Hungry Hippos!

 I got up at 5:30 to get it all done but I.got.it.done! LOL 

I was on the treadmill at 6 a.m. AND no one called for me.  I haven't done it FIRST before as I like to spend time alone FIRST...with Jesus...but I am so grumpy about not working out that it seemed I should try something new. I have also worried it would wake up those who work late...but no one seemed overly bothered. We will see. I started Monkey Bread before anyone woke up. I got Dad up and through shower and breakfast. I made a business call on Dad's behalf. I dug out the van and was at BreZaak's by 10:00 so they could go to the doctor. 

The kids and I played games today...our favorite is Hungry Hippo. 

I came home prepared to bake monkey bread and quiche for life group tonight.  Alas, the plaque (AKA the flu) which had been confined to one side of the girls' room has spread to the other side, up the stairs, and throughout the house. I am fine. Others are dropping like flies. I continue to drink my hippie teas and take C, D and Zinc.  I wish this meant I didn't catch any bugs; it seems this means I catch it last. 

Michael really did NOT want to go to Life Group - and he leads it. I hadn't gotten the text from him when I was at BreZaak's alerting me to the fact that he was sick. I was quite a bit surprised when he said he didn't want to go. I called Cecelia, whose house we meet in, and she sounded bad too. We called it.  We stayed home and watched another sappy Christmas movie - The Cookie Cutter Christmas, I think. LOL 

I put in a click list order and will pick it and a couple of packages up tomorrow. Other than that - I think we'll just hang around home, watch sappy movies, and eat soup, monkey bread and popovers.  Since the plaque hit, I will not be "helping" Bre tomorrow with the kids. 

The girls and I have a big trip planned to start Monday...I'm worried we may need to cancel all the reservations if we aren't all better by Saturday. I have a sinking feeling their temps will be normal and I will start coming down with it Saturday. I'm praying it becomes really obvious if we need to cancel. 

Stacia's First College Application

Stacia is very excited about getting on with college now that she has a plan in sight...move to Japan as a missionary. She's been checking out the material being sent to her. We were SHOCKED when a denominational college wanted $10,800 for ONE SEMESTER. She talked with a youth leader at church, he is enrolled in Global University. It is also with the denomination. It's accredited. It's online AND she can start as a high school student. She won't be able to access Michael's VA college benefit until she graduates from high school, but we agreed it was a good idea for her to start now.  Here she is submitting her first college application. 

She's only allowed to take one class at a time until she demonstrates she can do the coursework. We have no doubt, she'll be just fine. Anything she finishes now will hasten the day she gets her bachelors and can move to Japan. (Not sure how MOM is feeling about THAT).  She'll continue to finish up her high school credits and start on her college ones. She will not get dual credit - but we don't really care about that. It's a solid step towards her goal. 

She wants to do a semester in Japan, and this will allow her to that....she can also go at her speed. 

I know I'm supposed to be thinking about what I am going to do now that I'm in the last year of homeschooling our baby, but frankly I'm too tired to give it much thought at this point. 

Great Day in December

 It did not stop snowing overnight. This morning we had lots of snow...like 13 inches in the last two days. 

It was still at 13 inches this afternoon though it's been snowing all day - it's packing down. LOL 

Millie was NOT happy to find how deep the snow was when she went out to potty. 

Stacia and Millie spent some time working on the sledding hill. This is a big job and she needs some help. Unfortunately, I had plans to be at Bre's and Michael had a date with a snow plow/shovel. Allie is under the weather...so she spent a bit of time out there until she realized she needed someone to help pack it all down. Maybe tomorrow. 

I'm DETERMINED to make time for SELF CARE in the middle of everything ELSE around here. I got up early and worked on some Bible Study. I started Nana's Epic Navy Bean and Ham bone soup in the crock pot. I hit the treadmill. Sure enough, the bill rang 7 minutes in. I could have stopped then and counted it as a success because I've determined establishing the habit is more important right now than TIME and I DID start a workout.  I broke from the work out and got Dad showered, fed, laundry started...settled him down with a magazine and went back to work out. Bottom line - 2 miles; 40 min. Go ME. 

I baked some brownie/cookie to take to Bre's house today. Stacia was putting a crumb coat on the Jared and Larissa's Baby Shower cake. She had extra frosting and frosted some graham crackers and sprinkled them with mini chocolate chips. 

There were rumors about driving conditions, so Michael drove me to Bre's. We all worked together to give Trudy a bath (my part was keeping Jojo and Annie safe and snapping photos). The girls were SURE Bre had it too warm, but all was well. 

This little boy is TOTALLY smitten with his baby sister. 

Jojo and Trudy share a birthday - Jojo is 2. 

After the exciting bath, Bre fed Trudy, I cleaned up and then the supervised the kids' painting of ornaments. 

We began to set up for our promised tea. December teas are great. I made a rookie Grandma mistake. I set the graham crackers on the table and went about helping with pots of tea and hot chocolate. I turned around and Gideon and Jojo had eaten all but one. 

The kids wanted a candlelight tea. They remembered the Advent Wreath which worked great. Bre quizzed them about the first candle, and it was fun to see their grasp of the significance of the season and the symbolism of the Advent Wreath...mostly Bella...but they'll all eventually get there. 

Michael picked me up. 

We came home and I made some bread like substance to go with our ham/bean soup. The soup was really good. Stacia and I added a healthy splash of balsamic vinegar to our bowls. 

Maybe it will quit snowing tonight. 

Marshmallow (and other) Adventures

We had a busy day! Michael spent most the day shoveling ramps, walks and our driveway. 

Stacia and Allie had school...then Allie headed to work, and Stacia settled in to working on a Christmas present and making dinner. 

I left the house at 0800...after spending an extra 10 minutes shoveling out the van. It was an exciting drive into town and CoRielle's house.  The roads out near their church were a mess and so the staff meeting had been called off. Arielle asked if I'd be willing to stay anyway so she could get some computer work done uninterrupted. The boys and I MUST have our Tuesday mornings. We started with drinks...the boys now run to the table when they see me coming to the door. ::snort:: Cool hot chocolate for the younger boys and "China tea" (Chai tea) for Benny and me. 

It snowed most the night and it kept snowing off and on all day. The boys were enthralled - for about 4 minutes. 

We spent 20 - 30 minutes playing all sorts of "chase" games on youtube...a clever ploy to get kids active during screen time. I got 2000 steps - works for me. LOL 

Little Buddy and Benny 

We usually read a book, but no one was in the mood to read today. Arielle had said Benny's school activity today was to build a marshmallow sculpture. We settled in to work on our sculptures. I showed them how to make cars, igloos and snowmen...I DID let the little guys on the table for this one. 

It all started so well. They were motivated and making all sorts of structures and creatures...You KNOW what he's thinking. 

Yep - and once Danny tried them - everyone had to try one. 

Little Buddy has a unique building technique. 

Next up Benny made a great discovery...marshmallows melt with warm hands and friction. 

THIS led to everyone heading to the sink where they discovered marshmallows shrink and melt in warm water. LOL 

I told Arielle it turned into being more of a science experiment than an art project. Benny DID make a mouse trap. 

Arielle asked if the boys were having trouble minding me. No, they were great...but there is a lot of redirecting, and encouraging "make good choices" and "walk away," when watching two two year olds. LOL At times I felt I was attempting to herd cats. ::snort:: We had fun. In no time at all it was time for us to head off in different directions: me across town for food co-op, Little Buddy to therapy, and Danny and Benny to library story hour. 

The roads were a mess, I was quite proud of myself for driving all the way to the other side of the next town over and NOT sliding at all. I DID see a truck perpendicular, with its nose in the snow and its wheels spinning.... people were pulling over everywhere to help. I thought my best bet was to keep sliding straight on down the road. 

On the way home from co-op I stopped to pick up meds for Dad. WHOeee. $475 for meds...that's his co-pay....and when I got home, I found out that Kroger will no longer be in the network of who his insurance accepts as of Jan 1st. In fact, Kroger pharmacies will no longer take tri-care either. This means we will have no pharmacy in town that takes our insurance. I need to sort that out tomorrow. 

I walked in the house and could tell Stacia had been cooking. She made Salmon Pot Pie. It is really yummy...and as there were only 4 of us for dinner, we have an extra pie in the fridge for tomorrow. Poor Allie called for a ride home, she is not feeling well. The rest of us watched a sappy Halmark Movie - the Christmas Scavenger Hunt. This has me thinking it would be a GREAT activity for our little town. 

I'm whipped. Hoping to sleep well tonight. 

"Helping"

 Several have commented in the past couple of days they've noticed the blog went silent, or they've asked if we are o.k. because we are silent....we are well. We are busy, life is stressful, but we are well. I am going to try to post more often so y'all know we are well. LOL 

I had a doctor's appointment last week and out of it came a renewed commitment to find time to work out. Since Dad's surgery and the more hands-on caregiving it has led to, I've not been able to go to the gym in the winter or get out for walks the rest of the year. In fact, I SWEAR, the minute the treadmill or elliptical start up, his button also rings. I sort of threw in the towel completely.  At this point it's become a necessity again for me to make time somewhere to do the basics - for myself. And so, this morning I determined I would NOT go to Bre's or rush out to run an errand for anyone until I had at least 20 minutes on the treadmill. I've given up the 5 - 6 mile goal and am simply trying to get the habit established.  

It wasn't pretty around here, and I got to Bre's 2 hours later than I'd planned, but I got 20 minutes on the treadmill, all the morning and lunch routine with GG taken care of, all the laundry going, his bed remade....and finally...an hour after Michael, Allie and Alex left for Anchorage and Nolan had come home...I left the house. LOL 

Yes, they went to Anchorage and brought home Allie's new car. Michael is doing a few things for it tomorrow; she'll get the title changed over and be good to go. 

Nolan provided back up for Stacia - they watched GG so I could go help Bre out a bit.

Izaak has gone back to work this week and I am going over a few hours a day to "help." Today that amounted to playing hide and seek, statues, a phonics game and watching the kids do a host of gymnastic tricks. Bre did all the work...but she insists I was helpful. LOL 

With all this help around I'm not sure why she needs me. LOL 

Jojo LOVES his baby sister

Perpetual motion

Trudy Sophia Marie

Bella clicked the photos below. This was my first time to hold Trudy. 

Stacia had a LOVELY ham dinner in the oven when I got home. It was a blessing to have a nice dinner ready to go.  After dinner I ran for ingredients while Stacia assembled a couple of 8-inch cakes. We're working towards a family baby shower for JaRissa and Noah this weekend. 

I have a few things left undone this morning to finish up - so good night. LOL 

Adulting in Alaska

We went to Anchorage after church to get a car for Allie. She and Michael have been shopping, researching, making calls, talking with mechanics... Today it finally worked out for the buyer to meet us.  Alex watched GG, who did NOT want to drive to Anchorage. The girls, Michael and I headed to the big town, tested the car and got lunch. 

Everything checked out, Mike and Allie will run up tomorrow and exchange cash for car. The banks are closed today. It will be a great little car for Allie. 

We are proud of Allie. This is a well-thought-out decision. Luke and Krista gave Krista's car to the girls, but they are on vastly different schedules and going different directions. Stacia loves the Vibe and the stick.  She is looking at being overseas in 4 - 6 years and the Vibe suits her just fine for the amount of time she will be here. Allie will be stateside and would be happier with an automatic and a few more winter safety features. This is a sweet car... Y'all seat WARMERS for the LEATHER seats...and all the winter safety features as well. WARM.SEATS. I plan to always be a passenger in Allie's car. 

She paid next semester's tuition, we'll split the expense of the car 65/35, and she'll still have cash in her emergency fund and enough to register, get insurance and operate the car while she saves up for the next semester. 

What Happened to November?

 Yikes....I came to my senses, and it was THIS time of the year! 

It appears I lost a month of blogging. I will be working to catch up as I keep current.  It's been a bit crazy.