Dragons and Cheese

Well, we're one month into 2021, and in most respects, life doesn't look much different than it did 31 days ago.  COVID-19 and freezing weather still keep us at home most of the time, we're still homeschooling kids who love math and hate writing, and it's still socially taboo to hug people you don't live with.  A couple things do look different for our family though. (OK three, if you count my DIY haircut yesterday.)

First, I have suddenly developed a surprising fascination with cheese.  Maybe it's because sampling new cheese is an easy way to add variety to a life that feels rather repetitive lately.  Whatever the reason, I find it amusing that we have about ten different kinds of cheese in our fridge at the moment, and my family, who hadn't tried anything more exotic than Parmesan before last month, is now debating whether they prefer Gouda or Gruyere.

We usually break out the cheese knife on a day when I go to Trader Joe's and come home with a baguette, but I've also been tinkering with a simple bread recipe at home lately, so we can have bread and cheese any day we want to.  Incidentally, one of the homemade loaves in the photo above is missing a portion because we used it for our home sacrament meeting this morning.  It feels like such an honor to see bread that I made being used for a sacred ordinance.

The other thing that is different lately is that we've really gotten into Dungeons and Dragons.  We've had family DnD sessions at least once a week lately, and we're thinking of sharing an adventure with a couple friends from church next month.  Joy has especially loved delving into the lore, rules, monsters, and anything else she can learn about DnD.  She is our family consultant when we're working on creating new characters.

Joy recently tried leading an adventure she'd prepared, but quickly pulled the plug on it because it wasn't working as well as she envisioned.  I've led an adventure as well (and I'm working on two more!), and I can attest that it's not nearly as easy as good Dungeon Masters make it look.  You have to keep track of the game's mechanics (which I still don't know very well), narrate in an engaging way, and mentally rework your story every time a player does something you weren't expecting.  I find it exhausting, but also exhilarating to bring a story to life and share it with my family.  I'm curious to know how Joy's story would have played out, and I kind of hope she'll give it another try someday, but hey . . . 

. . . no pressure.

Shear Madness

 We're in the middle of a COVID surge, and I didn't feel comfortable going to a salon . . .

. . . but I've also been getting really tired of my overgrown hairstyle.  So I watched a YouTube video (and then another YouTube video about what NOT to do in the first video), then I grabbed some sharp scissors . . .

. . . and did something rather rash this morning.

The first draft doesn't look too bad, does it?  Actually, don't answer that.  Let me go even things up.

That's . . . a little better.  Now let me go add some layers.  I've been watching trained professionals do it for years, so it should be easy, right?  Don't answer that either.

Surprisingly, my clumsy efforts to add layers to my own hair while watching my reflection in a mirror worked out OK.  In fact . . .

. . . I'm astounded that my first attempt to cut my own hair turned out this well.  Will I trim my own hair again the next time it grows out?  Probably not, because a trained stylist can do it ten times faster, but I still think it's pretty darn cool that I gave myself a decent haircut the very first time I tried.  Add that to the list of unexpectedly awesome experiences I never would have considered trying if it weren't for this pandemic.

Drawing Bunnies (and Pixies Too!)

At the store this week, I noticed . . .

. . . a book of instructions for drawing fantasy characters.  Since some of the kids enjoy drawing, and they're getting into fantasy stories with Dungeons and Dragons, I thought they might enjoy some of the book's tutorials.

Of course, Anna set right to work drawing a pixie last night.

I'd say it turned out pretty well (the flowers looked especially nice).

And no, Todd isn't drawing a portrait of his grimacing brother.

It's a friendly bunny rabbit.

Taking a Break

 No . . .

. . . we haven't started growing cotton in our front yard.  It just snowed a few inches last night, so we decided to cancel history class and go sledding this afternoon. (Don't worry--we did extra history last week when we watched the inauguration and discussed what a filibuster is.)

First we picked up Anna's coat from the dentist (where she left it a couple days ago) . . .

. . . then we headed to the slopes.  The kids had a fun time . . .

. . . (and so did their mom) . . .

. . . but when I saw Anna lying down to rest after her latest hike back up the hill, I figured it was time to leave.

Pat pat.  Now let's go to Gourmet Donuts.

Um, Sort Of

This morning, Todd walked up to me and said . . .

"Does it kind of look like I have a sentient hat?"

Nice Day for a Hike

The weather was nice today (and by "nice," I mean above 40 degrees and not raining or snowing) . . .

. . . so I decided to take the kids on a hike.  We went to a familiar trail that we've explored multiple times . . .

 

. . . and although the trees and forest floor were pretty bare, there were still some unique things to see . . .

. . . like this sympathetic note someone jotted on a trail marker . . .

. . . or the fact that Todd was carrying a pool noodle.  I have no clue why he brought it along, but he seemed happy to have it, and I guess that's what matters.

When we reached a fork in the trail, and voted on whether to hike the short loop or the long loop, Joy was the only one who voted for the short one.  She then announced that she would just hike it alone and walk home.  I pointed out that walking home through the neighborhoods would take just as long (and be just as hilly) as hiking the long loop with us and then riding home, but she struck off on her own anyway . . .

. . . and then surprised us by meeting us halfway up the long loop, coming from the other direction.  We took a victory picture on Picnic Rock at the top of the hill, and agreed that we should bring an actual picnic the next time we have nice hiking weather.

Which may be in April.

Cold and Colder

 On Joy's birthday last month, Anna gave her a coupon for an all-expense-paid sister trip to Menchie's.  For a variety of reasons (including one time when we arrived at Menchie's to find that they were closed that day), the girls finally went for fro yo this afternoon . . .

. . . and quickly realized that it's no fun to eat frozen yogurt in windy, sub-freezing weather.

So we drove home, and they ate in our warm dining room, and everyone was happy.  Including Todd, who got Anna's leftover salted caramel fro yo.

The Year We Stayed Home

It recently occurred to me that, aside from the occasional trip to in-person church, our kids haven't left the house much in the last few months.  At first that concerned me.  Then I realized that their days probably hold more variety and fun now than they did before the pandemic started.  When we're not homeschooling, they keep plenty busy . . .

. . . playing imaginative games with squishmallows . . .

. . . and pool noodles.

They read together . . .

. . . pray together . . .

. . . or start up a game of Checker Flick . . .

. . . or Carpet Boom (don't step off the rug or else you'll explode!).

I can't wait for this pandemic to be over . . . 

(Our commemorative 2020 ornament.)

. . . but I suspect that my kids will look back on 2020 as the best year of their childhood.

Joy Is Not Emily

Like her brother, Joy is not a fan of writing poetry.  School often nudges us outside of our comfort zones though, and this week's lesson required her to read several Emily Dickenson poems, then write her own nature poem in that style.

When I reviewed Joy's poetry brainstorming page, I wasn't surprised to find angsty protest poems instead of effusive reflections on the natural world:

"It's Bad or Worse, you can take your pick,

A no-win deal that makes me sick,

They want a poem,

Take this, I'll show 'em,

And that's why you're reading this limerick."

"Haiku of Doom"

I have to write an

Emily Dickenson poem.

I hate everything.

While the protest poems were amusing, they didn't exactly fulfill  the requirements of her assignment.  Fortunately, she managed to compose a satisfactory compromise:

"Why I can't write a Nature Poem (in Emily Dickenson style)*"

"I've got to write a poem here

About the plants and trees.

The style is Miss Dickenson's,

You know I aim to please.

But how to put the splendor of

Our planet into verse,

When every shrub and blade of grass

Is wondrous beyond words?"

"*To be clear, this is an Emily Dickenson Nature Poem about why I can't write an Emily Dickenson Nature Poem.  Just in case anyone wasn't clear on that."

The Adventures Begin

Daniel's church youth group decided to try doing a virtual Dungeons and Dragons adventure recently.  That sparked a lot of D&D interest in our family.  Soon most of the kids were making up characters . . .

. . . and Daddy volunteered to lead an adventure that he looked up online.  I made up a character too, so I could join in the activity.  The character's name is Nogadocia Frendalia Skemander the 27th (you can call her Sandy).

We had a fun time with Daddy's adventure, and Joy and I are now working on our own stories to lead in the coming weeks.

Todd is too young to really grasp the complex DnD rules at this point, but he likes to watch us explore imaginary forests and foil bad guys' nefarious plots.  He also enjoys playing with the unique dice for hours when we're not using them.  Best $10 we've ever spent.

Paper Lanterns

Daniel is reading a Japanese story for ELA lately, and the unit included instructions to make . . .

. . . a paper lantern (with help from his artistically-inclined older sister).

Anna and Todd thought the lantern was pretty cool, so after they finished their assignments for the day, they went right to work making their own paper lanterns (with help from their not-so-artistically-inclined mother).  When the lanterns were done, we weren't sure where to hang them . . .

. . . until I had the thought to display them on curtain hooks in our school room.

The paper-lantern trend-setter approves.  And in case you're wondering . . .

. . . his lantern has a place of honor up on his dresser.