>21:25 is the amount of sunlight we have gained since the winter solstice. A decent 5k time. Would it surprise you if i told you our 5 day extended forecast called for 24F and 40% change of snow each and every day, except tomorrow, which is set at 70% chance. In other news i think the Davises are winning the pushup challenge. I shall now drop to my office floor and do 10.

I would report on the new & cool dishes we’re having for supper but we are eating the same old bean soup, pasta, and heuvos rancheros with a little sushi & pizza thrown in for fun.

>For sharing this week, Bee decided that she would like to share Cho Cho with her class, and demonstrate some of the tricks that Cho Cho can do. We thought this was a great idea because Bee loves to play with Cho Cho and she can get her sit, stay, down, jump, shake, and more! So, here is Cho Cho at school!

>Bee wanted me to remind everyone that today is 1-11-11 and that the windchill here is 11. Have a great 11111 day!

>OK, just kidding on the title but seriously this push up challenge is hard! We’ve decided to do 2 things: 1.) repeat week 1 until we can get a solid complete days worth of push ups done with decent form; and b.) revise the plan so that there are more than 90 seconds between sets. Something like a few hours will do. Ha Ha. Pathetic? Maybe. But much more reasonable. We will still get there, it just may take till Christmas! Slow and steady wins the race….

>This morning we had a snowbow. None of us have ever seen one before so this was extra special. The weather was super cold this morning. At 6am it was 5F and snowing, then by 8am it was 1F and the snow squall gave way to a beautiful sun rise. The snowbow was in the east and more like a line going straight up in the sky. It was beautiful and amazing. It made the crisp winter morning worth it! We didn’t have a camera with us, so i found a picture on the internet that captures what it looked liked almost exactly. (Why does not it surprise me that the picture i found was taken in michigan!)

I looked up snowbows and did not find too much information. What i found out is that the snow has to be a particular crystalline shape to allow for the refraction and it has to be very sunny. Its suppose to be pretty rare. Cool.

>Frankie learned about latkes (potato pancakes) in her kindergarten class (as part of holiday traditions around the world). Bee thought that they sounded really good. She found a cook book for kids on recipes around the world on the internet, so she printed it out and asked if we could make latkes. We ended up having to use a mix of sweet and white potatoes because that was all we had around the house. I pretty much only supervised the activities (and did the cooking on the stove). Otherwise, the girls did everything by themselves. They were so very proud! Bee decided that the latkes tastes really good with catsup! Frankie and Scott liked them plain. As for me i thought they needed a ton of hot sauce.

From Zefronk’s kids around the world cook book…

2 cups shredded potatoes
1/4 onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 oil for frying

Directions
In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

>Bee was bouncing and apropos to nothing she started saying “Believe or not! Believe it or not!” and this is where my brain went automatically…. Enjoy.

>We are picking up steam, having gained an entire minute of sun today!! And it only gets better from here. By this time next week we will be gaining 1:30 a day! But, by this time next week we will be entering the coldness abyss, which translates to the 2 coldest weeks in winter for the mid michigan area, according to historical records. I think i stare at that seasonal average temperature chart for minutes on end at this time of the year. So, i guess that explains what i do with my extra minutes of sunlight.

>For the foreseeable future, the weather is: high 20-25, 40% change of snow. We must live in mid michigan. Next week it is supposed to get colder, so lets not think about that for now. 155 days left to spring. And what else? today is day 2 of the push up challenge? Y’all with us? This is good entertainment for the winter months up here at the north pole. Seriously, watching us (or youselves) do the family push up challenge is kind of funny. We’ve decided that form and style doesn’t matter until we can get a good solid set of week 1 push ups. Then we can pay more attention to form and style. Any wagers on when that will be? probably next week for scott. Bee and i are aiming for Jan 25, the first day the sun rises before 8am this year. We will slowly add in the artistic score, too.

>So much for the reprieve from winter. It was 12F and a windchill of -3F and snowing when we got up this morning. 8 more weeks, right? Get us to march 1. It might not be warm then but spring will be around the corner. Let the countdown begin. And, we have gotten an additional 48 seconds of sunlight today. Bee is telling me slow and steady wins the race. I guess so.

So, we have decided to the 100 pushup challenge. The goal is to be able to do 100 pushups in a row. You start with a test to see how many you can do, and then you do sets of pushups 3 or 4 days a week based on your fitness level, repeating the weeks that are hard for you. I have a hunch this will take more than 7 weeks for me. Anyhow, Bee and I are starting at level 2. Scott is starting at level 3. Let’s just say that Frankie is doing the modified, silly girl, push up challenge. We are going to do pushups as a family! Bring it on! Lets see if we actually make it. Someone please remind me that we said we would do this. Each new year I resolve to do push ups all year long, and I make it about 2 months before I forget I resolved to do that. Gotta remember this year! It’s great for the core and the arms. What we should do is take a pic of our arm muscles now and then again this summer when we are doing 100 push ups with ease. haha.