Madison MVS in pictures


The boys enjoy Annie's no-bake cookies.

I haven’t yet put any of my photos on the blog, so I figured it was past time to get my November and December ones out to you, faithful reader.

In November, in addition to the appearance of the Virgin Mary (see below), Annie impressed us with some delicious baking. One example of such dessertery was her no-bake chocolate cookies, which we relished (see above). I particularly like the way Ryan, Ben, and Andrew are so absorbed in the deliciousness that they’re oblivious to the camera.

The elusive Annie peers through the porthole to her baking station

Here’s a really good shot of the kitchen, through the window in the wall. I love this kitchen; my room opens right out into it for quick and easy access to all the food I can possibly devour the second I wake up. The only shortcoming of our kitchen is that it’s short on shelf space. We’ve come up with some creative solutions, like using our gimpy dishwasher as a drying rack and putting food on a bookshelf. Our coffee mug collection hangs from handy hooks, and we’ve got our spice racks magnetized so they stick to the fridge (usually). The lovely orange canisters are usually full of rotting tomatillos and not-rotting granola bars.

Andrew plays Chubby Bunny with... I think Giant Cheetos

Next we have the month of December. A long month at 31 days, but most of us were gone home for part of it. Early in December, the VSers had a game gathering at our house, to which many delightful people came. One of the games we played (well, Andrew played) was Chubby Bunny. Andrew wrangled us some Giant Cheetos from the CAC food pantry, and we were itchin’ to consume them as quickly as possible (see above). We’ve been playing a lot of Dutch Blitz, but at this gathering we tried our luck at a fascinating game that Jeremiah brought over – it was educational, with the aim of fueling the energy needs of a growing nation. Guess the Giant Cheetos weren’t enough.

Jake, Ryan, and Max

Speaking of energy consumption… l

Ryan looks on as Ben assesses the window wrap situation

ater in December we finally decided that it was time to insulate our windows. We got out the plastic, the double-stick tape, and the hair dryer and moved the furniture… it was well worth the effort. We also decided to go green by participating in MG&E’s Green Power Tomorrow program, which adds a small surcharge to our energy bills (only a cent per kilowatt-hour) to offset our carbon emissions. We’re not exactly buying renewable power, and we’re still on coal, but it’s a small step in the right direction.
On the weather front, we’ve uh, had some snow lately. Read on for photos.

Our snow-covered Marquette Neighborhood home

We had so much snow that Wednesday that the buses stopped running, all the schools cancelled, and all the MVSers except Ben had the day off! We spent our snow day playing games inside, building things outside, and eating a picnic lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese. Yes, you can have a picnic in the dead of winter… if you have a super awesome fort like we did.

Snow Day Phase 10 with Andrew, Ryan, and Annie

The Menno Simons Snow Fort

Snow-Babushka stands sentinel

Gussied-Up Snow Woman also stands sentinel

Giant snowman outside the Weary Traveler (we later found out that Max made it)

Jolly Bob's, one of two Jamaican restaurants in a two-block radius

Snowy bicycles and morning glory climbing ropes outside Mother Fool's, Willy Street's favorite hipster coffee shop

So there you have it. Winter in Madison isn’t half as bad as I was afraid it would be. Especially when there are two frozen lakes to walk, snowshoe, ski, or run across (which I did today, by the way, and it was awesome).

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