Yesterday I made the ultimate test of my faith. I went several miles out onto a frozen lake and wasn’t constantly bombarded with thoughts that I would fall through the ice.

No, not constantly, but only because my brain was busy concocting situations where one of my four children fell through the ice. I swear I could hear the gray hair growing.

It was comforting when my father-in-law drilled a hole in the ice and confirmed we were standing on more than 15 solid inches of ice. (Apparently you only need 4 inches of ice to comfortably support a vehicle on the ice.) It wasn’t quite so comforting when he then reported that under the 15 inches of ice, we were standing on 103 feet of open water.

And when I finally began to feel OK and I knew we wouldn’t be breaking through the ice, that’s when the FIL cut two holes next to each other creating a hole large enough for my children to fall through. And Maxine, adorable Maxine, started talking about what she’d do if she fell through and how she’d pop up in another fisherman’s hole and run, run, run back to us. She thought she was being clever. Instead she was just creating nightmares for me.

And why oh why do my children have to get so close to the hole and look in?

And despite my mind constantly creating horrible situations, I actually did have a fun time out on the ice. We didn’t catch any fish though.

It was the first time I’ve driven my snowmobile that I got just before Christmas. Because just after Christmas we had a warm up and all the snow went away.

And driving the snowmobile created a whole new set of worries as I pictured various tragedies. And then I listened to the news today and heard about two snowmobile deaths over the weekend. So it’s not like I’m being totally unrealistic. And I think I maintained a healthy fear of death while driving a snowmobile. After all, I’m still here, aren’t I?

And I must admit that I really, really, really liked driving a snowmobile. At one point, Steve and I left the kids with the grandparents standing on the 15 inches of ice over the 103 feet of water and took off even deeper onto the lake. We circled an island and drove over a very long crack at one point (but it wasn’t wide just long). And I was able to drive the snowmobile at a very fun 40 miles per hour, racing hubby across the open lake and hitting the small snow drifts that caused my machine to jump up in the air and land oh-so-nicely. Which is even a bigger thrill when in the split-second you’re in the air you imagine it falling down on top of you. (I really read too many accident reports in my line of work.)

But I loved it. I can’t wait to try out trail riding. And I can’t believe I enjoy it as much as I do. We were outside IN THE COLD for hours and I was having fun. And I’m a Give me a Good Book and a Roaring Fire type of Gal. Although I wasn’t sitting in the fish shanty waiting for fish to never bite. For that I would need a good book.

I stayed warm and admittedly I was a bit disappointed when it was time to load up the sleds and head home. I even jumped my sled over open water.

OK, technically, it was about an inch deep of open water right at the shore line and the opening was only four inches wide, but I did it. And I gunned my sled hard enough for that jump that I probably could have jumped an opening at least two feet wide.

Autumn and Amanda were able to drive the four-wheelers out on the ice for a while too. They slowly circled the shanty over and over with a sibling perched behind them. While that was happening, I really wanted a good book to distract me. I considered hiding in the shanty so I couldn’t see my eldest child drive straight towards open water, turning 10 feet away to slide her four-wheeler through a snow drift. Sure the open water was really an auger-drilled hole with a tip-up and not even wide enough for her to fall in. But from my perspective it looked like she was inches away from the hole. And she kept going back.

And now that I’m enjoying this new winter activity that requires snow? The weather forecast for the next five days indicates there will be no new snow. At least we have a good base down.

Today two of my four children will be taking Michigan’s standardized tests. These are the tests that help grade schools as well as determine your children’s abilities. In other words, the schools have made it a big, BIG deal.

It starts with a "Breakfast of Champions" cooked by members of the parent group. They make a hot breakfast for the kids who are taking the test to eat before the test. It’s fun and helps set the stage for "this test is a BIG deal."

My second oldest daughter, Amanda, might have pink eye. We’re not sure, and oh yeah, possible strep throat too. And she’s in school. Believe that one? I took her to the doctor yesterday and he took cultures and gave me goop to put in her eye three times a day. And when the test results come back he’ll call if they are positive. In the meantime, she’s OK for school.

Yesterday the school called me to come and get her because she HAS pink eye. Maybe this is just my personal pet peeve, but I SO do not like the school calling me and telling me that my child HAS something. OK, it’s probably just this particular person, the school secretary calling and telling me. Not the entire school.

Last year she called home and talked to my hubby telling my husband that my children had lice. So he went and got them and when I arrived home minutes later I realized they didn’t have lice. And I took them back to school. That’s when the secretary made a big deal about checking their heads and finding (drumroll) dandruff that she insisted was nits. And she wasn’t going to let my kids back in school and the woman didn’t know what she was doing. Royally ticked me off.

I was ready to pull my kids out of the district and would have if they hadn’t been let back in. The secretary finally went to find an aide who did know what she was doing and confirmed what I had said. Dandruff.

So that’s probably why I have a problem with this woman calling and telling me that my daughter has pink eye and must come home immediately. Just where did she get her degree? And isn’t it amazing how she manages to diagnose something that my daughter’s pediatrician can’t confirm yet?

So Amanda gets an eye cream in the meantime so she can go back to school immediately. And if the cultures come back positive then she will have to go on antibiotics. The only reason he put her on the cream was so that she wouldn’t have to miss school waiting for the culture results.

I made it home Sunday night around 9 p.m. My children were in bed, but they immediately flew out to greet me. My husband wasn’t so quick. He stayed on the couch watching the final moments in the Steelers vs. Patriots football game. Plus, I think he was punishing me for leaving him alone with five children all weekend (he gained two, lost one – children that is). Eventually, probably during a commercial break, he got off the couch and greeted me properly.

My weekend was very nice. My brother Chuckie managed to chew me out more than once for not bringing my children with him. He lives in Arizona and doesn’t get to see them very often. My mother received about 12 hats from her children to wear on her very bald (but not completely bald) head.

Despite the snowstorm on Saturday, it was a very good trip. And Chuckie and Dee will probably be looking forward to going to Arizona tomorrow and back to the 80 degree weather. Chuckie even had to shovel snow while he was here and afterwards agrees with my brother Keith that a snowblower is necessary even if Ohio rarely gets enough snow to use it.

On the good side, I found out that on Saturday at my home it was 20 below, and that’s not factoring in the wind chill. So the single digits of Ohio were a heat wave.

I have pictures. But to see them, you’ll have to follow this link:

http://www.lindasherwood.com/ohio.html

And if this is early on Monday morning, you’ll also have to give me a bit to load everything. But by 10 a.m., it should all be available.