#52HikeChallenge: Hike #4

Hike #4:  East Lakeshore Trail--Davis Ferry Branch
Distance:  around 4 miles--2 miles up and 2 miles back
Time:  around 2 hours--1 hour up and 1 hour back
Temperature:  around 50 degrees

My back has been a bit sore.  Although I did feel some strain, I stretched when I got home and so far...so good.  

I stopped everyone on the trail to show them this is what the location of our clubhouse in the woods near my grandmother's house looked like when we were kids.  A pine straw floor bed in a grove of pine trees.  

 Hike #4

The area where the trail is located happens to be  public land where hunting is allowed.  Although we are not in the middle of hunting season right now, we still dressed in bright colors!  

Just as we were getting back to the trail head, it started to rain.

Me and my baby survived another hike!

Electrical smells and other bothersome things

Electrical smell

 

I woke up yesterday morning to an electrical burn smell in the upstairs.  I started to walk around and realized it wasn't isolated into one place.  After waking JP, we ascertained that our upstairs HVAC would not stop running and that was where the smell was originating.  JP killed the main power switch to the unit and the smell went away.  

JP took the day off work and called a local company to come out.  He waited ALL DAY and I do mean all day for them to show up.  The office had given us a time frame of 8 AM-1 PM.  The serviceman arrived around 6:30 PM.  After a few minutes and $70, he told JP some kind of relay had went out. (You'll have to ask him for more specifics on that part.)  For their company to fix--over $800!  He told JP how he could do it easily himself.  So, the part costs about $70.  A whole lot better than $800!!!!  I'm so thankful for God's protection over us and for a husband that is familiar enough with these things to fix it himself.  I'm also thankful for warmer weather until we can get the replacement part.

Backaches and cutting out sugar

I've had a sore back since last Friday.  Part hormonal and part overdoing it exercising, tending our wood stove and sitting too much.  It's not really that bad, but I'm trying to watch it so I don't land up flat on my back like times before.  

In other news since last Friday, I've cut out:

cookies (other desserts)

granola bars

hot chocolate

chocolate and candy

ice cream 

I just found the scale inching up and decided to cut out the sugary treats I've found myself gravitating towards in these winter months.  Despite PMS, I dropped about 3 lbs. within a few days.  Today is my cheat night, so I'm pretty excited.  I'll go back to my no sugar plan for the rest of the week.  It's easier around here since Tera is training for a tournament and is even more rigid in her diet than I have decided to be.  

Saving pictures and losing my sanity 

Between the years of 2010-2012, I loaded around 2500 pictures into over 400 posts onto my blog using a free 3rd party hosting website.  That website has started charging $$$ for 3rd party hosting and has started blacking out my pictures at random with their notice to upgrade.  Because we have changed computers and my back-ups are stored away, I am going through each post during those years, saving the pictures and reloading them into the posts one. at. a. time.   Right now I'm in the process of just saving all the pictures, so at least I will have access to them if they decide to black them all out.  It is a very tedious process...very!  As of today, I've got about 165 posts or 8 months left.  

Why not just let it go?

Well, my blog is a journal of sorts.  Those years were ALL of Michael's baby years, the elementary school  years for Tera and Daniel, our home school co-op and all the unit weeks we had.  I could not bear those being blacked out--(and I cannot afford $$$ per year).  I like looking back at our lives and seeing those sweet smiling faces staring back at me.  That's why I cannot just let it go, even though it's to the point of driving me CRAZY!!!

Monday

It's definitely Monday!  

I've had that running around but not getting everything done feeling today.  I made a dentist appointment 6 months ago for a MONDAY--a MONDAY afternoon to boot!  Finished school and prepped dinner for the kids to eat while I was gone.  Luckily, my dentist appointment didn't take long and I was able to gulp down some tacos before heading out to the library.  Tera had an honor society meeting and JP was working late.  So, we took the opportunity for the boys and I to check out books.  

Tera and Daniel are both learning how to write a research paper this semester.  Tera's topic has to do with the development of the airplane and it's effect on life in America.  Daniel is researching code talkers in WWII.  Tera is my history lover, so I wasn't worried about her finding a topic she would enjoy.  I was a bit more worried about Daniel.  When he started talking about the Enigma machine today, I knew he had found a topic perfect for him.  

Now that our semester is in full swing  (almost everything will have started back in the next two weeks), Michael and I finding ourselves waiting again.  We  make good use of our time, whether it's looking at art exhibits or taking pictures with lions.   

I've been so encouraged by the Scripture memory group I've joined.  We are on week 4 and I was pleased to be able to use my new letter board to display this week's Scripture.  With the way this week has started, I definitely need to be reminded where my help comes from!

Snow

Yesterday, it started snowing this perfect snowflakes that we were able to see with the naked eye.  It was amazing!  I learned today that they are called "stellar dendrites"--stellar indeed!

I have this love-hate relationship with snow!  It's pretty when it's falling and on the ground--that's the extent of my love of snow.   Michael, on the other hand, LOVES it without condition!  

Tera decided it was a bit cold for her today.

The boys tried to sled, but it was a bit too dry for any excitement.  Daniel didn't stay out long and Michael came in after about 20 minutes.  He didn't ask to go back out, which was perfectly okay with my frozen toes!  The temperature was less than 20 degrees when we were outside. 

Michael did manage a perfect snow angel!

Supposedly the totals were around 1.5-2 inches.  Definitely not a snowcalypse, but I'm okay with that.    

100th Day of School 2018

Today, we celebrated our 100th day of school!!!

When Tera and Daniel were in 5th and 6th grades, we had a 100th day of school celebration.  Michael got his turn today!


What can I do in 100 seconds?
Daniel joined Michael in these challenges.  

How many times can I?

• Clap my hands?
• Say the alphabet?
• Count to ten?
• Hop?
• Stand/Sit?
• Blink?
• Write my name?

Who can get closest to holding their breath for 100 seconds?
Close your eyes and raise your hand when you think 100 seconds has passed!

Measure the height of a stack of 100 pennies in centimeters.

Snacks and 100 Day Lunch

Artwork using 100

100 FruitLoop necklace

See what you can build with 100 Legos

Roll a pair of dice 100 times.  Graph the frequency of each combination of numbers.

Additional ideas:

Try to do 100 Jumping Jacks or jump rope 100 times.

100 sit-ups or push-ups.

Write a story about how you would spend $100.

Find the date 100 days past your birthday.


We've had a wonderful day.  Snow is falling and we are finishing up with a 100 minute movie--one of our all-time favorites--The Apple Dumpling Gang!