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

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?

March 2nd

Today the high was 47F!  The wind was still bitterly cold, but compared to last week, this week was 'warm!'

Sam's was on my agenda today, so after dropping off my dear ones and picking up my mom (with a recycling drop off mixed it) we headed that way.  We both had checks to deposit at the bank, but there was no cash back available on a Monday morning.

After leaving Sam's my mom was recounting a story about a nearby chocolate shop that she had patronized with her friends. Of course I tuned the car around!  I bought a 1/2lb box, and all of mine were so good! (I bought a handful for Billy too!)  = )  The lady in the shop made fun of me because I didn't' even make it out the door before I taste tested one.

Once we were safely in the car with our chocolate boxes, we headed to Jessica's to drop off her groceries. = )  Next stop was returning Avia to Sarah's.  Then I had to dash home, toss the groceries in, and head up to the school to help gauge auditions for the talent show.

Alice and Emily were both auditioning today and did great!  Alice is doing a magic act, Emily and her friend Abby are dancing to 'Shake it Off.'

I had some time afterward to look for dry ice at Carl's without luck.  By the time I finished sorting and storing groceries, it was time to collect my children.  = )

For dinner we had chicken in Ramen with peppers as a side.

And after dinner, we snapped Emily's final pictures as an 8 year old!

She is so excited that she is having trouble falling asleep tonight, but she'll be one happy girl when she wakes!

later days