Merry Christmas!!! 
Dec.24-30, 2017 
Dh&Dd to Indiana (Wed-Sun)
Beyond Cold!  Breaking records cold!

Hello, Friends!

Merry Christmas, Friends!  I hope you all had a very blessed celebration of Jesus' birthday.  This wasn't a very academic week, so I'm just keeping track of our days for my own sake.  Our week broke cold temperature records; negative degree temperatures and snow.  This was our second week in a row of extremely cold temperatures with our low's going down to -9 and our high being 18 degrees.  I know many other states in America were much colder than what we dealt with, but it made for some chilly snow shoveling.  

You guys give your children tea too, right?!!  This tea (Mint Egyptian Licorice) was from Dh to Dd.  Dh likes to put his gifts in large boxes so she can't guess!!!  She is a great guesser!

Two Performances at Church:

On Sunday our church Strings Group performed two songs; then our new Chime Bells Group did our one song that we had practiced and practiced; which concluded our holiday performances.  Happily, we finally performed it to perfection; most of us had never played the chimes before so it took a bit to get the hang of it!  It went over so well we all discussed doing the bells again soon--not waiting until next Christmas to bring them out again.  There were quite a few people in our church that got up and shared something; from poetry, clarinet, singing, or piano.  For a small church, they really do a great job of being musical.

Dh wanted to bring Ranger Cookies to share with his work friends, so I made a batch on Sunday and he received a lot of 'thanks' in appreciation.  Then on Tuesday, I made two more batches as presents for Dh's family.  Then on Sunday morning, I made a batch of peanut butter cookies for Judy as her birthday was this week.  I've been getting lots of baking in!

The forecast for this week was supposed to be full of snow and negative temperatures.  After careful consideration, I decided I had better stay home while Dh and Dd went to the family Christmas party in Indiana.  We were going to have Hailee come and feed my chickens, but the forecast sounded like we might get so much snow that she might not be able to get up our hill to reach them.  We had previously planned for Dh and Dd to leave on Wednesday, and then I would follow on Friday for the party on Saturday, but after all the weather warnings we thought it would be safer for me to stay so I could feed the chickens and we were concerned our power would go out and that would leave all the animals in risk of freezing.  Luckily, our generator is fairly easy for me to pull to our house and start; if need be.  Fortunately, I didn't have to!  

Playing it Safe:

What I didn't know was that we didn't get as much snow as they predicted and everything went just fine.  I could have gone after all, but I don't regret playing it safe.  I enjoyed all the time alone, going to FROM thrift store that was having a 50% off sale, doing my work-outs, walking in the snow, working on my felt birds (that I still haven't finished!), taking care of the chickens & cats, and totally cleaning up the house.  I really scrubbed the bathrooms, refrigerator, lazy susan, etc.  I also got all our year-end receipts, banking statements, filing, and billing organized and closed out for the year which took almost two days to complete.

The snowman's snow gage's temperature reading seems to be only for looks; it hasn't moved off 30 degrees since we put it outside.  It still is cute, even if it doesn't actually work.

Chickens:

With the arctic temperatures, the chickens are delegated to the inside coop, all stuffed and confined.  Lovingly, I've tried to come up with some special food treats to keep them interested.  This week I brought in a few scoops of black sunflower seeds, dried corn, and table scraps.  I'm still hand feeding Ms. Lemon, who is still stuck inside the nest box.  I don't know if she continues to brood because it is warm on the eggs and straw or if it is because she gets pushed around being the smallest hen in the coop.  Regardless of the why's, I've been bringing her boiled eggs or other food, and hand feeding her once or twice a day to keep her feed; which has turned into my favorite part of my day!  She is just too sweet and cute.

Hunting:

While I was at home Dh was hunting at the farm and Dd was helping Giz and Grampy get ready for the family Christmas party.  After sitting out four times, without seeing any deer, Dh's last hunt for the year was at his friend's property.  Ironically, as I was shoveling snow on our driveway two big doe's ran across our driveway!  I had two deer 40 yards away from me!  There were plenty of deer tracks all over our woods too!  Dh plans on hunting here next year as well as continuing his farm visits too.  

Pies and Party Planning:

Thursday and Friday Dd helped prepare for the party, making name tags, putting out gifts in each spot, expanding the table then set it, all the little things they still had left to do.  Thursday Dd made shortbread cookies and on Friday she made her Lemon Meringue pie.  Giz was so thankful for all her help!!!

Star Wars:

At the party, like at home, Dd received Star Wars gifts, some quite humorous!  One gift was a snow hat that had Yoda ears on the sides!  But, she also got practical gifts too--a BB8 Waffle maker!  We've already used it and it was great!  G&G went in with Uncle G and Aunt A to get her the waffle maker; it was a bit expensive. She wanted more SW t-shirts and she got a few of those too!  

Oil Paintings:

Dd made an oil painting of the red barn on our farm for Grampy, and she painted the walnut tree, with the wooden swing, that Dh and I married under, for Giz.  They LOVED their paintings!  Unfortunately, I didn't get the bird drawing that I asked for, but I'm still hoping it might come before spring!

Tools and Cookbooks!

Dh received more tools and cookbooks, from our house and G&G's!  He is easy to buy for.  At our house, he bought his tools and handed them over to me to wrap!  Most of the tools were things to help him fix our cars that keep breaking down!!

Dish Washing Machine:

My big gift was a dishwashing machine.  Except for the time in the apartment in Grand Rapids, I've not had a properly working dishwashing machine our whole marriage; I've had to wash in our sink, the old-fashioned way, getting very clean dishes but taking at least one hour or more hours each day on that chore.  The one in Indianapolis did such a poor job it seemed like it made the dishes dirtier than what I put in so I used it as a drying rack.  I'm curious to see if the new one, due sometime in January, will really clean up our dishes.  I also got a few goodies too---tea, special coffee, and a plethora of thrift store clothes!  I have to say, I really was so blessed to find practically new and very nice clothes this fall that I stowed away as my Christmas gifts.  I can honestly say I've never been so blessed before.  Thankful, Thankful, Thankful!

Pilates:

Our library has quite a collection of exercise DVD's and I ordered three Pilate workouts to test out and compare to the Denise Austin one I've been doing for over 15 years now.  Denise's version had prepared me for most of the exercises, but I enjoyed the variety tremendously!  What fun!  I don't normally have enough time in each day to fit in a workout, but with my free week, I was able to do so!  Perhaps Dd will be tempted to join me next week and we can work on her Physical Education credits?!

Memories:

Dh and Dd had a good time at the party on Saturday and I got a few texts sharing little bits as it progressed.  I'm so glad Dd got to spend so much time with G&G while Dh was hunting alone and also with his best friend.  So glad for each of them getting to make some new memories with the people they care for.  



Audio:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: In Process

Driving:
Dd drove between six and seven hours last week, and her first real driving in the snow coming down and covering the roads.  She handled it all very well, Dh reported!  She has been doing a lot of driving, but I haven't done a great job recording!  Luckily, she has an app that she updates as she drives with her minutes/hours tracked.  I think she has to get at least 50 driving hours before she can test for her final tests.

Music:
Dd has been asking for a violin wall mounting kit for months now.  I decided to challenge Dd to play seven days in a row, during Christmas break, and she could earn the wall kit.  She accomplished the task and was rewarded....and I'll have more free space on my dining room table! 

Next Week:

Dd will return to her music classes, except for violin which won't go as it is on Monday, New Year's Day, and is canceled.  She will also re-start her Grace classes---art x 2 and Geometry.  Dh will have to return to work even though he didn't get any deer this time.  I have a scheduled appointment this week with my gastroenterologist and then the week after that I go to the surgeon to hear his advice on my faulty gallbladder and digestion troubles; which have improved greatly since I started the FODMAP diet.  Michigan will get even colder than it was this week! I can hardly wait!  Finally, we will get back to our lessons, albeit with a light touch.  I plan on starting Of Mice and Men as our Read Aloud while Dd begins Week Three of Core 100 with Sonlight.

May the good Lord bless and keep each of you this week!

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