Day One Hundred Seventy-Eight: Laser Tag

In lieu of a big birthday party, Max chose to just invite one good friend to Main Event, and we finally found a day that both the friend and we were available. Aside from being the responsible adult in charge, my objective was to knock out my First for the day. I made that happen with a round of laser tag. It was so much fun, and especially so since I got to share the experience with all my kiddos!

Day One Hundred Seventy-Seven: Military Surplus Store

I think once, when I was in college, I stumbled upon the military surplus store across from campus. I barely gave it a glance, and I haven't darkened the door of another military surplus store since that time. Until today. Because that's where you shop when you are the mother of a CAP cadet and you don't want to pay ridiculous prices at the online retailer for specific uniform components. I thought we would just be popping in there for the necessities, but I have to admit, it was a super cool store, and we spent plenty of extra time just looking around. I kept wondering if I needed any tactical gear or grenade boxes in my life and how I would look in various shades of camo. It was definitely a new kind of shopping experience for me, and it was surprisingly fun!

Omaha's Surplus

No camo for me this time, but we got this girl fully outfitted.

Day One Hundred Seventy-Six: Groundhog Day Party

When the kids realized that today was Groundhog Day and that it was a Friday, they decided the only thing to do was to have a party. Obviously, the movie Groundhog Day would be the main event. But we took it a couple of steps further with Fuzzy's fajitas and a groundhog cookie cake. I've been to all kinds of parties in my forty years, but I can honestly say I've never been to a Groundhog Day party! We had a blast and made some wonderful memories!

Packing in some extra calories to get us through six more weeks of winter!

It's Groundhog Day!

Jeff and Ruth produced this adorable and delicious groundhog cookie cake for our party.

Day One Hundred Seventy-Five: Making it onto the Thankful Board

This year, we are trying to be very intentional about being thankful and filling our home with positivity. One of the things we've done is to transform our school white board into a Thankful Board. Anything may be written on the board by any person as long as it is positive and reflects a spirit of thankfulness. Being a stay-at-home mom/homeschool teacher can sometimes feel like a very thankless job, so I was thrilled to see that I made the board! I do know my family appreciates me, but it's nice to see it in writing. Plus, you know you're doing something right when you see your name sitting there next to "croty" (karate)! 😀

So much to be thankful for!

Day One Hundred Seventy-Four: Super Blue Blood Eclipse

We all got up early to take in the Super Blue Blood Eclipse, which hasn't happened in 150 years. It was pretty awesome! I didn't get any pictures, but I love the poetic beauty of having both a total solar eclipse and a total lunar eclipse in my Year of Firsts, and I'm thankful I got to share both special events with my people.

Day One Hundred Seventy-Three: Second Fermentation

I have been making kombucha for several months, but today was the first time I attempted a "second fermentation." All that really means is that I removed the SCOBY, added some fruit, popped a lid on the bottles, and set them aside to ferment for a few more days. The second fermentation is supposed to be more flavorful and more carbonated. I can't wait to try it!

Day One Hundred Seventy-Two: edX Course

Ruth has used edX--a hub of free online university classes--for several of her high school courses, and she recently sent me a link to one of the courses she thought I might be interested in for myself. That led me to search through the course catalog to see all the offerings, and that led me to sign up for my first class (and to bookmark a few others for future reference). For my first experience, I decided to start with something that was self-paced and had a short time commitment. But now that I've seen how it works, I'll be ready to jump into something more involved next time. I'm so thankful that learning is something a person never gets too old for and that there are so many resources available to facilitate it!