Week 2 of 2024

 1/8-  I spent the morning doing laundry, reading, and doing housework after I took a long with my neighbor. I walked about 3 miles, which I am proud of as my usual mileage is around 1.9.  When Ivy got home from school, we went to Amy's house, and she cut Ivy's hair! Ivy needed her haircut because it was getting too long and slightly unmanageable. Then, on to Costco to pick up a few items, the most important being a coat for Oakley, as the next few days are projected to be really cold. We picked up Addy from basketball and then went home to make dinner.  I made Udon noodles with chicken for the girls as Roman didn't want any, and Frank was at work.  I also threw in the loaf of bread I had been working on all day.  I am trying my hand at sandwich bread.  I have made some before, but they always turned out so dry and were only good if you ate them immediately.  This loaf was incredibly soft; however, the taste was a bit strong from the sourdough.  I will keep searching.

1/9-Oh, I hate winter.  When I woke up it was pouring buckets from the sky.  Took Ivy to school and then turned around and went to the doctor. There is nothing to worry about.  Just a routine visit.  Then, before heading home, I stopped at Whole Foods to get some sweet potatoes for a salad I wanted to make.  Wasted most of my day watching garbage on YouTube. I need to do a better job at not doing that, as I could have been reading a book.  I managed to get Roman's ticket booked for Ireland, which is a good thing. 

1/10 I woke up to a beautiful sunny but cold day, and the sad part is that my neighbor says it will be even colder next week.  Insert sad face with tears. The good side of this is that the freezing temps freeze the mosquitos. Roman is sick today.  I am trying to figure out what is wrong with him.  He says he has a cold, but I haven't seen any cold symptoms.  He says he feels tired, has low energy, and is dizzy.  I hope it isn't his heart.  I went walking again with the neighbor, but I picked up the pace this time because it was so cold.  I had to go to an IEP meeting for Ivy.  She needs some speech therapy to help with her pronunciation of some letters. It warmed up a little in the afternoon, so I took Oakley for a second walk.  Addy has a basketball game this evening.  I hope their team does well.  There are only a couple more weeks left in the season.  

I didn't have time to write the rest of the week, as it was rather busy with appointments and other activities. Oakley went to her one-year vet visit. She is doing great and has been an excellent addition to our family.

Roman went to the Orthodontist, and she is still trying to tweak a few front teeth.  She is hoping to finish up in the next couple of months.

I tried a couple of new recipes this week.  One was a Beef Curry Noodle dish from Half Baked Harvest, and the other was a German Meat meatball dish called Konighberger Klopse.  The second was a huge hit.  So delicious!  Addy, as I mentioned, had two basketball games, both of which her team won.  In the first of the two games, she scored 4 points, and in the second, she scored two.  Then the girls went to play church Volleyball on Saturday.  I also went walking again with my neighbor.  Hoping to get out next week and use my camera a bit.  It has been a while since I went out and did photography other than capturing family events or doing photo shoots 

I also booked tickets for Avery, Ivy, and myself to go to Germany.  We will be there for about 7 weeks.  Frank has work obligations here at home.  Addy wanted to stay home to go to basketball camp this summer.  As I mentioned, Roman is going to Ireland but doesn't want to go to Germany. He plans to work this summer.  

One last thing: I watched The Sound of Music with Avery, and she loved it! I have waited a long time to share this movie with my girls. Well, it is late, and I should get to bed.

                                              Winston is taking a class with Brad R. Wilcox this semester!