Day 337

Papa, Matt, Matteo, AJ, and David headed out on a very cold morning to Fort Riley, KS to visit with Sam for the weekend before he deploys in the next week or so to help with the vaccine distribution. The day's temperatures ranged from -1F to 8F. One night this weekend in Kansas is supposed to be -20F. We stopped at a fun place in Colby, KS for lunch: City Limits Bar & Grill. Check out the railroad semaphores! We picked up Sam shortly after 5pm, checked in to the Four Points, and headed for dinner at UMI Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar where all had a great time (despite the very chilly room)! And the news from Colorado... Lynn's MyPillow.com towels arrived!

City Limits Bar & Grill

Umi

Day 336

Almost a normal school day (other than Matteo staying home). Tracy's IV trolley arrived today for one of the babes. She and Nana also whipped up some "plaster" of some sort and took foot impressions of the foster babes. Some Regusci Winery goodness arrived! As did some Valentine's edible decorations.

Day 335

Late start at school today (every Wednesday). Matteo stayed home due to his illness yesterday. Jamie put the ceiling vent in the sewing room to help keep the outside water line just above it from freezing. While dropping off a Valentine's Day package at the Postal Annex going to Nipomo, Jamie and Lynn picked up a little Valentine decoration - an orchid. Lynn also had some Yeti mugs engraved with "Love Ya!" and "Foster"! Matt made spaghetti sauce and we cooked up some spaghetti squash to go with it, yum. We also made regular noodles for the kids, measured perfectly by Jamie's Christmas present, the spaghetti measurer. Lexi put the finishing touches on her classroom Valentines as they had to go in today (so they could be in quarantine until Friday). Tonight's movie: All About the Benjamins.

Day 334

We celebrated two birthdays today! Well, one birth date and two twins, Jonathan and David. And as usual, the day started with a Compound tradition, birthday breakfast. On the way back from taking Matteo to his van stop, Jamie stopped at Lowe's for some handyman equipment, mainly a video inspection kit into dark, tight spaces in order to install a ceiling vent to let a little room heat into an area where outside water pipes have frozen in the past. Panda Express for lunch! It was horse day for David today as well. Nana and Papa gave the twins March 13th tickets to ride the Royal Gorge Railroad and an "advent" chain to count down the days. The twins were adamant about having dinner at Vaqueros, our first time back in person since last March! It was wonderful. Then came Baskin-Robbins ice cream cakes, the Happy Birthday song, candle-blowing, dessert, and bedtime.

David at Stable Strides

It's getting serious now...

Day 333

Day 333 - only half demonic. Another morning with an interesting frost, a hoarst frost. All three dogs were groomed today. Lunch from In-n-Out; protein style, thank you! Matt and Nana prepared quite the dinner (pics below). And the kitchen got some new "decorations" thanks to the toddler. We watched some Heartland tonight, and the movie Black Beach.

Hoarst frost, pic from freeimages.com

I think that fog bank had a lot to do with the hoarst frost.

Guess who's got a toddler again?

Chicken wings - three flavors!

And a fabulous salad.

Prep... for the twins' classmates.

Two guesses why this has been added to the pantry door...

Day 332

Super Bowl Sunday! But first, church at TimberCreek. You can see the Compound Dwellers showed up in their Chiefs regalia. They were the only ones. This year's Super Bowl was not nearly as exciting to this crowd as last year's. Lunch from Fuzzy Tacos (their spicy pork burrito bowl is great). Papa took AJ and Matteo snack shopping for the game - oh my! Jamie tried some Torah Time outside before the game, but no go; temp was OK but way too much wind. Fina went to a friend's house for the big game and Matteo joined the TimberCreek Youth for a game party. The rest of us were home under a pile of snacks, ribs and wings Matt made, and guacamole Lynn made. Chiefs lost to the Bucs 31-9. We'll get the shirts out again next year!...

Oh yeah, Valentine's Day is coming up, too.
That's "15" on the little guy's shirt.

Making pom-poms...

Go Chiefs!

Go God!

Day 331

Turns out Fina does get to be involved in the high school play, as an understudy, to all five female roles! And she's excited about it?! Jamie's first set of Torah commentaries (JPS) are now available to him for reference. The fun thing is that he's already familiar with some of the content. Matteo made some egg salad for lunch, yummy; and the gatherers returned with some Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory fudge in addition to all the good stuff. Restaurants opened to 50% today, so Lynn and Jamie jetted over to Atmosphere Gastropub. Really love that place, a very interesting, unique menu that changes now and then. Lynn loved her baked brie dish today and I found the carbonara sauce of my dreams. I think the secret is the cheese they use - Cheese Merchant Asiago. Peas are a nice touch, too, on top of the pancetta and garlic. The evening included getting stuff ready for church in the morning, including the pom-poms and a playpen. Today's movies: The Laundromat and The Nice Guys.

That fixed that!

Matteo made egg salad for lunch.

And look what the gatherers brought back.

Atmosphere Gastropub

Atmosphere's baked brie, right up Lynn's alley.

For making the Sunday School "pom-poms"

Church playpen for one of the babes.

Jonnie peeled all the carrots.
And did a meticulous job of it.