All the Other Fun!

This is where I cobble together a post, with all the pictures that didn't fit into other posts.

I'm not sure what the occasion was, but the twins made themselves quite comfortable in front of Billy's computer one day.  Maybe it was a snow day?

Emily made a birthday cake card for Aunt Rocky.

I'm not sure what Wiliam was doing, other than attempting to steal the spotlight. lol.

A happy story in two pictures: These skirts cost $4 each. I sent a picture to my sister, because sometimes she shops on Sunday, when the tags change. (But not this particular week, which was fine, because I try not to let myself get invested until it's in my bag.)

The following Tuesday, these skirts were $2/each and here they are in my laundry bin.  They are currently hanging in my closet. = )

When the twins get along, they are totally inseparable.  They were just lying on the floor intwined while watching their tablets one morning.

Avia sends back mail when the kids send her mail during her travels.  The twins had a good time coloring their reflection names from her. = )

Grace managed lots of selfies when she was in charge of my phone to take a picture of the igloo.

In between Oklahoma and Florida, my mom stopped over for four days and snuck in a sleepover with my crew one night.  I came down in the morning (at like 830) and the twins already had her slippers out and waiting for her.  I think they miss her a lot when she's not here! <3

During reading month, Grace read ALOT well over 1000 minutes for the month!  She needed timers, of course, and one day decided to use the microwave timer.  Sadly, she didn't know how to use the time and set the microwave for 50 minutes.  That's a long time for a microwave to run (if you didn't know) and it beeped and died about 20 minutes in.

 

It was long enough to melt the plastic cover that we keep to minimize splatters even.

I was hopeful that maybe after it cooled down, it would come back, but that was not the case.  Every now and again when someone would shut the mudroom door or close the trash drawer particularly hard, it would beep back on, but we declared it dead.

Billy ordered another one, of the same brand, from Staples.  The delivery date came and went, and when he contacted them, they indicated that it hadn't shipped, and that they'd send out another one.  So, a second delivery date arrived.  Still no microwave.  When Billy contacted them this time, they offered to send it out again, but he just cancelled the order. We took measurements and ordered a new one from Home Depot, which arrived within a week!  Thus ending our (almost) month without a microwave.  The new one is a slight upgrade in that the door is a pop out, instead of a pull door.  I think Grace learned a lesson too. = )

We are heading into spring break now, and I'm hopeful for a week of fun and maybe a few more pictures of Alice, since she seems to be my child who avoids the camera.

later days

January 8th

Today was a cooooooooold breezy day with an expected high of 25F. But I never saw it reach that high in my travels, so I would claim that the high today was 22F.

Today was an early release for my little ones and we had Willow coming over, so I had to squeeze my day in quickly!  There was a dusting of snow on the road, but the salt trucks had come through, clearing out our path to the school.

After dropping off my dear ones (and having to jump out of the car to help unstick the frozen door in the car line) I headed home to check the mail and load up the recycling that I bring to dart (carboard & foam.)  

I was due to meet one of my MOPS ladies a the thrift store in Mason.  Since I was running early, I stopped by Kroger to grab some bread (my kids are on a toast kick!)  I still had time, so I took the recycling too!

I still arrived before they opened, but met with my friend moments after they opened the doors!  We were shopping for fun dresses for our meeting tomorrow. Neither of us found anything. = (  It was fun to get together though. = )  Since I was there, I also brought a box of donation items that I was happy to get out of my house!

Also, it started snowing again, but not for very long.

Billy had a meeting, so we weren't able to go for our regular coffee date. = ( I did get my expected call from the jewelers that my ring was ready!  It looks soooooo pretty, just like new!

Since I was in Okemos, I enjoyed a Chick-fil-a lunch, of course, and grabbed some for a few of my favorite teachers too! ; )  Sadly, the roads in Okemos and East Lansing were a-w-f-u-l.  It took me so long to get to the school that some of the teachers had already eaten lunch! = (  At least Chick-fil-a is good cold too. = )

As I finished up my deliveries, one of my MOPS ladies called me, because her little boy has low ALP.  I'm so worried for her and her babe, hopefully it is not HPP, but if it is I hope I can help her navigate this crazy condition.

Talking to her had me pulling out my old files and reliving one of the scariest and craziest parts of my life.  I'm happy to be out of that time.

I picked up my 5, plus one and they all got to work on their homework.  Everyone worked hard and finished quickly.  Except for Alice decided to dig in her heels about halfway through correcting her math review. It took her almost until Billy got home (despite the extra hour or so) for her to finish her regular homework, eye therapy, and piano practice. ugh.

We had spaghetti for dinner, everyone ate well.  I'm waiting until after Willow leaves to do shot night, because no one likes shot night.  = (

Tomorrow is our table's turn for food at MOPS, so I prepped a crock-pot Taco Soup that I will cook overnight, to bring tomorrow.  = )

The kids have been playing almost non-stop since they finished their homework, some I'm hoping everyone will sleep well tonight!

later days

January 5th

Today was cold, the expected high was 33F.  It was grey and cloudy and lots of snow flurries were flying, but not enough for a daytime accumulation.

I felt like I had overslept, but when I opened my eyes it was 7:11!  Poor Billy was up and down ill all night, so I attempted to quietly wake up my children to get ready for church (since they've all moved back up to William's room.) But Emily was the only one who actually got up.

We went to my preferred 9am service at JLC.  It was nice service.  Dr. Pastor Jared is tackling the book of Mark, and this was the second Sunday of the series.

After church Emily and I redeemed a couple of our Burger King coupons, stopped by McDonald's for dollar drinks, and headed to the thrift shop.  We stopped at an estate sale along the way, but didn't find anything.

We spent hours shopping, only finding one thing for the party, but brainstorming other things we could do. Emily picked out a magnetic stick & ball set to share with everyone, and we found Grace another member for her Hello Kitty family.

Since Joann's is in the same plaza, we went by for some gold paint.  It was on sale, but not really, so we got back in line so that I could download the app and try to remember my log in (ew.)  I finally got in, and the lady in front of me was writing a check, very.slowly.  Poor thing though, her card was declined, hence the check writing, but the check (was presumably) on the same account, and also did not work.  The line was lone enough that they called in a second cashier.  Our transaction was super fast since we were buying a single item, had the coupon ready, and paid in cash.

It was already well past noon when we left, so we stopped in at Wendy's and bought four of the 4 for $4*s for the rest of the family, and headed straight home.

At home the kids were hungry enough to eat straight away, even though they exhausted our oatmeal packet supply while we were shopping.

While they were eating, Emily and I sorted the magnetics set into piles so that everyone started with an even amount.  It was a good purchase, for $4, everyone played with it all night!

Since it is a Sunday, It was an eye therapy day for Alice.  She only has to do 20 minutes a week now, 10 on Sunday and 10 on Wednesday.  Sadly, it's for the next 4 months. = /

We also had bath time all around!

Also, I had the saddest of calendar reminders on my phone.

Once our dinner, one last round of leftovers, was cooking in the oven, I had time to work on my project!

I only had green napkins, so that's what I used, just to make sure it worked before I bought the red ones that I want.  It took me four attempts, but I finally have a working sample. = )

So far, I've only spent $3.16 on this project, which is much cheaper than the $42 I had priced it out at Yesterday.  Hopefully I can keep costs to a minimum.

We finished off the ice cream sandwiches for dinner, they were all very good.  Now it's time to fight my very not tired children to go to bed the Sunday night at the end of a holiday.

later days

*Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard, French Fries, and Root Beer

January 4th

Today is barely above freezing with an expected high of 34F.  It is overcast and grey with a few snow flurries, but not even enough to accumulate on vehicles.

Emily and I wrote up some instructions that were missing from a used game we purchased.  We watched a short video yesterday to learn how to play, then wrote up our own directions (since a google search failed me.)

The game is Game of the States by Milton Bradley. Some of the rules may not be the actual rules. If the video didn't specify we wrote whatever we thought made the most sense.

I reheated some leftovers for lunch.  Emily and I have been snacking on the ham all week.  And Billy all but polished off the macaroni and ham casserole I made on Monday.

My bi-weekly shopping trip this week is to Sam's, so I got in my order so that I could have the time slot I like best.

I'm working on a 'party' toward the end of the month, and shopping online was really expensive, so I asked Emily if she wanted to go with me to some thrift stores.  Then William, Grace and Juliet all invited themselves.  I tried to talk them out of it, with we are only going to spend "2 minutes looking at toys and 20 minutes looking at crafts."  They all still came.  Everyone except for Emily found something.  William scored a cool light car ball, Grace found a giant floor puzzle and Juliet picked a pizza game.

Today I made the time to change out the (dead) batteries in my car key fob. I had to watch a youtube video, but it was pretty straight forward, and gave me all the information I needed.  I needed CR2025 batteries, and for some reason I just happened to have a 2 pack of them.  Lucky me!

William was the only one who was whiny and cantankerous.  He will not be invited next time.  We went to two thrift shops, then to target.  Emily bought some Doritos with the two dollars she brought, and I chipped in for some ice cream sandwiches. ; )

Now they are having a party in the room that is a "busy kids party" and no parents are allowed.  Apparently Emily was more upset than I originally thought about my going to the moms only party last night. = 0

For dinner we are eating a charcuterie board of cheeses, salami, crackers and grapes.  With a side of Doritos of course.

My email finished importing to the new account, so now I'm testing the waters to see if it is a true import or just a sync (or a weird combination.)

A picture from Grace:

Tonight is our final night of vacation, and while tomorrow should be kind of slow, I'm so not ready to set my alarms and go back to the races.

later days

Witcher Watching Party

Billy really enjoyed playing the Witcher 3 video game.  He'd tell me about it, and spent ample time researching stats when he'd play it.  So, when Netflix announced that they were creating a video version, he was excited.  He tried hard not to be, in case it failed to meet his expectations, but the closer it got, the more he talked about it.

So, I decided to throw him a Witcher watching party.  I invited Amber and Will (and their crew) and set to work on making it as close to that world as I could.

I think I went to a record number of thrift shops collecting steins and dishes.  One of my favorite finds were some aged wooden trays and some ceramic goblets.  I also snagged an ice bucket that was meant to mimic wood, and I put our "water from the well" in it.

My favorite project was the potions.  I stopped at a liquor store (at like 9 in the morning because they don't have blue laws in Michigan) and asked for the prettiest little bottles they had.  This is what the cashier and I came up with. = )

I took a before picture, in case someone actually wanted to drink one.

It took me about an hour to get off the labels, and once they were off I made my own.  Thankfully there are databases dedicated to the video games, so finding the names of potions was not too tough.  Fisstech will 'knock the user out immediately' so that label went on the tequila. = )

I also made some plum jam from plums!

Sadly, the pancakes that were supposed to have the jam needed to be cooked in my oven, which went out the day before I needed it.  = (  I was so sad.  So, I didn't make the pancakes, and I think I was the only one who tried the jam.  It was very flavorful, but not very sweet.  According to one recipe that I read (when I was trying to decide whether or not to skin them) I needed to pick ones that were a little riper than what I chose.

On the day of I dropped by Panera for some full loaves of bread, and then headed to our favorite BBQ place for a growler of ale.  Billy usually likes the Brown Ales, so that's what I picked.

One of the recipes was "Elf and Onion" soup.  They recommended beef in the absence of elf meat, so that's what I threw in.  But to help with aesthetics bought some decorative ears to toss in.

At our MOPS meeting last week, we made some signs out of stained wood and paint.  Mine reads "Bill of Fare" in Lithuanian.

Billy was very surprised, and I loved having Amber and Will over while we watched a brand new show the night it came out!

later days