Fun stuff on a cold afternoon

We got home a little early from our errands this afternoon. I got out some of my "fun" activities for them. Deborah made me raspberry cookies (see the butterfly one?) and later made me mint and raspberry ice cream cones.

I got out the slingshot airplanes out for the boys. Amazingly after an hour of play, the planes are battered but not broken. yet.

For Aaron, I got out one of his presents that he had received last year. It was a "Dig A Dinosaur" and Aaron just loved it. The other children were also fascinated and watched Aaron intently.

Great photo, right? Amazingly this wasn't posed. Aaron is showing Stephen a giant crack and a piece of bone showing.

Aaron is now working on the front leg bones.

A close up of the tail section.

The completed dinosaur and a happy boy.

I did get this fairly good picture of the moon this morning. I wish you could have been here. In real life, it was so cool looking this morning.

The Faerie Queene

On Friday, we had our monthly book discussion and pot luck dinner at our church. We've been studying a variety of books since we started last September. This month, we read book 1 of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.

Once I got used to the verses and some of the old English words, I found that I really enjoyed it. So for my part of the pot luck, I brought dessert. To make it fun, I used my heart shaped cookie mold and made the following:

On your mark, get set, TAP!

The Maple Syrup season has officially begun today. First we drill a hole in one of our maple trees and insert a tap.

Then we attach the tube.

On the other end, we put a milk jug with a hole cut in the lid for the tube to pass through.

Then on to the next tree.

This is the first year that Deb will participate. She will have one tree to take care of all by herself.

A-Sledding We Will Go

We took advantage of a sunny day and went sledding this afternoon.

Another family joined us again, much to the delight of the boys. So here is the obligitory "train" picture. They had a blast. The park folks had groomed the hill (if plowing snow up a hill can be called grooming) last night so it was fresh and ready for sledding.

And much to Deb's and Aaron's delight, they had left a huge and steep hill of snow. This was apparently left over from the last time that they 'made' snow. See the snowmaker to the right? Though why with all of the snow we have been getting, they felt they needed to make snow, I'll never know. The children loved it.

Stephen being a mountain climber.

Lunar Eclipse

For once, we had clear skies for a big sky event. The children and I observed the start of the eclipse.

Then we went back inside for a while. Deb gave up interest and went to bed (it was about 9:30 pm at the time). The boys and I sat in the van and watched the moom being swallowed up by the shadow of the earth.

It was bitter cold (3 degrees!) but we stayed in the van until the moon was totally eclipsed. I couldn't get any pictures of that because there wasn't enough light in the sky for the camera to focus on.

We also saw Saturn very briefly. I don't seem to have the golden touch that my dh has with the telescope and I kept losing it. But I did see enough one time to see the rings and verify it as Saturn. But it was so cold, we soon gave up and came inside for hot chocolate. The moon is starting to come from behind the earth, but I am too cold to go back out and take any more pictures.

Cars, Beds, and Games

Last week during a trip to Target to buy candles, I spotted this great doll bed for half price. And since Deb had been using a tool box for her doll's bed (can you tell she only has brothers?), I bought it for her. It has a trundle bed too so four dolls can sleep in it.

Nathan and Stephen got out the chess set this past weekend and had a lively game.

On this Monday's woodworking class, the boys completed their race cars and the trucks that transport the race cars to the track. Next we have a lot of painting to do.

Come Ski with Me

Last Friday, my dh decided to groom the trails so that I could cross country ski better. And since we had about 12-15 inches of snow on the ground, it was well worth it. This is what it looked like before we started out.

He plowed and groomed while I skied behind him. At first he only had to use the backblade.

But once he got into the woods, he found that he had to plow snow with the plow and use the backblade.

Since the going was a little slower than usual, I was able to take some good winter pictures.


And here is what the trail looked liked when the grooming was complete.

A Blog for Brother Mike

I had time on Friday to take some cool winter pictures in the woods. We had just gotten another 2 inches of fresh snow on top of what we already had gotten. So Mike, these pics are for you.

Waiting for the Summer

Waiting for the childrenDeer Crossing
The Sign of the Beaver
Skis and Sun

A Snowshoeing Adventure

We are taking a nature class at our local nature center. This month the topic was snowshoeing. We learned why snowshoes work and then we went on an hour long hike. Here is Aaron, the ninja snowshoe expert.

First we went outside and learned to walk and turn and back up. Deb's feet were a little too small so our teacher put some fuzzy hats over her boots to make up the room in her shoes. It worked great, though it looked a little funny.

We walked into the woods and measured how deep our shoes went into the snow (about 2 - 4 inches depending on the person) and then we measured how deep the snow was (about 12 inches). I was surprised that our shoes went in so far. I had thought that they would stay on the top better. Turns out that the shoes help keep you on the top of snow that has been slightly packed (by other walkers) but in new fresh snow, they sink in a little bit. Still it is much better than walking through 12 inches of snow.


Aaron is practicing walking around a tree in this picture.


Deb and I on our snowshoes. Before Deb started to tell me that she was so tired.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day, my dh and I made a special dinner for ourselves after the children were in bed. We started with a sparkling Cava and baked brie with herbs. Notice the great fire in the fireplace in the background.

My dh making the main course.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Arborio Rice. I had also made a roasted pepper salad the day before which takes a day for the flavors to meld. Notice the Periodic Table of the Elements placemat peeking up from Stephen's chair. It is currently his favorite placemat.

Dessert was a Sour Lime and Lemongrass Granita.

Another picture of the great fire. Plus the new candles and candle holder for the mantel piece.

Amazing icicles

Today is a warm (relatively speaking) day for February and the snow on the roof of the chicken coop is sliding slowly down. Look what it did to the icicles on the end of the roof!

The tip of the icicles are actually pressing into the window...


... and the side of the coop.

A view down the tunnel.


More cool shots.