End of January

 We got deep snow again! The kids had a hard time picking...

 Hockey on the ice that refroze or...

 Sliding down the hill?

 A train behind the GT is an added challenge for getting to the bottom of the hill.

 Boggle becomes a fad...spelling becomes important for points. Hey...some of them are getting kind of a bit good at spelling. Sorta.

 Evelyn, Jennifer and Daniel went to town with stencils. I think they used up a whole tree's worth of papers trying all the stencils I've been given. (Next school unit study should be "paperless art ideas for kids with no screens". Any tips would be appreciated. 😁 )

Scurvy? 

January

 Matthew and Melanie harvested some peas. Firstfruits for the year.

 I got spoiled and got a bunch of houseplants. Hopefully I am learning to keep them alive a little...

 Melanie and I went to Bibles for Mission and picked out a great rug for her room. The colours are great I think.

 I said to myself....one day I will wish there were toys in every nook and cranny. (today maybe not)

 More hockey...since there is no snow to speak of.

 Evelyn is skating!!! The goal of the rink has been accomplished!

 Behold the professional, a hockey pro also.

Our snow melted very fast. Was it 9C? Crazy!  Off the roof our foot of snow came. With a frozen ground below. It was trapped against the house by snow and ice. So the water went down. To the spare room. Fortunately Philip designed his storage shelves shortly after one of our burst pipe problems and had water problems figured into the design. So most things in the room are normally off the ground and didn't get wet. The window well to this room was just an inch short of the brim, loaded with water!! Btw, shop vacs are very useful to have in the house! Shlllluuuuurp.

End of holidays, back to school

 We didn't have much snow at the beginning of January. But we had ice, for some of the time.

 Jennifer borrowed my camera while the rest of us played a rousing game of hockey.

 There was a day after this which was even warmer. While we were playing the ice got softer and softer. Eventually the crack that was in the ice was flexing up and down several inches. Then, at the climax water starting seeping up between it and we all bailed off the ice in a mad rush, dragging the net puck and ourselves off before we were to break through the surface! (no one did) Very exciting moment!

 Using a rope to hang on to, the kids used the rink for sliding too...

 fling the kids on carpets as far as you can go!

 Skating again...nothing like a round of hockey!

 We had a few friends come over and enjoy the ice. Fortunately I could find skates to fit.

 Whoops, gonna fall again! I think they returned to their mother looking bruised!

 Then the holidays ended and we returned back to school routine. Evelyn is slacking off and playing cars. Shouldn't she have more work to do?

 Matthew is reading. This year he has really starting taking a stack of work off to a quiet place and getting through it all efficiently and well. Such a wonderful change! No more peaking and nagging after him to focus, or reminding him that he should finish so that he can play later.

 That way I can use my telling off energy for the younger girls! Jennifer is picking up glue and crayons when she is supposed to be doing some writing. Or math. Do your work first Jennifer!

 Nathan has his desk up in his room, and only comes down when he's about done, or needs help with something. He loves working in his room now that he has the furnace control figured out. Nice and toasty up here!

 Melanie also does her work upstairs, and is pretty good at focusing and working through. When she doesn't feel like working she usually hangs out by me, so at least I can tell that she's not working!

 Daniel is getting through his work more efficiently these days too! Most days he decides to just get things done. He's very happy to be mostly caught up with his math. Just one exercise to do today. Almost done the dreaded math! :)

 So, is the egg saving money to feed ratio cost effective? Well, according to this we are either just barely cutting even or lagging a tiny bit, but that's because our extra eggs are given away. Maybe we should stop being nice and sell them instead. :p

New Years Eve

 Graham Crackers houses got finished at last, they lasted 1 day and then got taken apart or consumption,

 Jennifer and Daniel very nicely played a game of Clue together. It fell apart at the end where there were two missing clues which one accused the other of stealing, but appeared misplaced instead. It was fun while it lasted.

 The older three just sat and read comics.

 Is it the new year yet? At 30 minutes to go Evelyn wanted to hit the sack, but we convinced her to stick it out.

 Almost there...

Happy New (Tired) Year!

Skating!

 Are you sure the ice is thick enough?

 Everybody wants to get in skates for the first time this season!

 You can see what an odd assortment of pieces of wood are used on the deeper sections. At least it's working!!!

  I can watch the kids skate while making dinner...very nice!

Too early for gardening, I decided to try procreate some household plants instead.

 Ivy, African violet, and some other plant that I don't know the name of. They seem to be surviving so far (my houseplant success rate is pretty low!)

 Philip has been working on a shelf for Lego storage. It is supposed to go wall to wall, when all the pieces are done. So far it isn't helping keep the Lego off the floor, but it is usually easier to find pieces, if it is in a "fairly neat" state, like here.

 Jennifer and Evelyn are trying the "new ice". So far this winter we've had ice rain several times, or rain, so I haven't resurfaced the ice at all by hand. :)

 Super smooth! We are so happy we can skate even when our our snow has melted away!

 View from my ensuite.

 Tag is fun too!

 As long as everyone is "fair" and you don't get caught too many times.