365Project.2014 | Week 9

It's so much more fun to do this project when I actually remember to take pictures throughout the week! :) 

55. Yep, we do have school around here. :) 

56. So thankful for Emmy who watches Matthew during Good News Club! :) Matthew loves playing at "Callie's house," and you'll notice that gender distinctions require NO coaching! ;)

57. Our dear friend and adopted "Grandma" was blessed once again in marriage this weekend! We are so excited for her, but we're definitely going to miss our Sunday morning rides with her as she moves away to her new husband's home. ♥

58. Spelling. Some lists are easier than others and this week's was one of the "others" ... our letter tile "game" came out and made practice much more fun (and effective!)

For any who are curious ... I made a table in Word and typed one letter per square till I had all the letters for his spelling list. We printed and cut those out. I also made "word cards" with a picture on one side to represent the spelling word and the word printed in light gray text on the backside (so that you couldn't see it through the paper.) He would pick a word card and then have to choose the tiles needed to spell the word correctly. He simply turned the card over to check his work. We don't do this every week, but on the weeks where he's still struggling significantly with his list on Wednesday, this helps him over the hump.

59. Mommy had a day without back pain! :) And since the weather was beautiful AND it was Friday AND strawberries were only $1.67/lb ... we made an excursion to Publix for the ingredients for strawberry shortcake! :)

Hannah and helpers made the from-scratch shortcake entirely by themselves while Mommy cut up strawberries.  What a joy it was to this Mommy's heart to watch them working together so sweetly! ♥

60. Saturday was a bit of a random day ... Daddy and Peter finished some rearranging in the shop, with one end result being a workbench for Peter. :) He's more than a little excited! ;)

Hannah and Matthew did some more baking ... Oatmeal Scotchie pizza was on the menu this time.

And Mommy sewed the valence for the front window in our bedroom! :)

61. Ta-da! :)

And one other random photo collection from the week ... Mommy's other sewing project. :) (With some less than professional pictures ... sorry!) I had some maternity shirts from previous pregnancies I had lovingly termed "tents." They were in the bag for Miracle Mart until I got inspired to see if I could replicate the side "ruching" I had seen at Target but didn't care to pay $20 for.

Pinterest made it look easy. ;) I started with the shirt I liked least ... since I could care less if I destroyed it ...

Before: Tent #1 ...

After: Multiple inches trimmed off the sides, elastic added for "ruching," and sleeves now appropriate for the upcoming season. :) It's now hanging in my closet! :)

And tent #2 ... it wasn't quite as huge as the other, but still more than a little shapeless.

And now it fits! (With room for the baby to grow ...) ;) (You'll notice I was actually wearing this one on Saturday when hubby snapped my photo!)

And that's that ... I've never altered clothing before, and am very excited about the results (and the potential!) Definitely have a few more shirts with which I'm looking forward to trying my new-found skill. Although, I strongly suspect that I might benefit from some instruction on how to sew with knit/stretchy material ... maybe YouTube should be my next stop ... 

Thanks for visiting! :)

365Project.2014 | Weeks 6-8

Our days have settled into a rhythm with some fun punctuation marks in between the ordinary. :) Even with a snow storm last week, spring appears to be coming, and for that I am very glad! :) (Another bonus? Our daffodils that we transplanted last spring are poking up all along the driveway!!!!)

33. I'm glad this young man can still build a K'nex crane taller than himself. It lets Mommy pretend for a few minutes that he's not growing up altogether too fast!

34. What are beautiful spring-like days for if not for going outside and creating concoctions and experiments?

 

35. Distinct advantage of homeschooling ... enjoying time with your favorite furry friend while Mommy reads aloud.

37. Hannah requested the privilege of making dessert and turned it into a celebration of our growing family. ♥ We also learned that when you eagerly place six candles in your fresh-out-of-the-oven brownies, you will discover a few minutes later that your candles have become rather puddle-like due to the heat ...

38. A Friday night slumber party ...

 in the tent! :)

 39. And Saturday at the Science Festival. The theme this month was engineering ... the highlight for the big kids was the opportunity to use a blow torch! :)

 

The volunteers were a little surprised by the confidence with which Peter picked up the tool and began cutting ... I guess starting with a hammer at age two offers at least some advantages. ;)

 42. Then the weather changed. Again. With predictions of "the storm of the century" and stuff like that ... combined with a forecast for ice (which usually results in a lack of electricity), this Mommy decided to get caught up on laundry while I still had the use of my modern conveniences ... nine or so loads later, the hampers were empty.

 43. With predictions ranging from 8-12 inches, we thought it might be fun to take time-lapse photos of the accumulation ... ummm, the meteorologist blamed it on the sleet, but we got somewhat less than predicted. It still shut down the city, though, so no complaints there. ;)

Since we still had electricity, I jumped on the sweet-tooth bandwagon and made cinnamon rolls for my crew. :)

44. Roads remained icy the following day, so with the office closed, Daddy was home to enjoy a play day. :) Our neighbors joined us for a sledding party and everybody had a blast.

 

 

 This was too funny ... Matthew was about wore out and ready to head in. Then, I suddenly heard him giggling. I looked down and realized I had been "hit" with a snowball. He just laughed and laughed and laughed as he continued to throw snowballs at Mommy. ♥

 Peter's been wanting to make a "snow dog" again for a very long time ...

Here is with another one about three years ago ...

Hannah enjoyed having another girl to play with. :)

45. My Valentine's Munchkins ♥

 46. A piano duet recital at a local nursing home ...

 

 49. What would one do with brand new magnets besides turn doorknobs into the face of lions?

 50. This was a very. busy. week. with our church's missions conference, but we were abundantly blessed by the privilege of having our friend and missionary, Rosemary, stay with us for the week. ♥

51. One very much unexpected but definite blessing, was Rosemary's gift of a few hours for Mommy and Daddy to enjoy lunch together while she kept our munchkins. It's been quite a while since we've had the blessing of a "date" before 9:00 p.m. ♥

 53. To top off an already blessed week, we thoroughly enjoyed attending "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" put on by a local theater! What made it even more fun was that I had won free backstage passes for our whole family a few weeks earlier through a Facebook contest ... so not only did we enjoy the program, but we got to meet the cast afterwards! :)

Matthew wasn't at all sure about Mr. and Mrs. Beaver ...

 But he had spent the ENTIRE first-half of the production wondering where Aslan was, so getting to see him up close was pretty special--if a little intimidating. :)

 It was so cute to watch him sneak up and reach his hand up really fast to touch Aslan ...

 

 Peter was so excited to get a picture with High King Peter. :) 

 

54. Then back to Sunday. :) We enjoyed having Faith-Ann over for the afternoon, and she had fun flying a remote-controlled helicopter for the first time. :)

Since turns never seem long enough, Matthew made his own control so that he could "fly" his Duplo helicopter whenever he wanted to. :)

Praise the Lord, our little one continues to grow and just today I felt (for sure!) his or her first little flutters.

 At 17-1/2 weeks, I am so thankful for this precious gift. I do not take it for granted ... one dear friend who was due just a few weeks after me, will now meet her little one in Heaven, and another who is at 10 weeks right now, has started to experience some serious complications. My heart aches for them and is strongly tempted to question "why!?!" but we all must rest in the One who loves us, and our little ones, more than we ever possibly could. ♥

If I take the wings of the morning and 

dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 

even there Your hand shall lead me, 

and Your right hand shall hold me. 

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, 

and the light about me be night," 

even the darkness is not dark to You; 

the night is bright as the day, 
for darkness is as light with You. 

For You formed my inward parts; 

You knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.
(Psalms 139:9-14)