stranger, and gave a little bit of light in a very dark world.

We brought our food home, and I did what I could to keep Billy's warm, since we had gone quite early, straight from the big girls' pick up at 2:45, and he wouldn't be home until after 5.  Emily and I decided to call the very kind gentleman "our stranger."

Thursday morning we woke up to news articles that the 'shelter in place' had been lifted for Dimondale, because there was a shooting at Cherry & Washington St.  This is literally 1.5 blocks away.  They assured everyone there was no threat to the public^, which was good, as we had all been asleep and blissfully unaware of any danger. It is of slight concern that our phones did not warn us of the shelter in place, since we should have been on the towers in the affected area.  Just the same, the school morning went along as planned.

That afternoon, I got a separate message from both schools that another shelter in place was in effect at a point about halfway between their two schools, and both schools were in lockdown under an 'abundance of caution.'  I had a doctor's appointment that I ended up driving to in a roundabout fashion, as to avoid the lock down area.  My heart felt like it had been through the ringer, and when my appointment ran long, I was just a few minutes late for picking up the big girls.  The staff there was trying to usher students quickly out the door, as icy condition were starting to develop, and they were starting their 5 day weekend, so there were no afterschool activities.  I was happy to have them back, in one piece, for another day.

A skating party was planned as a fundraiser for the little ones, but I had warned them that morning that if the roads were questionable, we would not be going.  Sure enough, after we gratefully collected the little ones, and came home, my runner was so icy I slipped just getting out of the car.  I called off the skating, but did order pizza.  When I went to collect it (and get a few things from Carl's), there was still a bit of rain coming down, but as I made my way back to the car, I was sliding around on the sidewalk, because ice pellets were falling from the sky.  By the time Billy made it home, even his protests had quelled, in the face of ice.

Thursday night, our endlessly long week was truncated, due to ice, and the break could not have come at a better time.  The little ones got to start their break one day early, and having all of my dear ones safely tucked away is currently my favorite thing in the whole world.

This week has also been a little unexpected, thanks to an ice storm that cancelled the big girls return to school on both Wednesday and Thursday, but Billy also got to work from home, which made the break feel a little longer and more restful.

I'm hoping for a much quieter, less eventful spring, since winter has had far more excitement than I care for.  Either way, we will continue to love and attempt to be someone's "stranger" whenever the opportunity arises!

later days

*I'm sure philosophers and psychologists around the world have debated why people continue to do the normal despite the terrible. 

**Grace let out a squeak when she saw hers, and sadly I didn't get to see William's reaction, but Billy assured me it was favorable.  I was so excited to share his.  He requested a shotgun (that released shells after shooting) for Christmas, but when I went out to find it, it was not even Nerf brand, and it was almost $50!!!  About a month ago, I found one at a thrift store for under $2!  It only had a single casing, which allowed me to test to make sure that it still worked.  After affirming that it did, I had to shop eBay for more casings, which were more than the $2 for the gun, but much cheaper than the $50 for a new one.

^based on the information given it was a murder/suicide of an 18 year old girl & 24 year old boy, in a relationship of some sort, and one of whom lived at the residence.

Other Noteworthy Events

For Valentine's Day, Billy braved the cold, and a line outside the door, to get me some local made dark chocolate coconut chews!!  They were really good (I actually still have some) and made me feel very loved.  I bought him a box of Reese's cups, along with a small heart box for each of the kids.  It's probably a good thing he got what he wanted while he was at the chocolate shop.

Grace woke up looking like she'd partied all night!

But we were able to tame that hair.

The twins asked how small they were when they were born.  I told them they could fit into Daddy's hand.  He didn't remember them being that tiny, so I broke out an old picture from when they were just a few weeks old.

Upon seeing it, they decided that they wanted to recreate it.  I don't recall who is who in the first picture, and looking back at my blog, I didn't say!! If I were facing the way I think I was, it should be Grace/Mutti/Juliet in the first picture. But the second picture is for sure Grace/Mutti/Juliet.

 

Grace did up her hair in three buns for Three Kings Day

They all got some small treats from Mutti and Daddy.

William built his Lego set after school.

And I got my Christmas gift in from Billy.  They are super cute alligators "biting" my ear, but they are really heavy.

We had the Cornishes over for a game day.  I was participating in dry January, and it was the first time I'd been tested, and stuck it out!  We played this really fun interactive pirate game, that we actually played the next time we hung out with them too!

Juliet made and avatar family and sent it to me.  In the small version, I thought William was blowing a bubble, I didn't realize that it was a cursor.  Oh well.

Alice and Emily thought the can in the Sam's parking lot was a meme, and wanted me to take a picture, so I did.

Juliet's hair was really pretty after coming in from playing the snow one day!

Christin and I sent one another pictures of our breakfast one day.  So now it is going here too.  Buttered toast and black tea with milk.

My mom has already travelled to Texas/FL/OK this year, but she will be leaving again this weekend, since my grandpa fell over, while petting a dog, and broke both of his shoulders (and several other bones.) = (  

I'm hoping for a less eventful end to the month.

later days

Snow, School, Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day and Other Things

 Emily helping Grace decide to fold or call during a game of 5 card draw.

We went 15 days without temperatures above freezing.  The snow actually looked fake, the way it flocked the branches!

Valentine's day treats for my valentines. = )

Grace twinning with Molly.

This book, Children of the New Forest, is what the big girls are currently reading for their literature.  It is quite a jump from their previous text, and Emily was overwhelmed.  I found the book in audio form (for free) and it has been a great thing for Emily. Alice prefers to just read it, and seems to be doing just fine.

The icicles were getting pretty big around here!

The kids painted suncatchers one afternoon.  This is the one that Alice painted, that I will be keeping.  My snow guage!

We got a lot of snow to be shoveled, then we got some more, and then some more. 

The same storm that crippled Texas did not pass us by, and buried us in a good 8-10 inches of snow!

I only had the energy to clear the sidewalk, I broke down and hired a service to clear the drives (for the first time since we've lived here.)  It was a lot of snow, all at once.

Emily, Grace and Juliet prepared a "romantic" Valentine's dinner for us.  We had salad, lasagna and chocolate cake!  It was a very nice meal, and the cutest wait staff ever!

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we made "fancy" lollipop stick decorations, made a year of the Ox banner, and had a freezer dinner meal of sweet and sour chicken.  It was low key, and enjoyable and perfect!

We also picked up my car last Friday, after almost 6 months of waiting for the ABS light to be tended.  Our mechanic ended up buying a whole new software/hardware system just for my car. = /  But I'm so happy to have it back with no warning lights on the dash!!!

For science we mixed water, oil and syrup.  The oil separated very well, the syrup was not as quick to separate from the water. Possibly because, much to my chagrin, the syrup we used was maple.  I didn't know how much we would need or I would have purchased some cheap stuff! = (

Emily's friend brought her by a bag of goodies, and it was well received by this crew!

The weekend before Valentine's my mom offered us a date, so we went through the Biggby drive through, which has discontinued both of our holiday favorites already, and then to Walgreens for some drugstore chocolates.  I like Valentine's day almost 14 years in, spending time with my favorite person eating chocolate and drinking decaf* coffee.  

later days

*how are we going to sleep if we get the caffeinated type?

February 14th

Today was cold.  I don't know what we actually got up to, but the highest I saw in my car was 11F.  I snapped this after I got home from drop off. brrrr.

My little ones woke up to a simple gift on the table, chocolates and roblox from us, Rose pens from Aunt Rocky.

I had two stay home today, William who didn't act sick at all but was sent home on Thursday with a fever, and Emily who retched 3 times before we even left for school.  Guess who was super upset to miss their party. = (  Thankfully Avia came over so that I didn't have to load my very ill Emily up to take the others to school.  I delivered party supplies we had promised and dropped of cards to be passed out. Then I stopped by the store to get Emily a personal ice cream, since she really wanted her sundae.

My big project was to transform the remaining corn tortillas (from Alice's cookie math day) into baked tortilla chips.

I put some salt on my very ripe avocado and enjoyed some chips and guacamole.  Emily had the other half of the avocado. She was a fan of my homemade chips. = )

At the end of the day, Alice went back in, twice, to get Emily and William's cards so that they could at least feel loved from afar.  = )

Billy made a special trip for my valentine Pizza.  William saw the advertisement and Billy delivered. He also brought home a beautiful rose bouquet. And he saved me from cooking dinner by picking up pizza at our local place for everyone else. = )

I picked out a variety of hot sauces for Billy as his Valentine.  = )

I love all 6 of my Valentines!

later days

February 6th

It snowed last night.  All night actually.  But we still didn't get a snow day today, though it was teased on the district page that we might. = ( The anticipated high today is only 27F, which means that the snow will be sticking around.  Evening update: it snowed allllllllllll day long.  It's still snowing.

After taking in the kids, and tracking down William's ski pants, I had to tell Alice's teacher that I might not make it for the cookie math. My poor Juliet has the same symptoms as Grace did a week ago. = (

I came home and shoveled the snow off the sidewalk and driveway, called in a prescription refill for the injections (B, W, G & J), made a doctors appointment for Juliet, brewed myself a second cup of tea, changed the air filter and posted a comparison picture of the last two mornings:

My mom saved the day and took Juliet to the doctor so that I could go do some cookie math with Alice's class.

They are studying equivalent fractions.  What better way to learn about fractions than cutting up a cookie then eating it?  Alice said she didn't learn much, just enjoyed eating the cookies.  Hopefully she was just saying that to mess with me (she does that sometimes...)

For dinner I made chicken enchiladas with the corn tortillas that I had purchased for someone in Alice's class that told me they couldn't have cookies.  They are vegetarian and vegan friendly, gluten nut & dairy free.  But I don't think anyone claimed a tortilla today.

My mom hung out with Juliet while I went to retrieve the rest of my crew.  Juliet did not test positive for strep, but they sent out the sample for a twelve hour culture.  I should hear back tomorrow morning.

After finishing up his homework, William knocked out some of his Valentine cards tonight.  He is writing a special message to each of his classmates on the back of a rainbow scratch card!  For the scratcher, he's giving a single chop stick.  We had these left over from our party, and they work pretty well. = )

Emily memorized her simplified version of fuer Elise.  Now she wants to work on the full version.  It's nice hearing such a pretty song each day though. = )

I'm pulling for a snow day tomorrow, but I'm slated to work in the morning, so I have to prepare as though it's just a normal day. = )

later days

January 29th

Today the expected high was 32F.  It was cold, cold, cold.

Right after I dropped off my little ones, my mom came over with Sarah's truck so that I could go collect my mower!  The carburetor was causing the issues, so they replaced it and cleaned out the filters.

We managed to unload it pretty easily with the scrap doors Sarah sent over acting as a ramp.  After tucking away my mower, we ran some errands.

First up was Kohls to return the subpar lavender oil that Amazon directed me to.  Last April I ordered some really nice oil and it smelled good, and lasted me for almost a year.  When I reordered (using Amazon's buy it again option) they sent me something completely different.  I reported it, and left a review, but was unable to find a way to directly contact someone at Amazon with a complaint that wasn't limited to a certain number of characters. = (

The next errand was also not a fun one.  I received a letter that in order to continue receiving paper statements for part of my IRA, I had to opt in.  They didn't provide a number (unless you are a direct investor) so I had to go in to a branch.  It didn't take a super long time, and I was successful. = )

Then we started the fun errands. I treated my mom to lunch at Panera for her help with the mower, then we stopped in at Game Stop so that I could get some "Valentine Cards" for my little Valentines.

Our last stop was the Dollar tree for Emily some treats for Thursday night/Friday morning.

At home I was cleaning things up when I got a message from Grace's teacher that she wasn't feeling well.  So, my mom went to collect her while I finished sorting my items.

Grace knocked out her piano and homework, and was asleep by the time I came back with the others.

Willow hung out with us yesterday too, and everyone worked diligently on their homework. Except for William, who fought and fought. = /

For dinner we had spaghetti.  After dinner Billy and I planned out a summer family trip! = )

later days