A Snow filled January and February

We got some substantial snow the first two days of 2022.

Jan 1st:

Jan 2nd:

Alice attempted to make some maple syrup candy in the snow, but the snow was too fluffy, and the syrup melted straight through. = (

For a while, we got just little dusting or a couple of inches here and there...

...but once February arrived, it came all at once.  It came from a system that stretched all the way from here to Texas!  Alice and I shovelled the front walk and driveways 3 times in 24 hours!!  During our third clearing, one of our sweet, retired neighbors came by, snowplow on the front of his truck and cleared it for us! The piles that we had cleared the past two times were over my waist, making it harder to get the thick muck at the end of the driveway.  It certainly felt like an answered prayer.

The picture absolutely cannot capture the brilliance of the sparkling snow!

Since we had so much snow, we decided to conduct an experiment. We gathered 11inches of snow, to see if the 1ft=1in snow in our book was correct.  The first attempt we made, we stuffed the snow in really tight.

That gave us over 4 inches of water!!

For our second attempt, we gently scooped up some snow, and did not force it down.

We still ended up with over 2 inches of water.

Since the book gave no instructions on their methods, we stopped there, and decided that the book needed to give clarification.

We are expecting another round of snow tonight, but not as much (and there is a chance it will miss us altogether!) I took a picture yesterday, and today, while our temperatures were above freezing, so that I could compare to what snow we do get.

Feb. 17:

Feb 18:

I guess the snow has technically already started, but it is still "warm" enough out that it will turn to water. I'll for sure post an update if we get the snow they are predicting.

later days

Yard Sales and Weekends

Since we are spending less time together with school in session, we make the most of our weekends.  = )

When Emily was in Ms. Jones class, she desperately wanted a Skippyjon Jones stuffie.  I'd seen dozens at sales over the years, but it took my mom and I two years to find one!  Emily was so excited.  She dug out the book, and made her own journal: "Skippyjon Jones: Third Grade Adventures."  Once she's done, we'll be giving the journal (and the stuffie) to our favorite first grade teacher. = )

We haven't gotten the list of roller-skate nights yet, but I found a pair of skates for Juliet.  She had some that my mom bought new, just for her, but since they had a triangle formation on bottom, they were not allowed at the final skate night last year. = (

My search for a syrup container is over!  I found this one at a yard sale in town.  The container in the back was what I would put my favorite Canadian maple syrup in, while I looked for a better container.  The Canadian brings down a 2L (?) container when she visits and I would literally cry if my children (or I) spilled it, so I take the time to transfer it.

Alice checked out a cookbook over the labor day weekend.  She and Emily made us some fresh mini apple strudel pastries.  They were quite tasty.

My babies still like to sit in my lap. = )

My mom found us a copy of the Oregon Trail board game.  We played two rounds.  In round one, we died early, and only Billy died of dysentery.  In round two we were literally one card from winning when the last player died of hunger. = (  Oh, what fun memories of elementary school.  Here's looking at you Cole & Jordan!

School has a way of wearing out my children, and the carpet in our living room has this mystic property of causing sleep. ; )

After months of looking, I found it! A sewing table that folds up in to a neat little cabinet.  You place your sewing machine on the tray, and it lowers down to store and raises up to use.  And it is so compact when not in use!  It had wheels, and the knob on the door acted as a lock to keep the door from swinging open.  There were trays that would swing out for scissors and tape measures and pin cushions.  There were even thread and bobbin spindles.

Sadly, my machine was too big for the drop down tray.  I was soooooo disappointed.  It sat in our living room for almost an entire day before I finally conceded that I couldn't make it work.

I set it out on the curb and it sold the next day.  I'm still torn up about it. = (

We had it on the tarp, so we could wrap it at night, to protect it from all the water in the air.

Grace won a puppy bank painting kit at Sunday School one week.  When she finished, she wanted to use the rest of the paint on paper. = ) 

And now, we are already halfway to our next weekend!

later days