Friday, 2/5/21, All the schools around here were cancelled because of icy roads, Vikki helped paint, Kimmy and family came and helped paint

 Jacob ad Papa working on the ceiling fan

 Eli with the paint roller for the ceiling

 Adam with the tiny rubik cube he got done

 Adam painting

 Me ready to do trim

 Papa and Jacob working on the ceiling fan

 Jared painting

 Upstairs bedroom painted grey now with new white ceiling fan up 

 Eli with Peyton and Isaac's birds on his shoulders

It was so windy and cold, plus it was snowing still this morning.  All the schools around here were closed.  I was glad Hailey didn't have to drive in this.  I talked to Kimmy and told her to stay home and stay safe.  She agreed as it was snowing and blowing out and she was concerned like me that there might be whiteouts.  Bill snowblower the driveways with his tractor and I shoveled side walks and paths on the deck.  After that, he went to Sam's Club for me and got plain bagels, blueberry and banana nut muffins, and hot dog buns.  My list said everything bagels, plain bagels, hot dogs and buns and both kinds of muffins.  He forgot the everything bagels and the hot dogs...didn't see them on the list ha ha.  It stopped snowing, so Kimmy called and said they were coming.  Vikki said she was coming too.  I was so glad when they were all here safely.  Bill picked up a ton of  wood pellets and Jacob and Adam unloaded them in 6 min. 21 seconds.  We all  worked on the bedroom.  Bill and Jacob got the fan down.  We took a break and ate bagels and muffins.  They were yummy.   Bill and Jacob got the new fan up. Jacob knows how to do it himself now.  He had to do lots of the work because Papa can't lift with his shoulder yet.  Kimmy, Vikki, Adam, and I painted.  Eli was our go for guy.  He was a great help too.  Jared came and he did lots of edge painting which was a huge help.  Vikki painted a corner of the ceiling and Kimmy did the rest.  She is great at painting with all the practice she has had.  We all painted the walls grey.  The room looks beautiful.  Can't wait for the new carpet now.  We got done in time for Jared, Kimmy and Jacob to head home before it was dark.  Adam is spending the night with us, and Eli is spending the night with Aunt Vikki.  Yay!  Jacob has drivers training in the morning (he checked to see if it was cancelled.  It wasn't!  Bummer)  He is going to spend the night here tomorrow night and Adam is going to spend the night with Aunt Vikki, because they will be coming back for Super Bowl Sunday.  They have Monday off from school too.  Jared said he talked to his mom which I was happy to hear since I didn't get an update today.  I will be so happy when she is back home and blogging again.  

Thurs., 2/4/21, Peyton and Isaac came, Worked more on painting the upstairs bedroom

 

Evan doing a fun experiment Melissa said Vikki and I will have to do with the twins

 He's so cute!

 Eli, Adam and Jacob after unloading all those bags of sheep grain

 More progress on the bedroom today.  Got the registers painted, second coats on the windows, the door painted and some trim painted

Ate oatmeal and drank my coffee.  Bill had a therapy appointment so he went to that.  Then he went to Midland to get a ceiling fan we liked, but they didn't have it, so he went to Mt. Pleasant and got it.  Vikki brought the kids at around 10.  We visited for a few minutes, then Vikki had to get to work.  Peyton and Isaac played their games while I read my Bible.  After that, we read books.  We went to McDonalds and picked up our lunch and brought it home to eat.  We played a game of 3-13, but had to quit on the King round because Vikki got here and they had to leave.  We are all only 2 points apart so it should be interesting when we finish this game.  Peyton is winning, then me, then Isaac.  After they left, started painting.  I quit to make dinner.  After dinner, I was going to run to Sam's Club to get muffins and bagels for tomorrow.  I opened the garage door and it was like a blizzard outside.  The wind was whipping and the snow was flying.  I closed the garage door because I decided I didnt want to go out in that and maybe get caught in a whiteout.  I started back at painting again.  Took all the masking tape off the windows which I love to do because it always looks so much better.  Relaxed with Bill for a few minutes before we headed to bed.

Wed., 2/3/21, Happy to hear another great report about Lela, Watched Peyton and Isaac, Got some groceries and paint things, Painted window trim

 Bruce, Jack and Evan.  I borrowed these from Melissa!

 Evan...love the background snow sculpture...I am sure Evan thought it was so cool!

 This bridge snow sculpture is so cool!  Cool people in the picture too, Max, Bruce, Jack and Evan

Eli in his special lego spot

Adam and Jacob looking pretty even in height and very handsome.

Jared's mug and some fine pottery he and Kimmy made on the counter top.  Talented!!!

Rody working with Isaac and Peyton on school stuff while Vikki made delicious Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

 Couldn't get Homespun like Kimmy, but got the color Grey Cloth which is similar.  White is for ceiling. Notice my cool paint socks!!!

 Tonight's project was taping and painting the window trim on these 3 windows with primer

Ate our breakfast, had our morning coffee and read our Bibles.  Vikki dropped Peyton and Isaac off.  She set the computer up so that Peyton could do her reading with her teacher and two other students.  She also carried the TV down that I carried up and decided was to heavy for one person.  I wanted both of us to carry it down, but she wanted to do it all by herself.  Thank you Vikki.  I took it up to see which antenna cable worked with it since there are two right next to each other in that room.  Peyton did great reading with her teacher.  I gave them their new spelling test after she was done.  I let them look at the words for a minute, then gave them the test and they both got them all right!  Great spellers.  We read our books after that and guess what?  Great readers too!  We finished our game of 3-13 that we didn't finish yesterday.  I was the winner.  I was planning on calling Vikki when she got out of work to see if she wanted me to have a grilled cheese sandwich ready for her when she picked up the kids.  She called and said she was going to pick up something to eat, and I told her I was going to make grilled cheese sandwiches, so she came and ate with me.  She didn't have any of the tomato soup with hers though.  I went to get groceries for Super Bowl Sunday and some snacks. On my way, I dropped off some worship CD's for Linda M. so she can listen to them.  She is in a lot of pain from diabetes and also a spur on her spine.   I stopped at McDonalds and used a coupon I had for Large Frappe's for buy one and get the other for 1 cent.  I took one over to Hailey.  She told me Ally's grandma (her dad's mom) died last night.  I was so sad to hear this.  What a wonderful person she was.  I'm praying for her family.  When I got home, I sanitized groceries and put them away.  Bill and I went to Old Town Drive In for coney dogs, fries and root beers.  They bring everything out to go now.  We went to Home Depot after we ate and got paint stuff for painting on Friday. Took a picture of a white ceiling fan we are going to get for the bedroom.  They didn't have one in our town, but do in Kimmy's.  Bill is going to go get it tomorrow.   Came home and I started taping around window trim and then painted a second coat of primer on the single window upstairs, then did a coat on the triple windows.  Came down stairs and face timed Melissa and then called and talked to her.  I was so happy to hear they had gone to Frankenmuth today to see the ice sculptures.  The boys all loved going.  They took the big Stanley thermos that Charlie gave them and drank hot chocolate afterward.  It kept the water super hot all that time and was big enough for them all to have a to go cup of cocoa.  They had special snacks on the way too.  They made is such a fun day for the boys and had lots of fun themselves.  I talked to Kimmy with Vikki today and texted with Adam.  I was very happy to hear another great report about Lela.  She is in a regular room now.  They even got her up to walk today.  She was alert, talking and feeling pretty good.  Thank You Jesus!

 

Tuesday, 2/2/21, Peyton and Isaac came over, worked on bedroom

 Peyton, me and Isaac

 Isaac and Peyton doing a virtual field trip to Hartley

                  There was old masking tape on the wood that wouldn't scrape off.

                                                                             

I got up early and took the garbage and recycling out.  We ate oatmeal and had our coffee.

Read our Bibles. Vikki brought Peyton and Isaac over and got them set up to do their online field trip.  It was cute listening to them answering questions and having fun.  It was at Hartley Nature Center.  Their assigned names were Henry and Annabelle.  We did spelling after that.  Then we did reading.  Isaac read like a 7th grader today.  I was amazed.  The squirrels kept coming to my feeder and I would knock on the window to scare them but they were bold and didn't get scared off.  Isaac had the idea of blowing his recorder when I opened the door.  That worked great.  They would be gone 10-15 minutes.  Then he said it would be louder if he took the end off.  That really worked.  They didn't come back the rest of the day and it looked like they were running to the neighbors lol.  Vikki picked them up and they went home to do their virtual school.  Isaac couldn't find his phone charger.  He said he remembered it was where papa sits.  Bill looked and said there was no charger.  After Isaac left, Bill found it. He was sitting on it.  I worked on getting old dried on masking tape off the wood window and closet trim in the bedroom.  Not an easy job, until I thought of using the steamer Vikki got me.  So much easier.  I painted one coat on the window trim.    

We did our prayer night group.  It's nice because there is Zoom for those of us who don't want to go and there is also in person.  I had to add events to our Faith Rider Newsletter, because Kevin took the Activities over and didn't send the event dates to me.  Bill and I had almonds, cashews and chocolate covered almonds as a snack while we watched the movie called "Where Hope Grows".  It had a kid starring in it that had Downs Syndrome.  He reminded Bill and I of Kenny.  He looked so much like him and acted like him.  He was such a smart actor.  It sure made me want one of Kenny's hugs.  Not a movie for kids, even though it's a Christian themed movie, but sure enjoyed this kids acting and heart.  I was thankful for another great update on Lela today.  We prayed in our church prayer group for her tonight.  

Mon., 2/1/21...Worked on the upstairs bedroom getting it ready to paint most of the day

 Big hole from hook in ceiling

Pretty cracked window sill.  I filled it in with wood filler and got it sanded

The ceiling fan was rough and cracked 

 Shades down, wood filler in screw holes and ready to be sanded tomorrow, spackled around ceiling fan and sanded it as smooth as I could get it.  Kimmy may need to fix it Friday.  All shades are down and nail holes in walls all spackled.

Started praying for Lela early in the morning before getting out of bed.  Bill went to the Orthopedic Surgeon and he told him he was doing great, but still can't lift anything.  I watched some worship on the TV and worshiped, then read my Bible.  I started working on the bedroom upstairs that the girls and I are going to paint Friday.  Took the pictures down and filled the nail holes.  Emptied the book shelf and put the stuff from it in a tub in the attic.  Took a picture so I would know how to put stuff back right.  Moved the desk, my vanity, the keyboard, file cabinet and some other stuff to the other bedroom.  Very thankful for easy movers.  I slid the bed out to fix the big hole from the ceiling hook I took out.  Have easy movers under the back two legs of the dresser, but will need help getting them under the front two legs, so will wait til Friday and the slide that to the other bedroom too.  Trying to make this painting job go as easy as possible for my wonderful daughters who volunteered to help.  I have been wanting to paint it for a long time and when Kimmy was over she said she was coming to help Friday because the boys don't have school and Vikki said she would help too.  She has to work and do school though so

don't know how she will have time.  Trinity Riders started meeting in a restaurant again for the first time in a long time.  Bill and I watched the movie For The Glory.  It had a great ending.  The kid ended up being on the Olympic Soccer team.  It was a true story.  I checked with Kimmy for updates on Lela and she told me she would let me know.   She let me know surgery started at 8.  I got an update that all was going well.   I was so happy when I got the great news that the doctors were pleased with how everything went during her surgery and that the skin graft went well too.  Praising and Thanking God! 

Praying now for a quick recovery with no complications.

 

Sunday, 1/31/21, We went to church, Bill had therapy, Went to Snowfest

 Bill in front of my favorite ice sculpture 

Me and Bill

Me in front of our favorite ice sculpture...so thankful for Frontline Heroes! 

Old French clarinet in the museum I thought the boys would like seeing

 Bill in front of a picture of Hattie Hubinger...a lady he knew.  She is waiting on a customer.  

 No warming tent this year because of Covid, but this place next to the CheeseHaus had the neat tables around gas fire pits that were very cool.  We didn't use one, but wanted a picture.

We went to church.  Our assigned seat was in the very front row, on the side we never sit on.

It sure felt different, but the worship music sounded amazing.  Pastor Jeff gave the message.

Bill took me home right after, and then he went to therapy.  I warmed up roast, carrots and potatoes.  He took a couple of granola bars to eat on the way to therapy so he wouldn't be too hungry.  We don't eat breakfast in the morning on Sundays.  I took a short nap because I was up during the night putting pellets in.  Didn't have many in the bucket, but thought it would be enough.  Wrong!!! I noticed the light wasn't shining from the fireplace through the door, so got up and the screen on the kernel burner said it was shutting down.  I went and opened a bag of pellets and refilled it and it started right back up.  Yay!  I sure miss Bill doing the kernel burner job!  I looked at the clock and it was 5:30.  Couldn't really get back to sleep after that.  Bill got home and warmed up the chili.  Then we went to Frankenmuth to check out the snow and ice sculptures and see if it was ok to walk around or too crowded.  It wasn't bad, and there weren't that many sculptures, so we walked around.  It was 30 degrees so was a nice day...not too cold and sculptures weren't melting.  We went in the museum which we only had one other couple in with us.  We stayed the distance required apart, but started talking to them.  They enjoyed listening to Bill tell his stories of Frankenmuth and of his family.  The husband, Zachary, was a History buff so he loved hearing more history about Frankenmuth.  Alexandria told us they had 2 year old twin girls.  We told them about our twins and how our one twin had twins.  I also told her how it gets easier after they get a little older and entertain themselves.  She was happy to hear that.  When we finished, we felt like friends.  Bill asked her if she was a Christian.  She said she didn't know what a Christian was, but they went to church on Sundays and her mom was a Catholic Christian.  We told her a Christian is someone who believes in Jesus and follows Him.  She said they pray because that's what they did when she was little.  She also said she has a tattoo that says Don't worry, pray.  I shared with her that she should start reading the New Testament because that's how you get to know Jesus and what he teaches us to do.  She then told us that her Landlord just gave her a Bible and gave the twins each a children's Bible.  I guess God wants her to be saved with all of this going on. This sure made our day.   I sure am praying for them both.  Such a nice couple.  We are remembering to pray for Jared's mom who has surgery tomorrow morning.  Trusting God to guide the surgeons and bring complete healing to her with no complications.  

Sat., 1/30/21, Vikki got her Covid vaccine, Made a roast, Kimmy, Jared and the boys and Vikki and Peyton came over and spent the day

   

 Vikki got her Covid Vaccine today

Bill and Jared on their devices

Eli on his device

Adam, Jacob and Peyton

Adam, Peyton, Jacob, Bill and Jared

Eli, Jacob and Peyton

 Eli and Papa Bill

 Eli, Vikki, Me and Bill

 Eli

Evan

Max

Jack

After we ate breakfast, had our coffee and did our morning reading, Kimmy called to see if we were going to be home.  I told her we had planned to go to Frankenmuth to Snowfest.  She said she was calling to see if we wanted some visitors.  I told her we would much rather have visitors than go to Snowfest.  I also told her I was going to put a roast in and they could eat with us.  She said not to make the roast, but I told her I was and then told her bye.  I put the roast in and got the potatoes and carrots peeled.  Vikki called me and asked if I was peeling potatoes.  I told her I was and invited her to come when Kimmy came too.  She got her Covid vaccine today.  Her arm was a little sore but not bad.  Pam and Dick got theirs today too.  They had Rich's showing today, but will have a memorial service in May when he is buried at Mt. Holly National Cemetery.  They couldn't cremate him because they are behind in cremations because of Covid.  Kimmy and family came and Vikki and Peyton came shortly after.  We had fun visiting, then Adam, Kimmy, Vikki, Peyton and I played 3-13, while Bill, Jared, Jacob and Eli relaxed in the family room by the fire.  Kimmy won our game!  Jared played the last two hands for me, so I could start getting things ready for dinner.  He did better than I was doing.  We all prayed and then ate together.  It was such a nice day being together.  Jared trained Adam to put my angels all over the place, just like Jared used to do way back when.  I couldn't believe my Adam did that.  I will have to retrain him.  Eli thought it was hilarious!!! Melissa sent me pictures of the boys eating McDonalds that they used a gift card from us for.  This was the first day they didn't have school work to do and just had free time.  They were all so happy and it was a perfect day for McDonalds.  I talked to Melissa for a while and then Bill and I watched a movie called Silver Wolf.  We tried to watch The Cloud because Melissa said it was a good one, but it kept restarting after a minute and a half.  Fun day with such a loving family!