All the Other Bits of Fun

This post has all the other fun little happenings that didn't have a home elsewhere.

The first sleepover of the break was Kennedy, she and Juliet were on their tablets within two minutes of walking in the door!

While picking out their designated gift (each child gets a sibling to buy for at Christmas, paid for by me) the twins quickly selected their gifts, and were playing with some wooden letters while Alice continued shopping.

While out thrift store shopping at the MSU surplus store, my mom and I saw a bunch of writing utensils at the bottom of one of the bins on the free porch!  She tested a few of them at random, and despite the 20F temperature, they all worked! So, we collected all we could see.

Once we finished shopping, I came home to get ready for a sub job, and tried to test and sort each one, but ran out of time.  So, I had to finish my sorting once I got home.  |About 75% of the tools worked!

I offered all of the children whatever they wanted for their teachers, but no one wanted to carry them up to school. = (  So, I bagged them, and gave the highlighters and dry erase markers to the twins' teacher, and put the others in the staff room.  I've since collected the rejects, and gave them to Kirsty to let Zoey pick through!  I'm glad they didn't just toss them, but I can't believe that they went into the free area without attempting to sell them.  Of course, it could be that they don't sell well, or it takes too long to sort, test and price them.  The ones that didn't work, William and I took down to the recycling receptacle at UofM.

Emily is getting new Crocs for Christmas, but her final week of school, a hole broke through in her old ones.  Her new ones hadn't yet arrived, or I would have let her open them, so duct tape it is!

One of the regular rummage sale churches hosts a 'nicer' rummage sale in December each year too.  My mom found a school memories book for Grace. I almost didn't get it, because the proportions were different than mine and Emily's, but considering how much time and care she put into filling hers out, I was glad that I did!

We had to pull out several years' worth of school pictures, and since she and Juliet wear the same thing each year, it was trickier than when Emily and I did it for her book a few years ago.

I could only find larger ones from third grade, so ended up scanning and printing a replacement for the book.  It looks okay, and she refused to let me use Juliet's picture, for some reason?  But, during our homeschool years, we didn't have any pictures professionally taken, so we used first day of school pictures in hers and Emily's.

Grace was showing hers to Juliet, who has not yet asked for one, but I think she might eventually, so please let me know if you see one!  Emily tends her own, with minimal help from me (we just have to track down the photo corners each year!!!  And we are now keeping them in the senior sleeve of Emily's book, so we know exactly where to find them from here on!)

On the same day as the 'nicer' rummage sale, my mom and I went up to a consignment store in Okemos.  We went on the perfect day, because they were having a fill a bag sale in the basement, and complimentary lunch, since it was the first Friday of the month!

We will be back for sure!

After three, or four, or maybe even five winters, Juliet's adorable little set was just too small for her.  The sleeves were halfway up her forearm, and her ankles were clearly visible.  I mended a few holes that had formed, then we donated the set to the love clothing center. My mom told me that it was good timing, as they were doing a coat only day that weekend!  We sure will miss you, purple polka dots!

Billy bought me these, Piper's Sandals' when Emily was a toddler, so maybe the birthday right before William was born?  They've held up well, and each year, I coat them in leather lotion before putting them away for the winter.  The soles were looking a little sad, so it was time to send them in.  I've never done this before, but according to their literature, they keep your footprint when they refurbish them, so you don't have to break them in again!

I'm hoping to do a before and after with this, and my tracking info says that it was delivered, but as my check has not been cashed, and I haven't heard any news, I just have to believe that I will get them back in time for spring!

Short Wednesdays are a great time for a playdate with Heleena!

Oh, dishwasher.  They got it fixed pretty fast, but I'm always glad we get the five-year warranty!

To celebrate Billy's new job, we went out to Arby's to celebrate!  And, we used the ice cream money from Enisi so that everyone could get a shake! = )

So far, I'm the only one in the family who's gotten to meet the Olmstead's new goats, but they sure are cute!

Our leaf raking this year was a little lacking, as we only did it twice. The first time, the twins built a 'cave' inside this pile.  I think Grace is the one you can actually see here, but they are both in there.

Grace Crocker (b. 2014)

Name Art, 2024

Goldfish on Cafeteria Table

50.8 cm x 20.32 cm (20 in  x 8 in)

Everyone had to help for five minutes, and we got so much done!  Of course, once you were out there, you wanted to finish your section, so the twins made sure their section was particularly leaf-free!

But it was a lot of leaves!

Kristy and I went out thrift shopping this past week, and found a new amazon pallet place to visit.  We went on $2 day.  Most things were a little pricy, but they don't allow shopping baskets or bags, so you can only buy what you can carry (and of course you can go as many times as you want, but it keeps it more fair!)  But I digress, we both found some good deals, then went over to the retail side and got a few more goodies!

My favorite find was this dancing graduation llama!  I bought a single one, because it reminded me of our Falalallama that we put out at Christmas each year. and I thought we could put it out at each graduation. 

But, after a lunch with Billy, I went back on $1 day (Tuesday) and they still had plenty of them, so I bought one for each of mine, and one for each of Haley's kids.  Since Coyt has already graduated, I didn't know if he wanted one or not, but I figured for a dollar, we could find someone to give it to if he didn't.   I also bought a few other items that I wouldn't pay $2 for, but was willing to dish out the $1. ; )

I took out all the batteries, so that they wouldn't expire and leak in the years between now and graduation.  So, Sarah has a whole stock of singing llamas in her basement now!  lol.  Thank you Sarah!

later days

Outside

Most days this time of year, it hurts to be outside, so the pictures are fewer and further between.  We did have a few good pictures of nature this round though!

Grace really liked the sky after we finished our robotics day, so she was the one who took this picture.

The moon peeking out on the same day.

The bush right outside of our kitchen window had lots of berries this year, and the birds came visiting often!  But on the day of our first sticking snow, we had lots of visitors!

 The berries are gone now, and so are the birds*. = (  Hopefully I'll get to see them again soon!

later days

*Yesterday I saw several groups of geese flying north!!!

Crafts and Food Creations

I present a collection of creations from the past few months.

Grace and Juliet's friend brough a Nutella uncrustable to school, so they were making some of their own!

Alice's sandals were looking a little worse for the wear, so she painted them to give them new life.  She used acrylic paint, and didn't use any sort of finishing product, so they've slowly been flaking off.  I felt super lucky that an ebay search found the same size and brand, in white! So she'll have a new, better looking pair, waiting for her on Christmas morning!

The twins decorated some cute little pumpkins at church, so we set them on the stairs next to our garden pumpkin.  When we decorated for Christmas, we gave them to Brenda to bring home for her birds.

Emily's friend Gabby had a birthday party, so I made some wrapped earbuds and and embroidered zipper bag with her favorite character, and gave Emily $5 to buy goodies from the dollar tree to fill it.  I think it turned out to be a pretty decent gift!

Someone found a tiny orange inside their big orange!

Grace learned how to make rice krispie treats using the microwave, so she's made several batches so far!

I broke the bottom part of my apothecary jar that we had candy in.  The box we used as a stop gap measure was too big, and pushed my electronic picture frame out, so I had to find something quickly.  I found this vase (75% off) at the VOA when Kristy and I went out shopping last week, and the lid fits pretty well.  At least now I have time to look for a permanent replacement, without being annoyed, and my frame is in its rightful place.

I think I've incorporated more of our crafts into other posts this round, so this post is shorter than usual!  I've also been spending a decent portion of my 'crafting' time repairing holes in various items of clothing.  Thankfully it's out of desire to continue using things we already have, and not replacing them, and not because we have no choice.

I'll try to take some pictures of repairs for the next round to include!

later days

Christmastime

We decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving dinner each year, so our season is short, but we tend to be so busy, that it isn't such a bad thing.

I saw a cute little video online of someone wrapping their toilet paper, and I wanted to decorate our toilet paper too!  I didn't have the fancy patterned paper that they used in the video, but I liked our little candy cane toilet paper towers. = )

My mom helped me pull a years' worth of mostly thrifted Christmas presents from Sarah's basement, and it was more than I anticipated. = O

These were most of the squishmallows.  We pulled the ones with tags for the girls to gift to their friends for Christmas. The VOA that I bought them from informed me that they were donated by Claire's at the mall, since they weren't selling very well. I also set aside the Halloween ones that accidentally got mixed in with the Christmas bags. 

Billy was invited to his company's Christmas party at a bowling alley, despite only having worked there for a few weeks.  It was nice to meet some of his coworkers!

The set up was really cool, there were lanes in the party room!  And a private buffet/bar area!

Billy and I bowled with his coworkers Wendy and Sarah, and Sarah's significant other, Don.  I won game one, but our second game was cut short, but as Sarah was in the lead, we declared her the winner.

It was a nice evening.

Emily was helping me cook dinner earlier in the week, and I didn't hear her ask about the tomatoes, and she was already halfway through cutting up one of my Roma tomatoes, before I saw what she was doing. =- (  I feel like I was able to recover it for a salad display for my mom's meeting though!

Usually, the day I get the molasses in my Kroger order, Grace is after me to make the gingerbread houses.  This year though, without that prompting, it was Christmas Eve before I made time to make them!

We had a diminished supply of molasses, since we used it for the St. Lucia cakes at Alice's band concert, but the dough held well, it was just not as sweet. had Alice helped me make the dough the night before, so that we wouldn't have to wait for it to solidify in the morning.  Even so, it still took hours to make, because of the wait time between each round for the mold to cool back down.

One the gingerbread was done, and the icing* whipped up, the fun could begin!

Emily went with her bff Abby to see Santa.  Her mom sent me the pictures, and I love all of them!

I feel like this year has been just the right amount of festive!

later days

*Michigan is switching to requiring all eggs sold in grocery stores to be cage free, so the past two grocery orders, they haven't had eggs. = 0  So, we stretched a single batch of icing for two houses, because my egg stash is running low.

edit 12-30-28: added in the gingerbread houses, since we didn't make them Christmas day.

Band Concerts

At almost the end of marching band season* Alice's band played all of their marching songs, one more time, in the auditorium.  It kind of doubled as a senior recognition and awards night.  Their songs had the twins dancing in their seats, but it was loud!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice and I had a couple of exchanges when trying to decide what she should bring to the Christmas concert reception.  She wanted to bring some edible 'coal' but as we needed half the ingredients and a new kitchen tool to make it, she settled on St. Lucia cakes.  The day of, she didn't feel like making them though. = (

We had all of the ingredients on hand, but I did not use enough spray on my first batch, and it took me so long to clean out the tiny little cake molds by hand!  On subsequent batches I used plenty of spray, and they slid right out, allowing for a much faster turn around time.  I had to fend of my family, but made around 120 to share.

There were sooooooo many treats at the reception, we ended up bringing home at least half of them, but our family made quick work of them, and they were gone by the following evening.

The morning snow made things quite slippery, so school was out for all five of them, but the concert was still on.  It was a slow drive there, in the dark, but the roads were manageable.

William spent his day completing missing math assignments, but finished his last page before we came home!  

The twins brought some fun things to do while waiting.

Alice made a cute little Santa hat for her clarinet.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily and William's concert was delayed a week, and occurred on a terrible night for driving.  There was a light rain coming down, and then the temperature dropped below freezing, and the roads were slick and icy.  We saw a van that had slid off of the interstate, so I was going slooooooooooooow.

Once we got there, I called Billy and told him not to come, because it wasn't worth the risk.

The 7th/8th grade band is about half the size of the beginning band this year!  

I sat where we did last year, which was a mistake, because William is in the beginning band, and was way across the gym. = (

Taking some picture of Emily with her friends. = )

But when it was time for my pictures they were both so tired. lame.

Super proud of all three of my band members!!!

And since Alice didn't come this year, there were no after concert snacks. = (

later days

*excepting Silver Bells, which happened the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Snowy Dentist Trip

Billy started his new job on December 2nd, and our insurance also started December 2nd, however, we weren't in the system yet, so I had rescheduled all of our early December appointments, but only rescheduled to late December for this one.  And, of course, this would be a snowy, gross day to drive half-way across the state!

I picked William up an entire hour earlier than usual, which is hilarious, because he had an early release at 11, which is the normal time I collect him for a 1pm appointment in Ann Arbor.  I don't have any regrets though, I would rather be terribly early, than running late.

We had enough time to walk over to the building with the recycling containers, (we bring writing utensils, batteries, and ink containers there to recycle,) and eat a leisurely lunch in the atrium! They've updated the museum since the last time we ate in there!  And they are working on the other side.

And, sadly, they did away with the medieval tooth worm display, and now have up retro dental info. = (

I was planning to make a crock pot meal for dinner (because after a long drive, I really don't feel like cooking,) but Billy vetoed that, and was going to order a pizza.  Well, since the roads were only okay, and the snow was falling again* we left Ann Arbor, with only a quick stop at the thrift store.**

Once we got close to Lansing, I had William message Billy to order the pizza.  Because we were so close, we needed to use up some time.  We did so by going through the car wash and stopping at Carl's to buy some root beer!  = )

The carwash has some colorful soap, to be sure!

We had no issues, and the only issue we saw was a car fire near Jackson, and it was on the opposite side of the interstate, so it didn't much affect us at all.

I told the dentist that we almost didn't come, but she was glad we did, and William got his appliance put on, and we have our next appointment scheduled!  No state park adventure this time.

later days

 *at one point in my drive, my hand started having the pins and needles, because I was holding the steering wheel so tightly.  Definitely a white knuckle drive!

**which I couldn't even enjoy, because the snow was coming down too hard, and I was concerned about our drive home.

12-22-24 backdated for continuity.

Nikolasstiefel

Unfortunately for me, Nikolasstiefel was on the same night as Alice's band concert, so after a prolonged bedtime, I was able to set out Nikolasstiefel treats.

On weekday mornings, the kids wake up in waves, so sadly, I don't have a picture of all of them holding their goodies, but I will say that everything disappeared pretty quickly, and was not left on the floor this year! ; )

Emily has been selling me her roblox gift cards, so that's why she has a google play, while everyone else has the roblox. I don't think she minds the cash though, and I have plenty of people to gift the roblox ones to!

Seeing all the lamentations about elf on a shelf, each year it seems, I'm glad for this simple tradition that the kids seem to love.

But, I was called out by TWO of them, because I forgot to put out the gold coins this year! oops.  I'll pass them out in stockings on Christmas morning.

later days

12-22-24 backdated for continuity.