Other Happenings In October and Early November

In a newspaper, I found a picture of a voting line in Berlin.  I sent it to my favorite German, because it kind of looks like her (but it isn't, she voted by mail.)

Emily bought me a lovely llama pin (that is quite heavy) for my birthday.  I went that afternoon to buy a sweater that had a heavy enough weave to support it.

I also got my repaired and cleaned wedding ring set back on my birthday!  The stone was loose, so I had taken it in a few weeks before, with no estimated date of completetion.

Our front tree dropped all of it's leaves over night.  I did a large section of the yard, with a rake, but there were still two trees full of leaves, so I knew it was a losing battle.

After we took down our Halloween decorations, I got to decorate my pumpkin with the turkey kit that I got from somewhere in the last year!  Isn't it cute?

After a long, long absence, the kids (and I) were so excited to have Avia back!  

Sadly, her plane from Detroit was delayed a couple of times, so we ended up grabbing some McDonald's while we waited.  Sadly, we missed indoor dining, so we had to bring it back to the airport.

At one of the rummage sales we went to, I scored Sarah a bag of maps!  Some of them were old, I think this one is from 1923?  She was actually excited by them, which made it totally worth my $1! = )

I read an article a couple of months ago, that interviewed people who were picking up food from a local food pantry.  One of the things they lamented was rarely having cake mix.  So, as a group, the kids and I discussed what we could do.  We decided that every birthday we celebrate in our family, we would make up a kit with cake mix, icing, oil, birthday candles, and egg money (hidden under the icing lid.) William was the first child's birthday we celebrated, so he got to be the first to give away a 'birthday cake'! (I did it for my birthday too, but did not take a selfie.)

Zoey's mom invited our whole crew, minus Billy, over for a Friday movie day!  Grace was delighted, and most of the kids, not so much Alice, had a fun time exploring and playing with her toys.  We had a fun time!

It's always a sad day for me when I winterize my sandals. = (

Grace scored a super fun toy at one of the rummage sales: a toy garden kit! Even Alice played with it, what a win!

Netflix had Saved by the Bell, 9 seasons worth of the original, college years, and several specials.  I narrated all of my thoughts to Erin Elise as I watched.  I'm sure she's super glad that's over. ; )

As incentive to come to my first MOPS meeting of the year, Alice got to pick out some goodies from out favorite international market.  I like to be *slightly* adventurous each time we go, and this time I picked a pomegranate drink with basil seeds.  It was a lot like drinking jello.  The flavor was not really strange, but you could chew the seeds, if you could catch them between your teeth.  I wouldn't seek it out again, but wouldn't add it to my never again list either.

Another rummage sale find for grace was a make your own marker kit.  The box was open, but all the packages inside were sealed and new.  She spent hours making her own colors.  She even made a set to give to Zoey.

I met up with some of the Dimondale Busy Moms at Horrock's.  They have a massive Bier Garten there that I didn't even know about!  Since then, I've even brought Billy by to see it!

The food truck on site:

Before the weather turned cold, we walked to Dime's, where we could eat outside, the kids could drink their root beer, catch some pokemon, and then let Emily and the twins, or William walk home once they were bored.

October was a nice warm one this year, I felt so happy all month!

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

February 2nd, Painting at Dimes

Today the expected high was almost 50F!  And it was sunny!  And the groundhog predicted an early spring.  I don't trust February though.  I think winter is still coming. = (

Plus, it was a super palindrome date: 02/02/2020!

Today, after church we picked up Burger King to go, but had to venture inside for a missing sandwich (and some fries.) = (

We weren't home long, before I was out the door to do some decorative painting!  A couple of ladies from the busy mom's group met up at the brewery to paint gnomes. = )  They were so cute!

Once we were all finished (I won a door prize too!) I gave away my rather large, little guy, (and my won snowman) since I don't really decorate for Valentine's and I'd just gone to be social. = )

Not too much later, our house rooted for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 54th Superbowl.  I picked them as my team in 8th grade. Nothing much came of their season that year, but I've since had an affinity for them.  And, a former Red Raider is their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.  And they were wearing their red jerseys, so it wasn't much of a leap to root wholeheartedly for them.

I put the kids to bed at half time, and then watched them secure the win in the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter.  The game was over by 10:30, so I wasn't up much past my bedtime, thankfully. = )

Between a great message at church, the sun, social time and a happy sports team victory, it was a pretty great second day of February.

later days