Winter:

It is SO COLD right now. It's barely passing zero during the days this week.


-So I have created my own winter sun. It's hard to capture just how much bright yellow light it casts. The school had a workshop this morning for Scandinavian window stars. It was fun -I went alone, and got some good socializing done with a few of my co-workers. I brought a giant latte, and talked way too much. I think I really like my new job.

I am enjoying decorating my dining room this year. This is the only space in our home where we are all together at once usually, so that's where I concentrate my efforts, and it really feels special -at least to me.

What else...oh yeah, Baby Zev has some new pants and a new hat which exactly match his unusual dark blue-grey eyes:

-And I have been growing the most delicious sprouts in my kitchen. They taste just like springtime.

Oh gosh:

Big boys:

-And big girls who have their own school bags:

*Sigh*

Finding Time:

I am almost two weeks into my new job here , and so far I like it pretty well. It is totally exhausting, but otherwise it fits pretty well into our lives. I am having to find ways to fit all of my home responsibilities into my day as well, and that is a tough one. Thank goodness for my borrowed crock-pot. I have to avoid the temptation to rush us all around, and allow time for my kids to do things in their way when they need to. This is helping everyone stay happy about all the changes.



Ray likes school. It's very cute to see her lining up with all the bigger kids to come in from recess, and to wash their hands, and to join hands around the table for our lunch blessing. I think we are fitting in pretty well. I miss having time to knit. I have so much other stuff to cram into the morning and evening, that my projects have fallen to the wayside. I have dishes in my sink more often than I'd like as well -and unfolded laundry. For a neat person this is distressing, but there are only so many hours in a day. I think this will work for us until spring, and then I will try to find a way to have the summer mostly off to spend with my kids.

At this point it looks like financially we've come back around to the idea of renting out our house, and moving into the little apartment over our garage. That will be a challenge spacially, but I don't really care about that part of it. When our tenant's lease is up next fall our house will have been on the market for FOUR years. It's time to realize that it's just not going to sell. So strange considering that there's nothing wrong with it, and it's priced a lot lower than what we paid. People have said the bedrooms are too small, and there's no "master" bathroom. Yikes -whatever. It's been a great house for us and several other families over the last hundred or so years. These days people want more. Feh!

So as long as we can somehow add a washer and dryer to the apartment we can survive out there. It needs other things as well, but it'll do. I'm ok with stuffing us into two rooms. It's actually a pretty nice space -a converted barn, really. It can be cold, so we'll have to upgrade the heating a bit, and insulate better. The problem of course is finding cash to do all of this, and getting it all done before next winter. Additionally, we need a reliable tenant for our house. Sigh. It'll all work out somehow. It always does.