365Project.2016 | Week 10

I was blessed this week with a new appreciation of the value of "ordinary" days as I listened to a woman share about the changes and transitions from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Her talk included pictures of her sons at each stage of life ... pictures much like those I share on our blog. 

Obviously, it's fun when there's something special or unique on the calendar, but the majority of childhood is simply a string of "ordinary" days. Hannah will soon be 11. Seriously, the time goes by so quickly. Before Abby is 10, Hannah will be off to college. I'm so thankful the Lord helped me five years ago to set up a routine to capture these "ordinary" days. And in the midst of them, when I'm tired and frazzled, may He help me to truly remember that each day is a gift and a blessing. Some days come in pretty wrapping with a bow on a top, and some days feel like they were tossed to the bottom of a grocery sack. But each day is a gift.

May we always be thankful. ♥

Day 60. Our piano tuner returned with the "guts" of a our piano. :) He did such a fantastic job refurbishing it, and the sound is so much prettier! Hannah and Peter loved watching him work, and I was blessed that he was more than willing to answer questions. :)

We celebrated the balmy 41 degrees with an afternoon walk. :) This was my view for most of it ... kids running ahead to the next wait point. :)

 I love this crew!! ♥

 Day 61. Matthew had so much fun creating the special snack he read about in his Kiwi Crate this month! :)

 Day 62. Abby loves her dolly, and she's definitely starting to get more "mommyish" in her play. ♥

And then there's the older sister who occasionally seems to pretend that she has a "real live" doll. :) Abby doesn't mind a bit and revels in the attention. :)

 Day 63. Meet Hedgy. :) Sculpted and painted by Hannah-bug. 

 

My parents blessed the kids with Kiwi Crate subscriptions for Christmas, and the monthly deliveries have been much anticipated and enjoyed! :) Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! 

And while one sculpts and paints, another colors. And tries very hard to get her crayons to stand upright in the notebook holes ...

Day 64. We've had the privilege of previewing a new product, hot off the press, these last few weeks! Friends from college have created logic puzzles for kids and we've had the delightful task of being guinea pigs for their books. They've done a really great job, and the kids have been learning so much working through the puzzles. I'm looking forward to sharing more about them in a few weeks. :)

It's been a huge boost of confidence for Peter to see that he can read and solve these puzzles independently!

We learned this week that our area has been nicknamed "Crows' Hollow." No question about why! We're having a repeat of fall's escapades, but in reverse.

Yay!! Date night for Mommy and Daddy! :) So totally unexpected, but abundantly blessed by my friend who offered to watch the kids for us for an evening. So thankful for the time to be with my hubby. ♥

 Day 65. Abby-girl is learning to color and showing definite lefty leanings. :)

Eeeee! We have only seven weeks left in this school year, and this afternoon I made initial plans for next year's schedule! We definitely like being able to take regular breaks in our schooling ... we tend to prefer the sprint over the marathon. :) With the exception of September and April, each month will have at least a one week break. :)

 

And then this evening we had the fun of attending a local high school's well done production of "Mary Poppins." It was a 3-hour performance, so Daddy kept the Abby and Matthew home with him, but the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed it! :) (And I personally think Grandma looks exceedingly pretty and nothing like a Grandma in this picture.) ♥

And such be our week. Filled mostly with blissfully simple, ordinary days. 

#thankful

265Project.2015 | Weeks 48-49

 It's been a whirlwind around here, but we're thankful, so thankful, for the Lord's blessings on each day. 

327. Isn't it beautiful?!?!

These southern transplants were absolutely delighted to wake up to a few inches of snow on their first morning of Thanksgiving vacation!!! :)

 And they melted Mommy's heart when they brought in a tiny snowman just for Abby to touch! ♥

 Mommy, it's cold. ;)

After enjoying time outside, we got busy preparing for Grandma and Grandpa's arrival. Amongst other things, that meant hanging curtains in the guest bedroom. Mommy was very glad for her helper, who was thrilled to be manning the drill! :) (And yes, my 8yo absolutely knows how to use a drill better than his Mommy ... although, I got some pretty good lessons in the process.) :)

 By evening, our room was ready for our guests!

328. And since we were hanging curtains, Mommy enlisted Daddy's help to get curtains hung in our bedroom as well!! :) Yay! Company is good for so many reasons, not the least of which is the motivation it gives to complete various and sundry projects. ;)

We kept busy in the morning working on a special Christmas project ...

Aren't they cute!?! Pretty sure the kids at homeschool group will have as much fun with them as we did. :)

 329. It's fun waking up to find someone special for story time. :)

 Rummikub has become one of our favorite games! :)

 330. Happy Thanksgiving! :)

 We enjoyed getting to see our cousins as well!

 The Girls ♥

331. Grandma and Grandpa blessed Mommy and Daddy with a morning of babysitting so that we could do some Christmas shopping and enjoy some time together before the craziness of December. Sadly, I forgot to take a single picture, but we thoroughly enjoyed our morning together. I was also blessed to come home and find a sparkling clean stove! Thanks, Grandpa! :)

332. Well, fire permits are significantly more complicated in NY than SC, but we finally managed to get what we needed and were able to burn the pile that's been building up all summer ...

 333. So glad for the time we were able to enjoy with Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for coming to visit! :)

334. Thanksgiving leads into December which is super crazy busy, with Daddy working second shift six days a week, plus some early mornings and hours in between. I must echo Hannah's sentiments: "Thank You, God, that December is only one month and not three or four." ;) The kids and I are settling into our groove though, and for that I'm thankful. Also very thankful that there's been no snow!! Here's my crazies' response to Daddy's text message asking how we were doing. :)

 And Abby's decided to take up the Recorder. ;)

 335. It was fun hearing this crew of kids sanding their logs in preparation for paint! :)

 So thankful for the friends and fun we enjoy at homeschool group!

 The kids are really enjoying the Advent calendar I found ... each day they have to find the picture that correlates with the day's story, and then they can flip out the tab to reveal the date. Simple but special. :)

 336. Breakfast. :) Breathing deep ...

 But oh, what a welcome gift this was! My hubby totally surprised and blessed me with these flowers! ♥

 337. Abby girl loves baths!

 In particular, she loves drinking from the sprayer. :)

 338. Peter's still designing and building with his Lego's. :)

 And Abby makes sure to get plenty of Toby snuggles ...

339. Hannah loved learning how to dye fabric with her third Doodle crate! :)

 And this little lady cheesed for a selfie with Mommy!!! ♥

And thus one week ends ... 

The new week has already begun with great adventures for Hannah in particular, but that's a story for next time. :)

Spring into Spring ...

So what do you do when Daddy's day is booked?

 

Well, in general, Mommy generally tends to be more comfortable staying close to home. However, armed with my trusty Garmin (THANK YOU, Mom and Dad!!!!), I decided to make what could have been a rather blah day without Daddy into a special one at a local Spring Festival. We would have loved for him to be able to join us, but it was still a ton of fun! :)

The main part of the festival was a living history farm/village, so we enjoyed exploring lots of old buildings and learning how people did things a few generations ago. After seeing some baby bunnies and ducklings, the plow horses caught our attention.

Even more of an adventure? Hannah and Peter got to help plow a loop around the field! They had a new appreciation for our gas-powered tiller, although Hannah might have been considering that it would make reasonable justification for her desire to have a horse ... :)

We then learned about the process of turning wool into thread ... we watched them shear sheep ...

The kids washed and dried small bundles of wool ...

And then they carded the wool and twisted it into yarn. My crafty Hannah-bug particularly enjoyed getting involved in the whole process. :)

And what was Peter particularly interested in? The Home Depot wood-craft tent set up just outside the living history farm. Now. I was obviously out of my box this day. Because if I had been in it, I would have realized that ONE Mommy and THREE children with hammers, nails, and glue is NOT a good combination. But thankfully, I wasn't in my box and gamely dove in with my crew.

It was only after they had their kits and their aprons and their hammers that I realized how totally out of my league I was. I needed four more hands and fast. And it'd help if those hands were more skilled at hammering than the ones I have presently.

The Lord answered before I'd hardly had time to pray, and He did not turn me into an octopus. :) I must have looked as overwhelmed as I felt, because within minutes of the kids sitting down, two kind gentlemen came alongside and asked if they could help the kids. I gladly accepted their kind offers. So, with the two hands God gave me, I helped Peter.

 A kind Home Depot man helped Matthew.

 

And another kind grandpa helped Hannah. I was blessed. I am so thankful for these two men who came alongside a more than slightly frazzled Mommy trying to do something special with her kiddos. :)

And then just before catching the bus back to the parking lot, we saw our first butterflies of the year in the butterfly garden. Exciting times! :)

So thankful for the special memories with my kiddos! ♥