Snow!

Jon, I, and the kids love our snow. It never gets old and I am excited to report that it is dumping buckets this morning. Woo-hoo!

Oh My.

This week has been a doozy. Kate had a car accident, got a nose piercing, and then decided that since she is eighteen she should move in with her boyfriend. With his moms blessing. Not kidding.

Augie learned how to spit as a defense measure and now spits, like a llama, at anyone when he is displeased or wants some space. If you tell him something and he doesn't like what you are saying, then he spits. It was comical the first time and now has become old. We are learning to give him a large bubble.

Theo discovered the spice turn table on the counter and proceeded to open an entire jar of onion powder and pour it on his brothers head. He also got into the celery seeds. For days we have been smelling onions and feeling celery seeds crunch under our feet. In the spirit of torturing others and not just his brother, the next day he poured an entire jar of Mexican seasonings into the coffee pot--creating a lovely gooey orange paste that has been difficult to remove.

Georgia? She is riding all of this out. She is coming out the 'all star' this week with her helpfullness and good will. Thank God for that!

We need our own reality show. Someone should be getting paid for all of these antics!

Scrambled Eggs

Augie cracked three eggs without breaking the yolks and helped stir them up for breakfast this morning.

Georgia Learning to Ride

The highs (riding ten feet) and the lows of learning how to ride a two wheeler. Georgia is done practicing for today but announced 30 minutes after the tears that she would like to try again tomorrow.

Winter Break Friends

Mary, Henry, and Finn came over for a day of play. They are some of the best behaved children I know and our kids were quieter with them here. Go figure! If only they lived a wee bit closer...

The kids played trains, small farm animals in Georgia's room, puzzles (Theo and Finn), and enjoyed our new roller coaster outside. It was an eventful day for them and so nice for Mary and I to catch up. I especially loved seeing Theo playing quietly with a friend. Theo really wanted to play 'small legos' but the kids didn't seem as interested. The train table was the big hit for the day.

Snow!

Woke up this morning to large flakes and snow! This was an unexpected treat for all of us!

Augie's New Coaster

It came today and the kids spent the morning tearing the three boxes apart. Jon had no choice but to put the fun machine, AKA, the "Extreme Scream" together. Georgia loves it, Theo is a little hesitant on it, and Augie is somewhere in the middle.

Strategy for Mid Winter Break

I wish we could pick up and leave; go on vacation for mid winter break to a new and exciting locale. Somewhere warm and beachy would be nice.

Since we won't be traveling farther than a 60 minute radius from our town, I found these fun activities to do this upcoming week. Making slime, erupting a volcano, car tracks, scavenger nature hike, bird seed craft, and helping to grocery shop should fill up some time and provide some learning to boot. I also have plans to bake bread and walk the kids around the neighborhood to meet our new neighbors with small children.

I am also planning on having the kids make and eat ice cream in a zip lock baggy. Sounds messy but they will love this one! The recipe is as follows:

Materials

•1/2 cup milk
•1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)
•1/4 cup sugar
•1/4 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla flavoring (vanillin)
•1/2 to 3/4 cup sodium chloride (NaCl) as table salt or rock salt
•2 cups ice
•1-quart ZiplocTM bag
•1-gallon ZiplocTM bag
•themometer
•measuring cups and spoons
•cups and spoons for eating your treat!

Procedure

1.Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup whipping cream, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla to the quart ziplocTM bag. Seal the bag securely.
2.Put 2 cups of ice into the gallon ziplocTM bag.
3.Use a thermometer to measure and record the temperature of the ice in the gallon bag.
4.Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup salt (sodium chloride) to the bag of ice.
5.Place the sealed quart bag inside the gallon bag of ice and salt. Seal the gallon bag securely.
6.Gently rock the gallon bag from side to side. It's best to hold it by the top seal or to have gloves or a cloth between the bag and your hands because the bag will be cold enough to damage your skin.
7.Continue to rock the bag for 10-15 minutes or until the contents of the quart bag have solidified into ice cream.
8.Open the gallon bag and use the thermometer to measure and record the temperature of the ice/salt mixture.
9.Remove the quart bag, open it, serve the contents into cups with spoons and ENJOY!

Augie's Birthday Cake

I can do this...right? Uncle Brian do you think we can do this?

Valentine's from Jon

I woke up this morning, bleary eyed and headachy from the start of the disastrous cold going through our home. I stumbled out to the kitchen and passed this note on my way to the tea kettle. It made my morning! I suppose I just have to check "yes" and send it back.

Croup Sickies

Leah had been warning me that this year is an unusually tough croup virus. I half listened and then it hit our littles. Actually, Theo was the first hit with a cold/fever/runny nose/miserableness but I didn't recognize it as the croup. He and Kate are the two who seem to miss the distinctive barking sound associated with croup.

Theo missed half a weeks worth of school and then Augie came down with the croup. Augie came down with it so hard that I had to take him to the pediatrician (who prescribed steroids) and then to the ER in a 24 hours period. He is currently on a five day course of steroids which should help reduce inflammation and to quit barking like a seal. He is up most of the night and spends the day falling asleep on the couch or on us.

Our nights have been busy with humidifiers, Vicks rub downs, trips outside in the cold air, and steam showers. Having sick kiddos just stinks for everyone. I am run down and my face is a weird grayish color. Despite my obvious (to me) exhaustion, I have cabin fever and just want to GO SOMEWHERE!

This afternoon I took an hour trip to get gas and to the grocery store. I didn't want to come home and sit for one more minute in the house, so I bought lunch and parked in our driveway and ate it. Sounds kind of pathetic, but actually it was quite peaceful. I rolled my window down to listen to the sound of nothing and enjoyed the cool breeze. Jon stuck his head out the garage door and shouted, "We know you are here!" but I still didn't budge. I just calmly ate my fuji apple salad and drank an orange-cranberry smoothie. Ate every last bite, thank you very much.

Had I gone inside I would have heard at least one or two people crying, at least one or two whining, had at least one or two asking me for my lunch, another kicking their feet on the floor because I didn't want to share, and at least one needing some kind of medicine. Not to mention the begging dog, loud TV, and slight smell of a stuffed up home. It is a very good thing I sat in the car and ate. Heck, I might just have to make it a habit!

Valentine's Day

A few weeks ago we began working on our Valentine's cards (thank goodness~because the kids have been sick for a week). I cut the paper, the kids dotted the paint onto the cutout butterflies, and Georgia signed her name on the back of all 24. Today we glued the body of the butterfly and they are complete! Theo made the one in the closeup shot above.

I think they turned out pretty cute and the kids are thrilled to begin thinking about the Valentine candy they may receive from their friends.

Valentine's Day Plants

Painting pots and then planting flowers for teacher Valentine gifts. Not too shabby for .99 pots from Goodwill and $2.50 plants from Molbaks.

Georgia's Sayings

"When I grow up and have two babies I am going to name them Velvet and Gloria."

Can you tell that she enjoys the movie National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor?

Augie's Second Birthday

In less than a month, our littlest will be two! I can't believe we are officially leaving the baby years behind and moving onto toddlerhood. For his birthday I thought we would celebrate by going a little extravagant and buying him his very own little roller coaster. He loved it last summer when we went to a private farm in Issaquah and I am certain that the little dare devil in him will love it at our house as well.

I am also making him tree blocks out of a fallen apple tree on our property. Jon cut the blocks, I dried them, and now we just need to sand and finish them. I am excited to give him a keepsake present that we can keep in the family for generations.

*Edited to add: I am thinking we will go with the bigger coaster because of the older kids. It is $100 more but we will get five extra years out of it. Doesn't it look like a ton of fun?