The Riley Family

It's the perfect day for one of my favorite coffee cups of all time. Happy New Year!  While we know the count down to midnight won't be like waving a magic wand, it is a good start. Here's to seeing friends and family in person in 2021!

 This guy was wearing his seed as a funny hat last night.  This morning he has dropped it.  We haven't named him yet.  

 We had a lovely Christmas with too much food and lots of fun times together.  

 This one was easy with big pieces and very distinct colors.    I started the next one, but a cat seems to have stolen an edge piece that was already put together.  I am still looking for it...

Not sure how much Mari is helping :). 

We put up lots of lights this year. 

We spread out some of our favorite foods during the week since it was only the 6 of us for dinner. The pig was something we hadn't cooked before. Kate being the mentally strongest among us did the most work getting it ready for the oven. 

We spread out some of our favorite foods during the week since it was only the 6 of us for dinner. The pig was something we hadn't cooked before. Kate being the mentally strongest among us did the most work getting it ready for the oven. 

Tom loves to bake and the rest of us enjoy eating cookies!

We've been doing a lot of puzzles lately. 

Tom and I changed costumes a couple of times during the day:) 

 With the power supposedly going out tonight through Tuesday night, we are busy preparing and charging all of the devices that we can.  Will and I made a portable solar battery box this summer, so we can use that too for phones & flashlight charging.    Oh, how I love you, PG&E.   The schools are all being flexible (or is it cruel?) and are sending assignments that our children can do without power.   Our neighbors have recently installed a very loud whole-house generator.   We are jealous, but also super annoyed about how loud it is right outside our kitchen window.   We have a portable generator that we haven't needed to use so far, but will probably setup for this PSPS in an effort to keep the fridge on.   Oh, and then there is the whole other part of this that we tend to gloss over.... heightened fire risk for the next two days, which is why they are turning off the power in the first place.   Ou...

Congratulations Will on your PSAT score from this past winter. 

What a fun day celebrating with the family. 

Somehow our driveway was turned into a turkey thoroughfare.  Usually they are in groups of 5-9. 

We did a blind tasting of Oreo type sandwich cookies using Oreo, Tuxedo, 365 Brand and Goodie Girl.  Most tasters could identify the Oreo. Oreos and 365 had the most favorable votes. More photos soon.  

Paul found this for me. Love it!

I've been propogating my roses to fill in some gaps in the yard. They are slow to root, but this latest effort is going pretty well. I'm hoping to be able to plant them this February. 

It feels amazing outside and it's still pretty unhealthy. Hopefully the quality continues to improve!

We had a family hot wings contest on Saturday.   We set up the game with 50 home oven-fried wings and a set of crazy spicey sauces. We had milk, heavy cream, salad, blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, celery sticks, ice water, bananas.... anything we thought might help. We made a few Frank's Red Hot wings just to nibble on. Sauces: Hot Ones - Classic Garlic Fresno Hot ones Los Calientes Rojo Brain Burner Eye of Scorpion  Constrictor Last Dab Predicted results:   Based on the quantities of hot sauce he eats, we predicted Will to win the competition.   Winner:   Kate won!  She took the calm approach and made herself one with the spice. Great job, Riley clan!

  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/12/health/fires-air-california.html

The sky is still ominous. Ash from the nearby fires coats everything. Tom calls it California snow. 

Even the news is describing the sky as foreboding. It's almost 10am and feels like 5am since the sun is obscured by smoke.  The air quality is around 100.

 Not much to do this weekend - supposed to be 110 degrees and the smoke is at unhealthy levels.  Lego time!

 The air quality isn't super horrible today - around 85-100, so moderate.  But the smoke makes the rising sun an amazing color.

 The kids have the majority of their school work Tuesday-Friday.  Usually, Mondays only have a quick check-in call first thing in the morning, and then students should do their 'asynchronous' work.  For some reason, Tom has a ton of 'specialist' zoom calls today, with Band, Music, and Art.  We will really have to pay attention to the clock to make sure he gets to all of these required classes on time.  

 For the first time in about 2 weeks, we have opened the windows!  This is a house that is usually wide open from March until October.  The heat has left and, for now, so has the smoke.  It is amazing to be able to be outside!

 Thankfully, the dry storms have passed and the Red Flag warning has been canceled.  There is still unhealthy air quality as there are over 600 fires burning, but our immediate fire danger isn't as high.

 ...just in case of a fire nearby.   So far, knock on wood, nothing nearby.  We are in the middle of a red-flag warning today, and dry thunderstorms are expected - this is a new phenomenon to me, lightning and thunder but no rain.  Not good for drought-stressed land. With fires about 45 minutes north and 45 minutes south, the air quality fluctuates between OK and very, very bad.   Paul has air filters installed all over the house, and we keep all the doors and windows closed, and the meows inside (do not believe them, they will tell you anything to get you to open the door).   We have water, a change of clothes, pet supplies, and important papers.  Oh, and also extra masks and power out supplies cuz, year, it is Covid in CA.   Just one more layer of stress :).

 This summer has been a challenge for our appliances and other large components of our home.  Our refrigerator took its last breath, our possessed installed coffee maker finally gave up, and our bedroom closet organizer literally fell off the wall.   It took a couple of months, but all of the items have been replaced and are all almost completely installed.  We are missing a couple of closet hooks that will be installed tomorrow.  

 Since Contra Costa County  is still on the CA Watch List, schools are all happening in a Distance Learning format.  While this is a much-improved process from the spring, it is still challenging to have 4th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade all in our home.    We have created a dedicated workspace in the living room for Zoom calls and homework.  Of course, the elementary, middle, and high school schedules are all different!  Tom has school mostly 9-12, Will 12-3, and the high schoolers 9-3.    Lunchtimes line up twice a week.  Oh, and Monday they only have homeroom/attendance, and the rest of the day is supposed to be for homework. All of the schedules are crazy in their own way.  Will has just two classes every two weeks - so this cycle he has Public Speaking and Science, but is supposed to make sure he does reading and PE too.    Tom has a zoom class literally every 1/2 hour all AM, which is a super pain.   The high sc...