What a week! We've been in the recovery stages from stomach flu and colds. Miller is so much better! His appetite has returned, with a vengeance, making up for all the lost meals last week. I want you to know, since my phone was your phone, and I'm sure there's still some part of you attached to your mobile device, that the phone is working. I put the phone in rice, inside a canning jar, and put it in the oven. I cooked it at a nice slow 225 degrees for three hours on Monday and Tuesday, and it would work for a little while, then stop. So by Wednesday I cooked it for almost 12 hours. It came out toasty hot, and hasn't stopped working. Yeah! And the chunky rice is in the trash. Since we're talking about technology, my camera hasn't been working since Breyer yanked the shutter. I've been using Hunter's camera ever since, but it's pretty lousy. On a whim, I thought I would call to see how much it would cost to fix, and I was told it would be replaced for free! The camera hasn't even been out for a year so I didn't have to find the receipt. The new camera arrived this week. Double yeah!
Monday was a fairly nice day, decent for winter time, and I thought it would be nice for the little guys to get outside during the day. So after finding boots for them, and coats, we went out to check on the bunny. The whole time your sister cried about the mud she was walking in, and kept saying, "Ewwww!" So much for outside adventures! We'll have to try again when the ground is drier. Hunter went to a school board meeting, and contributed to the discussion on firing the football coach. The coach has been appreciative of his efforts ever since. For family home evening we decorated paper bags for Valentine's Day, and took turns writing nice things about each other, including you, on little hearts.
Tuesday Jarrod took Sawyer to a basketball game while I did the cub scouts. Jarrod had to go to Buffalo, when in the dark reminds him of a place you don't want to be near. But he came home alive! As did I, after twenty scouts had their turn hooking up an electric doorbell, popping a GFI switch, and fixing a broken lamp. Good times with tools, that should be the new motto of the BSA. Whenever we have tools, you know it's going to be a good night.
Wednesday was the annual Ashland ward valentine's dance. Up until this year we've never gone, but due to recent policy changes it's okay for those 12 years old to participate in dances during regularly scheduled weekly activities. Dad took Hunter and Cooper to the dance. Cooper is now the youngest Schenewark to attend the dance, but since he wouldn't dance with anyone, I'm not sure it counts. Dad didn't have much luck in getting him off the chair, or away from the food table. Hunter was a willing participant, and was on an unlucky streak for a while! Two girls turned him down, and the third (really young looking) said no because she was a chaperone! But they did go, all in an effort to support their leaders.
Thursday was Valentine's Day! To show how much I love my children, a large contingency of them had six month dental check-ups, myself included. Cooper and Sawyer are cavity free! Breyer let them brush her front teeth, not much else. we'll be back with the rest. I'm sure at this point you would love a cleaning!
Miller has been waiting all week to open his Valentine bag that has been sitting on the kitchen table. After school we didn't have Porter or Jarrod, so they had to wait until Porter was finished with his basketball game. Since there was no school on Friday, a little winter vacation, Thursday turned into movie night. When we were all together we opened our bags, and enjoyed our new tradition. The hit was definitely Dad's retro valentine's he found and printed off for everybody. These are a few pictures, and yours is in the mail!
Friday Jarrod and I left everybody except Porter at home, and drove to Chillicothe. Porter had a basketball game and Hunter was able to help him get to the school. Jarrod's original Schenewark ancesters from Germany settled first in Ross County, and I've wanted to go their for five years! How cool is it that we lived in the same county in Texas that his Harris family lived, and now we live 2 hours from where the Schenewarks chose to live. We haven't figured out why they lived here, other than a lot of German immigrants were settling there, but we had a wonderful drive together, a great hamburger from Buffalo Wild Wings, and a really fun time looking at old records.
The City of Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio, converted an original 1800's jail into a probate archive in 1996. The metal jail cells house the filing cabinets and shelves, and actually make storing the old material in a safe environment very easy to do as the walls are SO thick!
We found an intent for naturalization and the naturalization record for Charles, and records pertaining to some of his children. We saw the map marked where they lived in 1860, and finally figured out where one of their cemeteries was located. They were only in the area for fifteen years or so before everyone was living in Missouri, but long enough to have left a paper trail of sorts. The old German Evangelical church records were transcribed, so we found information from them as well. We drove straight to Porter's game in Ironton, our county seat, and were in time to watch him play in the freshmen and junior varsity games.
We didn't stay the whole time, as we had been gone all day. We arrived home to find everyone still alive. When you get to have the whole day to yourself, coming home to dried macaroni and cheese dishes, and snack papers strewed all over, the couch cushions on the ground from a previous fort, and plates in the fort licked clean from Ranger, it's okay. Loading the dishwasher, picking up trash, finding dirty dishes, starting the washer...those are all things that get done everyday. But driving with your husband, all alone, for four hours, is monumental!
Saturday I took the three little kids to my morning seminary meeting while Jarrod took the three older boys to the merit badge college at Marshall University. Hunter was a little dismayed to find out he'd been put in disability awareness (and chess), but it turned out to be a wonderful class taught by a blind man, who showed them how to play video games without your eyes. Porter was in chess with Hunter as well as photography, taught by an Optimist member who now wants to bring old camera treasures and film over for Porter. Cooper FINALLY got to work on the robotics merit badge, which he loved, in exchange for taking one required, Citizenship in the World. I picked Jarrod up on campus and he left early to escort me back to Buffalo. Although it was in the day, and the hills and tree shadows not so scary, I didn't mind at all his chivalrous concern from those who might otherwise make my small children their next meal. Sawyer played a good game. That's why we go. He's fun to watch, he's a leader on the court, and the team works better when he's on the floor, which happened to be painted cement. There were kids slipping and sliding the whole game, and when they fell, it was hard to get back up.
Uncle Aaron took Aunt Rachael to Washington DC for a conference on Valentine's Day weekend...I'm sure you'll get his letter detailing the trip, but I thought since you were asking for photos, it would be fun to share one with you.
These are pictures I thought you would enjoy: The Ortons' latest family home evening activity of seeing who can last the longest on the trampoline (Kayla won with an impressive 43 seconds), and playing broom hockey in the snow.
Your cousin Evan and his debate team have done so well they've qualified for the National Forensic League nationals.
Your Aunt Becky and Uncle Steve have had a busy week. JoJo was finally cleared for adoption, and that day happened Thursday. You have a new cousin, Joseph! They were also notified of this award, and are so deserving of this honor. I'm sure they will share more later this week:
CONCORD - Governor Maggie Hassan will honor 28 NH parents as New Hampshire's Unsung Heroes at the State House.
As part of N.H.'s Parent Recognition Month parents who overcome challenges and remain role models to their families and communities were nominated and selected to be honored.
The 6th Annual Unsung Heroes Awards Ceremony is on Tuesday, February 19 at 4:30 p.m. at the N.H. State House. Twenty-eight parents from the Granite State will be honored by both the New Hampshire Children's Trust and the governor.
In national news, the Post Office has announced that they will be ending Saturday delivery on August 1. They are losing money so badly—being controlled by Congress but not getting any federal assistance.
We love you. More than you'll ever know. Mom and Dad
2 comments:
A beautiful letter as always. And, weren't you lucky to be able to replace your camera for free? That's awesome. Better keep it way from those busy little hands. You've certainly had a busy and fun week. Always enjoy hearing about your adventures.
I knew about the trick of putting a water-y cell phone in rice, but not about baking it. Clever!
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