Seven Quick Takes, Friday Dec. 6

1. We had that cold front the rest of the country had this week. And while Jen's (linking up with her quick takes here) chart on how cold is so much colder for her in Texas is nice, the reverse chart for Northern people and hot weather is not entirely fair. She gives 10 degrees for "every time you were snowed in", but the thing is being "snowed in" is not something that happens in the North. That only happens in places where people don't get very much snow. Here in Minnesota snow is just part of life and you just deal. We even have a massive snow blower that our kind Minnesotan neighbors gave us since they had a spare! But as it is, I don't mind the heat, it is much more bearable than the cold.

How it feels to live in Minnesota.

2. Speaking of warm weather, I took the kids outside on Wednesday morning since it was a wopping 33°F out and there was fresh layer of snow on the ground. We I built a snowman in about five minutes. The snow was perfect for packing. I could have made the balls a lot bigger, but packed snow is heavy and I was afraid I would not be able to lift it.

He is an artist, which is why he a wearing a beret. I almost gave him a pipe, but thought M might not appreciate his pipe left out in the snow.

 Every time I see this figure right outside our picture window, I do a double take thinking it might be a person standing in the window. 

3. I do confess that I am wimpy about 2°F weather with a -20°F windchill, so much so that we were pretty worried when our furnace stopped working last night. I posted for prayers in a Catholic mom's Facebook group and right after people started praying the furnace started keeping the house at our set temperature. I am convinced that their intercession played a large part in our furnace running all night. We only got down to 67°F in the house by the time our repairman came and figured out the problem. We now have reliable heat! Praise the Lord!

4. Happy St. Nicholas day! We prepped the kids all week for it and this morning they were thrilled to find the goodies in their shoes. G (4.5) has us figured out and asked, "Why did you put candy in our shoes?"I will not get into it right now, but we are very forward with the kids about pretend things adults do for kids.

St. Nick had Aldi stock up on Sea Salted Dark Chocolate Cover Caramels.
M will be lucky if there are any left when he gets home from work today.

It is pretty amazing how new flavored lipsmackers and hair clips and can keep two little girls happy for hours. It is so funny to see them with the bottom half of their faces smeared with it. My favorite part about St. Nicholas day though, is buying the chocolate Santas and eating them all well before Christmas...

5. Happy birthday to my dear sister S! I am the only sister left in my 20s. I will try not to rub it in. S is a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, and holy woman! I am so happy that I have her as a sister. We had a great conversation yesterday on the phone and it sounds like she is having a fun gathering tonight. If only I were in St. Louis...

6. I finally finished Crime and Punishment on Wednesday, two days before my goal. It is an impressive book, but I suppose everyone already knows that. I am not sure if I am entirely convinced by the events in the epilogue, but maybe I just need to digest it longer. I will say no more, if you want to know more about it, read the book! This is a great translation. I have now started Baseball and Memory by Lee Congdon. M gave it to me for my birthday two years ago. It is about history, baseball and why they are important to remember.

7. Two weeks ago I asked for prayers for a friend's baby born by emergency C-section, and since then the family has started a blog with daily updates. Please continue to pray for her, and if you would like to know more you can read the blog. Thank you for your prayers!