Our Van is Anti-Cold

 It didn't have any problems last year.

But this year, our van refuses to run if the temperature drops below freezing.

We've checked the anti-freeze.

We've done a fuel-injection treatment.

We've tried jump-starting when the weather is super cold.

We've put a heater under the van.

All to no avail.

So far our best results have come from the temperature rising above freezing for a long enough time.

But we're in the middle of a cold spell.

So we're home.

Most of the time.

I'm not complaining.

It's just taking some creative planning and some practice adapting to less-than-ideal circumstances.

Our teen car is in the shop.

Which means we have one car that seats 5 to share between 4 drivers and 7 other passengers.

The good part of it all means we're doing a lot of good reading together!

The teens and I finished Huck Finn, and we're doing a good amount of world history.

All of the kids are doing math every day.

The teens are working on time management because they got a little out of the habit of studying wisely.  Little Princess and I are going to start having planning/evaluation meetings once a week to help her manage her schoolwork better than she currently is.

The kids and I took walks on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

We had a second session of freezing rain after the big snow, so the snow was frozen on top.
Snow angels were hard for the kids to make, and there were places where they could walk through the snow without leaving footprints.

Screwing up courage to make a face print . . .

 . . . and smashing his face into icy snow that didn't really cooperate!
Making face prints hurts even under the best conditions!

The snow started melting in the sun.  They had a harder time staying on top of the snow.

photo credit:  Mister Man

Sugar Bear was so happy to be taking a walk in the sunny cold.

The snow cave started to melt and collapse by Wednesday.

Little Princess and I had fun chatting when she came on a walk with us.

Lola, between the dog leases, looks like she's harnessed in with them!

Snow MUST be wallowed in!

When we weren't walking, we were reading about Isaac Newton, memorizing states and capitals, finishing up Twelfth Night, continuing to read Across Five Aprils, reading 2 historical picture books--The Silent Witness and Pink and Say--working on handwriting and/or phonics, starting Under the Home Art History lesson (3rd grade lesson 1 completed this week*), completing a "What Did I Learn This Week?" narration page, and talking a lot about 19th century US politics.

For bedtime reading, we're still reading Charlotte's Web and Tom Sawyer.

(*Note:  I chose 3rd grade lessons because art history is art history, and the curriculum only goes up to 5th grade.  I might as well use as many lessons as I can.)

In their free time, the kids have done a lot of crafting--building doll houses and a fancy doll hotel.

But the moment that made me laugh out loud was when I walked past this game:

Baymax and Ladybug were using a pair of her summer slides and a wooden "puck" to play a homemade version of air hockey in the front entryway.

We needed to leave for dance on Thursday no later than 11:45 am.  

We tried to start the van every half hour or so while simultaneously trying to arrange for rides with various dance families to get us all to practice.

The van started at 11:15 am!!!!

I left it running for the entire half hour before we needed to get on the road.

We got safely there and back, and it ran beautifully until Sunday morning when we all needed to get to church. 🤦

This means that the kids got to and from church activities, work, and Civil Air Patrol over the final days of the week.  I also got several errands taken care of.

But now we're back to in-home isolation and/or creative car sharing until the Polar Vortex shifts.

Wish us luck!!!!