All the Fun!

Aside from just school, and sports, and band, we've been having fun doing other fun things too!

Emily loved my school days book so much (when I was able to pull out my 8th grade (I don't know what happened to my 7th grade) class schedule from Jr. High to show them) that she wanted to make one for herself. 

We had collected a few things to make one ourselves out of a spiral, and my "secret plan" was to buy her a real one for Christmas.

Somehow, when we went to the thrift store that morning, she found one, barely used, written in only pencil, for 90 cents.  Y'all, this girl is soooo lucky!  So far, she's used fancy photo corners to put in past pictures, and collected all of her cross country tags and class schedule to slide in the envelope.

I found a new battery organizer!  My only complaint is the tiny button battery storage area, so I still have to keep my basket with those.  It is so much faster to grab what I need, and I really love the tester too!

We learned this year that chippunks climb bushes!

2 weeks after the little ones started, and one week after the big girls started, I had three sick ones home in one day!!!  They all rested and recovered quickly.

Then, I went down.  I was much slower to recover.  Once I tested positive, Billy had to test, and he had it to.  The Covid got us.  = (  It wasn't awful, and we all lived, but it wasn't fun.  It seems that Emily and William managed to escape completely or perhaps suffered the least.

Halloween decorations at Menard's make me curse my lack of outdoor plugs all the more.

We were at Menard's because Billy built me a raised bed garden to extend into next year!!!! I loved all of our cucumbers and tomatoes and onions and pumpkins, so we're going to do even more next year!

The ladybug colony loved sunning every morning when we were out on the playground waiting for school to start.

I found a heart shaped chip for Emily to present (the night before school started, judging by the pile of snacks on Juliet's computer cabinet.)

Once everyone had their lockers in working order at the big girls' school, students were no longer allowed to carry backpacks.  This was a point of annoyance for Emily, since she had to carry everything loose.  Apparently, this problem is prominent enough that 5 star makes a GIANT binder that can hold a chromebook, file folders, papers, and a pencil bag.   Sadly, they were sold out, of the color scheme of Emily's preference, online everywhere (except for double price on Amazon.)  I sent a plea to my mom and sisters and Avia delivered!!!  

It wasn't the navy and pink request that she sent to me, but grey and pink was good enough, that on day one she even dressed to match! = )

As a footnote, Alice has been offered the same, but has so far declined.

Juliet was so sad when her hoodie, whose service has been appreciated for several years, was too short in the sleeves.  We pulled out an old hoodie of Alice's, but there were still tears.  So, this picture was the goodbye small jacket, we love you picture.  The new hoodie has served her well so far. = )

As a family, we are rough on furniture.  The last free recliner, that we were gifted, served us for many years, but was slowly decaying.  It was to the point that the floor was more comfortable than the chair.  

Once again, Avia came to the rescue and found us a new recliner. It is not nearly as fancy, but its comfort is far superior.  After initiating it into our house, we put our old chair out for trash pick-up.  Since it was around Labor Day, trash was strange, so we let it sit out for 3 weeks before I called the village office to find out what needed to happen to get it picked up.  

Turns out, we had to pay a fee (not that big of a deal) but to even find out the price I was to create, yet another, account with the trash service*, which is a deal breaker.

So, I told William that he was on destruction duty, which was right up his alley. ; ) He spent many fifteen-minute rounds tearing up the chair, so that the pieces would fit into our trash can.  He did a fantastic job, but after he exhausted the easy bits, and I took some scissors to the upholstery, Billy had to step in with his Axe and finish it off.

Speaking of our little village, we have had two new art installations this year!  We missed the dedication of the first, though it is lovely, but we were able to go to the party that accompanied the second.  Well, some of us did.  Emily was at cross country, and so it was just Grace, and Billy and Me.

After listening to some live music, we headed to unveiling.

It is such a perfect piece, and I'm thankful that it was designed by someone who loves this village as much as we do.

I don't recall how Grace wanted her hair, but I recommended the clip going up against her skull, holding the braid.  Much to my surprise, it was still in place when she came home!!

Once of the saddest days of my year: winterizing my sandals.  I slather on the lotion, and it sits all winter, so that the water damage of the summer can heal a bit.  Looks like it's closed toed shoes for me for the forseeable future.

We attended our first school skate night since 2019? possibly 2020?  It was so.busy.  apparently, this was the first one they've had since the shutdown, and everyone showed up for it!  We were able to bring 4/5 pairs of skates**, share a pizza and have a lovely time.  We'd forgotten so many of the details, that we can't wait until next time so that we don't' feel like such noobs!

I don't know if it's being back among people we've missed, or just feeling like we're 'vested' in Michigan, but it's been a wonderful couple of months, despite any hardships^.  I'm feeling hopeful, despite the looming winter, I hope it sticks.

later days

 *the village provides trash service, so we don't have an individual account.

**I'm lacking a pair for Emily's size.

^like Emily's brutal afterschool cross country schedule, lol.

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

April Snow, and Other Things

On April 15th it snowed. Again. 

According to my blog, it snowed for the first time of the season on November 9th.  That means that we have been getting snow for almost 6 months.  I am not okay.  Send sun, heat, summer and everything else Texas please.

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Grace drew a picture of her and Juliet in my belly.  There is a heart by my head because I love them. <3

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Emily read a scripture at Good Friday service. She was the only child, and did a phenomenal job.  She looks so tiny at the podium!

A moving sunset on our trip home from a poignant service.

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My children making a "crockerpillar."

The weather has improved enough (haha, lol, lulz) that the walking bus has started back up.  We are 3/4 of the walks this semester!  Because we have to get out the door 10 minutes earlier than usual, they have to bring their second (or first if they are being pokey) breakfast to eat en route.

It rained on my return trip last Thursday, thankfully, I alone was soaked.

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On our first zoo trip, the twins explored the gift shop and picked out things on which they wanted to spend their birthday cash.  Juliet picked out a super soft, environmentally friendly leopard (or cheetah) that was $27.  I put it on her list, but I am ruthless when it comes to purging toys, and told them that expensive stuffed animals were off the table.

It's hard to enforce that, and I know that if they planned ahead and brought their own cash, it would be sooooo hard to say no.  So, when I found a stuffie for $1 at the thrift store I bought it and presented it to Juliet.  She.loved.it.  The tail is particularly soft.

Grace kept trying to give me a dollar (at random times) to get her one too.  I told her I would search.  I didn't come up with quite as good of a replica, but Sarah found a tiger stuffie later in the week. I was unsure, but Grace's reaction does not leave much room for skepticism.  And hers was only 60 cents.  Now her plan is to buy an umbrella, since hers is defunct.

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On Wednesday, the twins don't have school, so we took time to go and get their hair cut.  There are 2 hairdressers here in town, but the barber is the only one open before 9, so that's were we went.

This was their second cut* ever (the first was from the neurosurgeon, when they had their craniotomies.)  They were nervous but did fabulously.

As a treat afterwards, we went down to the café where I thought we could all share a giant cinnamon roll.  Turns out, they opted for toast, since they could slather on their own with jelly.  So, I ended up eating the cinnamon roll.  It was really good; for the record.

Any warmer temperatures would be welcome.  I am so over the cold and gross and snow.

later days

*Technically, Juliet cut her own hair once, and tried to convince Grace to do the same, but I'm not counting that as a true haircut.

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week is a short one, just like we're used to.  Emily wanted to hide her "tom" as a hair piece.  It wasn't an assignment to hide him, just Emily being Emily. = )

Sadly, it didn't stay in very well.  = (

I subbed at the big kids' school sometime that week, and William's teacher took a picture of the two of us.  His hat was attacking my face, so my eyes were closed, but it just looks like I'm concentrating really hard on hugging him. = )

Turkeys on parade!

Short post for a short week.

later days