Snowy Days

After the winter storm dropped a foot of snow on us this weekend, and the temperatures have plummeted, we have been spending a lot of time indoors.  Games:

And cuddles:

Before all this weather and togetherness, Lydia was inducted into the National Honor Society.

And Emry has been playing a lot of basketball.  He still has 3 games, and then the season is over.  Exactly when those 3 games will be played is unknown, as things keep getting canceled and rescheduled.

 

Finished!

 

I started it on Tuesday evening and finished it last night.  It was challenging, but somewhat easier because of what I remember of Poe.  It was a lot of fun.  As I was putting it together, I knew that something had to be written on the back, so I flipped the finished puzzle over and saw the quote:

I also read "Annabel Lee" and "The Raven" to Lydia and Gyunay yesterday.  (Emry was off with friends, or he would have gotten a little Poe poetry lesson, too.)  I may have to read a couple of the stories today...

 

Fun Stuff

So I finally got to weaving on my rigid heddle loom, and I finished the trial pieces yesterday.

I made some mistakes, but it is getting easier, and I'm eager to try again.

I'm not quite ready to re-string the loom yet.  I'm watching some videos, and trying to figure out what I can do to improve.  But in the meantime, I started a puzzle I got for Christmas.  Now, I asked for it, and it's Edgar Alan Poe, so I am excited for it, but I didn't read the box beforehand.

There is no photo of the puzzle as it's supposed to look!  You have to put together the individual windows, and then figure out where they go.

I thought it might drive me crazy, but in fact, I'm loving it.  

 

 

Birthday Fun and Etc

Emry had a great birthday party at the beginning of the month.  We rented a gym for our active boy, and he loved it.  We had many friends and family join us.

We had lots of active games for all ages, including dodgeball, relays, and battleship.  Then Emry and some of the older boys had some basketball games.

Also this month, the chickens have been popping out of their enclosure like popcorn.  They roam the yard at will.  Gyunay was tickled by this one on the windowsill:

 

I finally got my loom strung and functional.  Stringing a loom is no joke.  The tension is still not quite right, and I'm not happy with how this will turn out, but I'm trying.

We've had tons of basketball.  While Malachi and Pilot were home on break, they were able to view a couple of Emry's games.  The rest of us are regulars at the games.   

I've learned how to keep the book for basketball, as that is one of the tasks the parents can volunteer to do.  We have to volunteer so many times a season.

Finally

After 2 weeks of sickness, and missing out on all the Christmas festivities, we finally felt mostly well on New Year's Eve day.  So 6 of us went bowling at the oldest bowling alley in America.

We had a great time, although I was completely worn out after bowling 2 games.  

Also, I never mentioned it, but our hens are laying well!  We went from 24 eggs in November to 141 in December, and the numbers are way up already for January.  I got 14 eggs today from our 19 hens, so I'm pretty confident that they are now all laying.  Some of the eggs are still little, but many are full sized now.  We have been loving having fresh eggs again.

 

2025 Reading Log

 I didn't read as many books as I'd hoped last year, but maybe this year I'll get a few more in.  The list includes only books I completed, and although I read loads of picture books, I don't list those.

NonFiction/Memoirs

The Privilege of Being a Woman by Alice von Hildebrand

Heroes and Heretics of the Reformation by Phillip Campbell

James Herriott's Treasury for Children by James Herriott (JNonfic)

Brave Men by Ernie Pyle

The Silk Finisher by Daniel Melchior

The Practice of Humility by Pope Leo XIII

Vampires by Daniel C. Scavone (JNonfic)

Allocutio by Bernice Wahnsiedler

Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity by Connie Marshner

Once Upon a Farm by Rory Feek

Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney

Farm Anatomy by Julia Rothman

Colored People: A Memoir by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Upside Down: Understanding and Supporting Attachment in Adoptive and Foster Families by Shannon Guerra

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel

St. Hildegard's Garden by Paul Ferris

Vatican Secret Archives by Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikon

If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

The Truce by Primo Levi

Execution by Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust by Miron Dolot (Holdomor)

Fiction

Little Britches by Ralph Moody (JFIC)

Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin

Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White

Damien and Dutton: Two Josephs on Molokai by Howard E Crouch

Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green

A Gilded Lady by Elizabeth Camden

Prince of Spies by Elizabeth Camden

In a Far Off Land by Stephanie Landsem

The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House by Joanna Davidson Politano

On the Nile: A Story of Family Travel and Adventure in the Land of Egypt by Mrs. Sara K Hunt (1880)

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden

A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White

Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark

The Socialite by J'Nell Ciesielski

Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel

The Phantom of the Colosseum by Sophie de Mullenheim (JFIC)

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White

Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence (JFIC)

Janitors by Tyler Whitesides (JFIC)

The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly

An Occasion of Valor by Wayne M. Hoy

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen