A Month Away...

Hey, all!

Yeesh, I have been awful about updating the blog.
A whole month (to the day!) I have just not set aside the little bit of time it takes to journal about the day.
Why is that, you may ask?
Well, a couple reasons really...

Firstly, pretty much following that last post, I had a bout of sadness due to my sister's visit having to end. ;_;
I realize now that I am a lot more affected by my family's physical absence in my life than I would have ever admitted before. Just as with Christmas '12, when the whole Schilling clan was here, I was pretty depressed upon their departure...

So I tried to turn my mood around and do some cool crafting that I'd been meaning to do with the kids. Specifically in the form of making some paper at home!!

Honestly, it had a sort of "cheap restroom paper towel" look/feel to it. Ha!

It's a relatively easy process, so long as you have the tools which are (for us) the following:

- shallow plastic basin
- old newspapers
- blender
- plastic needlepoint sheet
- empty picture frames
- water
- sponge

You can find plenty of tutorials online for how to do it, but the way I "learned" was just from watching it being done as a demonstration at last year's Corvallis Kids Day for Conservation.

Anyway, the kids loved the process because it involved water, the blender, and then getting to write on our "masterpieces".

We wrote a whole letter on one sheet and sent it to Aba. When she got it, she said she was so impressed because it looked like "artisan paper". Ha! Well, I intend to get better at it and start incorporating sparkles, seeds, and other fun goodies.

But before we could make anymore headway on that, a huge hiccup happened in our household that also has to do with heads:
LICE

That's right!
That pesky intruder had infiltrated our home through preschool and it really threw things into a tizzy. See, for the most part they're harmless little bugs, but so darn tenacious that unless thorough and relentless action is taken, you can find yourself suffering by them for a good long while!
Not to say that any of us were infested or anything -- in fact, we'd have never known we'd been visited if not for the head-checker at school finding a little nit on Ella's head. Guh!

So I didn't post the entire time of that ordeal because:
a) I was much too consumed with all the laundering/vacuuming/washing/etc that came with our regiment for dealing with it, and...
b)I guess I caved in to the typical embarrassment that accompanies an issue like this. Trust me, by no means was I hush-hush about it to people in our lives; I insisted on full disclosure, and let people know what we were dealing with and what we were doing about it.
But I didn't post because I'm sure the posts would've all sounded something like this:
- "The laundry machine's been running all day, and this is the third time I've vacuumed the whole house in two days. See you tomorrow!"
- "Combed through Ella's head this morning and found no nits. Combed again at night...one nit! Gaaah!!"

Etc, etc.
In the thick of it, it felt like it'd never end... But it's nice to look back on that now and breathe a sigh of relief that we dealt with the problem and are even more prepared should it ever pop up again...which seems pretty inevitable when you have a daughter.

It was so enlightening to hear from friends their own experiences with lice as children. I remember having it exactly once as a child, and my mom had neglected the problem for so long (blaming our itchy heads and "white flakes" as dandruff) that by the time we were diagnosed, we were quite infested >_< So I had a lot of negative "doom and gloom" connotations with lice. But other friends have reassured me that they'd gotten it a couple of times and with perseverance and hard work, always overcame.
Especially now that we are armed with some products in our cupboards and The Terminator comb, I know that next time around, it will not be as traumatic.

All in all, the experience had some good things and bad things about it.
First the bad: I shrunk a couple of my favorite wool hats in the initial panic of wanting to wash everything on hot and dry on high.  Ffffuuuu...!! >_<
The good: it made me really deep-clean the house in a way that I've been aching to do for a long time. With no playdates scheduled and all social interaction kept to a minimum, it meant a lot of time at home to just focus on our space :)

That brings me to the next event in February that caused me to neglect updating my blog:
SNOWSTORM #2!!

You may recall that there was quite some snowfall and ice in early December. Well, round two came the first week of February, and though it did not result in ice and didn't stick around for as long, it did make for an awesome winter wonderland.

Before I delve into that, I must point out that Dash was also away for this whole week to visit his ailing father in the hospital (who is doing better now, thankfully!) and we were still not totally out of the danger zone for lice. @_@ So yeah, quite a cumbersome week in some ways.

First came the sheer cold...

How our morning commute to school typically looks (William tends to join us). Look at those blanket burritos!

Then...the beautiful snow :)

Ella Rose actually took this shot through the upstairs window. It's our neighbor's house and yard.

The official snow measurement was 9" but it was more like over a foot in some neighborhoods!

The kids ventured in it a little, but would invariably last only about 20 minutes.
So, once again, lots of inside time (and little social contact because it was hard for anyone to get anywhere!).
What did we do with all that inside time?
Well, a few things...

Facepainting!!!!

And we also watched more "Daniel Tiger" than I'd like to admit...
But dang, they've got some snappy songs and all the episodes are so wholesome and teach great social skills...how can I resist? ;)

Plus, while the kids were enjoying all those episodes, I was up to some more cleaning...of the organizational kind! I did a huge overhaul on the office (where Dash mainly works and where he keeps his clothes too), and it was phenomenal!!!

Unfortunately, I don't have any photo evidence (wish I'd done Before & Afters!!), but trust me the space is so much more logical, uncluttered, and workable now. I can even do my translations there at my own desk that I uncovered! So Dash and I can work together after the kids go to sleep, in one room which saves on electricity and also gives us "alone time" in a way. ;)

That had to be one of the highlights of the week despite it being Dash-less and snowy to the point of isolating. While some friends spoke of cabin fever, I was pumped with getting my home to look more the way I want it to. The give-away pile in the attic grew and grew as I was able to more honestly look at what's in my home and face the truth that I haven't used some thing in months, years, or sometimes even ever!

That brings me to another major event (after Dash got back and we'd just been work-work-working): All that stuff I had weeded out of my house I was then able to finally hand off this past weekend, thanks to the "Corvallis Family Clothing Swap PLUS" that S.G. spearheaded. I somehow didn't take photos (what is my problem?) but it was a smash that gave families the opportunity to purge their homes, find treasures to take home, and ultimately, for local charities to receive an ample injection of donations. :) All in all, a success, I'd say.

Hmm...somehow it feels like I've reduced four whole weeks into just a few events (paper, lice, snow, and cleaning house -- hmm, the first part of that list sounds like fodder a real messed up poem).
Well, I guess that's one major event per week, if you space it out evenly. Ha!!

Nah, there were things in between too... Boring as it sounds, mostly an intense work schedule both inside the house and out. Even did some commuting all the way to Monmouth for some of it. Yuck and, at the same time, hurray for more opportunities~? :\

Well, before I end this epic post, let me just throw a couple photos of the kids up for your viewing pleasure ;)

Random act of affection I caught the kids engaging in. Sporadic hugs like this are priceless!!

What happens when William doesn't get a nap in...

Poor picture, but we like to eat by candlelight every once in a while. Just 'cuz. ;)

I hope February's been okay for you all so far. It's a tricky month, February is.  Not to bring the mood down, but there have been a couple deaths in the families of good friends, not to mention Dash Snr.'s initial failing health (albeit miraculous recovery~!)

Do stay well, everyone and Happy Month Away~!