It's been cold.

And Mommy's been Tired . . . with a capital T. Yes, a growing baby has definitely played a part, but I think the weather has also been a factor. These last few weeks have been COLD (in the 20's for most of the day and lower than that at night.) And I've been ready to call it QUITS by 7:30 pm and curl up under my heated blanket. Thus explains the lack of posts. Enough said. :o)

We are very glad to see some warmer weather returning! Ah, the bliss of a 40-50 degree day! Not only can we enjoy the fresh air, but it doesn't take nearly as much energy (physical and electrical!) to keep the house warm. We did, however, stay warm during the cold snap with a combination of space heaters, extra layers of clothing, lots of blankets, window quilts, and our wood stove. Mommy has gotten quite proficient at all aspects of using a wood stove except for actually chopping and bringing in the wood. That is one job I am more than happy to leave in the hands of my very capable husband. :o)

Our window quilts have been a HUGE blessing in keeping the house at a reasonable temperature. (Thanks, Grandma!) During the cold snap, the window was quite frosty most mornings, but the quilts kept the cold air from getting inside. :o)

And otherwise, we've just been settling back into our normal routine with plenty of indoor activities. On top of the cold, Daddy has had some rather long hours at work, so a tired Mommy has also had to drum up some extra creative energy (in addition to the energy being exerted to stay warm.) Thus explains the lack of posts, #2.

One of the kids' Christmas gifts was a set of race cars. We had to exchange one because originally one remote controlled both cars, but they now each have their own autonomously controlled car and have had lots of fun racing around. :o)

Hannah's enjoyed crafts as usual. :o)

As well as her special "paper" doll quilt--thanks, Great Grandma!

And Peter bounces from cars to Legos to Little People . . .

The kids had fun helping me with lunch train, and even more fun making peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses, although I don't have pictures of that. :o)

Peter wanted his "baby" to listen to the music, and then Hannah helped all of the other buddies join in, too . . .

And I came upstairs from doing laundry to find the kids happily rocking their babies. :o) Awwww!

And yes, not only does Peter now understand that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, but he has a baby, too. Notice the smaller pumpkin on the tummy of the pumpkin bear--that's his baby. He now refers to two buddies by specific names. His baby is "mine beabee" and his Taggy Lion is "Raar. Mine." (The odd spelling is an attempt to communicate the accent with which he says the names.) :o)

So that's life in these parts. We're anticipating a dethawing soon. :o)

Edible Art

We did take one day off from "projects" to visit the Grove Park Inn's national Gingerbread Competition display. It's amazing!

Here's the Inn itself. The grounds and view are just incredible. Chris and I visited here with my parents about five years ago, but it was dark, so we totally missed the view.

And here's the Gingerbread "house" display. If you click on the link above, you can see professional photos of the winners in each category, but here's a few of our favorite people . . .

And favorite creations . . .

The icing work on this house was itself a work of art!

Peter's absolute favorite . . . "Ruff! Ruff!!"

And one of Hannah's favorites . . .

My pictures do not do it justice, but here's the first place winner in the adult category. The detail was absolutely incredible.

The time and talent that goes into creating these edible works of art is just mind-boggling. It's thought provoking though to consider whether I'm investing as much time in things that are eternal as these artists invest in that which is so temporary.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16

A Fun, Productive Week

We enjoyed a great visit with Jenny's parents between Christmas and New Year's.

Along with having plenty of fun, we had a very productive week in the realm of "projects." :o)

The men ordered and spread a load of gravel in the driveway by the basement. It was torn up during "The Project" this fall, so it is a definite blessing to have it usable again.

Grandma sewed "window quilts" to help keep the cold out and the heat in! (She can testify that quilting with a 2 & 4 year old is much more . . . umm . . . exciting (?) than doing so on your own.) :o) Thanks, Grandma!

The men also removed the remainder of the chimney . . .

Before:

During:

(Peter supervised.)

After:

And although it's pictureless, it must not go undocumented that the ladies spent significant time cleaning up the black soot which managed to settle on every horizontal surface of the upstairs! Socks were still turning black even after multiple moppings!

The chimney brick was deposited in the creek, much to the kids' delight. The flood of early December wiped out a significant portion of the creek bank, so the chimney brick is the beginnings of what will be a retaining wall sometime next summer.

For the record, Peter's hands are still black in the creases. :o]

And then, last but definitely not least, the men tore down the walls which blocked in the back basement bedroom. Due to staging issues with our storage and such, we're working on just one room at a time, and this room had the least "stuff" in it. (Credit to the ladies for multiple hours spent removing what stuff was in it!)

We plan to use this back bedroom as our office and also a guest room until the front bedroom gets refinished. We decided to remove the block walls because they're difficult to work with and impossible to "adjust." We wanted to move the door over and put in some proper closets. So, down with the walls! One HUGE praise is that the mold resulting from former water problems appears to have been concentrated in the carpet and paneling!! We really weren't sure what we'd find when we pulled out the surface coverings, but it seems that most of the mold went with them! (At least there were no huge mushroom-like creations growing on the walls . . . !!) :o)

What a blessing to have Dad's truck to haul it all away!

And the kids definitely enjoyed the trip to the dump as well! :o) (Mommy used that time to take down the Christmas tree, while Grandma worked on window quilts without "help.") :o)

So that was that! In the midst of it all, we enjoyed great fellowship and more than a few rounds of Rummikub and other fun games. And our socks are no longer turning black. :o) Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!

So Grandpa, would you rather move brick walls or snow?? :o) At least the brick walls don't come back! :o)

Painting . . .

The one (and about the only) project which did not get accomplished while grandparents were visiting was painting the dining room. Ah well, another time. :o) However, we did get some painting done over Christmas--just in a much smaller size. :o)

One of Hannah's Christmas gifts was a set of four simple models which required gluing and painting. Since painting is not one of my "natural" abilities and not something I've had much opportunity to learn, even these simple models would spell "STRESS" for me. Were I the only one in the household, I would have chosen a different craft, but knowing my husband's strengths, I knew this would be a fun project for him to do with the kids. He enjoyed working with models as a child, and this kit is an excellent beginner's introduction to them.

Especially knowing how inept I would have been trying to help with this particular project, it was a delight to watch him help Hannah build and paint her very first model--a birdhouse.

Here they are using the glue to put the pieces together.

Once it dried, they began applying paint. He did a great job of helping her learn how much paint to use and how to smooth her brush strokes, and all sorts of other things which I simply couldn't have taught because I've never really learned them myself. :o)

Speeding up the drying time . . . :o)

Painting another side . . .

Even Peter got to help with the roof! (We determined a bit more clothing protection was in order for him though!) :o)

Lots of fun! (And there's still three more to go--a bird feeder, a race car, and an airplane!)