Gussied up

Ellie took charge of my hair and did it up nice. She had me put on a necklace and bracelet too. She wanted me to look pretty for Daddy.

Rummaging

We took a trip to the storage unit today. We were looking for Gary's suit and accessories. We took our lunch and set up the little table that came with the CRV. The kids thought that lunch on this table was a great idea.

The kids were great and entertained themselves nicely. After an hour and a half we accomplished our goal and found some other things to take back with us. The kids eventually made their potty declaration, we looked at each other and said time to go. We put everything back that we had to pull out to get in the unit, plus the stuff we moved to get to the boxes we needed to open.

Christ be praised the wardrobe boxes were right near the front, although I had to go up, over and down to get to them. If you saw the 30' storage unit and all that's in it, and know we had no idea where the wardrobe boxes were, and that they could have been anywhere, it is a miracle I found them at all. They were only marked on the top, and they were the bottom boxes of stacks four boxes high, and they were behind items I couldn't move.

Here I am standing on the dining room buffet table. Not the best step stool, but there it is. Behind me is 20' of space full of stuff, floor to ceiling. The first 10' of space is the stuff we know, that we kept track of, the rest is . . . . . who knows.

A happy boy

I bought a package of C batteries. And Josh is a happy boy.

You see, most of his trucks run on C batteries. And three have been silent for a few weeks. Until today. Today they got new batteries and my boy is almost as happy as when he first got the trucks.

The house is shrouded in as much darkness as the curtains allow and the trucks are making their noises and Josh is driving about with Thomas the Train, his Hess firetruck and his Sunoco racecar carrying tractor trailer.

He also has every other truck, car and vehicle he owns spilled out on the living room floor.

Again, with the snow

Although it snowed last night and is still snowing, Ellie sits in her classroom today. There was no delayed opening either. The ground was not cold enough for the snow to stick enough to make road travel too dangerous.

Two days ago we were to get 5-10" of snow. We were in a winter storm watch that was to last 24 hours. But the storm went more east than expected and there is to be not much accumulation.

I was looking forward to sleeping in. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

A long hike

Note to selves: When taking children on a hike, it is best to check the length and terrain of said hike.


Although is was in the 30s today, it was bright and sunny. So we decided to take a hike. We chose the trail on Shuman Point on Lake Wallenpaupack.


There were no trail maps at the trail head to take with us, but there was one stapled to the info board. We took a look and started the hike uphill. The children didn't care for the uphill portion. We encouraged them and arrived at the top.

The trail went along the lake shore for most of the hike, and there is a point where a side trail leads to the water. I wanted to go to the lake's edge as much as the kids.

I thought the bushes in the water with ice blobs on them were pretty nifty.

Gary showed Ellie the fine art of rock skipping. She tried skipping a few rocks.


At this part of the hike we thought we were about half way. That was not the case.

And soon after we started on the main trail again, the children were wanting to be back at the car. They had enough of the great outdoors.

But on we all hiked. We came to another hill, and at the top, the trail went back into the woods a bit.

As we came to another turn and saw the lake again, we knew we had a much longer hike than we thought.

But on and on we hiked.

We finally made it back to the parking lot and drove on home.

I looked up the trail for writing this post and read that the trail we took is 3 miles long. The kids do not care for three mile long hikes with two hills.

The last snow day?

Another day off. A Saturday of sorts. All four of us stayed home. Slept in. Well, no the kids didn't sleep in. They were up early. When they have to get up, that's when they try to sleep in.

We had a fire all day. The kids and I were out in the snow.

Josh and I sledded. On the one run Ellie and I did, we went over a rock and cracked the sled.

Ellie and I made a fort out of the tree branches from a fallen tree. Ellie called it fairyland. She also made a fire using leaves and branches and she wanted to hang a pot over it. Quite creative. I was able to find sticks to make a spit.

Laughing at Spring

Winter is laughing at Spring. It is not done with us yet. The kids have another snow day. And if Gary had left 15 minutes later for work, he could have stayed home too.

Ellie seemed upset that we had snow. She said that it's Spring and we are not suppose to have snow.

But she's quickly warmed to the idea of no school today.

Josh saw the "tow" and started stripping off pajamas to put clothes on for going out to play. But when Ellie asked to watch TV, he thought that was a better idea and going outside could wait for later.












And I was obviously mistaken about my previous thought that there wouldn't be a need to plow the roads again.



We did go out later, and the kids ran around a bit and we went sledding. We tried a new section of hill across the street. I was lamenting yesterday that I didn't see it sooner when we had snow.

I got a second chance today. Here are the kids going down. They are quite tickled about Ellie saying a word we tell them not to use. They watch the video and crack up when she says "butt."

.

Through the woods

We took a walk through the woods around the cabin today.














The high today was 52 degrees.

Josh still felt the need to wear a scarf, hat and snow mittens.

Tumbling stones

More of the stone wall along the driveway fell. Since we probably won't have anymore snow, I can stop using the driveway, park in the street, and Gary can fill the driveway with the stones to rebuild the wall.

Numbers

13 days, 13 hours, and 33 minutes until the Phillies home opener.

I thought it was interesting the difference in population between here and Lansdale. Here are some numbers.

Over 20,000 people live in Lansdale borough; about 2,000 people live in Salem Township.

Lansdale Borough is 3.1 square miles; Salem Township is 31.5 square miles.

13 elementary schools in North Penn School District; Essentially 2 elementary schools in Western Wayne School District.

Courageous

The creators of Facing the Giants and Fireproof have a new film coming out in September - Courageous. Click to watch the trailor.

And if you didn't realize it, their first movie was Flywheel. It never made it to the big screen and it was definitely not a big money production, but it is still a very good story with a great message.

Finally . . .

. . . I am feeling better.

Gary's mom is visiting us this weekend. It's always nice to have family visit.

And today we went to Promised Land State Park for an outdoor adventure. We packed a lunch, and planned to hike a bit.

The sun went in by the time we got there, and it was colder and breezier there than at the cabin. We ate in the car.

Is spring on it's way?



We took a track finder booklet with us and hunted for animal tracks. On the way back from our hike we found some tracks. We think they were either bobcat or coyote. They were in the snow and did not have the best definition.

The kids were very excited to find tracks to look at.

And Ellie was most excited about her sleepover birthday party tonight. She bought a gift, wrapped it, and wrote in the card. She packed her bag and kept asking if it was time to go yet.

She barely remembered to say goodbye to me when I dropped her off at her friend's house.

Ash Wednesday

I went to two Ash Wednesday services today. I received ashes on my forehead twice, as well. As did Josh and Ellie.

The history behind it. It is a humbling experience.

The imposition of ashes on the foreheads of Christians is an ancient Christian practice, going back at least to the 10th century. Biblically, ashes are a symbols of purification and penitence (see Numbers 19:9, 17; Hebrews 9:13; Jonah 3:6; Matthew 11:21, and Luke 10:13 ).

In the early church, people who had been separated from the church because of serious sins might seek to be re-admitted to the fellowship by observing a formal period of penitence during Lent. These people were generally sprinkled with ashes or given rough garments sprinkled with ashes as a sign of their sorrow for their sins.

Beginning in the tenth century, the observance of Ash Wednesday became a general rite for the church. The ashes, which were a symbol of purification in the Old Testament, remind us that we are mortal. In many churches the ashes are made by burning the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Ashes are placed on the forehead, usually in the sign of a cross, in a ritual known as the Imposition of Ashes. As the ashes are placed on the forehead, words such as these are spoken: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return," recalling God's words to Adam in Genesis 3:19.

-- Lynn W. Gilliam
Editor of Pockets
The Upper Room

Rip roaring

That's how my new doctor described my sinus infection.

I knew I had to see a doctor today. Last night not sleeping was too much. But since moving up here, we haven't found one. They aren't on every corner around here. One I did call was not taking any more patients.

But while driving home from Dickson City, I passed a building that used to be my grandparents' doctor's office. I saw "family practice" on the sign and turned around at the next road. I called Myrtle to look up the number since it wasn't on the sign and Josh was sleeping. They could take me right away, so I woke Josh and went in.

The doctor was very friendly, and I liked him right away. He asked if I got infections often. I do. He took a look at my sinuses with a nose scope thingy. I didn't so much care to have something go up my nose. He did however find that I have a deviated septum and could have medical surgery (meaning covered by insurance) to fix it.

And not have as many infections.

Upon leaving the doctor's, I headed straight for CVS. I am now armed with an antibiotic, probiotics, and a nasal decongestant to fight this wretched infection.

Here I sit

I've been up for 3 hours. I can't sleep very well, since I can't breathe through my nose. I am exhausted. I haven't been able to sleep through the night for four nights. I usually never wake up, unless there's a child issue.

At 1:30 am, I decided to stop trying to sleep.

For four days and nights, my sinuses have been blocked. It's a little wearying.

Right now, finally, sitting up is actually working and I can breathe through my nose enough to not dry out my mouth.

I've spent my wee morning hours watching Law & Order: SVU.

But now, I think I just might get some sleep with the one side of my sinuses open enough to breathe through.

Picnic

Today was another snow day for Ellie. And I mentally prepared myself for a day with the two of them together all day.

The morning was limited TV time and pretend play.

Around lunchtime they started acting secretive. And even though they were hardly keeping any secrets, I played along, like I didn't know that they were dragging a table and three chairs outside. Or making the plates and cups disappear.

It was a big surprise when they led me outside with my eyes closed to discover our picnic lunch on the porch.

And although it was sunny, it was NOT picnic weather. It was only 35 degrees and breezy. But they had been outside playing and thought that eating out there would be fun too. In the photo, Josh looks to be in pain, but he's really smiling his goofy smile. That's generally all I get these days from him, if I'm lucky.

It was a quick lunch. Josh actually finished inside. And Miss I Can Stand It, took off her coat to prove it.

A few hours later, I decided it was time for a proper outdoor activity. The kids suited up in winter gear. And proceeded to go play in the water in the ditches. I hadn't even gotten outside to join them before they had wet feet. Snow boots do not keep feet dry and warm when immersed in water.

Our big outdoor activity was suppose to be a walk, but it turned into an investigation of all the area water ditches. Their idea was to see where all the water goes. We got out our plastic boats to watch them float down the hill. The boats were too big, but the kids didn't give up trying to give them a voyage. They both paid no mind to foot or hand getting dunked. Just sloshed right through the water.

Both had drenched boots, socks, and mittens. But they didn't complain about wet appendages and would gladly go investigate the water again tomorrow.

They just might request rain boots instead.

My turn

I had a fever, sinus headache, body aches, sore throat and complete unhappiness this morning. I didn't get a good night sleep, from waking what seemed like every hour from the sore throat and stuffiness. And the stupid cat walking all over me.

Gary got me some drugs and I started feeling better. Not great, but more like a person. And my fever broke.

I had some time to myself, while Gary took the kids to buy Josh the vehicle he saved for. But Josh came back empty handed, because Toys R Us didn't carry what he wanted at the store, only online.

We think Target has it, but if not we'll have to order it online. Ellie saved for a gum making kit, which will be an online purchase.

Now I am sitting here about to go to bed, and I am not looking forward to it. I anticipate waking too much from being unable to breath and getting a sore throat again.

Optimism.

Fever

Ellie's been sick for four days. Josh picked it up yesterday.

Here's the poor boy asleep, snuggled in the chair last evening.

I noticed the laundry hasn't been piling up. But when several members of the family spend their days in PJs, there's less to wash.

In actuality . . .

I really can't have Josh's dirty underwear pile up. He doesn't own enough to do that. And it would stink. But anyway, he goes through at least three pairs a day, if we're lucky. So the washer gets a workout.

I need to buy more unmentionables for the boy. And a good stain remover.

Laundry

I might not be changing diapers, but I sure do have a growing pile of poop stained underwear. Created solely by my youngest.

My trip home

After several hours of ice and snow, Myrtle and I made our way to the airport. My fight to Detroit was not canceled, just delayed and hour. My flight to Scranton, however, was a different story. Upon disembarking, I looked at the monitors to see about my next flight. I was disheartened to see "CANCELED" written next to it.

I trudged my way down to gate C36, the one it was suppose to leave from, which was at the other end of the terminal. The lady there told me to check at gate C27, than C2. Nothing at gate C27. C2 was back where I had started. So I trudged myself back, and my eyes fell upon a line of people that would take forever to get through. Apparently I wasn't the only one with cancellation issues. I waited a bit, than noticed I was not in line for gate C2. I made my way to the three person line at the desk of C2. When the Delta man scanned my boarding pass, 5 slips of paper spit out of a machine. They were my vouchers for a hotel, ground transportation from and back to the airport and $12.00 for food. I then went to a courtesy phone to reschedule my flight - 10:16 the following morning.

It was probably around 10:00 pm at this point. I slowly (no need to hurry anymore) made my way to the area to pick up a cab. Again, another line. I got on the transport bus with everyone else going to the Best Western. We rode for at least a half hour. At the hotel, another line.

Finally in my room with a king size bed and a Jacuzzi tub, I turned the heat and TV on, plopped on the bed, and ate my dinner, a very tasty bagel sandwich I picked up with one of my vouchers.

When finished I called the front desk to ask about transportation back to the airport in the morning. He informed me that the Metro cab company, the only one that would take my voucher, was full. He gave me the number of a different cab service. I asked for Metro anyway. When I called, they did have room for me.

Back at the airport the next morning, the security check point line was forever long. Minutes after getting in line, a lady took a group of us to another place to go through security. A much, much shorter line. Once through I saw that again, the monitors showed my fight had been canceled. I waited in yet another line to find out that I was on a flight that left at 2:40 pm, a 5 hour wait. What to do in an airport, when you have two bags to lug around. Sit and read, sit and try to sleep, go to the restroom, walk around a little, get lunch, go the restroom again, read again, watch people, organize photos on your computer. Fun, fun, fun.

Every time I looked at the monitor, it showed the flight on time. As we got closer to departure . . . the attendant at the gate desk told us the flight was overbooked and asked for four people to give up their seats. I did not move, except to lug my way to the restroom one more time and to hop on over to the line to be one of the first on that plane.

Finally, I was in Scranton. I had one more hurdle. The car I parked in short term parking. I wasn't sure what their definition of "short term" was. Would it still be there? Or would it be towed? I felt that four (turned into five) days would be short term. Happily the car was still there, I got in and left.

Almost 24 hours after leaving Myrtle's house, I was home. Josh and Ellie gave me love and hugs and were mighty glad I was home. Gary was also glad I was home but held back from jumping up and down, and hooting and hollering.

During all my travels and anywhere I went, my luggage went with me, since I decided to not check any. I had a backpack and an over-the-shoulder bag. I highly recommend at least one bag have wheels. My shoulders would have appreciated it.

I will also note that the entire time (save for a moment I was able to send Gary an email at the beginning of my trip) I was at the airport, I could not get Internet, even though it said there was free wifi.

My trip to Indiana

I am sitting watching NASCAR. Not my first choice. But it's Myrtle's, so it's okay. I like it a little bit. We are enjoying a crackling fire as well.





Yesterday I spent a few hours in two planes and quite a bit more in the Detroit airport. I was rather concerned about getting through security, but Christ be praised, I breezed right through. Sitting in both airports waiting for my flights, I spend a good deal of time trying to send emails. Even though my iPod showed there was internet, I could not get connected. And in all my trying, my power was getting low. I was disconnected. I spent time reading instead.

Our plans for the weekend were to eat pizza, play games, and watch movies. We've been very successful at eating some manner of food and watching TV shows that she's taped on her DVR. We could stand to increase the game playing though.

We attended church today and had the Word poured over us. I had a thought today in church about my friendship with Myrtle, that it is an honor for me to be her friend. I get to visit with and spend time with her, share laughs and tears. Win and loose games. Watch our favorite movies together.

And I must say, she has the most beautiful house. It has gorgeous woodwork, great character, spacious rooms, and a laundry chute. It does, however, have forced air heat, a form of heating I don't much care for. Myrtle has also done an excellent job of making this house her home. It is warm and inviting. She has decorated each room just perfectly. And she had a house blessing yesterday to ask God to sanctify her house through His Word, which was read throughout her home.

And I can't leave out her new puppy dog, Amos. He is cute and cuddly, white and fluffy. A perfect dog for her.

Underwear again

I decided that it was time Josh wore underwear. Monday, I started. I say I, because if I left it up to Josh to decide, he would stick with diapers.

Josh is completely willing to wear underwear. He isn't completely willing to use the potty. I bought him some new big boy underwear. He outgrew what we had without really wearing it.

Back last summer, Josh had an underwear wearing spell. It didn't last long; we didn't make him stick with it. That is not happening this time. He is not going back to diapers. The biggest hurdle is pooping in the potty. If you know him, you know why. I won't go into it here again.

He has mostly been cooperative with the entire process. I think he is making progress. He has had less accidents each day.

Also, Ellie has been keeping her pull-up dry at night, so we let her wear underwear at night, now. She has continued to be dry.

Dare I dream that I am done with diapers?

56 degrees

It is unusually warm today. Josh and I walked to get Ellie at the bus stop. We left with plenty of time to get there. But Josh decided we needed our excersice, so we ran a lot of the way. We had almost 15 minutes extra time because of it. We did some extra walking and running. He was quite the spunky guy.

When I suggested we take a walk to the bus stop, he balked. But Mister Zippy walked/ran the whole way there and back again.

Ellie enjoyed the walk back as well. She has been asking to walk home by herself. So she sort of got to today. They both ran ahead of me. Ellie was very insistent I not walk with them.

Outside again

The snow is still here, so we went out to play today. It is quite crusty and in some places could hold my weight. If not, I went through the crust layer down 8 inches. The kids mostly stayed on top, which made walking up hills harder, because it was slippery. They couldn't break through it very well to get a better foot hold.

It did however make for good sledding. It also made for rough sledding, since it was a harder surface. Here is the run that was Josh's last. At the end of the run, notice the poor boy's legs flailing and the snow on his face. Ellie landed on his head.

Interview

I had an interview on Tuesday for a front desk receptionist job. Gary insisted I have a manicure and haircut before hand. I didn't argue about the manicure, thought the haircut could wait and suggested a pedicure also. He didn't go for it. I got a French manicure, and a trim.

The interview lasted 10 minutes, in which I didn't say all that much about my skills and had reminiscing moment that included tears. I left pretty confident I wouldn't get the job. She said she'd get back to me either way.

Today she got back to me. They filled the position with someone who had front desk experience. She did say I interviewed well. I guess ten minutes is enough to tell?

Back to the old wanted ads.

P.S. My polished nails only lasted until Wednesday. Yesterday I removed the polish and applied a clear coat. You can't tell as easily when that wears off.

Deliteful brownies

I am currently enjoying the tastiest morsel of a brownie. After my last debacle, I went with a mix to get my brownie fix. I baked them at a slightly lower temperature and for less time.

I am going to make them from scratch again, but I still need to buy baking cocoa first.

Wretched boots

I am just fed up with trying to get winter boots. Cabela's had next to nothing. They did have snow runners, which are insulated hiking boots. I decided to buy them instead of ordering another pair of snow boots that may or may not fit.

I wore the new boots around this morning and decided I don't like them. They don't feel right on my feet.

Good- I found a 4 pack of Merino wool socks for $13.00, which is a good price. Bad - when Gary wore them this morning they itched his leg. We are hoping that washing them will eliminate that problem.

The trip yesterday was long, over four hours of driving. And the whole time I debated with myself whether it was worth it or not. They didn't have winter boots, what I did buy I don't like, and to top it off, I forgot to look at gloves for Gary.

I don't know what to do about my boot problem.

Good - I did get to eat some Taco Bell chalupas. Bad - I decided not to put taco sauce on them and they didn't taste as good.

I guess I'll just have to keep wearing the ugly, rotting boots I've had for over 10 years.

Ellie's Post

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Car Show and winter boots

We are at Gary's dad's for the weekend. Gary, Josh, Gary's dad and brother (the boys) have left to go to the car show. We girls have stayed at the house and will be going shopping later.

Hopefully I will be able to secure myself a new pair of winter boots. If so, they will be the fourth pair I have purchased this winter. I had my heart set on Sorel Caribou boots. And only select stores carry them, none of which are near me. So I ordered online. Two boot orders later, I determined their whole sizes don't fit my feet. The third pair I ordered were a different boot, that again, didn't fit. With shipping costs, I can't keep ordering boots hoping they fit and finding that they don't.

I need to go to a store and try boots on. But again, there aren't any near me that have boots I like. So today finds me driving to Eastern Mountain Sports to try again.

If that doesn't work, Josh and I will spend a day driving to Cabela's next week.

Daddy snow day

While relaxed in bed this morning, the phone rang. I answered it. Gary didn't have to go in to work today. Since he already went out to dig his car out of the snow and sleet but hadn't left yet, I grabbed my coat, shoved my feet in my shoes, and ran out the door. I started waving my arms wildly to get his attention, because he was already trying to drive away. He finally saw me and I informed him of his day off. He couldn't get out anyway with the ice.

If you squint and look at the center of the photo, you can see Gary's car, hiding behind a tree. And on the left you'll see the path to the car. It goes up than across to the middle and back to the car. It's a little hike. Gary only parks back there when the snow plows will be coming through.
When it's on the street, it's in the plow's way. If you remember back a while ago, I moved a pile of dirt to make parking back there easier.

We got the call

Our fifth snow day in two weeks. Three last week, two this week. Actually some of them have been ice days, like tomorrow. The kids were excited, because they got to sleep in the same room together tonight. We don't usually let them fall asleep in the same room. There is usually too much rowdiness.

Ellie was a bit upset that she didn't have school today, since it is her half birthday and she has cookies to take in. They are sitting outside in my makeshift freezer (a dresser) waiting for Thursday.

The kids have been crazy about watching TV, so we issued them each 20 tokens per week. Each token is worth a half hour TV time. They hand a token over to watch TV. When the tokens are gone, no more TV. Josh doesn't quite understand the concept yet. He told Daddy that when they were all gone, Mommy would just give him more. He missed the part about when he would get more. There is also a limit as to when they may watch TV.

Since using them, they haven't had any fits about turning the TV off when the show they've chosen to watch is over. Unless you count who turns it off and shuts the cabinet doors.

Snow days are exceptions. I am a little more lenient about taking tokens for TV time.

While out playing in the snow today, I think we found ourselves a good sled run. If you do it right, you go down the hill, avoiding several trees and rocks, and blast (Josh's word) off the edge to the ditch below. Although Josh calls it blasting, it's more of a plopping into the ditch. With the snow and ice coming tonight, maybe it will be more luge-like tomorrow and we can launch into the street. The launch spot off the edge is a bit tricky, because the space to go through between a huge rock and a tree is slightly wider than the sled.

One more year older

I don't feel older. I don't even feel as old as I am. Good thing . . . not that I'm old or anything.

Yesterday I made myself brownies and chocolate chip cookies. The brownies turned out very dry (even though I baked them for less time then the recipe called for.) Rather disappointing. Maybe ice cream will help. The cookies didn't turn out as expected either. For some reason the recipe didn't call for salt. Well, the cookies don't taste right without it. I was able to mix some in the remaining dough. Much better.

I left the apple crisp for Gary to make today. When I pulled out the bags of apples, it was determined that there would be no apple crisp for us. But the deer get a fruit treat. Gary offered to go buy apples, but I told him he could make it sometime this week. I suggested he make a fire instead.

We got suited up and played in the snow and did some sledding. The kids made good use of the sand toys. Ellie informed me they were for snow too.

Pay day

The kids were paid today for their labors this week. They also paid their fines. Maybe some day their pay will exceed their fines. But not today.

They also did some extra jobs around the house this week to buy a birthday present for me. It was good for them to use money they earned to buy something, instead of us just handing it to them. Josh got me a hard sided foldable tote, and Ellie got me a bag of heart-shaped peppermint patties.

They certainly do like having jobs and earning money.

Financial Peace

Some people might think that those words do not go together. But they can, if you work at it.

I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It is changing our financial lives. And we are teaching it to our kids using Financial Peace Jr.

We bought the online version. We also have workpages and such to complete. And we received a few books, the CD version of the sessions, and membership to attend a in-person FPU workshop, if we want to. We are learning about emergency funds, budgets, the debt snowball, savings, retirement and having a plan for all of this. It is freeing to have a plan.

For the kids, Financial Peace Jr. has the tools for us to teach the kids the value of hard work and commission, giving, saving, and having spending money. There are also fines for when work is not completed or there is unwanted behavior. There are magnetic charts to keep track of all these things. Our kids like the idea of earning money, being able to save for things they want to buy, and having spending money. They do not care for fines.

Off again

Here we go again with a snow day.

Today though we Skyped with my sister in CA. We all enjoyed the chance to see each other. She is planning to Skype again when she gets home to say goodnight to the kids. I suggested she read the kids bedtime stories, but she has no children's books. Maybe the kids can read to her.

Right now Ellie and I are going to attempt making a cloth bag for a birthday gift for a party she is attending this weekend. Josh will have quiet time with his cars and some books.

The third day

Ellie has been home three days now. Monday, she was still getting over an intestinal thing, but yesterday and today have been snow days. And I wouldn't be surprised if Friday is as well.

Monday, we didn't go outside, since Ellie was still considered sick, and we did home school, per Ellie's request. Josh wasn't as impressed with the idea of home school.

Yesterday was more sleet/ice than snow, and we watched PBS and did free play.

But today I was determined to get us outside.

We went sledding on the side yard for a while.



We went for a walk with the sled to a bigger hill to sled on. It turned out to not be a good hill for sledding, but the kids did get a sled ride since I pulled them there and back. They also gathered ice and some sticks, since we didn't have enough here at the cabin.



And we managed to make a snowman. He's a little short because the snow (remember the snow is part ice from yesterday) just isn't cooperating in making a large snowman. And I was able to scrounge up eyes, a mouth, and buttons from my grandpop's tool bench.

After Mini-Frosty was finished, we came in for hot chocolate, lunch, and a movie.

And thankfully for my sanity, of the past three days, today has seen the least amount of conflicts.

Kid cameras

Grammy and Pop pop K gave the kids digital cameras for Christmas. And they've been taking pictures of everything. Last night we finally got around to viewing their photojournalism of our everyday lives.

The cameras have no flash, so inside photos are grainy and dark, even if it's daytime. And most of their photos were taken inside.



But unfortunately something happened to Ellie's photos.

Ellie and Mom mom B.











Josh and Ellie's toothbrushes









The table decoration









Josh's photos.






The lamp







Ellie girl










The front of the computer

Shopping out of season

Personally I find it very irritating that if I want to buy slippers, I need to shop in July. And if I want a swim suit, I need to shop in January.

Why can't they sell winter items in winter, and summer items in summer, and it not be the clearance section?

A fire again

My dad and Gary worked on the fireplace today.
Here's dad investigating. They determined that they should caulk the holes. Gary took care of that and my dad started a fire when it was dry enough.







It's been burning for over three hours without any smoke in the house. They also uncovered the vents, since that wasn't the problem. There is now more heat coming out now. They also cleaned out all the ash and repositioned the fire grate.

It is nice to have a fire again.

Another snow day

Thank you God for the snow. He definitely knew we needed a day off today.

I was not looking forward to waking up the kids and getting them ready to take Ellie to school. So, when Western Wayne School District's automated service called at 6:23 am to tell us that school was canceled, I was thankful. Even though they did call at 6:23 am.

The kids woke up two hours later, bright eyed and ready for the day. Not a glimmer of themselves from last night. Again, thank you Lord!

Ellie was most excited about the snow. Josh was more excited when he saw the deer. [I still don't get their fascination with seeing them.] We still haven't managed to get out in it yet, since I had to wash Ellie's snow pants. There was an incident with getting to the potty in time last night. I wasn't going to give her dirty pants, so I went to do a load this morning. The washer outlet is connected to the light switch. I usually remember to not turn it off when I leave the basement, but when I went to put the clothes in the dryer, the light switch was off and washer had never run. So no clean pants yet. And they need to get outside. Though playing fairly well together, they are also being a little crazy.

First time skiing

And what a first time it was.

The line for rental equipment was nearly two hours long. The kids did very well waiting. A lot of that time was spent standing outside. We got very cold and hadn't even gotten to the snow yet. In this photo is the waiting line.


Finally we got our boots, skis and poles. I was surprised the kids didn't have unhappy comments about how constricting the boots were. They just wanted to try out their stuff. I was wishing for an extra set of hands to carry everything.




The two unsuspecting children.













Finally we were ready to strap on the skis. But since people didn't really part way for our novice crew, we were unsure of where to do this.

On and off with the skis, we decided to walk to the area near the bottom of the beginner slope.

"These things keep moving on me!"

After many squawks of frustration from the kids, we weren't sure what to do. It wasn't going well. I decided to take Ellie up the ski lift and try just coming down the hill. My biggest concern was her getting off the chair without falling. She did splendidly. We both just skied straight down the little hill. Then when we got situated at the top, she wanted to try it herself and went straight for the fenced off area under the lift. Then she got twisted and her skis came off. Trying to put them back on while on a slope was a treat. I decided the best thing was for us to both hold our poles, I'd straddle her and hold her. Then we'd ski down the hill in snowplow formation. It worked wonderfully, and she got to experience the fun of whooshing down a hill.

Next came Josh. And since there was no way I'd take him on the ski lift, we walked up the hill. I did the same thing with him, and snowplowed down the hill.


After those two hours of trying to stay upright and a trip with mom (Gary still doesn't like skiing) down the beginner hill, the kids went in the lodge with Gary for hot chocolate.

I took a chair lift to the top of the mountain to get in one actual ski run. And since I haven't been on skis in over a decade, I decided to take the easy trail down.

When I got in the lodge Gary was still in line and Josh had a burnt finger. While in line the first time, Josh spilled his hot chocolate and burned his finger. We were given free hot chocolate and sat down to let it cool off so the kids could drink it. As you can see, the evening ended with unhappy skiers.

And from the time we left the lodge to go return our equipment, to gathering up our stuff from the locker and going the restroom one more time, and walking to the shuttle to get to our car, Josh cried and carried on. Ellie threw in her whine here and there, too. I lost count of how many people stared at us.

To their defense, it was three and a half hours after their bedtime and they didn't eat much dinner. We knew what there issues were, so they weren't in trouble. But we still had to keep our patience about us, which I think we did rather well.

We will seriously plan our next Member Day ski trip differently.

WVIA Members

In December we became members of WVIA, the local public media in the area. And as members we can enjoy Member Days at Elk Mountain, Ski Sawmill and Knoebles. The kids also get Passports to Fun, which gives them free admission to area participating attractions with a paying adult.

Our first Member Day is today. The kids and I are excited. Gary isn't so much into skiing.

Musical differences

Here is where we started. The song was in the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" that we watched last night. When Gary hears a song in a movie he recognizes, he likes to go find it on line and listen to it, especially if he can't quite place who sings it. And that is what he did with this song.



And then it just mushroomed into a night of listening to music. From Beverly Hills Theme song, he went to B-52's to REM to The Mamas & The Papas (where I joined in and added my songs preferences) to Blondie to Eagles to Credence Clearwater Revival to Steve Miller Band to STYX to Nena (Red Balloons in German and English) to Pink Floyd, just to name a few.

Sometimes Gary's and my taste in music is as different as night and day. And sometimes we manage to like the same stuff. But there are two genres he has no interest in ever letting pass through his ears. Folk and country. And this is for certain. I, on the other hand, love folk music and like some country.

And writing this post finds us listening to a second helping of songs we like. As I am writing, he keeps directing me to songs he wants to hear, and I mix in songs I want to hear. And since you can have more than one tab open, now we each have a tab for YouTube.

A New Year, snow pants and storage

It's the first day of the year, and I slept in until after 9:00am. A good start to the year, I think. We also did errands. We stopped at the grocery store, then finally picked up the snow pants for Ellie. I was hoping to do it three other times. But now, although we don't have anymore snow, we have snow pants for the kids.

We also attempted to look through storage. We moved the bed and mattress, which was blocking our view of most of our stuff. We did manage to locate a few things, though not nearly enough. Our new plan is next weekend when my parents are up is to ask them to help us sort through it, maybe create a path. Or something.