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Happy New Year! No better way to ring in the new year than playing with sidewalk chalk in sunny 45 degree weather. Of course it felt like 70 to us. We resisted the temptation to put on shorts! We’re not thinking ahead to the cold front rolling in this afternoon. We’ll just take the morning for what it is worth. And, we have gained 5 minutes of sunlight since the soltice, although I am looking forward to January 25 when the sun will rise before 8am (7:59 to be exact).

>Uncle Kevin in Little Fockers:

>….tomorrow is going to have 5 seconds more sunlight than today, and today already has 2 more seconds, so we are really looking at +7! I’m planning to use those extra seconds to play a short game of fetch with Cho and work on my presumed vitamin D deficiency.
….i was informed by a wise woman in Ohio that i should not fret about missing the lunar eclipse on the winter solstice as there should be another one in 2094. Yes!
….it is pajama day today, the last day of winter camp, which made the morning routine super easy!
….sew your own hello kitty purses for ages 5-8 year olds can be a productive challenge at any age. I’m just saying, at least for the craft-challenged folks out there like myself
….Cho Cho says she would like to use her extra 7 seconds to eat a bone, or two or three as we know how quickly she can eat them bones.

Have a great day!

>And that means that tomorrow….
SunRise: 8:05 AM EST
SunSet: 5:07 PM EST
Length of day: 9h 02m 09s

… and that folks is 2 seconds longer than today! Wooohooo!! Let the upwards trend begin!

And while we are at it, we have the lowest solar noon at: 23.9 degrees altitude. But, come boxing day, we will be up to 24.0 degrees! That is a long way off from 70.7 degrees altitude in the summer, but every tenth counts.

>Tonight is the first time the first time we have had a full lunar eclipse on the winter solstice since 1638! And the ask from the global volcanic activity is supposed to make the eclipse even more brilliant. According to NASA, the eclipse begins at 1:33 AM EST with totality beginning at 2:41 AM and lasting for 72 minutes. The actual peak is 3:17 AM. Coming home from school today i saw the full moon rise, with a pink and orange rainbow around it. That is bad news. It means the clouds are rolling in. We are supposed to get a few inches of snow overnight, so i guess we will miss our lunar eclipse! If you see it, post a picture for us!

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Cho Cho and I went running yesterday and she was going crazy sniffing the deer tracks! Here she is running like a crazy dog down the trail! Oh and here she is after the run. haha.

>We went to feed carrots to the horses yesterday! It was quite chilly, about 12F. They seemed to be doing OK with those cold temps! We took along Cho Cho who ran around the farm like a crazy dog.

Oh, and now wonder Cho Cho has been going crazy lately. She has had a visitor on our door step. We didnt get to see the visitor, just the remains of its meal.

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Here are Bee and Frankie sewing clothes for their dolls. Bee is sewing a pair of underwear and Frankie is sewing a skirt. Considering I am the one teaching them how to sew, the outfits will be very, very simple! Still, they did a really great job with a needle and thread!! Once the outfits are complete we shall have another fashion show and post pics!!

>Here is Bee presenting with her group, Team Europe. In the group report she said that Scotland was formed from volcanic activity and that she helped to draw the forests and made the map key. The group was very proud of their poster! Pretty good for second grade!

And then the other night Frankie asked me if I was ready for the fashion show. So I said sure! And i waited to see what she was going to dress up in. I was wrong. She brought me into the kitchen and showed me a bunch of pictures she drew of girls (and one boy) with different outfits. I thought that was cute.

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What’s for supper? Why is that such a hard question every day? Well, we seem to do variations on pasta, fish and beans every single night. Tonight we having bean soup (“pastavazoo” – or pasta y fagioli), a staple in our family in the colder weather. It was one of my faves as a kid. Its basically, cannellini beans, onions, garlic, tomato, water, and rosemary if you have it fresh. We don’t, so no rosemary tonight. However, we love to have the soup with bread and we just so happen to have fresh baked loaf from Scott’s sister, Colleen. (thanks!). And of course we will have it with popped broccoli! What else is new! haha. I hope you stop by for supper!