February 2017 Doings

This February post will be quick.  I won't comment much, as I'd really like to catch up to present time. 

I was so excited about getting chickens again.  Nathan and William set out to build a new chicken house.  Nathan formulated a new design this time, and they got started.  However, they didn't finish it before we got Odin the Beast (our dog).  I was hoping to get the new chickens (adults) when Odin was a small puppy.  He unintentionally hurts our two outdoor cats.  He's a big baby and loves to play, but I'm afraid he'd accidentally kill chickens, so I'm feeling like I might not get chickens again, which makes me a bit sad.  I ought to take advantage, I guess, and get serious about gardening next year, instead.  

No, none of these pictures are a mistake.  I took all these pictures in February.  I wore jeans, but the kids are more hot-natured than I am.  It was warm a lot during the winter.

Nathan took this picture.  We were enjoying a popcorn break from our reading.  

Baby dog!!!

Lol, we don't typically do Valentine's Day, but I think that's when my Love got me these flowers.  :-). One day when I was doing my typical massaging and loving on him, Liv started taking pictures.  (You've really got to watch that girl with her picture-taking.  I find pictures on my phone of all sorts of things.)

We sometimes take selfies and send them to each other.  Funny, these are both vehicle pictures.  Sometimes I'll snap a picture of myself before I leave the house, though, and Nathan has sent me pictures of him hot and sweaty while he's working.  ;-)

I looooved this!  I actually took a video of Trust and Liv perched up on this box.  It was so sweet.  Trusten was reading a book aloud.  I love walking in on precious moments like these when they're getting along so well.  It makes up for all the times they are fighting with each other and calling each other the most horrendous names.

Up the hill for a picnic!!!  The kids loved this.  I probably don't do it often enough. I had my "sometimes child," Bianca, that day.  

We went spring shopping.  Isn't this baby girl so cute with this hat?!  She loved it, and I bought it for her. She wore it a lot at first, but then she abruptly stopped.  I should grab it back out and see whether she wants to wear it again.

Another science experiment on air pressure.  The balloon will not inflate inside the bottle, but pierce the bottle with a small hole, and the balloon will inflate when blowing.  

Some of the things we ate in February.  Yes!  I ate tomatoes, I think twice.  I enjoyed tacos and a BLT with tomato!!  I took DAO capsules before I ate in order to break down the histamine.  I think that salad is Nathan's.  It's got to be, because I don't put cheese on my salad. 

That's more typing than I should have done. 

Until next time...

January 2017: Science Experiments, Math Games, and More

As it's AUGUST—can you believe it?—I'll try my best to remember things that I post for on the past months of this year.  I am just thrilled that these photos uploaded with only a slight bit of trouble, and I really hope I can successfully get the rest loaded up here over the next week or two.  When I start the kids back to full-time school at the beginning of September, I hope to go back to weekly posts (it's been years since that happened). 

The weather was warm on some winter days.  The day below was one of those days in which I was filled to the brim with a joy of being alive. I sat near this pond for a long time while the kids played.  I entered my own world, imagining what the dried flowers had "seen" over the many months they had existed.  The sunshine felt so good on this day.  We usually do one annual hike up a path on a mountain on our neighbors' property in October.  We didn't go until January this time.  It is always good exercise. 

This is the first time we all went down this way, to the road, to get back home.  William has done this before, but I've never wanted to chance it with littles.  But Elizabeth and I made it just fine.  :-)

Nine-banded armadillo behind our house (Dasypus novemcinctus)

I thought I had pulled Olivia out of school at the beginning of January without her attending another day.  Without looking, I suppose these might be December pictures that I mistakenly put in my January folder.  Otherwise this would have been probably her last day of school.  She wanted to stop and get an icicle on the way home.

 These are two separate days, if I remember correctly.  Liv made two trips, since the next day Trusten went with me to pick Liv up from the bus, and he wanted an icicle, too.

We learned a lot about air pressure and aeronautics and did several experiments.

The inflated balloon will not go into the jar...

...until a burning match (or paper) is dropped into the jar first; air pressure is changed.

Empty soda cans balancing on straws, when Trusten blows, the soda cans move toward each other and bump.

Trust and Liv loved this competitive game.  I gave them each the same numbers of each bill and the same coins.  I would then give them random money amounts, and they'd race to count out the correct amount before the other did.  I'd tally the points for a prize.  I'm sure we will play this quite a bit in the fall, too.

Elizabeth got to pretend, too.  I hope one day she will be able to learn to count money, too.

Liv downloaded an app on her tablet so that she could draw pictures.  Here she is working diligently on drawing a boy's face.

She gave me the finished product to hang on my closet door.

I got this nice feedback on my first assignment in the Lifetime Wellness course I took during the spring semester.  I struggle with some assignments, needing clarification as to what exactly is expected.  That's my "overthinking" to which she referred.  I can see multiple meanings in many things and then question which a person wants.  I ended up giving two answers on probably at least a couple questions.

I think this was the delicious strawberry pie that Trusten requested one week.  It was surprisingly very good.

Mmm, this is one of my favorites, a homemade pizza with beef pepperoni (sliced summer sausage) and mushrooms.  My mouth is watering as I type this.

Everyone loved this messy looking mass, except for me.  It was my idea to make it.  It's supposed to be a black forest cake with added whipped heavy whipping cream. It was disgusting, I thought.  If I make it again, I'll use a different recipe (unless someone specifically requests this, at which point I'll eat a substitute something).  

Mmmm, I haven't made homemade macaroni in awhile.  This looks good, too.  I've made fried mushrooms a few times.  I have a pretty good batter recipe.  Sounds nasty right now, though. 

I got lots of baby snuggles during the late winter and early spring this year.  Here I am walking with him in my Ergo carrier I used with Elizabeth.  

The girls love baby snuggles, too.  I had fun dressing him in Elizabeth's union suit that my sweet friend Meg knit years ago.  And here is Elizabeth wearing Liv's old suit.  They look so cozy!

And I'll finish this post with a picture of my sweet baby girl hugging her beloved "Spider Wider," as she calls it.  This child loves spiders!  

Until next time...