Year 4, November 12th-14th, 2019: All Things New: It's Snow Time!

Tuesday was "get all the things done" day.  Laundry, dishes, school.  Work, work, work. and well, the kiddos didn't do a great job of getting all their schoolwork done while I was busy on Friday and Monday, so I made them catch up today.  It wasn't pretty, but that's what happens when you "forget" although most of the time I've been telling them to work on Saturday and this or that is due on Monday. I try to write it in their assignment books as well, but they don't typically open those on the weekend.  And I don't remind them much over the weekend because I focus on other things.  Sigh. It was brutally cold, too, barely 20 degrees with a 6 degree windchill.  But they managed to dress up in their winter gear and had fun in the fluffy snow.  It wasn't much good for snowman making, but at least they could make snow angels on the trampoline and throw it (sort of) at each other.  Abishai outlasted Keturah and Justin wouldn't stay out long enough, so he was upset that I wouldn't go back out to help him built a snow castle with the sand toys on the trampoline.  Sorry buddy, I didn't put my tights on and had already been out there in my coat, hat and mittens for 15 minutes and couldn't take it any longer. Hot or cold temperatures don't seem to bother Abishai at all.  Socks, of course, also loved having the snow to play in.

Someone said, "Oh, I guess we will have a white Thanksgiving."  Well, that might be true of our northern neighbors, but not here.  It will fully melt in a couple of days when the temperatures reach 40 degrees again.  We did have record low temps for Tuesday (and Wednesday) of 6 degrees (and 8 degrees). I'm glad I prepared the winter stuff early this year. And I hope it snows multiple more times before and after Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, a lot of people (via social media) have put up their Christmas decorations this year, including a lot of my Christian friends! It's kind of not fair because we wait, and I love Christmas.  It doesn't mean we aren't thankful.  In fact, I think it helps to remind us how blessed we are and how important our family is to us.  I think we will take the week of Thanksgiving off and start decorating then.  That means in less than two weeks I can get started!  Yeah!

We finished out the day with Jared and Abihai at Jim's house for discipleship and I had my first rep meeting with the IAHE.  It was through zoom and short and simple, but I wrote down a lot of notes and questions.  Then I went thoroughly through the google drive in my IAHE email and printed out all kinds of documents to make a binder of info I can have on hand for phone calls I receive (or make) and talking with people at 101's or whatever.  My leaders said they'll be getting me some flyers about convention and bookmarks with email and phone number information on it to hand out, too. There's a lot of things I should be doing all at once, but no one expects that of me. I'm going to clear up the email inbox with the previous person on Friday and then start following up on those, and make phone calls to support group leaders. That's the biggest issue I see is that we don't have a comprehensive list of Indianapolis based groups, at least not in the Google Drive database.  So, I'd like to work on that, making sure to tell them about Homeschool Day at the Capital in January and convention in March. But now I have to set it aside for the week because I spent probably 2 hrs on IAHE already and I told myself that I'd spend up to 30 minutes a day on it, like posting to social media and making phone calls.  That way I keep things balanced with other things, like switching out Abishai's t-shirts and deciding on what clothes I bought that I am actually going to keep.

1. Miracle on 34th St. 2. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 3. Home Alone 4. The Santa Clause 5. The Polar Express

The rolling of the 'r's' is what is stuck in my head. Ah, I hope I never forget what my parents sounded like, especially when saying words that were Finnish.

Yup, I wish I could say good bye to nasty crunch brown grass for 4-6 months every year.

I was awake whent he moon was setting at 5:30 in the morning. I wish I knew the right settings so that we could see the craters and shadows on the moon.   The extra light to the top right of the moon is in inside light reflecting off the window.  It is not a planet or something.  (See the progression of the moon setting in the DSLR pics below.)

Oh, so this is what people see on their way to work. I'm never upright before the sun is up no matter what time of year it is.  I think I've missed too many beautiful sunrises.

Lots of records broken this week.

Jared's picture of the moon late last night or a bit earlier than mine.

Thanks, Canada!

I'm surprised schools weren't delayed.

Some days, I just want to be here.  Princess Kate has it all. The perfectly curled long hair, the tailored clothes, the small body after having 3 kids in close succession.  She's beautiful and I hope she gets to be the queen someday.  She seems to have a well balanced traditional yet modern aptitude, not upsetting the delicate balance in the kingdom. She typically wears dresses of course.  Yup, some days, I wish I looked like her.

More sunrise pictures.

And so it begins!  The sunroom, despite being connected to the house with open doorways and windows and having vents that bring in the heat gets mighty cold in the winter because of all the windows. My poor little heaters can't keep up!

There's nothing like fresh snow on all the things and the sun reflecting off of them.  Snow transforms the world, like the shedding of Christ's blood for our sins makes us pure before God.  I can't and won't understand why people hate it so much.  It's so worth the mess, unlike rain, which is even more messy and just plain muddy.

So this happened.  If any percipitation hits the sunroom doors in a certain way, it travels down the door and ends up in the groves of the door's track inside the house.  We know this because the bottom of the wood piece we use to as part of the door lock gets wet.  Well, not only did it get wet with snow, it froze.  I literally couldn't lift it. It took about a half hour to thaw out, and THEN I still couldn't get the door open because the door itself was stuck! Oh my!  This had happened before in the past two winters.

I...can't...open....it....!!

Gor...ge....ous!!!!!

Because we couldn't open the back door and Socks wouldn't go the bathroom on the front lawn, Justin took him around to the gate from the front.  Thankfully, I saw him do both his duties, so he could wait a few hours to go back out again and by then, the door could open.

Well, this is timely!

Jared had a nice video that went with this.  I love that he and I both enjoy nature and the seasons.

What a great way to combine two types of toys! Duplos and his remote control trucks that don't work well as remote control trucks, lol.

You better get started!  And we can still be thankful during this holiday season because if you think about it, Thanksgiving is a family gathering with lots of food and thankfulness for family and so is Christmas!  We give gifts because we are thankful and blessed.  All my friends are putting up their Christmas trees, why can't?  It's not about the commercialism if you aren't focusing on the gifts.  I think both holidays have a sense of family and unity and cheerfulness and kindness and we all need that. Let's just celebrate all the feelings together!

Oh wow, Keturah actually let Abishai up on her bed!  Actually, she's pretty nice to him lately, helping him with the tablet and the Bible app, getting him dressed to play in the snow, staying out there with him, offering him alternatives when he's mad, etc.

Stop that giggle fest! You crazy cabin fevered little guy!  It's a good thing your siblings can't get enough of you!

Yes, I did laugh at him.  I couldn't help it.  He tried so hard!

Ready for the first trip out this season in snowpants and I didn't have to do any of the work! They are so excited!  I'm just glad I didn't have to buy new winter gear!

Ok, here's the DSLR series of pics of the moon setting.  Again, the secondary light is from inside the house reflecting off the window because you ain't getting me out there in 8 degree weather without the proper gear.  It took mere minutes and every time I tried to adjust my camera, the moon would sink further down.  Ah!

Good night, moon!

Let's bury Keturah in the snow after she makes a snow angel.

Trampolines are the best investment!  Since we don't get a lot of snow all at once, we don't think that little bit of extra weight is hurting it.  The padding is getting gross from exposure, but the poles and springs are fine.  I'm glad it's become a 4 seasons toy!

He doesn't care that he's got snow all over him.

The snow was light and fluffy, so they just threw at each other like it was sand.

So many giggles!

Don't mind the scenery pictures.  I went a little shutter happy.

Socks still loves the snow, too.  He's asked to go outside way more often than he does during the rest of the year.  Of course I keep denying him because I don't want to clean him up when he's done. The squirrels have also been courting so there's a lot of activity and Socks goes nuts after them, pun intended.

Socks watching over his kids.

The mixing of the season, fall and winter.

The miracle of snow flakes.

A little bit of ice on the edges.

Blue skies, fresh snow, frigid temps: reminds me of PEI

Go get 'em, Socks!

Never touched snow.

Snow!

Artistic photo.

They got out the shovel to help build up a big bunch of snow in the middle so they could jump and land in it.

Nothing says winter like fire logs under snow!

Some lonely green leaves left on this tree.

Not quite done with it's shedding, but it looks amazing next to the backdrop of the white snow.

Close up of the flowers.  See ya next year!

Have a great hibernation!

I guess it might be time to put these away next time it thaws a little.

Bwahahaha, let's just combine all the holidays in one picture!

Yup, I wrote that with my finger. Clever, eh?

He wanted to build a snow castle, so he took some of the sand toys out there.  But Keturah was done playing, and Justin didn't want to go out there and I was done, too.

The face of a child who wants to stay outside all day but also wants a companion to go with him.  We called Daddy to ask him to come home soon, but he was unable to come home before it got dark.  Poor guy.

Now, it's time for the golden hour of sunset.

Back to cell phone pictures, sorry.  These were taken right after lunch.

Science experiment for Justin.  Put salt on an ice cube and see how it melts.  We learned that when salt and water freeze, they freeze separately, i.e. the salt is no longer dissolved in the water and becomes it's own frozen crystal.  Salt lowers the point at which water freezes and that's why we put it on our roads in wintertime.

See the divets in the middle.  Yes, overall the ice cube has melted from the warm air, and some salt got on the plate, so it's melting it from underneath as well.

Sorry, not sorry, I had to document this.  Oh and this is Mavi, Stephen Amell's daughter.  I think she might be 7 now, hanging from the bar used on the salmon ladder that made her Daddy famous as the Green Arrow.

The end of an era.

Mostly frozen salt water.  Can you guess if it is still salty?  Yes it is!

Snow at Grandma's house, too.

vids

Wednesday was cray town, although the weather was slightly warmer. I tried pushing the kids to get up and getting around 9am, like they did yesterday, and it helped.  I tried to focus hard on other misc things while they did their lessons.  Then we squeezed in together work before they had class with Grandpa.  Keturah quickly ate and left for dance while the rest of us finished eating, took Justin to small group and went grocery shopping.  By the rest of us, I mean, Jared, Abishai and I went grocery shopping. Keturah and Abishai did get outside for a little bit today and used a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket to pack snow into so they could dump it out again like a sand castle in order to make a snowman.  The snow wasn't quite rollable, so I appreciate their ingenuity.  Abishai wanted to make sure we used a real carrot for the snowman's nose and they used rocks for his eyes and mouth. And they used one of my hats, with permission, for the top of the snowman.  He looks a little fun being so cylinder like but that's what snowmen look like when you use marshmallows, for example, in a stack.  It definitely works! Benaiah had the usual: school, leadership, hang with friends, small group.

Oh how I miss the sun reflecting off 6 feet of snow on cold winter mornings making the snow shimmer and shine.  Gorgeous!

Breakfast of champions, right?! We eat corn grits, corn tortillas, corn puffs, and corn muffins in the morning, right?  Why not popcorn?!  Lol.

Justin said, "Mom, come look at how Keturah is sleeping!" Um, yes, son, this is how she always looks.

With the encouragement of Abishai and I, Justin played some kind of awful noise/music to wake up his sitter. And when did he get so tall?!

Abishai captured the "bad guy piggies" (piggies from a board game) and their ring leader, a food truck hot wheel car, and put them all in his SWAT vehicle.  Then he made them all good guys and showed the food truck how the SWAT vehicle worked.

Kids are so impressionable at this stage.  It's so important to model to them good habits now!

Awww, they did an excellent job and I did have to help them!  And yes, Keturah is wearing my snow boots this year and Abishai is just in pj pants (and shirt) and his coat.

Adorable bucket snow man!

I know it's their road manager or whomever doing these, but it's still fun to hear from Joel and Luke Smallbone from For King and Country!  The two Indiana dates are in cities 3 hrs away, so we'll probably not go.

I NEED TO SLOW DOWN when I'm taking photos! They've started to become super blurry lately!  I took this photo because Abishai wanted to carry his own groceries in their own bag.  He dutifully carried them to the car, but them on the floor in the backseat, picked them back up when we got home and brought them inside.

I think breakfast was on his mind. He was hungry because he hadn't finisehd his breakfast.  Store brand Captain Crunch cereal and croissant rolls, which are his and Keturah's new breakfast favorites.  I don't care what Keturah eats in the morning, even if it's ramen noodles, just as long as it's not laden with sugar. Yeah to Abishai for helping with his groceries!

Thursday was pj day! I did it!  I stayed in my pj's all day!  I don't know how others do it.  I felt weird and my legs were warmer than usual and I had no pockets to put my phone! Granted I was home all day, so I can put the phone down, but still, I typically put on jeans at the very least (and leave my pj shirt, which is usually a t-shirt, on).  Even on days I take a shower midday, I still put jeans on until then. But for the fun of it, for the kids, I tried. I don't like it. I won't do it again unless I'm very ill and don't want to wear jeans in bed.  I did, however, managed to stay productive with school and (I think) finally finish all the seasonal clothes sorting.  I went through all of Abishai's stuff very carefully, sizing them up according to what they actual were and not what the tag said.  It's amazing how the washer shrinks shirts! I managed to go through all of Justin's clothes and found some things that were too small.  I don't know if I need to out to the shed to find the box of a bigger size right now because he has enough to survive and I think the other pants are way too wide.  Lengthwise, he has grown a few more inches, so I want to make sure there's no surprises when he pulls long pants out of his closet.  His teeny tiny waist though is still tiny. We had quite a few laughs over some t-shirts that were so small that he can't even wear them as "muscle" shirts anymore. I let Keturah do hers and she came up with many things.  She is a little short on the number of regular jeans and she's too wide for size 14 Old Navy jeans and not wide enough for the size 14 girls "plus" size.  I think I'll take her with me and Benaiah (he needs jeans too, and yes, a bigger size!  That means he's a 40 inch waist!) and she if she's ready for woman's sizes, maybe in the short versions like I am. The jeggings at Old Navy look like stretchy jeans and aren't thin like some leggings.  It's super hard to find girl jeans in her size because everyone wears leggings. And I narrowed down my purchases as well, and have a few pairs of jeans that are too small for me right now or are mid rise not high rise.  I might hang on to those for a bit longer because I purchased them last year and they might be ok when I slim down some.

And that's pretty much our day. You'd think I could fit in more when I'm home but Abishai's t-shirts took me 90 minutes because I went at a very slow pace figuring out what sizes matched. I did read a book for Justin's history for 30 minutes or so. And school with them took 2 hrs. I didn't nap either, or clean.  I put away one load of laundry, played with Abishai for 30 minutes, spent another hour on Justin's and my clothes, and we only had tuna melts for supper. I sometimes just don't understand where my time goes. I don't even feel like I spent that much time on the phone today.  Remember, I often hit a button on my phone game while I'm also doing laundry or cooking or reading. Oh well, that's life I guess. Tomorrow is our first homeschool gym day and it's at a new place so I better make sure I know where I'm going.  It's still 30 minutes away and starts at 10. I was going to get my blood drawn first, but I think I'll just do that next week when I don't feel rushed. I do have to do first thing in the morning so I will have fasted. I'm just glad my PCP will test most of the things the naturopath would and most of it is covered. I think we are testing blood cell counts, blood sugars, a few vitamins/minerals, and my cortisol level. That should cover it pretty well. And that's our last full week of school and activities before Thanksgiving week and the holidays! Crazy! I think there will be another 2 1/2 weeks until we break for Christmas.  Thanksgiving is really late this year it seems.

End of an era. I am watching the episodes as they come out. It's been an interesting ride. I think the first 3 seasons were the better ones and then a few episodes in the rest of the seasons. I can't wait for the crossover! Crisis on Infinite Earths!

No more suiting up.

Aw, Cassandra Pants is Stephen Amell's wife.  And their daughter Mavi is very thoughtful.

Come on, brother, time to get up and play with me!  There's nothing like sibling love first thing in the morning They also annoyed Keturah again with that awful YouTube video.  She was very mad.

Alas, we will see very green grass in just a few short hours.  Sigh.

Abishai insisted on buying dino chicken nuggets just for him and Justin because Keturah eats too many.  I did have to start rationing them out because all of the kids would load up on 8-10 of them at a time. Eat some veggies and bread!

You see the bowl here, but 5 seconds earlier, he tried to pour his cereal into the cup.  He gets so heavily distracted sometimes!

Explaining the meaning behind "pickle chin" I believe.

Abishai loved cheering Socks on to get Justin during blankie monster wars.

The tide has turned.  Poor doggy!

 Doggy Blankie Monster

Aw, I love these guys and Dolly Parton.  She's so sweet! And the poor men had to be in three different places in 24 hrs.  That's life on the road!

So sweet!

Abishai had to say good bye to his favorite sneakers.  It was time to size up! He was very excited to off his hand me down shoes to Daddy when he got home. Abishai is officially fully in 4T clothes and size 10 shoes.  He'll be 5 yrs old in 3 months. Yes, he's still tiny like his siblings were and are.

Tickle spider man or tickle Abishai for getting Daddy's ears?

Spider man getting Daddy's ears!

"Daddy, you didn't cheese!" Abishai decided to be on Jared's right side tonight and tucked under his arm.  He's getting so big but I'm grateful he still wants to do this and do the Bible app for kids on Daddy's phone.

The End