Late January

 

We had a snow flurry yesterday which was actually quite impressive.

Also we are in the middle of a really cold snap. Tonight it is supposed to drop below zero!!

One of my longstanding disagreements with Kevin regards blankets. He, and every other person in the house, thinks you can never have enough blankets. I disagree. Rose decided to make a mountain of blankets which I think proves my point, but ... yeah, everyone else still thinks more blankets are better!

Kevin bought me this puzzle for Christmas and I finished it a few days ago. So fun!

Yesterday was both MLK Day and Inaugaration day. The working kids had the day off, and all seven kids at home crowded around the computer to watch the inaugaration live. Love him or hate him, Trump's second term is historic.

We have spent quite a bit of time sitting around the table or in the family room talking politics. I am generally not a hugely political person, though I have strong views about a bunch of stuff, but the way government works IS interesting.  For the younger kids, there is a lot of bewilderment and it is fun explaining the way the legislature and judicial and executive branches function.

I am fairly knowledgeable about the government in the Regency England thanks to my writing career, and power was definitely in the hands of a few men in that day and age. One of the major problems with monarchy is you don't know if the heir will be a decent person to rule. I think the Prince Regent, eventually George IV, was a pretty lame ruler for a bunch of reasons. Maybe the biggest was his insistence on spending Crown money like water.  Oh, his marriages were a mess too. 

I feel embarrassed to admit this, but I was a little shaky on out parliementary governments (like England and Canada and Australia and a few others) work. I read up on it today.

Kevin and I have had a wearying couple of months, with lots of illness and lots of work with the children. We are grateful for all our blessings and especially the kids, but there are times when a whole lot is going on in their lives and this is one of those times. That, and back to back to back illnesses, is rather draining.

It does help me to think about how fortunate we are, with a warm home and healthy children and food in the refrigerator. Also, I do a lot of praying that God will guide us, and that He will watch over the children and help the older ones as they make adult decisions. He is faithful.