365Project.2016 | Week 37

Hee-hee! I can work around technology quirks! :) I used to be able to pick whichever photo from my blogpost that I wanted to highlight when I shared it to Facebook. No longer. Only the first one shows. So, I've decided that I'm just going to pick my favorite from the week and stick it at the top of my post. So there. :)

We were fighting end of summer colds with all guns blazing this week, but I'm thankful to report that we were overwhelmingly successful. All things considered. :) In the midst of some sniffles and coughs, we had quite a lot of fun ... so here it be. :)

Day 255. I'm so thankful for the emphasis our church puts on children. ♥  Our crew enjoyed participating in the summer reading program which was geared to be accessible to strong readers, new readers, and non-readers. ♥

Day 256. The weather this week was absolutely beautiful. Seriously. Can it not be 70* and sunny all. year. long!?!?!

While the boys romped around the yard on their bicycles, this little lady and I played in the sunshine.

 She brought mama presents ...

 

 And we played peek-a-boo. ♥

It's so exciting to see Matthew getting stronger on his bike! He's plucky and pretty much determined to follow in his big brother's wheel tracks. ♥

 

 

Day 257. We enjoyed our 2nd week of homeschool group for the year ... thankful for a great group of like-minded families to meet with.

And would you believe we have a pair of Albino deer in the area???? This is the second time we've seen them wandering past the cornfield!

 Day 258. Super excited for this young man! He's my dyslexic learner, and things which come easily to his sister require significantly more effort for him. But, he's been making great strides, and it's exciting to see things clicking! (And when he grows discouraged, I remind him that the same mind which makes it harder for him to read and spell has given him an extraordinary ability to build and create ... complex stuff that Mommy can barely understand, much less build!)

Those sniffles turned into a cough for this lady Wednesday afternoon. She just wasn't feeling good! :( Thankfully I was able to find a combination of essential oils which we called "Gunk Buster" to knock it out quickly. ♥

Day 259. Matthew lost his first tooth!!! (And another is very soon to follow!) At 6-1/2, he held on to his baby teeth longer than either of his older siblings.

 Day 260. Tents have grown significantly more sophisticated over the years. :)

 Day 261. Daddy made progress on our new water filter system ...

 And Peter did this about 50 times over ...

 To build a really long rope ladder!!!

Such a cool project!

And it's going to enable the kids to get into a large tree farther back on our property that doesn't have climbing branches low enough to the ground.

 Daddy did a weight check. :)

 And while Hannah went to the fair with a friend, the boys decided to bike up the hill.

 Simply for the fun of coming down. :)

 

 

 

 Day 262. And today, our faithful van crossed 150k. She's still going strong, and we're thankful!

Thanks for popping in! :)

365Project.2015 | Week 4

It's a bit hard for me to believe it's still January. In fact, we still have another week left in January! I successfully got more pictures of the older kids this week, but I'm way over the 7-10 pictures I usually go for. Ah well. There is a lot of life being lived here these days. 

Day 18. Our sweetie ♥

Day 19. It was "Crazy Hat" day at Bible club this week. When Mommy made the final decision that we were not going to go the store to get supplies, the kids got resourceful and came up with some creative head gear. :)

 Day 20. Most mornings start about like this ...

Then she gets a little more focused ...

Then she melts ...

Then she sleeps ...

And on this beautiful day, while Abby slept, the rest of us enjoyed a picnic lunch. :)

Day 21. Beautiful weather continued, and the boys enjoyed riding their bikes while Hannah was at piano lessons ...

Matthew's determined to ride just as well as his older brother!

 Awww, we love you, Toby!

The older kids have been such a help with various aspects of preparing for our move ... this afternoon Peter helped putty the myriad of nail holes in the trim that Daddy recently installed.

Day 22. Cozy way to start the day ...

Matthew thoroughly enjoyed Caps for Sale, the theme book for this week of K4. And as typical for our chatter box, he's talking while coloring. :) He has recently discovered the joy of gracious adults at church who will carry on a conversation with him. :) For those who have patiently listened and conversed with him, thank you. He counts you as dear friends and prays for you.

Mommy's late night endeavors included multi-tasking with freezer meal prep and an encouraging online homeschool seminar.

Day 23. It's been amazing to watch Peter develop his engineering abilities with Legos. With the help of two additional "linear actuators" purchased with Christmas money from Great Grandma and Grandpa, he's converted his claw crane kit into a motorized digger with technical features comparable to those on a much larger kit. Without instructions.

Miss Abby's bottom two teeth poked through!

And the awesome Miss Beth watched the older kids at her place so that Mommy and Daddy could get a jump-start on Phase 1 packing. SO. HELPFUL. (!!!)

Day 24. Packing continues. Grandpa is coming down with a trailer next weekend so that we can get extra "stuff" out of the way for staging purposes. Our goal is to fill 'er up!

A friend from church blessed us with an entire van full of boxes. The large one at the left on the back of the van was completely stuffed with paper and other packing materials. What a wonderful gift!!

My kitchen feels so amazing!!! :) I love organizing and purging. :) I do. This is the easy part of moving, relatively speaking ...

And three cheers for Hannah-bug!!! This young lady packed up all of the extra stuff in her room all by herself--and she did a great job of purging along the way as well! So proud of her!

Our days are very full right now. Homeschool and "normal" life (laundry!!!!) continue in the midst of packing and painting and and assessors and trim work and other preparations for sale. Thanks for your prayers. Grandpa comes with a trailer next weekend, and we're working towards a mid-February date for house photos.