How Many Polar Vortexes Can a Winter Have?

It is a bit chilly here again...wind chills way under 0 and snow on the way.
Not too much to share. I have had an awesome couple days thrifting. Had some great scrapbook luck on Monday and a huge Christmas stocking score today. Since March is only a couple days away, I am waiting to list until then. Have had a couple sales each day.
I volunteered yesterday and got to hear some of the completed stories. I went up to Dean's today to get my baby fix for the week.
Mom and Dad came for dinner. We had soup, a ton of veggies, chick'n patties, salad, and fruit. We played Scategories for a while before watching the Middle.
Hope everyone stays warm and safe this weekend. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

700th Post

So, a few of you can now say you have read 700 of my posts.
Thursday and Friday I didn't really leave the house. I got busy listing all the clothes I have around the house. I did get about 75 items listed over the 2 days. I was grateful that we did not take in any water during the rains on Thursday. Nick and I picked Ellie up from yearbook and we ran to Mariano's to pick up a pizza and grab some stuff for breakfast. Friday evening Ellie had a rec night at school. Nick and I went to Costco to pick up some things. He asked if we could have a movie night while Ellie and Rob were out. We came home and watched Free Bird. We picked Ellie up from school afterward and came home for bed.
Saturday morning we went to the bank to deposit the kids change jar. I ran to salvation for a couple minutes and found a couple things. Ellie had been working on her Google doodle entry and she put in some time on Saturday. When Rob got home from working we drove up to see Dean and Lauren. The kids were very excited to meet their new cousins. It was funny, they each had their favorite - it was good they were different. It was a nice visit and great to see so much happiness.
Rob worked a bit this morning. I did laundry. Ellie continued her doodle. Nick watched some movie and played with legos. This afternoon, Mom, Jo and I went to Margaret's bridal shower. We picked Kate up and drove down together. It was nice to visit on the ride. It was nice to have some girl time. Rob took the kids mini golfing and for ice cream. I came home and we played for a bit and then got ready for bed.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Let's Just Say Frozen

Ok, ok, forgot to blog...frozen brain. Let's see if I can recall the happenings these past couple days. Monday morning I got the kids off onto the bus and traded cars with Rob. His car needed an oil change and brakes. I walked out to the car and found ice at the end of the walkway and quickly found the ground. I drove up to Bredemann with books to read while I sat to wait. I got to read about cool things we might want to do on our spring break vacation. Turns out that it was only an oil change needed - brakes are at about 50% and they said I would be prematurely spending money on them. It was massively snowing, blizzard like snow when I left. I needed to get some groceries, though. I stopped at Trader Joe's and should have made a list of what I really needed but didn't. I got out to the car was driving away and remembered I didn't get what I really needed, chocolate milk boxes for Nick's lunches. I ended up hitting Meijer. I got home and put groceries away. I took a shower to have the heat hit my knees. I decided it was time to begin our taxes and spent the afternoon organizing and beginning to input data. I walked down to get Nick from the bus and was inside a fierce snow globe. My hair was white and covered about an inch thick of snow when we came home. In under 2 hours about 3 inches of snow had fallen. It stopped eventually but it was so weird.
Tuesday it got warm enough to begin to melt...how truly, weird. Rob didn't have to go into to work until noon so we went out to breakfast. We tried Alexander's downtown...we had a really nice breakfast. I went to volunteer and Rob went to get his haircut. I went out with Mom and Dad afterwards. We went to Hallmark and the dollar store. It was about 50* by the time the kids got home from school. They finally had packing snow and wanted to play outside. They spent about an hour building a snowman. They were very proud of it. They came in and had cocoa and took hot showers.
Wednesday I got the kids on the bus and headed out to Dean and Lauren's. I was watching Savvi when they took Kenzie to the doctor. It was nice because Savvi was a bit more awake and we got to look at each other for a while before she knocked out. I finally got to cuddle with Kenzie. I left after lunch and was able to stop at Goodwill on the way home. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We had chick'n sandwiches, fruit, green beans, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. Mom baked cookies for dessert. The kids entertained us with a dance recital and then we watched the Olympics for a bit.
Today - we need to build an ark because it is to be about 50* again and suppose to rain all day. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Sunday

We ventured north today to Milwaukee. Mom, Dad, Jo, Ole, Tony, and Matteo were here to start our journey early this morning. We drove to La Estacion for brunch. It was busy - we have never really had to wait there that long for a table. We all filled our bellies. We went to the Domes to see the train exhibit. It was Steampunk themed this year. We saw some interesting people. There was face painting and a craft. It was a nice day to be together and out and about. We drove back home and Ellie finished her homework, Rob did some editing, I tried to finalize our spring break reservations, and Nick watched a video.
Thursday I got the kids off to school and went up to spend the morning with Lauren and Savannah. I got to hold her for a couple hours and feed her. Looking forward to spending more time with them. I came home and hit a couple thrift stores on the way home. Rob worked on Thursday night. Ellie had yearbook club after school. The kids and I had dinner together.
Friday was Valentine's Day. I did my party prep in the morning. The party in Nick's room went great. We made bookmarks, pictures, love goggles, decorated cookies, and played bingo. Rob worked in the evening so the kids and I went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered El Famous and had a nice dinner together before heading home.
Rob had to work on Saturday so the kids and I were trying to think about what we should do... we called Jo to see if they would come over for a play date. The kids loved playing together and really had a fun time. We went to Target in the afternoon and checked out clearance. We had an appetizer party for dinner...a late Valentine party.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Valentine's Day

Early Valentine greetings since it would be late if I didn't post 'till Sunday.
Monday morning the bus was running late so I drove the kids to school and went over to Unique. I found a couple things. I stopped at Target after to pick up a couple things for the school party. I went to the city Unique and left with some nice things. They had he are light up pins for about a dime a piece...I stocked up for school and neighbor kids. I did some grocery shopping at Tony's on the way home. I cooked in the afternoon. I made a pan of macaroni and cheese and a pot of tortilla soup. I packaged 1/2 up to take over the Dean and Lauren. After school the kids and I went to Target so nick could pick out his Valentine cards.
Tuesday morning I went in and volunteered. We finished the last of the stories to be published. I came home and baked cookies for Valentines Day. I made peppermint bark brownies, butter cookies, oatmeal cherry chip, and triple chocolate chip. Nick and Ellie were happy to be my taste testers when they got home. We made recycled crayon hearts for school instead of candy. Ellie and I went out to try to find her new gym shoes. We were successful...her size 9 foot. We picked up Chinese on the way home.
Today was $1 red/pink tag day at Unique. I scored big time. 30 items for $30.00 - winter coats, sweaters, dresses, suits. I came home and cleaned up a bit and did some listing. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We had veggie soup, cauliflower and potatoes, burgers, and fruit salad. We had a lovely spread of cookies and Mom brought some vegan cookies and cupcakes for the kids.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Sunday

It doesn't seem possible that it is already Sunday! I just had this entire post typed and I was trying to edit something and it completely erased...not happy.
I am summing the days up because I am not typing them out again. I have had a couple great thrifting days. The kids had a 1/2 day on Friday and we went to see the Lego Movie. It was funny and we all enjoyed it. I have had an awesome couple days of sales. I listed 3 sweater sets and all 3 sold within 48 hours for $100 each! Mom and Dad offered an overnight to Ellie and Nick on Friday. They watched the Olympics and had fun. Saturday when I went to pick them up - I brought their snow clothes. They packed the deck stairs to sled down. They had an awesome time, so much fun. The snow was so deep that Nick was having trouble getting up when he fell down. I think the Olympics inspired him because he was flipping backwards down the stairs. We came home and the kids went out to play again.
This morning we were the parents for Sunday School at church. After church we met some friends for some sledding down the hill. It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. It was Nick this morning. He was brave, he came down the hill with blood rolling from his nose and mouth - he sled right into a tree. We cleaned him up and we got on the road. Ellie had helped me bake some muffins and we went to Dean's to drop them off. The kids and Rob got to peek at Savannah. We came home and Ellie and I did some reading before heading to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom had a Valentine celebration - pasta, salad, broccoli and cauliflower. Cookies for dessert. The kids loved it because it has been about a month since they have been able to play with Tony and Matteo.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Welcome to the World

Ellie woke me up early Monday morning with a headache. It was instantly clear she was not going to school. I took Nick to the bus but it wasn't there and I drove him to school with our neighbors. I did listings while Ellie watched movies on the couch. By the afternoon she felt better and came in to help me research and list. I got Nick from the bus and we waited for Rob to come home. Rob stayed with Ellie while I took Nick for his haircut. When we were walking from the car, I saw a man pacing inside the salon...it was Ole. Ole has become the "creepy" man who is much too old to be getting his haircut as Kid Snips without his child there. I got a pretty exciting text as we were leaving...Dean and Lauren were on their way to the hospital to have their twins. We got the text later in the evening that Savannah and Mackenzie were the newest members in the family. Congratulations to the Henderson's.
Tuesday I got the kids to school and started to build more lego sets. I volunteered at school. I came home and started a huge pot of veggie soup for dinner. Nick got off the bus with a very red eye and a hoarse voice. We didn't give him a shower after the haircut and I think he got a tiny hair in his eye. We did homework and had an early dinner. Ellie went to get some more noodles from the fridge and a quart container of soup fell out and broke. It was gross and a pain to clean up...it was everywhere.
Today Rob got the kids off onto the bus and I got my packages ready to mail. This morning was a silent re-opening of Avenues Thrift. I stopped there and their prices have gone up. I did find a couple new sweaters, some pancake molds, and a scent burner. I visited with Dean and Lauren this afternoon at the hospital. We had a nice visit and I even got to see Savannah as I was leaving. She was being discharged from nicu and was on her way to the floor nursery. We got another deluge of snow today so we decided to go over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and save them the trip here. We stayed for a little visit before heading home to watch the Middle.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Year of the Horse

So if you know our family...you know that we celebrate any ol' time we can. Happy Chinese New Year!
Thursday morning I went to Costco with Mom and Dad. Replenished some basics for around the house. We stopped into Super H to pick up some things for the celebration. I really have nothing to say except, "Fresh Fish." I despise the smell in that store.
Friday morning Rob got the kids off to school before he left. I did some thrifting and it was the start to my great find weekend. I found some great neckties, craft kits/supplies, puzzles, toys and more. I got home in time to research a bit before getting Nick from the bus. Ellie came home and asked if she could have Catherine come over to play. They played for a while and then we went to Cici's for dinner.
Saturday morning we awoke to snow a plenty. We divided and conquered. Rob took Ellie and Nick to the church winter carnival. They were all set up to volunteer for a bit of the time and then they would have time to play the games, too. I was off to pick up a massive lot of Legos I found on craigslist. When I saw the ad, I quickly researched a couple of the set numbers and found that one set alone, if complete, would pay for the lot. I hit Salvation in Skokie on the way home and was able to find some shirts for Ellie. I stopped into Unique, 50% off sale. I walked in and they were just putting a Monopoly pinball machine behind the counter. I got it - I think it is brand new in box, the box seems factory glued shut. I got home and began building my moneymaking lego set. Rob and the kids got home soon after. We spent all afternoon completing the set. The good news, the actual lego bricks are complete, I am missing a couple of the figures. Ellie and Rob helped me and we color sorted all the rest of the bricks. We picked up dinner from Dengeos.
This morning Rob and Ellie went to church and Nick and I went to Mariano's. At 9 in the morning, they were crowded as people prepared for the game. We came home and I helped Nick build a lego set he wanted to keep. Ellie and Rob came home from church. I saw an ad for a moving sale in Skokie that had a specific brand scrapbook stuff. Ellie and I took a ride and I scored! After some negotiating, I bought her entire supply and it will be paid for when just one item sells. We went to Mom and Dad's for family Sunday. Mom had a Chinese spread - spring rolls, rangoon, lo mein, fried rice, mixed veggies, sweet n sour chicken. Almond cookies and sticky rice cake for dessert. It was nice to see the sunshine for a bit.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree