January Fun

We finally got real snow! Then a nasty bitter cold front came in and froze the ground. And now, it's rainy in the 40's and flooding because the ground is still frozen solid. I'll take it! I heard some birds singing this morning when I went to take care of the chickens. I have MISSED that sound. The chickens are still laying like gangbusters, even after I stopped supplementing them with light. Crazy genetics. And I planted a bunch of onion seeds indoors this week. They take forever to get to transplantable size. 

James and Matthew are the only ones who play in the snow these days.

When we returned from Texas with our trailer full of goodies, I got to work. I refurbished two of the bikes and donated them to a non-profit organization. Woo hoo! We pulled out all of the new-to-us-but-the-same-exact-stuff-I-used-as-a-kid-camping-with-my-family camping equipment, washed it, and checked its condition. 

The Army-issue duffle bag still works, Dad!

The inflatable mattresses have also withstood rigorous testing.

We have added several useful items to our camping gear and hope to use them this summer. 

January also means all the kids moved up in their church classes. James graduated from Primary and was ordained a Deacon. Robert was ordained a Teacher. Alex and Matthew moved up, too, but nothing much changes for them on Sundays. 

Robert and James intentionally DON'T smile for family photos. Ugh. Will they still think it's cool/funny when they look at these pictures in 20 years?

Alex got a really short haircut recently. When the temps plunged, he found himself getting really cold. He started wearing a snow hat in the house. Unfortunately, his first attempt made him look like an elf (sticky out ears) from prison (slouchy and tight fit all at once...it reminded me of those old black and white striped prison outfits with a stocking cap).

Felon Elf look.

I'm eager for spring to return, but I have plenty to do these days. 

Erin and I started up guitar lessons again. We're working through the Slow Jam Songbook and learning some new playing techniques. I like what we're learning! I don't like practicing when my family is around. Why? I dunno. I don't want their comments? Their interruptions? I can't focus? Feels like a little of everything. I get pretty self-conscious about it. 

I've started learning Spanish again. Duolingo has been updated a lot since I last logged on and I like it much more! Will I ever be brave enough to actually speak Spanish to/with anyone else outside of my family? Hmmm.

My goal to refurbish 45 bikes by my birthday this year is still on track. The most recent bike was a bit of a disappointment, though. I worked on it for several hours, overhauling ALL of the bearing systems, cleaning and sourcing replacement parts, until I just couldn't get the rear wheel to align properly. It turns out the rear part of the frame is bent just enough to throw things out of whack. And, since it's an aluminum frame, it can't be corrected. The frame is garbage. Argh! So, I'm stripping it for parts and NOT counting it towards my 45 *grumble grumble* I will, however, be much more thorough in my evaluation of future bikes for refurbishing.

I looked through all of my seed stock and started planning out the growing season. We donated almost a ton of produce from the Meadowbrook Learning Garden last year. I'd love to do that again. I'm meeting with my co-managers later this week to select crops and varieties. My home garden will likely focus on peas, carrots, onions, strawberries, blueberries, green beans, tomatoes, and herbs. There will be okra, asparagus, and zucchini, too. And collard greens, cabbage, broccoli, radishes, beets, and baby romaine. And cucumbers. But that's it. Nothing too crazy. And leeks. I forgot about the leeks. And flowers, but those don't really count. Oh! And I have a few Egyptian Walking Onion bulbs to try out this year. Seriously, it's no big deal. I can totally quit whenever I want to. 

So, I feel like I'm making progress on a bunch of fronts. I also feel like it's not sustainable. But hey, I'll enjoy it until I get there :) 

Time to Catch Up on Winter Break

Christmas went really well. It was satisfying to see the kids so invested in their Christmas duties. I especially loved watching Robert watching the kids open their stockings. When they found something they loved, he said, "Yeah, I thought you'd like that." or "When I was at the store, I had to choose between..." For a kid who's usually telling his younger brothers to "Please stop singing", "Please chew with your mouth closed", "You didn't flush", "Please stop singing", "Please stop", "No", and "Please stop singing", I found this other kind of interaction a relief. He thought carefully about what they might enjoy and then got to see their reactions. Fun for both sides!

Alex did an excellent job with Christmas dinner. Matthew handled the stress of Christmas Eve dinner and the program really well. James remembered the Advent Calendar activities whenever there was a slow moment. 

There wasn't much time to dwell on Christmas, though, because Alex, James, Matthew, and I immediately left the next morning for New Albany, Mississippi. James was feeling sluggish and nauseous when we started. He threw up in the car just a couple hours into the trip. Yup, he had caught the stomach bug that Matthew and Alex had experienced the week before. Ugh. Matthew was traumatized by James throwing up in the car...how it started so suddenly and how I immediately had to pull over on the highway and get out and deal with everything as James continued to dry heave. Thankfully, James hadn't eaten anything since the night before, so it was pretty straightforward and easy to clean up. We got to our hotel in New Albany and the kids settled in. James was still not eating, but taking in water regularly, so I felt alright leaving them. I took my bike out for the first part of my 50 miles in Mississippi. It was cold and wet. The night got much, much colder as I went and I wasn't dressed properly for it. My muscles ached and burned and froze all at once. The full moon was lovely. The trail was pristine. 

The full moon! When my headlamp started to dim, the moon helped me get home.

Here's the head of the trail I was on, but I didn't find it until the very end of my very cold ride that night. I look a lot happier than I feel at that moment. Ugh.

I pushed myself too far. I stumbled back into the hotel room after 30 miles and couldn't feel half of my body. I was shivering uncontrollably and just couldn't generate enough heat on my own to feel warm. I got into a very hot bath and slowly thawed until I felt mostly human again. 

That night was rough, too. Our hotel was near a major highway. Matthew heard everything. He is mortally terrified of tornadoes right now, and had nightmare after nightmare about tornadoes destroying everything and everyone he loved. All the usual helps were not helping. Alex and I both tried everything we could think of. Eventually, Alex offered Matthew his noise-cancelling headphones. That did the trick. Whew.

The next morning, I was off to finish my 50-miles in Mississippi. I dressed much better this time and didn't have any trouble. Yay! I actually got to see the scenery. Very nice.

We packed up and drove a couple hours to Memphis, Tennessee. We visited the Children's Museum of Memphis.

Children's Museum of Memphis!

Very, very creepy interactive display on dental hygiene. Most of this museum was targeted for the PreK-2nd grade demographic, but we found fun stuff to do.

Matthew is small for his age, but not small enough for these hamster tunnels. 

Of course James had to give the Police Chopper a go.

There's an enormous glass pyramid in Memphis that looks like it came straight from Vegas. It's a multi-story Bass Pro Shop complete with a fancy hotel, several restaurants, a sky bar, a bowling alley, archery, indoor estuaries filled with a hundred species of fish, an alligator enclosure, and one of the world's tallest indoor freestanding elevators. I simply HAD to try it. Matthew couldn't even look at the top of the glass elevator, much less ride in it. He pretty much had a panic attack over me and James taking it for a spin. Alex stayed with him on solid ground. James and I went to the top of the pyramid and took in the view. It was cold. We didn't stay out long. 

The view of the Memphis Bridge from the top of the pyramid. You really can't tell how high up we are, can you?

Selfie, freezing cold. The teeny cars behind us don't even do it justice. 

The accommodations were quite posh! There was a balcony that opened out into the pyramid and a 3-ft deep jetted tub in the bathroom. While I was off riding a couple dozen miles in Tennessee, James had a long, luxurious bath, and then Matthew did. I dressed better for this ride, too, and didn't have any trouble out or back. I looooved the jetted tub. 

The trail in Memphis was called the Shelby Farms Greenline. A very nice ride! See how much better I'm dressed?! Hoodie, wind jacket, neck scarf, and gloves make a big difference. 

Leaving the big glass pyramid in Memphis.

The next morning, I didn't feel so good: sluggish, nauseous, sore, off my game. I seriously considered giving up. But what was the sense in that?! I got myself to finish the 50 miles in Tennessee, then we hit the road for a very long drive to Houston, Texas, where my parents and sisters live. 

I didn't feel so good. Muscle aches...was it simply soreness or something else? Nausea...was it from overexertion or something else? Just a five hours from Houston, I asked Alex to drive for a bit. I was NOT well. 

Alex taking a turn at the wheel. 

The kids got worried. I couldn't abide the thought of 2 more hours in the car feeling the way I did. We stopped for dinner and decided to get a hotel in Nacogdoches just 10 minutes away. Two minutes later, I threw up in the car. Matthew's trauma returned. Alex pulled into a parking lot and took a hysterical Matthew out of the car while I finished my business and cleaned up. I felt a ton better after that, but not well. We checked into the hotel, I literally crashed on the bed and passed out. Alex took care of everything and everyone else all night. At one point, I remember him getting out of bed in the dark and quietly crying in the corner. This was taking a lot out of him and I needed to get better ASAP. 

So, Friday morning, even though I still felt nauseous and slow, I was well enough to take the lead again. The kids were visibly relieved. Alex, especially. He told me how hard it was to bear the emotional burden of a sick parent and 2 dependent siblings far, far away from home. I was sad he had to experience that, but so, so grateful he was there. Not just because he could help out driving and caring for the boys (*ahem* Matthew), but because his whole presence lightened the mood of the trip. We joked around more. We sang loudly to music. Both younger boys adore Alex and they didn't fight the whole time. We did more spontaneous things. He actually made the road trip fun. Who knew a road trip with the family could be that way?! I'm so glad Alex came along this time! 

The morning I started feeling better, things got fun again. Matthew rediscovered his silly side. 

Alex is tired and ready to sleep in the car after a very long and stressful night being the responsible one.

We reached Houston in good time. My sister and her wife were staying with my parents for the week, too. It was great to see them! We checked in to our beautiful VRBO with its private pool and ample space. We are definitely staying there the next time we're in Houston. 

Friday afternoon, we went with the Barneys to shoot at the firing range. I had never even held a gun in my life. Alex and James were shooting, too. We all had a significant amount of fear around guns. Jon takes gun safety very seriously, though, and spent an hour with us ahead of time showing us the guns and ammo and safety procedures. We got to feel how heavy they were and ask a hundred questions. It was a veeeeeery educational experience and calmed some fears. Even Matthew was feeling better about things. 

At the range itself, the noise was astonishing. Neither Alex nor James would shoot the handguns once they saw how loud and powerful they were. They both enjoyed the rifles, though, which sounded more like a dart gun through all the ear protection. Matthew stayed in the observation lounge with Lara the whole time. Scared, of course, for our safety, but growing more comfortable as time continued to pass without death or dismemberment.

Saturday, the kids and I took the Metro into downtown Houston to visit a couple museums. That, too, was a veeeeeeeeeeeery educational experience. You should hear about it from Alex. 

We visited the Health Museum (our favorite) and the Houston Museum of Natural Science (very cool!).

It looks grander than it is on the inside, but the few displays it had were very, very good. We spent a lot of time nerding out in the gift shop.

This enormous beating heart experiences a medical emergency every ten minutes or so. The heart beats rapidly and out of synch. You hear the medical team over the loudspeakers diagnosing the emergency condition in their patient and treating it with a defibrillator. 

On our walk from the Health Museum to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, we passed a giant spiral sidewalk up a man-made hill and waterfall. Of course we had a look! Halfway up, James spotted a tiny lizard sunning itself just along the ivy wall. Matthew was devastated that he missed it. Fortunately, we eventually found a dozen more along the trail and everyone got to see them. 

This was taken at "The Meg" exhibit at HMNS. Even though it's actual size right in front of me, it's still hard to imagine something that big and alive and moving around. 

This is a bit of the hall of oddities or something like that. Some reeeally wacky stuff in there. 

The prehistoric fossil displays were completely amazing. I'm sorry we did them last when we were all too tired to enjoy them properly. 

We were exhausted by the end of the day, though, and ready to get home. The Metro ride back was pretty colorful. That's the story you should hear from Alex. Long story short, there was a loud altercation between two other riders that involved more swear words than regular words. We're pretty sure one of them was drunk. The other one stormed off a few stops later and the drunk one then shattered a glass bottle on the floor and shouted asking if anyone else had something to say to him. 

Nope.

Waiting at the Metro stop to leave downtown. The Metro was crazy-easy to navigate and super easy to use. Very well-designed. On our way to the Metro stop, we discovered a dead grasshopper. Alex was beyond excited. He's been collecting dead bugs for a vlog he and his friend have created about a cicada named Nona. You should ask him about that, too.

Time with my parents and sisters was lovely. Alex did puzzles with Lisa. The boys played around with the Barneys' cats. They got some PS4 time, too, and played on the Barneys' Wii on New Year's Day. I rented a UHaul trailer and loaded it up with stuff my parents were giving to us and Erin. I got to look over a couple of Lara's bikes and initiate repairs. We ended up bringing home 3 bikes. Two for my charitable refurbishing project and one for a deep assessment. Matthew started learning German on Duolingo. 

My mom works in the Nursery (children ages 18 months-3 years old) at church and needed another adult to help that Sunday. I was glad to do it! James and Matthew came, too (going to another ward's Primary as a visitor without friends/cousins is pretty painful for shy, introverted folks like us), and since Alex is so good with kids that age, he met us there to help out, too. It was a Nursery party! There were 4 Nursery kids, 1 Poulson, and 4 Evanses in that room. Matthew turned to me during play time and said, "I don't think I've ever had this much fun at church before." James said, "I know I'm supposed to be too old to like playing with this stuff, but I really like playing with this stuff." 

There was one especially extroverted Nursery kid who latched right on to Alex. He drank up Alex's attention and seemed nigh insatiable. He challenged James and Matthew to running races. We went through play time, snack time, lesson time, singing time, and bubbles. Singing Time was especially fun because all of us knew the songs and it wasn't a teacher solo. Matthew and James looooved participating as students. They got to wave scarves, shake sunshine beanbags, and make raindrop puppets go up and down. And they did it willingly and eagerly. Not just to be a good example for the younger kids but because they actually delighted in it. I loved that.

Monday, we loaded up the 4x8 trailer with a whole bunch of neat stuff: 3 bikes + my own, heaps of camping gear, water storage containers, a tall dresser, 8-ft folding tables, foldable saw horses, a few blankets, and several heirloom treasures. The drive home was a little slower. I liked learning how to pull a trailer, though, and now have that skill for future use. My Dad taught me the bowline knot, too, which was terrifically handy for tying everything down in the trailer. 

Ready to hit the road again!

We spent Monday night in West Memphis, Arkansas, at a regular hotel. The little boys got to swim and the breakfast was the absolute best we had experienced on the road this whole time. I even told the breakfast supervisor how pleased we were with everything. I don't think she appreciated the gravity of the compliment. It takes a lot to get me to talk to people like that.

Dressed for the (indoor) pool!

Some pretty cool construction going on outside our hotel window in West Memphis. The great thing about construction (as compared to a noisy highway) is that the noise ends at nighttime. No tornado nightmares. 

Our last day on the road. Let's get home!

We finally got home Tuesday afternoon. 

Robert was extra grouchy the next couple of days. I know why. Within hours of getting home, only seconds after asking James to please stop singing, again, Robert told me, "Y'know, I went an entire week with zero songs stuck in my head and the toilet was always flushed." 

*SIGH*

It was pretty much heaven for the kid. And I remembered the (pretty much daily) moments during our trip when one of the other kids would turn to me and marvel, "Wow! This would be so much harder/worse/more stressful with Robert and Dad here." And I agreed. Robert and Bobby relax in peaceful solitude and have fun in one-on-one interactions. The other kids relax in reading, but mostly want to have fun in boisterous song, physical rowdiness, and loud, cooperative storytelling or jokes. Bobby and Robert also prefer to stay indoors doing calm, quiet, uninterrupted things. Alex, James, and Matthew want to be out and about exploring loudly together. And singing. Everything reminds them of a song or a joke or something they read and they sing or quote it as seamlessly as they breathe. It is simply how they move through this world. I'm sad that it causes other members of our family pain. We've been trying to find a sweet spot for many years. 

So, that was our Winter Break. A lot has happened since then, but that will have to come later in a different post. Haven't you had enough already?!