January Blahs

 

Seems like there is always a week in January that is utterly blah. That was this week; so normal it hurt. We worked on taking the practice state tests just to get a feel of what we need to work on the next few weeks. This week the boys took the entire ELA tests, next week we will focus on the math tests. Phillip will also have to take the science test. Evelyn agreed to take the IRI reading test for a milkshake. Amelia is settling into her second semester classes. Apparently, we have a week of winter break coming up! Yipee! We might head down to Utah for more cold weather. 

Evelyn made herself a golden beard out of masking tape during Temple Table this week. She was all hunched over then popped up with the beard. Totally squashed the spiritual moment but the laughter was worth it. Phillip ended the lesson early by bending one of my new chairs in half. Thankfully, it was bent back but I'm sure the structural integrity is compromised. 

Most days we stay in our pajamas since we rarely leave the house anymore except for the Ostlers...they wear PJs as well. Josie and Evelyn now have koala ears and tails. Each morning I attach tails to pj'd bums for a day of koala-ing. Josie really wants her own baby koala...like a real one. Well, that's a no go. I found Josie perched on top a pile of cushions with a crown, koala ears, a squishmallow, blanket, and a scepter holding court. 

Amelia finally got her slime order from Kawaii Slime Company. We were all delighted with the cute box, packaging, and especially the awesome slime. Josie now wants her own box of slime for her birthday. I think Josie wants everything. I introduced Amelia to Korean marble soda. It tasted like juicy fruit and sprite! Amelia got a cute new chloe (hoodie), I looked over at her to find her in super spy hoodie mode. She looked very distinguished with her nose sticking out.   

Nampa had a fair amount of rain, wind, and snow this week. The wind blew over the Ostler's grill and broke off a wheel. I was relieved the trampoline was still in our yard. Josie enjoyed 20 minutes in the rain with her cute galoshes and umbrella. We had one day with sun and slightly warmer temperatures. The kids had a veritable party on the tramp. Everett found two clamps he turned into gun weapons. 

Thursday I hosted Activity Days at my home. I invited the Primary Chorister to teach the girls a song to sing in sacrament meeting. We learned "We are Children of God" by Monica Scott. Sister Young was impressed we learned the song in less than 20 minutes! The girls played a rousing game of "guess what" and enjoyed muffins for a treat. 

Josie and I caught a bug this weekend. I was fighting a nasty sinus infection. I was able to fend off the worst of it keeping my sinuses dry with Sudafed. Josie is having a repeat of her nasty tummy virus she had a month or so ago. She is not keeping anything down, we're on hour 36 now with nothing staying down. I'm just religiously feeding her teaspoons of pedialyte. So stressful. Our prayers are with Jana (and family), Jeffrey, Sally, Shawn, and those others in our family who came down with COVID. Someone at Grandpa's funeral unknowingly contracted COVID and got several people sick. Jana is having quite the time since Rudy left for two weeks, it's not easy to hole up with two small kids and seasonal depression. My heart goes out to her. 

Justin had a terribly busy week. We hardly saw him at all this week. He left home around 7:30 and arrived back home between 9-10 pm. The good news is the draft is filed so things should settle down a little bit this week. He is taking a much deserved Sunday nap. 

*Funny Josie story: Evelyn ripped off her blanket fort from the bunk beds. Josie was crying and said, "Evelyn you are making my feelings sad!" So cute.  

*Last week Everett created his own song inspired by the stars in the night sky. It was so cute and very U2 inspired.