Oh! Just Things

1)Meet my manager:



She manages everything:

From organizing the farm with a smile!



(Those furry things are alpacas for those NOT in the know)




Making our igloo nice and cozy


Frying the fish over the fire and volunteering to do it again and again. (Imagine that?)




And also taking real good care of our sled dogs (the dogs are the blocks for those of you NOT in the know)


The manager says she is going to open her own preschool now. She informed me that her start date is August 1st.

2)Then there is the stuff that I've been meaning to get to:

Like recovering the tops of my bar stools. The kids kept pulling off the upholstering fringe I had glued on it, so now they are back to their original wrapping paper selves, but neater!



And, washing my soap scummy shower curtains

Which reminded me to call the maintenance man to fix my clogged tub-- making my shower curtain soap scummy in the first place (We can we call Mr. Fix it in a flash? Because we RENT! And it's fabulous!) I also had him fix the girl's closet too and was going to ask him to fix dinner, but he said he had to go.

I also wiped off the chocolate smudge on the wall that I had my eyeball on for weeks and fixed my balancing act in the toy closet. It is no longer staggering, but it's not exactly steady, either.

3) I hate cheesey chips. They scare me, like this picture.



4)The studying continues. Only 56 more days to go and yes I'm counting!

Whirley Twirley

Lately, Sunday's nights consist of popcorn from the Whirley Popper. I've been actually looking forward to it all week. I even thought about making it earlier this week, but tried to save it for today.



I've burned a few (a lot) of batches trying to perfect my recipe. The kids eat the burnt and I savor the almost perfected popcorn. I'm still trying to figure out how to get more popcorn and less oil into my popcorn. I do like my popcorn crispy, but not too oily. Any suggestions, send them my way.

Farm Show Tips

For those readers who have lived in Pennsylvania, you'll remember the Farm Show that always takes place the second week in January. Farmers from all around bring their prized animals to be judged. They spend the week there, living off of Cheezits and catching any sleep they can, even if it means they're the show.



The REAL reason why most Pennsylvanians come to the show is for the food. (If you're pregnant plug your ears) They have homemade ice cream, soups made from their grown vegetables, waffles with fresh flavored honey and ice cream, thick chocolate milkshakes, apple dumplings, maple cotton candy, and any fried vegetable you can imagine.

The Flavored Honey


Mushrooms all dolled up


A few tips

The things you came to see at the farm show are not always the most popular

For example, the maintenance man's getting around truck:





or the Chicken Coop:


A mighty FINE Chicken Coop I might add for a very reasonable price! I might have to consider this purchase in a few years.


Order just the powder and not the doughnut


Horse brushes are not for our own hair, but children don't know that


Neither are stuffed alpacas good for feeding their cousins, the llama



Bring lots of wipes and don't wear white:





Don't argue with these two! You never win and it only makes it worse.


Plan to have lots of fun! The Farm Show, where a kid can be a kid!

Wouldcha Snow?

Turns out I still have pavement--I thought it had disappeared forever and I had to grab a snow shovel just to reassure my eyes.



We also found out a lot of other things:

Becket really loves sledding. He'll go again and again.



But he forgets to tell his sister that he is coming down the hill and plows into her head.



I also learned that Micah and snow don't mix. After taking five minutes to bundle her up, she lasts a whole 5 minutes to be done with it. Her version "Mom, I so, so, tired." I plopped her on the rocker to get in a few more minutes of shoveling and she wasn't too thrilled.



Gretchen decided to make a car out of my shoveled snow. I thought it was rather creative of her.

Then Becket required his own car because Gretchen wouldn't allow 6 year olds in hers.



Then we decided to decorate with our summer toys. I hope you can make out my childrens' version of a car with trunk, muffler and wheels included.






In the end (if there is an end), the snow actually feels like one big sand box, without the mess of sand. When you're warm enough it is tolerable. The whole bundling thing takes forever, but it's tolerable.

As for Gretchen's snow eating habits, she's still eating it, dirty or not. She's also discovered eating icicles, dirty or not. She loves Old Man Winter.



She'll even goes out into the snow in her church dress.

In Mourning

I've gone into mourning.

I don't think it will ever warm up again. I remember walking in my swimsuit up to the pool. I remember turning on my AC in my car. I remember picking fresh tomatoes and basil from my potted garden. I remember the earth being green and the blacktop black. I remember sweating. I'm mourning the warmth.

I'm mourning my husband. I've been widowed for a short time, well at least until March. He is studying for his boards and mid-March couldn't come soon enough. Every year for the past 3yrs he has taken his pre-tests to the boards so I am used to this cold period from January to March where he hibernates at the table eating, drinking, and mostly sleeping ophthalmology. This year is the real deal and I am gathering my strength to go at this for one more year. I can't seem to muster it and I am holding a grudge against his ophthalmology books. I would spat at them if it wouldn't ripple up the pages. I give him credit--he is a well oiled machine the way he disciplines himself. This is what makes him a good eye surgeon. For now, I will try not to complain, but I do miss him.

Hopscotch on over

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Check out the story on about the training bra today. I think we can all relate.

New Slash Not New

We took a spur of the moment trip down to DC to catch up with a few old friends from NC.



New: The US Botanical Garden's Christmas decor. Here's the capitol building made completely out of plant material.



Not New: Our little cousin Buddy, not made out of plant material, but out of pure cuteness.



New: Gretchen met up with her old friend Hanna. It was fun to see them hang again


Not New: Kids are more attracted to the snow outside the garden then the cultural experience you are trying to give them inside the garden.



New: Washington, D.C. Temple lights


Not new: Gretchen eating dirty snow. She also has a bad habit of eating her boogers which we can't get her to stop doing either.


New: Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport



Not new: Micah passed out in her stroller, when she should be getting out her wiggles before the drive home.


New: First time seeing the
Enola Gay


SR-71 Blackbird


The Space Shuttle, Enterprise


Not New: Seeing a man become a boy again. (You can either gag or awe at that last sentence, but it's completely true. He knew all the names of his favorite jets from his childhood.)