Snow Days!

Did I say it's been a mild winter in my last post? I take it back. It's just been a crazy winter, weather-wise. Check this out:

That was without the wind chill. The real feel has been -21, for the high, and it got down to -41 at the coldest point this morning. Basically, everything has been cancelled, school included. Dance, Youth activities at the church, Scouts, even Red Bell, though I think a few kids whose parents actually have to go into work have been there for at least part of the day. Jason came in from work early on Monday. Ford sent them all home, due to the snow storm. A lot of employees are still working from home, though Jason opted to go in. It's hard to get work done at home with 4 cooped up kids! He took the Explorer, in case the cold weather affected the van during the commute. We even got an emergency alert to keep our thermostats set at no higher than 65, to save on energy.

The kids and I have had fun at home. They didn't have much homework and I made them do it yesterday morning along with their music practice and reading so we could watch movies and play games the rest of the time. We ventured out and went to playgroup at the church this morning so the kids could run around. We tried to blow bubbles so they would freeze outside, but they just blew away, but our frozen water balloons worked out really well!

We just put them in the snow and they froze very quickly! 

We put food coloring in some of them. Here's a few after taking off the balloons. I didn't take pictures of the others because I couldn't stand going out too much. Austin came in crying after the final time he went out to take off the balloons because his hands were so cold, after only a few minutes.

He's been dying to make Resurrection rolls since last Easter, so we did.

Painting squishies.

 Tomorrow there will be school since the 6 am temperature is supposed to be 1 with a wind chill of 1.
As long as the wind chill  doesn't get below 20, we can have school. We're going to try to go sledding right after school so we don't miss the fun that we haven't been able to enjoy, due to the cold temps. Austin and I will be busy Saturday. On Sunday, it's supposed to be 47 and then 54 on Monday and raining! All this beautiful snow will be gone and who knows if it will return?! It's going to feel like 80 degrees warmer!!

What are Austin and I going to do Saturday? We're going to the second session of his brain study. He was selected to be a participant in a study of the brain. They needed 9 year-olds and we had done something similar a couple years ago, so we were on the list. It's through Wayne State University and they're studying the affects of trauma and anxiety on children's brains. Last Friday, they trained him on the MRI and asked him loads of questions. Then he went into the MRI and pressed some buttons according to what he saw on a screen that would trigger different reactions in his brain. He had to stay perfectly still for over an hour in there. They commented on how hard it is, even as adults, and that he had done a much better job than some of the adults they had done. Austin was the first one in the Detroit area to do this particular test. We go again on Saturday for more questions, some physical tests, and some other things that I don't even know, for 5 hours! The best part for him is that he will get paid $150. Since I'm not making money with all these snow days, at least he is! They want to keep up with us every 6 months for the next couple of years and he will get paid each time he goes. He loves his little job! He plans on buying a hover board with his first full payment.

Going in for the MRI

Snow and Ice

It doesn't matter if it's a "mild" winter in Michigan. We always manage to get some kind of weather here. We had a little more snow in November than we usually have, but no snow in December. Temperatures weren't bad either. Most of January was without much snow and temps were mild overall, but we had some cold weather during the annual ice festival, which made walking around and taking pictures of the ice sculptures not as pleasant, though Karissa was happy to with her new phone that she got for her 12th birthday. For some reason, though, her photos wouldn't transfer to my computer, so here's the one photo I took. You can see a sculpture behind us, though I don't even remember which one it is! It's always a big and fun event, just very crowded and usually cold. We try to make an appearance every other year or so. This year it was just Karissa and I.

We finally got a snowstorm last Friday and got a few inches out of it. It was perfect timing because I was planning on taking Austin skiing. Since he's a 4th grader he gets to go free with a paying adult. I volunteered to take him! He decided to try skiing again, whereas in Colorado he tried snowboarding. I was glad about that. Since he's only gone skiing once, I was able to give him some pointers, which he quickly learned. In turn, he challenged me to go off some jumps, though I didn't jump, just enjoyed going up and down with a little extra air.

He lost his goggles in the parking lot on the way up to the ticket line, somehow. I was a little worried about him because it was very cold and windy. Goggles do make a difference with keeping your face warm. The real feel was -2 when we left!

We saw the sun set. It was beautiful! I think the reason his face didn't freeze was because he talked to me nonstop!

That's the moon from our upstairs window. 

We didn't have school Monday for MLK day. It was a regular day Tuesday, though I thought it curious that it was 25 degrees and raining that evening. Well, all that rain ended up freezing on the ground overnight and we had a snow day on Wednesday! They even closed the airport that morning, it was so bad! It got up to 41 that day, so it rained some more. In the afternoon, the boys and I decided to see what the sled hill looked like. It was not pretty, but they still went down on the slush and wet grass. They got very wet and muddy! I got to try out my snowshoes in the parts where there was still snow. The rest of it is almost gone, but it's probably going to snow again next week, so I think we can try again!

That big gray puddle is where we usually end up after sledding down the hill. We avoided that area this time!

Los Gatos

Our cats make life interesting at our home, especially for me. They're like two more kids during mealtime. When I start opening the fridge repeatedly to prepare a meal, they will stand right in front of it, so they make sure they get fed as well. Half the time I'm tripping over them. 

When we got Leia, the Humane Society told us to make sure we gave her canned food at least once a day. They were happy to hear that we were currently giving Luke some canned food three times a day, so they knew she would be in good hands! We just give them each a small fork full, but they look forward to it. 

Leia has done her job in helping Luke behave, just a little. She always scratches on the scratching post, so he does more now, though he will scratch the carpet here and there, mostly to make us mad. I know because he does it with a defiant look on his face. Then he gets in trouble... 

They both now sleep with Jason and I, though they will sometimes sleep with the boys since we keep their door open for the benefit of the cats. They love Karissa's room because she has a nice big bed by the window, but her door isn't always open. Of course they love Victoria's room because she's got that delicious-looking crested gecko in there, but they're usually forbidden from her room, unless she's feeling up to the task of keeping them on her bed and off the tank with lots of good kitty cuddles. 

Leia loves to hang her paws off the cat tree.

Kitty family portrait

Luke is very handsome, but oh so naughty!

Leia is so sweet and cuddly!

They're good friends.

We love our crazy cats!

My Little Young Woman

Karissa turned 12 last Sunday, as I mentioned in my last post. We had a great celebration with Jason's family and I think she enjoyed the drive to Lincoln, listening to Harry Potter. Today, her Young Women's leaders came over to officially welcome her to the Young Women program. Since all the girls who turn 12 this year are going into Beehives as well (which are only 2 more girls in addition), it's nice for her to have had a little more time to prepare. I think the other two families are a little shocked still to have their first-born girls going into YW already. Karissa has a nice clean sweep into the program and the new schedule. It's good they're moving up with her, not only because they are her friends, but because there will now be 4 Beehives instead of 2. Last year at this time, Karissa went to the New Beginnings event where they officially welcomed her into the program, even though she wouldn't actually join til the last day of the year, basically.

One yer ago!

Her birthday party was on Friday. She decided as she made her invitations, that she wanted to have a Disney theme, though it wasn't a strict theme, just an excuse to play Disney music, make a Mickey Mouse cake, wear Minnie Mouse ears, and watch a Disney movie. The girls played Headbands, made clay creations, and ate dinner (which included chili, hot dogs, baked potatoes, chips, pretzels, fruits, and veggies). I have decided I really like feeding these growing friends of my girls. As with at Victoria's party, they raved over my homemade chili and even the potatoes and hot dogs, which required no effort on my part. After dinner we did the cake and presents so one friend could go home early. The rest watched The Lion King. It was a fun, hang-out party.

We made the cake together.

She came up with the Mickey ear idea.

Games in the basement.

Clay creations took a long time for these creative girls!

Some bop-it while waiting for others to finish eating.

Clay masterpieces. 

Karissa may be small in size, but she has a maturity that shows her age, though she's got a great sense of humor (interesting, sometimes) and loves to be goofy. She loves to help in the kitchen, which makes me really happy. She makes a smoothie every day after school, loves to make breakfast food, and bake desserts. She's a girl after my own heart with that desire to make sweet things to eat!

She attends East Middle School and is in the TAG program there. When she and Victoria meet up at Discovery (Victoria's school) after Karissa's bus arrives there, she becomes Victoria's best friend to show off to all her friends. That wouldn't happen if they went to the same school. She enjoys playing the viola in the orchestra, singing alto in choir, and playing the piano. We're looking into a tumbling class, now that cheer season and the holidays are over. The thing she loves the most, however, is drawing. She had become an excellent artist! She draws all the time. Lucky for her, she had art as her first term elective. (Lucky too because Victoria's good friend's mom was the teacher!)

Some recent artwork of hers.

One of her favorites.

Another favorite.

What she made in class at school.

Happy Birthday Karissa!!

Christmas in Colorado

We went to Colorado for Christmas this year, by way of Wichita Falls and Amarillo, TX. It had been a while since we had seen Jason's siblings, so we made a round of it, including where Jason spent most of his childhood days in Wichita Falls and Burkburnett, TX. Thomas and his family live in Amarillo, which is only 6 hours from Jason's parents, so not too far off the beaten path.

Our Explorer is awesome and just moved us along so much better than the Freestar ever did. We listened to the 3rd and 4th Harry Potter books out and back, so that made for much more tolerable travel. Some Bingo cards from the dollar store, lots of snacks, and some time on their own screens made us very good travelers! It helped to have nice hotels where we have lots of points built up and which also gave us free breakfasts and swimming pools to enjoy.

Forts in the car.

Prairie dogs at the last stop before Jason's hometown.

 The kids really enjoyed seeing where Jason used to live and go to Jr. High and High school. Victoria particularly loved the small town feel. We got to go to church in the ward Jason was baptized in! Since it's a military ward, we didn't know anyone, but the service was wonderful and the people were friendly. We saw Jason's brother Thomas and his wife Rebel and their kids later that day, just a few hours from Burkburnett.

They loved being able to walk on train tracks!

A nice park in Burkburnett.

In the background is Jason's high school  and the tennis courts that he played a lot on, which have been redone and are super nice!

Big new playground there.

Such a Texas thing, Texas-shaped waffles at the hotel!

 There's nothing like a pool to get kids who haven't seen each other in 4 or 5 years to bond! Thomas' house is being redone, so we just hung out with them at the hotel pool and ate meals with them. It was great!

Lots of chicken fights.

We played some games in the lobby.

Ate pizza for dinner

Mexican food for breakfast

 We made it to Gramms and Abuelo's house on Christmas Eve. Victoria helped Gramms make a Puerto Rican dinner when we arrived.

The key board was a big hit!

The boys decorated the tree.

We brought our stockings and they match the ones I made for Will and Kay for Victoria's first Christmas.

Santa found us in Colorado Springs!

 That afternoon we went to Jason's sister Auburn's house. She and her husband, Jason, made some delicious American and Puerto Rican food.

Big cookies for dessert from Gramms!

 Bonus: our friends, the Looslis, recently moved 5 minutes from Jason's parents, so we got to see them! It turned out that Victor (6) was sick the day we were supposed to spend the day at their house, so we went to a couple of places with most of the kids. Our kids got to play at their house a couple hours two days later when he was better, so we got to see everyone!

A little stage at Focus on the Family Center.

Most of the girls from both families.

The weather was wonderful, so we hiked around Garden of the Gods.

These deer weren't too far from the path!

We ended the night with Dallin coming over to show Austin his new game.

On Thursday we went skiing, well, most of us. Austin insisted on snow boarding, so he did. He spent a lot of time on his behind, but he had fun. It was Erik's first time, so I mostly skied with him between my legs, but he started to get the hang of it. It was very busy! My last run I took the girls down a harder slope from the top of the mountain. They managed it, barely! It wasn't very hard, just long. Not something they're used to yet.

On our last full day we went to see Mary Poppins Returns with Auburn and her family, and Gramms and Abuelo. We also celebrated Karissa's 12th birthday, since we would be in the car for it the next day, after attending sacrament meeting. It was a fun celebration with family, pizza, cake, games, and gifts for the birthday girl. She always gets to see other family members on her birthday. Lucky girl!

On the way home, Erik finally lost his second front tooth, about 6 days too late to sing the Christmas song. We tried to convince him that popping it out on Christmas Eve would mean the tooth fairy and Santa would come that night, but he wasn't willing to twist it that hard.

He's our big Nebraska fan. We stayed in Lincoln, Nebraska on Karissa's birthday and he was so excited when we went by the stadium!

Happy New Year! (People over 40 have a hard time smiling right for selfies!!)