Heat

I turned the heat on for the first time today. We praise God that the furnace works at our rental house!

Family Update

I turned the heat on this morning. Lamb 1 is the one that is always hot and he came in the middle of the night saying he was cold. Unless we have a warm day the heat is probably on at our house for the season now. We'll start using the fireplace too.

My bazaar projects are going well. I completed the two craft projects; one took all afternoon on Monday. My baking is about half way done. I've made cranberry bread, paleo banana bread, am halfway through buckeyes (need to dip in chocolate), and one loaf of bread maker whole wheat bread. We have taken so much to the garage sale portion of the bazaar. I love getting stuff cleaned out of my house! I'll try to post pictures of my projects soon.

Due to the fridge breaking I have done so much laundry. We used a lot of rags over several days to clean it all up. Due to the baking I have done so many dishes. I am trying to keep up with housework before Ram's parents come to celebrate my birthday.

Ram and I had a terrible time finding a babysitter, but we finally did so we can go on a date tomorrow night. All the boys are hunting or working and all the girls are busy with school activities. I am already looking forward to a few more years ahead when we don't need babysitters any more. Lamb 1 could stay home alone, but not babysit his brothers yet. Our last date was in January so it is time. (I'm not counting our errands as part of our vacation as a date even though we did go out to lunch then while my parents watched the Lambs.)

The repairman came and fixed our fridge yesterday. Because we had bought the used fridge from them he gave us a big discount on the repair. If we have to buy any more appliances we will definitely go back to them. I am hoping that we are set on appliances now! It was so much cheaper to repair than buy a new used fridge. Ram and I both watched him repair and I think we could do the repair ourselves if this ever happens again. I haven't transferred everything back to the fridge yet, but I have plenty of time to complete all that before the chicken arrives on Monday. Ram cleaned the inside of the fridge out while I was voting yesterday so I didn't even have to clean it!

Lamb 1 and 2 practiced spooky songs for piano last week. This week they both started practicing Christmas songs. Lamb 1 has spent a lot of his free time practicing from the hymnal. Our piano definitely gets a workout daily even without Lamb 3 beginning lessons yet.

Produce Report

Monday night Ram and I were afraid it was going to freeze so we went out with flashlights and picked eggplants, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Everything we picked was small but worth picking. We made a good decision because it was right at 32 degrees that night. I just couldn't believe our first freeze was so late in the year.

Recently our raspberry bushes have had a lot of raspberries. It was strange to be having fresh raspberries at the end of October.

Ram's parents have two apple trees that went crazy this year. We enjoyed several apples from them.

The neighbors gave us several white potatoes from a local farmer about a month ago. We don't eat many white potatoes and last year we didn't make it through them before they went bad. This year I left them on the counter to remind myself to use them and we finished all of them last week.

Our PE co-op had to cancel twice this fall- once for rain and once for bad air quality. It was cool but not cold today. The Lambs still wore short sleeves and shorts today. I layered but took off some of the layers during PE. Beginning next week PE Co-op will be inside so we have several months before worrying about the weather for PE.

Because of bad air quality we used the A/C much longer than I would have liked to this month. We couldn't open windows during those bad air days. I'm determined to wait until November to turn on the heat since we used the A/C so long. A local friend was surprised I haven't turned the heat on. I can handle putting on extra sweaters or blankets instead of turning on heat.

We are still not good at gardening here, but this year with the long growing season we did better than any other year we have lived here.

Autumn

On Thursday I was talking to a mom at the park. She said she felt so strange putting her sun tea on the porch next to her pumpkins.

Ram just got some new shorts. When I told my mom she was confused that he got new shorts in October. None of us have worn pants yet this season except for Ram to wear to work.

We joined a P.E. Co-op this year. One day was canceled because of rain. The rest of the days so far this year have been very hot. We give the kids plenty of water breaks. Even the day that it was lightly raining it was hot. That just made it humid and hot.

I have made a great effort to leave the air conditioning off since October 1. October 1-8 were what I call "almost free" energy days at our house. Both the A/C and the heat were off at our house. The windows were open and some nights we used ceiling fans. Some of those nights it was difficult to leave the A/C off, but we made it. I often heard the neighbor's A/C was on while I had my windows open.

Today it was 90 degrees and we were home all day. This afternoon I broke down and turned the A/C on. Even with the A/C on for several hours it is still over 80 degrees in our house.

Tonight we picked eggplant, peppers, and pumpkins from our garden. We left several vegetables on the plants because it is still warm enough for them to grow more. This is the best year our garden has ever done since we moved here. Abnormally high temperatures really helped our garden.

Tomorrow we are going to take our pumpkins to be judged. On the calendar it is time for the harvest festival, but the weather doesn't seem like it yet.

Maybe we'll feel like having pumpkin desserts and hot chocolate in early December?

Camping

Lamb 1 is required to help set up a tent and go camping at least once while he is a Cub Scout. Last fall when we were supposed to go camping he got sick. Then we were unable to go camping this summer because we went to IN for a month. We were beginning to run out of time to do this requirement.

We decided to set up the tent in the backyard. I couldn't believe the weather here, it was 95 degrees yesterday! I couldn't believe I was letting my Lambs sleep outside at the end of September. We first got the tent in May a few years ago. They wanted to sleep out in the new tent right away. I brought them inside in the middle of the night because it was too cold for them to be out there. With the weather prediction of getting just below 60 last night, I was fine with them staying out there all night.

Yesterday Lamb 1 and Ram set up the tent. The Lambs took a long time to settle down and go to sleep in the tent. About 12:30 Ram took his sleeping bag and went out there with them. I was concerned Ram would be sore after sleeping out there last night. But I was glad he went out there especially for the sake of Lamb 3. I was afraid that Lamb 3 would have to go to the bathroom and be all confused where he was and how to get to the bathroom.

I had encouraged the Lambs to take sweatshirts out there even if they didn't need them at bedtime. I figured if they woke up in the night and were cold could put a sweatshirt with a hood on so they could last the night. They had a difficult time thinking it would cool down enough to need a sweatshirt. Lamb 2 asked if he could wear a tank top because he was so hot at bedtime.

About 4am Lamb 2 woke up crying and cold. He was on top of his sleeping bag but not in it. Ram was really glad he was out there to tell him to climb in his sleeping bag. Soon Lamb 1 also woke up cold. They lasted awhile longer, but Lamb 1 especially was cold. Ram made everyone get up and come inside and sleep in their beds the rest of the night. We told Lamb 1 he did fulfill his requirement because he helped set up the tent and he slept in the tent until 5am. We reminded him that many people that go camping plan to get up at 5am.

Lamb 1 had Cub Scout fundraising scheduled for 10am this morning. We all woke up at 9:30am. Ram and Lamb 1 had to hurry to get ready. Ram was very tired this afternoon. I wanted them to take a picture in the tent, but this afternoon the tent was put away without taking a picture. Oh well.

We have been home the last couple of days and I tried to suffer through without turning on the Air Conditioning. After supper tonight I told Ram I just couldn't take it any longer. We closed windows and turned on the A/C. The first day of fall has come on the calendar, but I will be glad when the weather acts like the first day of fall. I suppose I should be careful what I wish for because we still have one more month of outside PE class and cross country. I do want some fall days where we don't have to turn on the A/C or the heat.

Real Snow Day

Today all schools in the area are closed. The Lambs woke up and immediately wanted to go outside and play in the snow. I held them off until 9 am and declared a homeschool snow day. Perhaps when they get tired of playing outside we will attempt to do math. Or maybe not.

Our front yard showed about 5 1/2 inches.

The last snow day the schools had here was on opening Lego Movie day in February. Today is my sister's birthday so I'll remember this one too. It is rare for our area to have more than one snow day in a school year so we'll enjoy today.

Snow Day

It snowed all day today but there was not a big snow total. The Lambs could not wait to finish school work and go outside and play in the snow. I was surprised they weren't really out there very long this morning, I think it wasn't enough snow to play in.

When they came inside we had hot cocoa and they put their mittens and hats by the fireplace to dry. It was a good day to sit by the fire and drink hot cocoa!

This photo was taken this afternoon and you can tell there wasn't a lot of snow even by afternoon. They played outside some more in the late afternoon before it got dark.

Lamb 2 graduated from OT last week so I didn't leave the house today. It was a good first Thursday of not being scheduled for OT considering the weather!

The most amazing part was everyone had hats, snowpants, coats, mittens, and boots that fit! Lamb 2 has outgrown his coat, but he could still squeeze into it to play today. Our weather is so mild here that they mostly wear sweatshirts or light jackets except for when they want to play in the snow. Considering our first snow was November I was really impressed that we weren't caught off guard without large enough winter clothes. I did need to buy almost everything last year (boots and mittens for all 3 and a coat and snowpants for Lamb 1) and I bought all of that large for them to grow into.

Cross Country Meet

Lamb 1 had his final cross country meet yesterday. This was at a different location than he had practice. For the first meet he ran a 4K that was not as challenging of a course but he was familiar with the course from practice. For this meet he chose to run a 3K but afterwards said it was not as difficult of a course as he thought it would be.

Lamb 1 during the 3K. I was concerned because he usually runs with someone but he was running all by himself.

After Lamb 1's race we had a long time to wait before awards. So the Lambs explored the area. In this picture Lamb 1 is first, then Lamb 2, and finally Lamb 3.

They made it to the top! I was so thankful for my new camera lens which ended up being a binoculars to watch them and also take pictures.

Exploring some more.

Here's where they explored! And all this exploring was after Lamb 1 ran the 3K!

Lamb 2 and 3 found some leaves.

It was worth staying for awards because Lamb 1 got 2nd place for his age group of 9-10 year old boys. I was really surprised.
His time for the 3K was 15:03:41.

I took a picture in the minivan of the temperature on the way home. It was up to 55 F on the way home. It was 46 F before Lamb 1's race began. I was glad to get home and have a cup of hot tea!

All 3 Lambs are looking forward to track season in the spring. We'll see who ends up participating but I would love it if all 3 participated so I could read a book during practice. Plus the third child is cheaper to participate than the first two!

Different Parts of the USA

Yesterday my dad reported that most schools in Fort Wayne were closed for another snow day.  I remember a couple of the years that I was teaching in Fort Wayne that school was canceled on St. Patrick's Day for snow.
Yesterday Lamb 3 counted all the flowers that have bloomed in our front yard. Before and after church last night the Lambs played outside with all the other kids from church in short sleeves. After church someone suggested we turn the heat off in the sanctuary now that it is March. When we got home from church I made all the Lambs drink a lot of water because they were so hot after all that playing.

Today most schools in Fort Wayne are on a 2 hour delay.
Today the Lambs are choosing which shorts to wear to track practice tonight. This morning the birds are chattering loudly outside my window.

Are you ready to move to ID yet?

February????

On Friday we found a bike at Goodwill for Lamb 2 for $9.99. This was after looking at lots of thrift stores the last couple of weekends. We thought it needed a new wheel, but it just needed a new tire, so it was $10 more to fix it. Lamb 2 is really hard on his bike so this was good to get a used one for him. We put the training wheels back on his old bike to give to Lamb 3. The training wheels need some adjustment, he rides leaning to the side now. I do think this helped Lamb 2 learn how to ride a bike and he easily took of the training wheels after riding the "crooked" bike. So perhaps we will leave it that way for Lamb 3. Here are photos of them riding their "new" bikes yesterday.

Lamb 2 on his bike from Goodwill

Lamb 3 on Lamb 2's old bike

Notice the Lambs have on short sleeves! It was 57 degrees yesterday. At one point in the afternoon Lamb 2 came inside to rest because he said it was too hot outside! We opened the windows to get some fresh air in the house after winter.

I spent the afternoon getting 25 lbs of tomatoes ready for the freezer, thanks to Bountiful Baskets! (I know Joelle, I owe you a post about Bountiful Baskets!)

Ram made Eggplant Parmesan with fresh basil thanks to Bountiful Baskets too.

It sure seemed strange to let the Lambs play outside all afternoon and be freezing tomatoes in February! Last night snow was predicted, but all we got was frost on the grass. The Lambs were able to play outside after church today, but they needed to wear sweatshirts because it was in the 40s.

Wordless Wednesday-today's photos

Western snow

Yesterday morning it snowed for a few minutes, really for a few minutes. The snow was unlike anything I have ever seen before-it was little white pellets. It reminded me of the small pellets inside bean bags. Ram said I need to get used to dry snow in the West. This photo was taken from Ram's iPhone so I'm not sure if you can see the pellets on the sidewalk.
Then yesterday afternoon Ram took the Lambs for bike rides around the neighborhood. Lamb 3 did not go as he was just waking up for a nap, but Ram and Lamb 1 and 2 went. After bike rides then they all took a walk around the neighborhood.
Lamb 3's preschool class did not go outside for recess today. His favorite part of preschool is going outside so he was very disappointed. I couldn't believe they wouldn't go outside when it was in the high 20s. They follow the public schools on that. Lamb 3 doesn't understand because I make him wear a coat and hat to preschool, the rest of the time I let them go outside in sweatshirts. It will take us awhile to get used to the weather here. I realized today that it has been about 60 degrees warmer here than the Lambs were used to some of the days in a typical January in MN. They were used to -30 in January for their entire lifetimes. I'm just glad we moved to ID instead of being really drastic and moving to FL!

Soccer

After I had taught for a few years one day I had an interesting day helping the headmaster and his wife. They had 4 boys and 3 of them were in soccer and the headmaster had to be out of town. I had offered to help if they ever needed help. So I took one boy to soccer and then brought him back to my house until his mom came after his brothers were done with their soccer games. 2 boys had soccer near each other, but the youngest one in soccer was on a totally different field. His mom couldn't be 3 places at once.
I thought this would be easy, but I had no brothers and no experience ever doing anything like this. It was late fall and quite a cool day. I was completely bundled up in winter clothes, the boy had on shorts and his soccer shirt. I felt bad and offered to look in the car if I had warmer clothes and he looked at me like I was crazy before he answered that he was fine. When we got there the rest of the kids were dressed the same so I didn't feel so bad. I tried to tolerate the weather and cheered loud for him since his mom couldn't be there. I was just glad that it was a sport that I knew a little about, even if my experience was limited to what I learned in P.E. class.
When we got back to my house I offered to make hot chocolate. Again he looked at me like I was crazy, but said he would take it. After hot chocolate his mom came to get him so I didn't have to figure out what to do with a 7 year old boy.
Last week Ram was able to take the Lambs to soccer. I managed to get out of taking them the days that I was supposed to take them because it was canceled because of rain. Yesterday was my first day to take them. The forecast was sunny and looked great-so much for getting out of taking them to soccer this week. As soon as we parked at soccer it started pouring! There were other kids there but when it started raining they ran for their cars and left. Two other boys stayed. It wasn't lightening so I told the boys to stay for a little while. The mom of the other two boys offered to let Lamb 3 and I sit in her car and get out of the rain. She had a 2 year old boy sleeping in her car. So Lamb 3 and I got in her car and we had about an hour to chat.
I was imagining watching another soccer practice like I had watched for my headmaster's son several years ago. Lamb 3 fell asleep soon after we got in her car. We had a very nice chat about all kinds of topics.
I had known her from our early childhood group, but I didn't know her well. She's a strong Catholic so we talked about our churches. There was talk about our pregnancies, deliveries, nursing, and babies. I don't have any local friends so it was kind of fun to tell each other our stories about how things have gone for the last 7 years of being moms. It was a special treat to talk to another mom with 3 boys similar in age to mine. I was fascinated to meet a mom with boys close to my age to mine that was 5 years older than me. It seems like all the moms around here are much younger than I am. Soccer practice wasn't as bad as I had expected. And there will be a friend for me to talk to for the rest of soccer this week. Sometimes I really wonder why God gave me boys. I felt like God remembered me yesterday when he sent a friend for me during soccer.
After soccer the rain stopped so the Lambs were able to have swim lessons. Lamb 2 was especially exhausted after an hour of soccer in the rain and then an hour of swim lessons.

Rain Rain Go Away-Updated daily

Come again another day.
Lamb 1 and 2 want to play.

Possible soccer: 8
Soccer held: 5
Soccer is done, we skipped the last practice because of excessive heat. Two practices were canceled because of cold/rain.

Possible swim lessons: 9
Swim lessons held: 6
Swim lessons should be done but we have 3 lessons to make up. The first make up day was July 1, but it was canceled because of rain. Next week more rain is predicted so I don't know when they will make up those 3 lessons.

Lamb 1 is a grouch because his plans have been canceled and he can't go outside. He NEEDS outside time daily, preferably sunshine too. It has been so cool that our garden has not grown well. I haven't hung clothes on the line for several days. The weather forecast makes it doubtful that they will have any swim this week. Then we need to work with rescheduling swim in July. The whole reason we signed up for soccer and swim in June was so that we could have a restful July not going any where. Sigh.

*I'm blogging about this to remind myself when it is 100 degrees and not raining for days later this summer.

Just in time

We pay someone to mow our lawn. The first few years we were here we tried to mow it ourselves. We have a push mower. We are young so we should be able to do this and get exercise. Our yard is not huge, but it is big. It seemed like Ram's schedule as a pastor-when he was able to mow it would rain and when the weather was nice to mow he would have a funeral or a visit to make. Once we had Lambs one of us needed to stay inside with the Lambs while the other mowed. I was overwhelmed trying to do yardwork in good weather plus housework.
After the snow melted our yard was terrible this year. All the ice on the trees this year meant tons of sticks to pick up. The sewer project in town threw big rocks into the yard. There was lots of trash from the many trash days that were also very windy days.
I divided the yard into sections and told the Lambs that they had to help me with one section each day until we were done. Rain was forecasted and it did rain so it took us almost a week to get it done. The Lambs were not enthused with this project even when I made it into a contest of who could pick up the most sticks. We finished Friday morning. The lawn mower man came Friday night. I'm so glad we finished so he didn't have to deal with the sticks, rocks, and trash.
Now to time planting the garden as well-after the last frost but enough time for everything to grow before the first frost. I hate this part of living in MN!

It is just wrong...

For 71 degrees today and 3.5 inches of snow predicted for Friday to be in the same weather forecast!
Seriously, this is a big concern for our tri-state area that is already worried about flooding. The main highway near us has already been closed for a few weeks. Not good to need to take a detour with gas prices today. Everyone will be watching this storm closely the next few days. 

Here we go again...

The last week has been very busy. Thursday I saw the OB/GYN 2 hours away. At that appointment I agreed to just do baby aspirin. I talked to a lot of family, friends, and my doctors and decided to do heparin injections too. I spent most of Monday waiting for the nurses to call back with info from my doctors. I was finally set to make the 2 hour trip to begin heparin on Tuesday. When the nurse called for my appointment time, she reminded me travel was not advised. What? It was raining. Sure enough, it was close enough to freezing rain and several inches of snow were predicted. I asked for an appointment on Wednesday and she said it was supposed to be even worse then. She finally scheduled me for Thursday, but told me that was tentative as the weather might not allow that either. Another storm is predicted for Friday, so if I don't make it on Thursday, it won't be until the next week. I will do twice a day heparin injections at home for the entire pregnancy. My doctor 2 hours away will get me set up and after I begin I should be able to see the local doctor for the rest of my pregnancy.
The weather is crazy here. All schools in the area are closed. We received at least a foot of snow last night and it is currently snowing and expect a few more inches today. The main highway around here is down to one lane and drifted closed in some places. The local doctor's office and the local cafe are closed. We had such nice weather the last few weeks that most snow had melted from the trees and sidewalks. There were just patches of snow left in the yard and where the snow had been piled from shoveling. Everyone is so ready for spring!

Why?

The upstairs toilet overflowed and dripped water into the downstairs bathroom on Sunday morning.

I couldn't find my car keys and Ram didn't leave his keys on Sunday morning.

A big storm is predicted to come when we were supposed to travel to an installation service so we decided not to go.

Thankfully we did get to church on time and had a nice morning at Sunday School and church. This afternoon we will deal with the bathroom mess and get some rest after our trip to Mayo.

All of Ram's tests went well and his doctor said everything was normal for recovery after surgery. He will have checkups often to be sure everything continues to be normal. These checkups can be done locally so we won't have to go back to Mayo. We had a nice few days vacation at the hotel while Ram went to Mayo.

Winter Weather

Church was canceled on Thanksgiving Eve because of icy roads. It was so strange to have Thanksgiving Eve here without church for the first time since we moved here in 2003.
Two out of our three churches have already canceled church tomorrow. We won't know about the third church until morning. We didn't get that much snow, but we did get a few inches plus 50+ mph winds. We stayed home all day. Ram enjoyed listening to the radio with the weather reports and cancellations in the Twin Cities. We live so far from the Twin Cities that I don't care about their weather. I listened to the local radio station and their Christmas music just about drove me crazy today.
Last year all churches in the area canceled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. I hope that this bad weather is cleared up for us to have church on Christmas this year. I really missed that last year. We haven't had any practices for the Christmas Eve program at church. We do have our parts so the Lambs can start memorizing them at home. It will all work out by Christmas Eve.

Back to Work

On Monday, we went shopping. It was Ram's last day of full disability. I did very little shopping while Ram was on disability. It is nice to have a stocked pantry before winter. The Lambs and Ram enjoyed our first family day out of the house since Ram's surgery. We ate out twice. I drove more than I usually do on family trips. I had to load the car because Ram is not allowed to lift more than 10 lbs. It was a lot of work to do everything all day-he couldn't even lift Lamb 3 into his car seat. We got home late and then I had to unload the car-first the Lambs that were all asleep, then the groceries. The big grocery that we shop at had some incredible deals-including turkey for 37 cents/lb and free celery and carrots. The pantry is stocked so well that it was difficult to choose what to make for supper. That's a good thing after weeks of I can't make this because I'm missing _______ or I can't make this because I'm missing ________. If you don't live in a rural area, you wouldn't understand that frustration.
Tuesday, I was exhausted and tried to sleep in. Even though they were in bed way past their bedtime, the Lambs were wide awake before 8am. When I finally got out of bed, it had snowed both inside and outside. Outside was just a dusting, but the first snow we had. We didn't get any snow over the weekend. Inside, the Lambs had covered the living room with sheets of white paper. Before we had school they had to "shovel" the living room.
Ram went back to work part time on Tuesday. He's still being careful to not overdo it. That means that I'm still on full cooking and cleaning duty. For supper I made hummus and cut up veggies to tide them over because the soup took so long. I made borscht. Yummy!
While my dad was here he put together one more bookshelf for us. Tuesday night I spent trying to shift our library so that more of the books will fit on the shelves. One more shelf will not be enough to get everything on the shelf. Sigh. Such is life when 2 bibliophiles get married. I shifted about 1/2 of our library and hopefully I can finish this week in the evenings after the Lambs go to bed.
Tuesday night I also organized our CPH Bible story posters. Lamb 1 noticed right away that the set of posters that I just began with the Lambs had a lot of repeat stories. Repetition is good, but we just did many of the stories a few months ago. I hope that the new way I organized them will solve that problem.
Lamb 1 began Saxon Math 2 on Tuesday. He completed side one of the first worksheet before I even knew he had opened the book. I think we will both be much happier with Saxon, especially if he can do more independently. I was hoping it would be challenging for him, but so far we have the same problem as before that it is too easy. We'll see as we continue to work through Math 2.