365 Project | Week 47

My camera definitely lagged behind me this week ... thankfully we did (barely!) capture the major events of the week. :)

 

Day 321. Isn't he handsome?? :) And he's eating. Actually. Correction. He's finished eating. That is a VERY regular occurrence. ;)

Day 322. Hannah took a break from reading out loud and they all enjoyed listening to the audio CD's that came with the book. :)

Day 323. Our piano arrived!!! Woo-hoo!!! SO excited!

Day 324. And yet another HUGE blessing ... the lessons we weren't expecting to start until January were able to begin immediately! :)

Day 325. K'Nex fun :) If only it could really go to the moon ...

Day 326. Pschew. This was a HARD day. I received a call in the morning that my precious Grandma had gone to the Emergency Room for chest pains. :( Matthew especially had a very hard time understanding why Mommy was so sad. He climbed up on my lap and played his "roaring" game to try to scare the tears away. If only it were that simple. Peter built a Duplo "Grandma" to help me feel better. And Hannah was at my elbow to hear the latest update every time the phone rang or beeped. So thankful for my precious children. ♥ Our whole family was SO relieved when we learned that Grandma was having trouble with her gall bladder rather than her heart! We love you, Great Grandma!! ♥

Day 327. While the rest of the crew partied, I spent most of the day in bed or curled up with a blanket. I'm so thankful that head colds are not an overly regular occurrence around here! :) I felt pretty much like these poor birds did after they flew into our living room window. At first we only saw the one bird which fell into our bush. After watching it for a few minutes and not seeing it move, I carefully picked it up in order to get it to solid ground. Then we saw the other bird, also stunned, in the flower bed. We put them together, and about 15 minutes later they had flown off. They were so soft. ♥

Day 328. My version of a DIY project ... I enlist moral support. ;) My hubby is in the final stages of helping me with our magnetic board for our school wall.

And now we eagerly wait for G&G to arrive!

:)

365 Project | Weeks 40-41

It's a double-header, folks! :) I started working on my post last week, but time ran out before my post went up, and I never got back to it. It's just been that sort of week ... or rather, couple of weeks. :) The pictures continued to be taken, however, and very much reflect the every-dayness of our lives. :) Enjoy ...

 

Day 274. Daddy caught this picture of a vulture which decided to find lunch in our yard.

Day 275. Matthew is learning to use scissors ... thus every coloring page is now fringed. :)

Day 276. Meet Tiny, adopted by Hannah. Sadly, it seems that our snail habitat is not suitable for baby snails, and he was only with us a few days.

Day 277. The cooler weather has brought out our soccer player again. :)

Day 278. Miss Hannah-bug peeled her first potato! :)

Day 279. Story-time with Mommy :)

Day 280. I don't believe a little girl could possibly be more excited about a birthday party than Hannah was for her friend's. :)

All of the girls had fun "rock" climbing--Hannah's about 18-20' up in this picture!

Day 281. Nobody's disappointed with French Toast on the Sunday evening dinner menu!

Day 282. Mommy's latest experiment: homemade laundry soap. I enlisted my eager helper to grate my soap, a task I was not sorry to delegate. :) I followed this recipe, and thus far, it seems to be working really well. :) I'm actually still a bit amazed by that, to be perfectly honest.

Day 283. Would you care to visit the Island of Sodor? :) It's lots of fun ... and will keep you occupied for hours. Particularly if you're under the age of 8. :)

Day 284. My littlest guy with his cheesy grin ... squinched up eyes ... Thomas jammies ... and monkey grass berries from church. Yep. That's him. Isn't he kissable???? :D

Day 285. Who wants to eat breakfast alone? I had to laugh when I saw that my early riser found an effective means to remedy the problem. (Now to work on remembering to put our dish in the sink when we're done ...) ;)

Day 286. A rousing game of dominoes ... it's fun to be able enjoy such games with the majority of our crew these days. :)

Day 287. Here's our crew at the apple orchard ... hopefully, more pictures to come of a thoroughly enjoyable family outing. :)

 

And that be that. :)

We're thankful for God's blessings.

Each and every day.

365 Project | Week 29

We were blessed to enjoy a fun week this last week ... no outside obligations other than Guppie lessons and plenty of fun, memory-making activities. Still hoping to be able to enjoy a bit more Daddy-time in the evenings, but that will come eventually. :)

Day 197. Our quiet little creek gets a bit overwraught when we exceed 1.5 inches of rain in less than an hour. While much of the world is experiencing drought, our creek overflowed (or nearly) twice this week--both Sunday and Friday. (I'm cheating and sharing a picture I took on Friday--the pictures I took on Sunday were from our front steps, which really doesn't capture the full scope of it.)

Day 198. Please let me introduce you to "I Hope You Stay In Our Yard, Toady." Yes, I kid you not. That is his full and complete name. Peter was rather discouraged when Mommy informed him that we are not prepared to adopt a toad, so we took lots of pictures and got some cute video of Matthew hopping around behind him. On the pet front, however, we have adopted a second snail, Goliath. And we had opportunity to adopt a box turtle, Henry, this week as well. We'll probably do a bit of research and try to be prepared to adopt Henry if he comes back to visit.

Day 199. Mommy wanted to get out, so we visited George the Train. And since most sensible mommies keep their children inside when it's 90+ degrees outside, we were privileged to enjoy riding him all by ourselves. :) Matthew was funny--he sat straight up with his hands folded and the most serious expression for nearly the whole ride. Then I finally asked him, "Matthew, what are we riding?" and his whole face lit up with the biggest smile as he said "Twain!" And what does a train say? "Honk! Honk!" Yes, I'd have to agree that the train's whistle sounded like a duck, but I still had to laugh at the unexpected answer! :) We all enjoyed our outing. :)

Day 200. Between high-temperatures and frequent thunderstoms,  indoor play has been the best option most days, and the kids have enjoyed making a variety of creations with their fuse beads.

Day 201. "Libwary Day? Libwary Day too-day?" Matthew loves going to the library, and it's one of his first questions most mornings when I'm getting him dressed. He gets very excited when Mommy can cheerfully agree, "Yes, today is Library Day!" :) Not "mawrow" or "yastaday" but "too-day." :)

Day 202. Mommy's salon opened Friday evening for three haircuts and one trim. Salon evenings are special at our house, because it means about an hour or so of Thomas the Train videos ... fun for the kids and very helpful at keeping little heads still and not turning towards the scissors. :)

Day 203. After Daddy's busy day of sanding in the bathroom, we enjoyed going to the pool as a family after dinner. Hannah and Peter are enrolled in Guppies--pre-swimteam classes designed to prepare kids in the area for a swim team next year. Peter's in Level 1 and Hannah's in Level 3. It's been really exciting to see them progressing, and we've been able to start getting to know some of the other families at the pool.

And such was our week. Lots of opportunities to learn and grow and just enjoy being together as a family. Thankful for the blessings God has given us!

More Random Smile Makers

What else makes this mommy smile?

My morning cappuccino ...
My sleeping baby's feet ...

The sun shining on my plant ...

Flowers blooming on my violet ...

Bright red berries coloring my yard ...

Squirrels eating dinner while I prepare my own ...

Yep. They're random. You can thank my 365 project again. ;o)

The Whirlwind that has been May

Well, my friends, we have celebrated the last birthday of the year.

Whew.

And you know what ... I worked really hard the afternoon of Chris' birthday to get stuff done so that we could enjoy a few hours together after the kids went to bed, and do you know what I did? I fell asleep on the couch. Yep. That "Do you mind if close my eyes just five minutes?" turned into a very disoriented me a few hours later. Ah well. :o) Somehow, I do suspect that five birthdays, an anniversary, a K5 program, multiple weeks of family visiting, a basement remodel, neck trouble, and moving eight years of storage all in the space of 33 days is sufficient to wear anyone out.

What follows is a whirlwind glimpse of May ...

We have primer on the walls in one of the basement bedrooms, the stairwell, and the den, the bathroom is quite functional, and the storage room actually has the final coat of paint. So thankful we got this done when we did--I spent the next weekend flat in bed due to an acute case of stiff neck. Hoping not to repeat that anytime soon! And VERY thankful to be feeling better! (And very thankful for a wonderful chiropractor!)

The primer and bathroom was in preparation for Grandma and Grandpa's visit ... no significant work projects this time--just enjoying being together. :o) (Although, we still managed to move the water heater, paint the storage room, prepare the shelving, and move all of the storage back home just 2 days before our 2 month contract expired--so glad for Grandpa's trailor!) Cameras were in short supply, but the kids had a blast with G&G visiting the park, the Children's Museum, Chick-fil-A ...

Hannah had her K5 program ... she did a great job as Mrs. Flop! So proud of you, Pumpkin!!

Hannah's birthday dinner guests of choice were our friends the R-ys ... (albeit, they enjoyed dinner with us on our anniversary since they were leaving town the morning of Hannah's birthday)

Here's Hannah with her birthday cake ...

And our little lady wearing her birthday gifts from us ... the necklace now resides on its third generation as Grandpa originally gave it to Grandma.

We celebrated my birthday on the same day we moved all of the storage back in. I was VERY spoiled to have Grandma here to do all of the cooking for my birthday dinner! Mmmmm! And Grandma and Grandpa also babysat the kids for us the evening prior so that we could enjoy a nice long evening out, complete with dinner and summer clothes shopping! :o)

Daddy crested the hill ...

And our friends goats have all delivered their babies ...
And of course, after visiting the farm, one needs a bath.
Such has been May. :o)

I love birthdays and family and renovation progress, but I must say I'm glad to be settling back into a more normal (somewhat slower) routine.