November - December Update

 I've been thinking I need to update my blog now for a couple of months.  Seems there are always more pressing things to do, but before I forget what we've been up to, I best write it down.

The Windstorm of 2015.  It was pretty huge.  Luckily we didn't have any damage to our house, but we did lose power for almost a week.  It was fun at first and since we have gas fireplaces, we were able to have heat.  School was cancelled for 3 days, which again was fun at first, but then got a little tedious with out power.  The kids had a great time as they went to friend's houses who had power, but Balin was out of town the whole week and I found that once it got dark at 4pm, I found it a little challenging to keep myself occupied.  We all went to bed most nights around 6:30 as there wasn't much else to do.  I thought it was pretty fitting that Sam has been studying the early Americans, who lived without all the luxuries we do. Sam got a taste of what that world might look like the week the power was out.

Being the "doer" that I am, I thought it was a perfect time to strip and refinish the dining room table.  Not a good idea when you have no heat/electricity so you can't open the windows or run fans.  It looks great but needs a couple of more coats of stain, which can wait till spring.

Sam by the fireplace with headlamp, Perrin with flashlight, doing their homework.

I figured the book "do less" was an appropriate read for the power outage.  My room was actually pretty bright with all the candles.

We're 3 months into school and the kids have been really enjoying it.  Not only are they getting all A's & B's, but they haven't complained once about getting out of bed at 6am and heading to school.   And we all know that if the kids are doing well, the family is doing well.

Sam's class has been studying the early american history so for a celebration we had a Pilgrim Thanksgiving Celebration at Ross Point Conference Center in Post Falls.  All the kids dressed up in period clothing and we enjoyed doing various period appropriate activities and crafts.  We enjoyed a communal Thanksgiving Dinner together and after dinner the students recited from memory their character's part in the original settlement of Jamestown.

 At a party at the neighbor's house, I met a woman who told me about Sheepadoodles.  My life will never be the same.  They are a cross between Old English Sheep Dog and a poodle.  Turns out there's a breeder right here in Spokane!  I took the kids there one day after school to get their puppy fix - hard not to take one home.

With the cold weather settling in and Christmas around the corner, Perrin started in on her need to decorate for the Holidays.  Even before Thanksgiving she was begging to get all the decorations out and put them everywhere.  I conceded and let her and her friend Brooklyn put the tree up (did it without my help!) and then decorate the downstairs.  Meanwhile I busted out my wreath machine and made a couple of wreaths for the house and put up some Christmas lights.  It's a good thing we did it before Thanksgiving because we lost all desire for decorating after December 10th.  It's such a short season to decorate for and thus I have a hard time expending a ton of energy towards it.  Especially since we're going to be up in Sandpoint for the holidays.

For Thanksgiving, we headed down to chilly Sun City West to spend the weekend with my family.  My brother and his son Alex flew in and my sister, Sophie and Jack came down from Prescott.  We had a great time going to the zoo, eating lots of food, and going to the American Girl Doll store.  We celebrated Mom's 70th birthday by going to a comedy show and making a memorable dinner at home.  Everyone had a great time and we're looking forward to our next gathering.

 Since coming home from Phoenix we've just been hanging out, doing nothing uber exciting.  Balin and I got a treat when a girlfriend took both Sam and Perrin to spend the night with her kids Grace and Sam.  Balin and I cooked up a delicious salad, bottle of wine and good conversation.  Rarely are we home without kids so we went downstairs and watched a movie next to the fireplace and Christmas tree.

Our Schweitzer season began last weekend with a great start.  There's been a ton of snow dropping so I invited a couple of girlfriends from the Oaks to go up Thursday night so we could grab some fresh snow on Friday morning.  We had a great time talking, eating & snowboarding.  Definitely something we should do again.

As they were leaving Balin was coming up with the kids and dogs.  The snow continued to fall and we all settled into our mountain routine.  Perrin's thrilled to be seeing her dear friend Alex Neupert every weekend once again.  Sam is excited to play in the snow and ski with his parents, though we're hoping he can find a mountain buddy soon.  Balin and I are excited to go out for some fresh powder and then come home for lunch, followed by a siesta.  It's so good.  On Sunday the kids were out sledding so Balin and I decided to pop open an alcoholic beverage and go play on the kids' Wii.  It was pretty special bonding time.  Looking forward to the rest of winter.

Lunch on the mountain! Just missing the wine.

Yogi loves looking at the window at all the exciting things!  He is a huge fan of snow!