How Do We Stay Warm?

People keep asking me how we stay warm in such cold temperatures. Cyrus here is illustrating what a trip outside requires and the ensemble may include:

Snow/Winter Jacket...for those of you who live in warmer areas and think your jacket is warm, think again!

Gloves...waterproof with thinsulate (your jacket probably has the same)

Scarf (important, most likely blanket material)

Hat/earwarmers/hoodie...here you see Cyrus with a hoodie and his hood on.

Snow pants/Snow suit...the kids have snow trousers which is what most of the kids here use. For adults there are snow bibs and Carhart makes very warm outwear (and nice winter jackets...just ask Vern).

And then there is your footwear. I have toewarmer boots made in Canada (and my toes still get cold), Victoria has arctic boots with thinsulate lining, the boys have lined waterproof snow boots.

If you don't have snow pants, you wear thermals under your pants if you are going to be outside for any amount of time in any temp under 0 (zero). If the wind is blowing you most likely are going to cover your face with something.

The hard part is traveling because once the car warms up everyone starts taking off their winter wear!

On Saturday night we had a wind chill of negative 45 (-45).

Here are the dogs out in the snow. It warmed up to the low 20's and the dogs played and played and played outside.

The poor things have had a tough go of it, because every time they had to go outside in those subzero temperatures their feet froze, their faces froze, they limped back inside with white whiskers. They were very happy to have a bit warmer weather to play in!

You Think You Are Cold?

Right in the middle of finals week, along comes the Antarctic to visit. The heater has not stopped running for 24 hours straight. We hit -11 with a wind chill of -40, and that was at 8 am this morning. The temperature when I took these pictures was -4 with a -24 wind chill. Tomorrow, Chantel get to travel down to the school, 35 miles away to take finals. It is supposed to be 2 degrees and we are expecting 3 inches of snow in the afternoon. Then she gets to go back Wednesday too!

This is the back door. Actually this is the storm door on the outside of the back door, and I don't know if you notice, but there is plastic insulating the window that is covered in ice, and the handle is completely frozen.



This is the window looking out to the side of the yard, and yes, that is more ice on the window.





This is actually the stairway from the main floor to the basement. That is the gas line from outside, and that is ice, along with ice on the tape holding the plastic insulation around the window. The cold water line for the washer is right beside this, and it is frozen solid.












This is outside the front door. Does it look cold?

Oh Christmas Tree, Cookies and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Here, is our Christmas tree. Many of the ornaments on it this year are hand made by the children. Clinical days for mom were Art Days for the kids, and as Christmas came nearer, the art turned to ornaments. They have had a lot of fun decorating the tree. The girls also took each candy cane on the tree and wrote messages on them, funny sayings and warnings. It is fun to pick one off the tree and unwrap it.














Cyrus helped decorate the chocolate dipped pretzels. He had a lot of fun.



Cody and Jared were in charge of cookies.

After we were all finished, Vern and I took plates to friends and neighbors to share in our treats.

Fred the Itcudmaulasaurus

Victoria had to create a sculpture for her Understanding Art course. Fred is made out of wire scraps, glow sticks, and other odds and ends that she had to gather around the house and then plaster.

Friends and Dance, or is it Dance and Friends

Ginger, GingerSnaps, GingerBread, GingerAle? Nope, just Ginger.




Cody and Hank (Hannah K. so Hank for short, right?) Cody was very festive!











Victoria, Karsen and Collette after the dance, too much sugar?!

Dance....Dance....Daaaaaannnncccce!

Conga anyone???











Ben White............need we say more (although the girls do!)















Snacks!

Thanks and Thanksgiving

A table full of feast, an immense blessing of substance. Can you see the home made bread (Victoria), or the Turkey, Oyster Stuffing, Candied Yams, Mashed Potatoes, Scratch Gravy, Green Bean Casserole ,or the Apple Crisp?
How about the two homemade Apple Pies and the homemade Cherry Pie made from fresh cherries from Kansas (thanks to CodyOdina, our local pastry celebrity).










It was a long day, lots of cooking and ended with a tired mom, ready for a Thanksgiving afternoon nap. But, it was all worth it, every moment.

We are so blessed!

And More Blessings!!!

Cody enjoying some yummy oyster stuffing!















Cyrus trying to decide, should he put MORE on his plate?










Jared, earnest and thoughtful, and trying to figure out what does not have vegetables in it.














Victoria, who isn't sure there is enough veggies on the table.

Big Band Concert

Cyrus had his first band showcase concert. The 5th graders played first, showing off a practice book compilation and their song, Bring On Da Band.





He did a wonderful job!!!!

Rubik's Who?

Well, it is official! Victoria is among the few select individuals who actually KNOWS how to solve a Rubik's Cube. Here you see the crazy, mixed up cube....


A few twists and......




Walla!





Completely complete (and she did NOT peel off the stickers and put them back in order and she did NOT pop the cube apart and put it back together, for all of you 80's brats who know what I am talking about.)

Skating Away

Homeschool skating has begun.

Here are the girls showing off their prowess.










Here is Jared, slow but steady and getting better all the time!









Here is Cyrus, skating master!

Weather, Wonders and Weirdness

It is amazing how fast things change!

On November 4th it was almost 80 degrees, sunny and the grass was still green and by Friday morning November 7th it was freezing and there was 3 inches of snow on the ground. This pattern turned to ice on November 11th, shutting the schools down (with an early morning school bus in the ditch to prompt the closings) and cancellation of Cody's first choir performance for Veteran's Day. Then, Thursday the 13th it rained all day and the snow is gone.

Cody was very sad about the cancellation, but will get another chance to perform in December at the Holiday concert. Cyrus on the other hand is gearing up for his first band performance on November 24th, and is very excited about the whole thing. We will have pictures then!

Vern, Victoria and Chantel only have four weeks left in this semester, but they are a busy four weeks with finals all around. Chantel has 4 finals in two days and has to drive down to Worthington for them all.

The most exciting event of the month so far has been a trip to the doctor and then emergency room for Chantel. It seems that, like last year, her heart does not appreciate this time of year. No one knows yet why or what is causing it, but we do know now that her heart is not working as smoothly as it should. For those of you who understand this kind of stuff *smile*, she is having a regular heart beat with PVC's (Premature Ventricular Contractions) with a bit of Tachycardia (accelerated heart rate). It may be inflammation related to the Sjogren's or a virus she is susceptible to this time of year, or it may just be the decrease in sunlight. Either way, after monitoring it for a week and the ER visit, we have no more answers than before. She has had to stop taking her antinflammatory, which is a bit rough with the cold, because the cold causes her joints to hurt more, and gets tired much easier because her heart is working extra time , but otherwise is plugging away. Although, the whole thing has got Vern and the kids a bit worried about mom and they are being extra helpful right now.

The good news is, Christmas cards are almost complete and holiday shopping is complete, so the only tasks now are putting on the finishing touches, wrapping and shipping the gifts for nieces and nephews and of course decorating the house for the holidays! Too bad we didn't get that done when it was 70 degrees outside, huh?

How they have grown

Here is a little Haynes Family history for you!

One side of the doorway is the boys, with Vern's measurements at the top. Something for the boys to aim for! You can see here Both Cyrus' and Jae's growth over the past 4 years. The bottom line is Jae, just below 4 feet and the top line is Cyrus, just below 5 feet. Cyrus is a slow and steady grower, whereas Jae stalls for a bit and then grows an inch or two.













Here is Victoria, CodyOdina and Mom. You will notice that all of us are over 5 feet, but both girls are taller than Mom. Cody is now just over 5'5" and Victoria is just about an inch taller than that at 5'7". Cody may add another inch, but is pretty well done growing, and Victoria only grew about 1/2 an inch over the past 4 years. You can see though how CodyOdina has grown, and Mom is happy to say that she has not shrunk!

Nursing the nurse

This was my first week working as a Student Practical Nurse. It was frightening to be placed in charge of the medical care of another. It was a long day, with 7 hours spent on the floor and 3 hours spent doing paperwork. I gave 2 injections, which made my heart skip a beat!

Because I don't work as a CNA (certified nursing assistant), and daily cares are part of the nurses responsibility, my instructor asked one of the other students who has worked for the past four years as a CNA to come and help me. I was truly blessed to have the help of others and felt like my Heavenly Father was watching over me, and my patient, helping us along.

As our reward, my patient and I played Wii Billiards for 30 minutes at the end of my shift, which I think he really enjoyed.

It is very daunting, trying to keep all of the instructions and information I have been learning forefront in my head while working to take care of my resident, and honestly most of the time I was completely blank. In nursing, book work is only a small part. It is the hands on interactions that matter the most. This semester, clinicals are in the nursing home one full day a week, however next semester we will be rotating through two different hospitals and a doctors office twice a week. Along with class work I can't imagine how exhausted I will be, but I'm hoping I can hang in there and do well!

Horses in costume

For Halloween the local Therapeutic Riding organization dressed up the horses to gather food donations for The Food Bank. The kids really enjoyed it!















Here CodyOdina is posing with The Princess.










Here Jared is admiring her beauty!

The horses are Norwegian Fjords. Pronounced fee-ords.