five degrees out

and this is the high for the day....all the first trip kids went, and the three little girls are getting their boots on. It's strange how quickly we acclimate to the cold, and when it goes back up into the twenties, it will seem so warm. The midwest has had some much colder weather than us, I saw minus 29 in Minnesota....

We had some fun yesterday. Mirielle and I had a bake-off....because even with a fire burning in the furnace (our furnace burns either wood or oil, if the fire goes out, it switches over to oil), it was freezing in here. So Mirielle, wanting to find a use for these cherries we had, made a cherry/custard/merangue thing on a pie crust. I made some chocolate chip cookies with semi-sweet chips, peanut butter chips, and milk chocolate chips.....we both won, and so did the kids coming home from school.....they had milk and cookies....and we had Mirielle's thing after dinner, it was pretty good. See why we needed a treadmill for winter time?

Every day, I check out Craigslist, the baby stuff. I just do. The local stuff. I am kind of looking for a new Graco-playpen bed, the one Camille sleeps in is too small, and my other one broke after only 11 years of use....and I am always interested in what strollers people are parting with, not that I need any of those.....anyway, yesterday there were 2 Britax Decathalon carseats....looked new, they were kept covered.....$180 for both of them. Now, we did not NEED two car seats. But ever since I got the nice Britax for Camille, I have suffered the following guilt: Camille has the nicest, safest carseat, what about Jonathan and Charlotte Claire? Jon's seat is not too bad, but Charlotte Claire's is several years old. I couldn't afford $200+ for each of them, especially if they had something already....these were $100 each or make an offer. I offered the $180, and she took it, and I thought, "I should've offered lower.." But I was chicken. Anyway, they are very nice. They are still out in the car. I didn't want to bring them in last night, as the kids were wild enough, and I want to wash the covers before they sit in them...and, I hadn't exactly called Paul first, I just took off with Mirielle, stopped at the ATM, and bought them....then we went to a Wal-mart for some gifts for Emily, and some milk and butter and bananas......for almost $100......and that was being really careful, since I had just spent so much on those car-seats we really needed......

It is bright and sunny out, but the one way to tell how cold it is: the cats are running around chasing each other like they're kittens. It is too cold for them out there....so they are terrorizing, up and down the stairs, crashing around.....

The little ones are still sleeping. We have been keeping Jonathan up a little later than the little girls, they go to sleep much better with out him in there. If he sleeps in later, like today, it is good. But it is a gamble, if he wakes up with them in the morning, he is a grump. So, today we won the gamble...

The economy is a bit scary right now. Last night when I came home from my carseat-buying-Walmart-trip, Paul was already home from work. He told me that the production people at his work have cut back to a 36 hour work week, as the management does not want to "let them go", which is a nice way to say "fire"....So, it was a teensy bit hard to tell him where I had been.....He is not in production, he is salary, but when things aren't getting manufactured, they won't need as many computer guys, at some point......

Mirielle has to get up and get moving today, she has to take a placement exam, and sign up for classes. She is also going to mail Emily's birthday gift, will it get to Norway in three days? ha. I am wondering how much it will be to mail it there....I am supposed to go on a fun little jaunt today, not. Paul wants me to go to the car dealer in town and look at some used vehicles, just check out milage and prices. We are looking for something to maybe replace the truck, which has so many miles on it.....and since Benjamin is still in college, and needs to get back and forth to work, too, we would like to help him by letting him borrow a vehicle.....so Paul would get the "new" one, and Ben the truck.....it seems rather frightening to be thinking of such a big purchase right now. But people have to get to work. We are looking for something like a used Saturn Vue. Something that fits five. Or a minivan. I do not want to go out in the five degree weather and look at used vehicles all by myself. Abigail will be here to watch the kids, as I wouldn't bring them out in the cold.

Well, as much as I am enjoying just writing on and on, I am starting to bore myself. There is plenty to do around here.....phone calls to make, the housework....oh, where do I even begin?