Doughnuts and Darlings

I am at Lorene's this morning.  I just picked Christian up from Pre-K and fired up the computer to finish the blog post I started yesterday.  It's gone.  All the writing, all the pictures, I will have to start over.  

We had two weekend snow storms that made a sandwich out of this week.  The first one resulted in a late start for the school kids as well as Lorene so I was able to go to Pleasanton in the daylight for a change.  The second one for which we were wound up to fever-pitch with expectation was rather a bust for us.  After hearing the blizzard would start in the early Sunday morning, then 10:00, then 3:00, then 6:00, then midnight, we went to bed with no snow on the ground but everything shut down on Monday in readiness.  I was looking forward to a day off, but also mentally preparing myself for a if-this-snow-doesn't-come-I better-be-ready-to-go attitude.  

We woke at 6 o'clock a.m. to a raging blizzard.  We couldn't see the lights of town.  We could hardly see the neighbors.  The blizzard was over by noon, resulting in 3 or 4 inches of snow.  

Lorene got double that and my folks got 12".  I worked my tail off that day with laundry and office work and catch-up housekeeping.  I planned meals and made doughnuts.   We had some special visitors for the week so I needed to be on top of the food around here.  

After the first snow we went to the eagle viewing station near Lexington.  With Jim's binoculars we saw 10 bald eagles and some ducks.  

This is as good as I can do with out a telephoto lens.

Bufflehead Duck

In the evening we had Nathan, Lily and Paislee over for supper.  Paislee is nearly 18 months and she's not a baby anymore.  She runs and climbs and investigates everything!  

Cheese!

We had hamburgers, with store bought buns.  I tried to make buns the day before but the yeast must have been bad because the dough didn't rise, or at least not enough to make decent buns.  I was in a hurry and tried to bake them.  I shouldn't have bothered. I put some of the unbaked dough back in the bread machine with more yeast.  It rose, and I forgot about it and left it out all night, so that was a wasted effort.  Too much rising is about as bad as not enough. 

It was nice to see some days this week about freezing.  It did make for a bunch of sloppiness underfoot, but also encouraged the boys to play outside in the snow.  They wanted to build forts and tunnels, but there wasn't quite that much, but there was plenty to dig and throw and sled on.  

Zane is working on a tunnel.

He wanted to be pulled out of his tunnel.  I don't know if it was harder after he turned onto his back, or if he just wanted a pull out.

So Barry had a try, but I had to help him. 

I love to see these boys working with and for each other. 

There is a slope on the property next to them so they spend considerable time out there with there sleds and the neighbors as well. 

Sledding at The Farm

 I had big ideas of doing a better job with blogging on a more regular schedule, but that isn't working yet.  I'll admit I've been extra busy since the first of the year.

I started working for Lorene on the 8th.  Perhaps it isn't really 'working', but I'm gone all day from home looking after her boys while she finishes up her schooling for her Occupation Therapy Assistant degree.  She is doing 'field work', which is like an internship with no pay so I volunteered to look after her kiddos this semester.  It means long days away from home all day since I leave at 6:10 and I get home about 5:15 to 5:30.  I know many others keep this same schedule with small children, but I never have and I am not young with small children anymore, anyway.  

Lorene is gone before they get up, so I oversee breakfast and at this time of year the putting on of coats, boots, hats and gloves and do a quick check so that all the backpacks come with us. 

Then I get Christian at 11 and we go back the get the others at 3:30.  Then we have snack and play games or just hang around until Dad gets home and I'm on my way to cook supper that has already been planned, Jim does the dished and I crash after I put all my ducks in a row for the next day.  

I'm doing fine since I ditched the martyr attitude, and the kids have been fine, too, we haven't been late to school once.  

I take my bookkeeping stuff for our business along some of the days, and other things that I can do while there.  Most of the days so far, I've enjoyed knitting it the three hours Christian is at school.  If there is work that is better done without interruptions I do that while he's gone.  

I've been sending our yearly letter out.  I do a couple a day. Christian likes to sit next to me and 'make envelopes', too.  

January has been cold and snowy so far, and Lynette had the idea to go sledding at The Farm one day, so we did.  We were all wrapped up and brought cookies and hot cocoa and we all had a good time.  I went down, once, and tumbled off my sled in the going.  

Going down is always lots of fun and the climb back up, not so much.  It was too steep to take the 4-wheeler up, so people had to haul their own sleds up or in the case of a 6 or 4 year old, someone might haul you up. 

 Taken from the bottom of the hill.

Taking videos.  There is no reception out there so no electronic playing.

This is Our Farm.  We have fun there.

The Last Post --

of 2017

Early in December we went to the boys School Concert.  The Pre-K class had been practicing three carols since mid-November and they could really sing!  They did so well, it was hard to believe these were 4 and 5-year olds singing.  The K-3rd grades performed a short musical about ... something having to do with Santa Claus.  Zane had a speaking part.  He is well up to that.  

                               Boys on Stage                                                    Sunset December 28


                     Dipped Cookies

It's the missing pieces that teach us what is the most important.

Take time to enjoy the little things. 

Happy Birthday, Zane!

Our Zane is 9 years old.  It hardly seems possible that nine years ago he came into the world a tiny baby and now is an extremely competent kid.  He is rapidly turning into the kind of kid that likes to spend time with his friends.  So, it isn't surprising that he spent the time before supper playing video games with his friend, Levi. 

He wanted one of these stackable little TY toys, the other boys have them and money to buy Pokemon cards, so he got the snowy and money from Gramma and Papa for a gift.  He didn't use the money for cards, though.  He bought a Hatchimal and some other toys that are all the rage right now.  

On a side note--three boys with Auntie Lily, Christian must have just woken up from his beauty nap.

A Sore Thumb

 Yesterday Jim made our last prime rib on the grill, using the rotisserie.  It turned out perfectly.  He followed the directions of somebody-or-other on YouTube and watching the temperature of the grill and the meat very carefully, got a perfect result.  He ate a huge amount of it.  Anthony restrained himself a bit because he wanted to save room for the pecan pie I made.  That was a first, and not having ever made one before, I over-baked it bit and the top seemed rather crunchy.  However, Anthony said the middle was perfect and he and Jim ate half the pie.  Lynette liked it too.  I don’t know now if I should use the recipe I used, or the one from Pioneer Woman who has different proportions of sugar and corn syrup, but seems easier to make, not having to cook the butter and sugar together first.  Lynette and Anthony stayed most of the afternoon until Lynette got tired of holding up to her still aching jaw and left.  We played Sequence and 5 Crowns, and then Jim and Anthony got out ALL the John Deere puzzles and chose and started on one.  Lynette and I have discovered we are no good at puzzles.  I can do pretty well if I spend a lot of time studying the picture and then the pieces.  Then, I will start looking for a piece and if I’m lucky I will remember what I’m looking for by the time I’ve gone through all the trays of pieces.  Usually, I get distracted by some unique feature of a piece and I’m off looking for it’s place in the puzzle.  And then, when some easy part is being worked on and I conceivably might be able to put some pieces in, by the time I get my eye on a piece, Jim will snatch it up and put it in and then I have to begin the agonizingly long process all over again.  It is very discouraging.  Anyway, the gist of the matter is, that Lynette is equally as frustrated trying to work on a puzzle with Anthony.  Anthony is a bit speedier than Jim.  I’m assuming it’s because his brain is some younger.

We got 4” of snow Sunday and a couple more in the night.  Jim tested our “new” cream colored Buick Enclave and the all-wheel-drive does quite well on snow-packed roads. 

A week ago, the 18th to be exact, Lynette was scheduled to have her wisdom teeth out first thing Monday morning, so I had to drive the loaner black Dodge Journey, 2015 since the Buick had to have the struts replaced before we could take it home.  We made our decision in favor of the Enclave on Saturday afternoon and what we figured was a couple days repair turned out to be a week with a loaner.  The whole reason for the new car or whatever these style of things are called, started on Thursday morning when I was on my way to visit Rod and Deb who live not far from my folk's home where I had been staying a few days since my brothers were there. I planned to spend the night with another friends but she left Wednesday post-haste because her mother was worse.  Twenty miles from my destination I was blithely cruising along in my beloved PT, when the engine revved up hard on a particularly steep hill and I heard and felt something go "snap". I was able to go on, so I took it off cruise, but when the speedometer started to flop all over the place I pulled off the road to take a deep breath and call Jim.  I didn’t get through the first time, and tried to move the car, but it wouldn’t.  I called my friend and she was soon on the way to get me, and not long after Jim was putting things in order to haul a trailer up there to take me and car home.  He and Rod agreed it sounded like the transmission.  So, Deb and I had lunch, then went to see one of her friend's fabric supply and various bags she has been sewing.  Then we all met in Norfolk, Jim having left the pickup, trailer and car on a side road. After Rod and Deb did some new vehicle shopping, we had supper at Perkins. 

 So, Lynette and I had to go to the dentist's office in the loaner and as I got out I slammed my thumb in the door.  It was a very odd feeling to look up and see my thumb stuck in the door. For a millisecond I thought, “what now?”, but thankfully reason set it and I opened the door, got out one of the ice packs that was keeping the ice cream Lynette was bringing along, cold. So, while she took care of the preliminaries, I was feeling very sorry for myself and icing my bloody thumb.  By the time she was done, the ice and ibuprofen had taken effect and I felt some better.  It is much better now, but I am very careful with it as it will hurt with more than the lightest touch.  I missed the nail.  The bulk of the injury is just below the nail. You've heard the expression, "sticks out like a sore thumb?" That's the way it's been all week.

I didn't include a photo of my thumb.