Recapping February 2019

We blew bubbles and watched them turn to ice.

We measured snow depths.  We began dreaming of snow removal equipment.

We counted ourselves grateful for our snowblower and good health as we choked at the 6 figure price tags!

We measured each other.

We attended outdoor winter events... Ski-Joring.

We began attending a co-op school for the little boys.  They enjoy their art class and their science class.  

Miles continued to make culinary delights.

We discussed local history and Noble ancestry.

While waiting in town, as we tend to do a lot, we noticed these photos on the wall at the library and took in some local history while also learning that these are Pat's great grandparents on the ranch in cora.  They used to host Chief Nippwater and some braves each fall as they traveled through for hunting season. 

We had fun with our bear during long winter hours. 

We had moose sightings.  He woke from his nap and had a little nibble as we watched and waited for Duncan at the play practice.

Duncan began volunteering at the Senior Center.  Little boys and I also began going with the homeschool co-op. Miles began going for music hour on Saturday evenings and playing folk songs and southern spirituals.  

We had the Pinewood Derby!

We had a visitor for Daddy and Miles birthday!  Miles learned yet another song on the guitar.  Don't let his shorts fool you... It's February and it's freezing.  The groundhog emphatically guaranteed more winter!

We chopped firewood and burned firewood.  We kept the house toasty warm.

Miles wished we didn't keep it so toasty warm...  He claimed my bed was the coolest place that still had internet access in the house, so he took over my bed the moment I vacated in the morning.  

....I drank another 79 cups of hot cocoa.

Our Panic Room

This little room is 4' by 8'.  It has a sloping ceiling.  A door to the house and a door to the great outdoors.

It used to have a screen to the great outdoors.  

When we purchased the house it was referred to as 'the mudroom'.  We attempted to use it as such.

It is as far away from the front door as it could possibly be.  (not convenient)

It had open framing.. no drywall so just studs to put hooks on.

It came to be called the panic room because in the first few weeks that we were moving in I chose one afternoon to 'move' in to the mudroom.  

It was still early September and the weather hadn't really warranted the need of mudrooms.  The kids were not wearing jackets.  They only wore their sandals which all fit in a basket next to the front door. 

But we all knew....... Winter was coming!

I went out to the garage where everything was put until we needed it or until we could find space for it.  I found some boxes (yes multiple boxes) of boots, gloves, hats, scarves, snow pants, boot warmers, thick socks, balaclava's in all sizes!  (Three people in this house are giants and their winter clothing take up a lot of space!!)  In early September we attempted to outfit each person with everything they might need for that coming winter!  

Then after filling the kitchen with boxes and piles of winter gear on the 85* day, I began to set up a shelf and a coat rack inside the mudroom.  The shelf was fairly easy.  The coat rack had at least 20 parts.  I was in the small room that now had a shelf in it and began to assemble the coat rack.  

After about fifteen minutes of screeches of struggling to hold things in place and reach for the next part and have the first few parts come undone and fall apart regardless of my contortionist moves to keep it together, Miles called to me from his school desk.  

"Everything okay?"

"Oh just grand.  Nothing wrong here.  I'm just juggling the coat rack!"

Just then the entire thing tumbled down. 

I screeched in alarm.

"Don't panic.. I'm okay"

Ever so helpful, Miles came by and shut the door... "It's distracting us from our schoolwork... I'll just close the door and let you panic in peace."

He immediately opened the door again and flashed one of his big smiles.

"Your offer of assistance is so thoughtful!"

After some further struggles I managed to successfully install the coat rack and move all the gear into the mudroom.  Whew.

Later that evening I was in the room again still finding fine tuning ways to use the room and put a few more things away.  I heard...

Patrick -"Where's Mum?"

Miles - "She's in her panic room."

Regardless of it's use, it has been referred to as the panic room ever since.

It is no longer our mudroom.  It was a joke for a mudroom.  Winter gear comes in wet and cold.  If hung in the panic room it just froze solid.  It is just as cold in the panic room as it is outdoors.. just no wind.

When we tore down the wall and created the new living room, we also created a useful mudroom space.  Wet clothes dry and warm before they are needed again.  There is space for everyone to dress for outdoor activities at the same time!  There are places to sit to remove awkward winter boots.  There's enough space for extra winter gear, since the boys often want to go outside more than once a day and their winter gear gets thoroughly soaked each time they go out!  And as I may have mentioned... a few people in this house are giants... just one of them take up a lot of space!

We used the insulation from the old wall to insulate the panic room.  We hung an actual door to the outside.  We laid some carpet remnants on the floor.

We joked that we'd created a new bedroom!  A guest room!  A windowless bonus room!  Perhaps the boys could have a dedicated play space after all!!!  

The insulation in both the walls and the ceiling would make such a difference!  And it does!  Now when the outdoors is -25*, the panic room is only 3*.  

The house is 70*.  Unless you're near the wood stove... then it's just unbearable*.

So now it's a great pantry off the kitchen.  We recently made cupcakes for the Pinewood Derby.  They needed to cool before they could be decorated.  I put them in the panic room for 10 minutes. It was almost a flash freezer!

Lessons learned!!  If you put the crockpot out there overnight with leftover stew in it.. it will freeze... it will also crack the crockery!  If you forget that you put broth out there to cool so it can go in the fridge, it will freeze solid and you will have to thaw it before it can be put into a container.  If you go out there to find some rice in the new pantry... the cats may follow you and get closed in.  The strange scratching noise will freak you out from across the house when you are the only one still awake late at night.  So it will still be known as the panic room.

Just chillin'

These race track side seats were grand.  The metal bleachers were just as cold and these were much more fun to slide down. 

Ski-joring. 

A frigid, but fun winter event. 

Niece on the horse, nephew on the skis.  They placed 2nd. 

Thankfully races are quick, since  the 3* high for the day was not my idea of a lounge about outside kind of day.

The difference of an inch

Duncan has surpassed miles...

The inevitable will happen here soon but until then Whittaker is clinging to his half inch lead.

These two are the only ones shorter than me.  

Time will fix that.

I will always be the one in charge though. 

Snow depth

The most asked question is, how much snow do you have?

Is this supposed to be a math equations... If a person in Wyoming owning 5 acres has an average snow depth of 14" and drifts on 35%  of the land of 40", how much cubic foot of snow accumulation can they claim?

Isn't it enough to say we're on day 109 of snow on the ground... and temperatures below 36*?

The snow accumulation doesn't matter... it's how long will it take to drive the 2.5 miles on the 'what used to be a dirt road', out to the highway without skidding off into a snowdrift or driving through drifts of snow that the wind keeps blowing... minutes after the snow plow clears the road.  And 'clears the road' is subjective.

 I sent the boys out to determine how deep the snow is.  On the sides of the driveway, Emerson's yellow tip of his hat can be seen.  He's standing in the driveway.  Whittaker is in their fort on the other side by the gate.

The snow isn't ideal for sculpting or snowmen, but they've created fortresses all over the property.  Duncan took the boys to try ice skating on the creek, but after walking in waist deep snow (on Duncan!!), they came to where they remember the creek being but it was so buried in snow they gave up trying to skate.

One thing the boys have done for fun is to blow bubbles when it's below 0*.  The bubbles freeze and slowly float to the ground where they just land.  They don't pop as easily when they're semi-solid. 

This is Duncan standing on the road leading into our house.  He is standing next to the speed limit sign... or where the sign normally is.  Obviously plowed road sides are deep piles of snow, but it's like driving through tunnels.  We can't see if someone is coming around the bend or approaching from a side street.

Snow blindness is a real thing.  I know skiiers need tinted goggles.. but I thought that had as much to do with keeping icy snow out of the eyes as much as the snow glare.  Apparently, driving on white roads, surrounded by white tunnels, with white cloud filled skies can cause difficulties in seeing where the edge of the road is... hence some people could end up in ditches while thinking they were driving on the road.  (I do all my own stunts!)

FYI... it's snowing as I type... not an unusual occurrence.  Snow comes an hour here and an hour there.  Generally we get an inch a day or night.  There is some amount of settling, melting and icing over, but the wind moves the snow around a lot.  Last night we had 6 inches.  That's the most in one night I think we've had.  According to old-timers.  It's either, a typical winter, or a light winter.  Then they refer to winters of -60*below with drifts up to 12' on both sides of the roads.  About every 5 to 7 years...  They think nothing of the roads being closed or someone saying they will come back to town in the spring but they have to stay close to home and keep the fires going to keep the pipes from bursting.

Duncan snowblows for us and a new elderly neighbour.  After an hour outside with two pair of gloves on he comes in with bright red hands that hurt they're so cold.  We've made little rice pillows that we can heat in the microwave and wear in our gloves.  Keep his hands warm for about 20 minutes now.  It's officially Emerson's job to set the timer when Duncan goes out and then warm a new set of rice pillows to send out for his hands.  He also warms his boots before he goes out.  As soon as he sees Duncan start to suit up he pops the heated rice bags into his boots.

I waited for the groundhog to predict an early spring... but I never saw him.  I've seen plenty of other wildlife.. but no groundhogs have made any appearances.

Against the Current

I've been walking laps at the track four nights a week while Duncan attends his many choral practices.  It's indoors and warm and open until 8pm.  There aren't many other options for me to do in town.  The library isn't open until 8 every night and I can only wander the small grocery store for so long before they'll start expecting to me stock the shelves or sweep.

Anyway.  On Wednesday evenings, everyone is in town and while we wait for the big boys to be finished with activities, we head to the rec center.  Patrick has been taking the boys swimming while I walk my laps.  The track overlooks the pool for a section and I wave.  They have the pool to themselves.  After many weeks, the lifeguard knows them by name and automatically turns on the water slide and water features for them.  The little boys had been asking me to swim with them.  I remembered my swimsuit the next week and off we went.

After a few minutes of playing... I noticed that the lazy river had a sign.

"28 laps = 1 mile"

hmmm.

I mulled a few minutes.  Then I headed to the lazy river.  "I'll just walk the one mile, then I'll be back to play."

After 3 laps, I decided I'd increase the difficulty level and turned around to walk against the current. 

It was decidedly more difficult.  At times I was pushing my entire body into the current and lifting my legs and I wasn't sure if I had even progressed an inch.  Sometimes I know that I actually lost ground and ended up going backwards.  I found myself using my arms to help propel myself into the current.  My breathing was laboured.  When I made it all the way around I was tired.  But, 28 laps = 1 mile.  So I continued. I had set a goal.

At lap 10, I paused to catch my breath.  Patrick and the boys came over.  They offered to join me.  The boys in their inner tubes simply floated away.  Patrick tried walking in front of me to ease the current but instead he found himself falling over and then an even stronger current hit me.

He's taller so more of him was out of the water than in and the resistance against the current was tough to walk against without putting all your body against it.  It wasn't much fun.  Even when he tried to walk on his knees... it really knocked him over then and then I was walking against the current and against a floating Patrick.  I told him thanks, but no thanks.  I kept inching along.

After 20 laps I decided that I was exhausted and it was taking forever and that while 28 laps = 1 mile, walking a mile against the current at one inch at a time was perhaps more workout than I had bargained for.

So as I completed that lap, I turned around.  I began to walk with the current.

OW!!!  OW!, ow, ow ow... ouch!!!

My feet hurt.  Walking with the current was vastly easier and I could go almost two feet with each step.. with each agonizingly painful step.  I paused and lifted my foot.  The entire ball of my foot was a blister and on one foot the blister had already scraped off and had exposed some very tender skin. 

I had not even noticed the pain as I was putting all my energy into walking against the current.  I was just having a great time knowing that I was working hard and exercising.  Now looking back ... it wasn't such a great time... and the workout had come at a high price. 

I'm a glutton for punishment it would seem since once Patrick saw my feet he asked why I was still walking. "I haven't completed 28 laps yet."

"The sign is just information.. you don't have to do 28 laps.  And your feet hurt!"

I tried walking on only my heels and then I fell over... What happened next was amazing.. Okay not amazing at all... should have been obvious but when you get caught up in your own way of thinking, you forget to rely on what is right in front of you sometimes.  It's a lazy river!  When I fell over, I lifted up my feet... and ...

I floated. 

I completed the last 7 laps floating along on my back.  My feet didn't endure any more abuse, I was lifted and carried by the same current that had caused me such difficulties earlier... I used my arms to guide me so that I didn't hit the walls during the curves, but it was almost effortless. 

Moral:
When walking against the current... wear water shoes and know when to float.


What we think is good and will make us happy, often has disastrous consequences... and we often don't realize the hurt we are causing ourselves until we remove ourselves from the situation and can see more clearly.  We also sometimes have to learn things for ourselves even when loved ones around us can see clearly that we are hurting ourselves and even advise us against doing those things that will continue to hurt us.  Remember that there is a path of ease set ahead of us that although we sometimes feel is restricting is actually freeing and can lift and carry us when we are hurt and have nothing less in us to give. 

Why did the Chicken cross the road?

To get to the Candy?

While that did happen..

He crossed the road to see the skeleton in the Ambulance on the street corner.

It was a fabulous Halloween.

He left a trail of feathers everywhere we went.  We obviously didn't attempt trick or treating in our neighbourhood.  One neighbour who wasn't even home wasn't terribly alluring.  We headed to town where we wandered the halls of the retirement center and visited with the elderly who were so excited to see the children parading through.  Far too much candy was amassed!  After that the chicken 'crossed the road' to the church parking lot where the community trunk or treat was happening.  The snow began then.... and the temperatures dropped dramatically.  (FYI.. it hasn't stopped snowing since...(I'm writing in February) and trunk or treating lasted about ten minutes)

And the wall came tumbling down

Walls of Jericho

The Berlin Wall

The Great Wall of China

These walls had great significance.  Both in their existence and in their demise. (except much of the China wall is still standing)

Our wall, not so much. 

In significance or in demise.  

It separated a space.  The largest space in the house.

We tried using the space as office (on the left), and bedroom (on the right) (which lacked in a fourth wall, a door or any form of privacy and could be seen from the front door.)

After some time living here and thinking things through we decided, (yes, I had a wild thought and told Patrick about this great project we should tackle!)

We knocked it down!

At first Miles was opposed.  "What!??  After all that time we spent painting the wall this summer?!  Both sides of it!??"  I was more than happy to remind Miles that painting walls was something he barely did any of.  So it was my time and effort that was being for naught.  He was a little more willing.  Then he realized he could knock it down!!  He was all in!  

His first attempt was a running sideways jump at the wall, but that just hurt shoulders.  They grabbed a crowbar, a hammer and a baseball bat and really went to town!

The little boys wanted a turn.

Patrick used his bare hands.. well he wore gloves so he used his gloved hands.

Noelle, supervised.

Duncan cleaned up.  He made many, many trips to the garbage.  He vacuumed.  He swept.  He shoveled. 

Then he hung around and watched as Patrick rewired the light switch.

Now we have a large enough space that we spend a great deal of time in together.  We don't overheat because we aren't next to the wood stove but we are still warm.  We can enjoy the views of the mountains, the snow falling and the birds coming to enjoy our feeders.

The office is still in relatively the same place just shifted over slightly.
Hopefully it means I'll be able to work on my myriad of projects while still knowing everything that is going on... since I can see into my bedroom, oversee the play area and living room, out the front door, into the mud / guest room and toward the kitchen from my desk chair.  Having wall is so overrated I tell you.  I'm rethinking our new house designs completely.

My bedroom traded places with the boys play area.

At first I missed their play space.  It really was ideal, but having an actual room for a bedroom has been nice.  Even if it doesn't have a door, or a closet or enough room to turn around...

It's for sleeping... and for Miles to escape to during the day to do school in what he deems the most comfortable (coolest) place in the house.  (He spends about 8 hours a day in there... which is often more hours than I spend in there at night... hmmm)

And what became of the old living room...
When we wanted enough seats for everyone we had to move a chair in front of the door .  We also couldn't stay in there more than 30 minutes without expiring from the heat.

It has been re-purposed as a fabulous mudroom!  A much needed mudroom I should say.  The only place to hang coats and the enormous assortment of boots and winter clothing was in the 'panic' room... Story for another day!  Needless to say it was small and on the other side of the house so extremely inconvenient.. oh.. and the same temperature as the great outdoors.  So wet clothes had to be hung around the house to dry before they could be put away otherwise they simply froze.

We did leave a work station in here so Miles could stoke the fire at 5am and get some school done before my bed became available.  We also found a shelf at the local thrift store that we turned into a day bed with storage under it.  So I suppose we even have a guest room of sorts!  Beautiful window views of the mountains and wildlife and also a view of the kitchen and front door!  Patrick and Miles offer an early morning wake up service so you'll never miss one of the gorgeous sunrises.  The fireplace is close at hand so you'll never be chilled... (likely overheat!)  there is no privacy whatsoever so you can get to know us all real personally.  Oh.. and there's a cut out between the room and the living room so you can even watch T.V. from your bed... if you like cooking shows and old victorian dramas... We don't actually have t.v. service.  The cats will warm your feet and pounce all over you if you choose to sleep in as it's a perfect spot to bird watch from and through out the night the neighbours cats choose our porch as the arena for some rousing cat fights!  It's a chance to have spotty phone service, no privacy, a small bed in the middle of the house and a shared dilapidated bathroom. 

I'll dust off the guest book... that is likely far too enticing for most to pass up!

A trip down South

A picture says a thousand words..

(So obviously more pictures in the blog is best!)

I've been told that if there aren't any photos to tell the story then it never really happened..

(I won't get all historical and logical on that since that would mean before photography nothing ever occurred...)

We have recently moved and found enjoyment in simpler times... including enjoying the moments of our lives completely.  Perhaps what I'm trying to say is... we took a trip to visit family and friends and it really did happen.. We just were so caught up in the enjoyment that we didn't snap any photos.  So before there were photos there were lovingly hand drawn pictures.  We've decided to try our hand at capturing memories the old fashioned way!

Oh.  except this one and only photo that I took of the boys from Sunday morning.  We stayed with some friends who had this great old pinball machine in their basement.  The boys were entertained for literally hours!  They are the ones who handed me the camera and said take a picture so we can remember.  

(They should perhaps be in charge of all photography in the future!)

Other memorable (in my opinion.. even more memorable) events that took place. 

The little boys and Duncan spent the first night having a sleepover with Caleb.  Caleb's new truck was exciting enough to want to go for more driving... after being in the car all day.
 

Duncan even joined him on a trip to the DMV to register the truck. 

Errands..  all the shopping that is unavailable in our little town. Groceries.. clothes... books..

We combined having lunch with a great visit with Uncle Jim and Lorrie.  We ate lots of Greek food and laughed and chatted.  It was delightful to catch up on all the news of family. Must visit more in future trips to Utah.  The dog.. Jackson was extremely excited for us to visit! 

We had two quick visits with Sarah.  Once on Saturday when we saw her new little car, met her friend C.J. and picked up her 'no longer wanted' items after she unpacked in her new place.  Then we met her again Monday as we headed out of town when we stopped for some cocoas for the road!

We made an extra little trip to Manti to see our friends in their new house.  Always too short a visit!  Always a fun time!!  Their house is in a state of remodeling and chaos... We felt right at home!!  The house is also .. a-Maze-ing.  hee hee.  We took a tour but still found ourselves turned around and lost!

The kiddos played games and games and more games in many different nooks and crannies of the house. (literally)

Snow Shoes

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Or

Where there are little boys and a barn full of empty boxes there's an abundance of creativity.