2009-01-16 - 12:39 p.m.

If there was one person I could have with me while lost in a frozen mountain forest, it would be my sweet admirer, Momma. It's not that I don't love my father and sister and brothers; it's that my mother is the most affectionate of them all AND she has brains!

Last week, when 24 was on television, Mom and I were sitting next to each other and our eyes met. We took each others hand and throughout the show we would occasionally give a double squeeze. Our I-love-you Morse code made me into a soup bowl of lovin'. Some little things in life do that to me.

Today, since it will barely make it above freezing, we are doing our schoolwork under cozy blankets before a raging fire. Mom will keep the fire blazing and the kettle whistling while we knock out math problems and watch our history professor on DVD. Maybe we will have a group vocabulary lesson or play an educational game- that always warms up the room!

Since it got so cold last night, Mom slept in our (the boys') room. We have two sets of bunk beds in there and there are usually beds with more than one person in them especially if Richard doesn't sleep in Sarah's room, or if a top bunk gets full of toys or laundry or the sheets aren't put on for some reason. Mom slept with Webb in his bunk since he sometimes kicks the covers off himself. Tonight is the big night that may go down to 8 degrees, they said. She'll probably be in there to watch us tonight, too. Mom and Webb are the best to sleep with because they don't kick you. It's fun when she's with us because we talk a little back and forth while we are falling asleep and it's just cool for her to be in our territory. She brings lots of cheer. And a lantern.

I'm so glad to be in from doing farm chores. The ice in the waterers was a couple of inches thick and I had to bust it up with a stick and my fists. A muddy area was frozen solid- we could have skated on it if it wasn't so bumpy. James skated on a frozen area left by the hose. I tried to crack it with a hammer but it wouldn't break. My hands felt like solid ice even in my gloves. James couldn't feel his toes. We're safe inside now in front of Mom's fire, but it was an icy adventure!

We took the Christmas tree down just last night. It hadn't even started to sag! That was some tree.

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