CJ and Family: legos

Sunday, January 17, 2016

365Project.2016 | Weeks 2-3

Welcome back! :) There's been a lot of l.i.f.e. lived in these last few weeks. Lots of creating, learning, playing, ... and cleaning of the messes associated therewith. I'm thankful for this crew with whom the Lord has blessed us. Motherhood is exhausting, but oh, so worth it.

Day 4. Winter has arrived (finally!), and the big kids are definitely enjoying it. :)

Day 5. Abby has started coloring! :)

Day 6. And yes ... she is definitely Daddy's girl. ♥

Everything is better once Daddy gets home. ;)

Day 7. She has also discovered a new friend in the mirror ... :)

Day 8. Real life, folks. In all of its beautiful, messy glory.

Day 9. My new clips the kids bought me for Christmas made freezer meal prep so much easier! And for the record, I am so very thankful for freezer meals. Even when I don't feel like doing the prep (which I did NOT this particular morning), it is absolutely, 100% worth the effort. 'Nuff said.

The kids and Chris enjoyed the first round of Dominion, and he and I have been sneaking in a few games here and there after the kids go to bed. Fun times! :) This is the $45 game that I picked up, brand new, for $5 at my favorite thrift store as a Christmas gift for Chris. :)

Day 10. Abby likes salad. :) In particular, she likes green peppers. Of all the random foods for an almost 18-month-old ...

Day 11. Starting the day by saying "bye" to Daddy ...

It continues with reading lessons ...

The supplies for Hannah's weather blanket ...

And coat hooks in the laundry room ...

Day 12. Tuesday was a very fun day as we took a special field trip with our homeschool group. We visited our local news station ... it was so interesting!!!

Day 13. Abby discovered that everything looks different after an overnight dump of about 8" of lake effect snow. :)

Day 14. So much fun building towers!! :)

And creating Domino trains!

This one worked the first time and had double rows of Dominoes going in opposite directions ... very. very. cool!!!

Day 15. Things warmed up a bit and the light fluffy snow turned just right for making the first snowman of the year. :)

And we finally got to try Maple Snow Cream! :) I read about this last year, and have been looking forward to trying it ever since. :)

Day 16. We spent Saturday morning learning about home energy use. We even had a blower test done. :)

And then the rest of the day was just a quiet day for conversation and fun projects.

We took a video of the front end loader Peter built so that he could take it apart and use those pieces to put together a large mobile track crane.

Daddy helped Matthew build the beginnings of a skid steer.

And Mommy and Hannah made a pair of earrings together.

Altogether, a relaxing, enjoyable day. :)

And now, we launch into a new week with more lake effect snow in the works and lots of life to be lived.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

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. :)