January

One evening, Abby asked with a pout if she could have a pink doughnut.  I told her that maybe Daddy would take her on a date sometime for a doughnut, and she could call him to ask.  So she called him at work.  He took her the next day.  This little girl has her Daddy wrapped around her finger.

Little miss mess.

Schooltime snuggles.

Laurel learned how to climb onto tables.

We learned about narwhals one day with Abby's friends and made a craft.

They were funny with their paper horns.

Laurel has decided that spinning in this chair is her favorite activity.

Luckily, she has siblings who are happy to oblige.

In memory of the matching nose scabs that took over a month to heal...

Icy Family Weekend

We spent a lot of time as a family this weekend.  We had an easy day at home on Saturday.  After church on Sunday, four of us took naps, two read quietly, and one was a tornado of destruction.  Then we had a movie night. 

Annie was slightly mischievous when she was little, then Alex came along and I thought I'd go crazy with his mischief.  I suppose that was all preparation for Abby.  This girl creates easily creates 80% of the messes in our house, and she often does it for the sake of making a mess or destroying things.  Her destruction is incredible, and we lose things on a daily basis thanks to her mischief.  She especially loves to swipe anything small (toys, games, q-tips, kitchen utensils, crayons, garbage, etc) and she hides scissors so she can cut things up.  We've had to vacuum the main level of our house four times in the last six days, each time because it really needed it thanks to this little girl.

When we woke up from naps on Sunday, we found the kitchen floor completely flooded, tortilla chips/ crumbs and raisins strewn all threw the main floor (soggy in the kitchen), and her normal mess of books, toys, shoes, and paper.  Aah!  I wish this type of thing wasn't a normal occurrence with her.  It's a good thing she's so sweet and cute.  She charms the frustration right out of us.

Today we had icy rain conditions all day, plus it was a work holiday.  So Jim was able to stay home with us all day.  We'd planned to have a family outing, but our road looked like a solid sheet of ice, so we had a game day instead.

I whooped Logan in Othello and took a picture because I'm actually terrible at this game.  Alex legitimately beat me on the next round, and I had no chance again Jim.

Laurel was adorable all day.  She's the most easy going little thing ever.  She plays nicely and comes over to give occasional loves before going back to playing.

Logan and I played Scrabble while we waited for everyone to finish chores.

Jim chose Settlers for our big family game in the evening.  He slaughtered us the first round, and I cleaned house for the second.

House Makeover

Last year we had a lot of house projects.  We had a very expensive and extensive French drain put into our basement (It's dry now!  I can't wait to finish a family room down there!), we made some small improvements inside (dishwasher, trim, mudroom makeover, ceiling fan/ lights, garbage disposal, bathtub repair), and we completely changed the exterior of our house.  Previously our roof was leaking in approximately eight spots, half of our windows were over 100 years old (two of which were missing panes), the old asbestos siding was cracking in places, the wooden siding was peeling, our gutters were in bad shape, and the soffits and fascia were falling apart.  Yikes!

I made sure to take some pictures before the exterior work started.  Notice the tarp on the roof the keep the rain out.

The soffit and fascia were really bad on this side of the house. Birds frequently came into our attic through those holes and would startle me when I'd go up there.

This was on the back of our house where the three parts meet (main house, kitchen addition, and garage addition).  It was mostly full of garbage from the previous owners (I lack good excuses for why we hadn't cleaned it up previously).

We'd talked about eventually turning this space into a shed, but weren't planning to do it yet.  Then I had a conversation with the guy who was putting our siding on, and we made a last second decision to do it then.  Jim built the wall one day, so that siding could go on it the next.

After!  We have a new roof, new windows, new gutters, new soffits and fascia, and new siding!  I love it!

Birdies can't get in here anymore!

Our shed still lacks a door, but it's been put to good use already.  We made a lot of space in the garage by moving items into our new shed.

I forgot to take a picture of the brick and mulch that the kids laid for a berry patch.  They did this part completely on their own.  I didn't need to poison this area, so we can plant berries this year!

Christmas

Every year, we try to focus on giving service during the month of December, and this year was no exception.  I was really happy with the service opportunities we had this year, and they were definitely the highlight of the season for us.  Many of them are secret, so I won't elaborate, however.  I love the feelings of love and generosity that are created during the Christmas season.

I made one gift for Christmas this year that I was really excited about. My sister is a Denver Broncos fan and has been wanting a wreath for her front door.  So I decided to make one.  I probably didn't make it the 'right' way, but I was really pleased with how it turned out.  After some trial and error, I settled on using burlap for the whole thing.  First I tied blue and orange burlap in an alternating pattern.

Then I attached brown burlap on the outside and inside.

I'm not much of a crafter, so when I do make something I love to show my progress, but my two favorite people to show are my sister and my mom!  Since I couldn't show either of them, I settled for pictures.

Voila!  I was super happy with the end result.  I hung the finished wreath on my wall for several weeks before mailing it to Sarah.

I'd originally planned to use this shiny ribbon in the wreath, but it didn't look right.  I'd cut it in places, so I couldn't return it to the store and didn't know what to do with it.  Then I hatched an idea that made me giggle.  I'd turn it into a tutu for game day!

Jim thought my idea was bizarre, but we love to laugh in my family, and I knew my sister would get a kick out of it.  Annie modeled the finished tutu before I sent it.

I figured Sarah would try on the tutu and send me a picture when she opened it on Christmas.  Jim was skeptical.  I was right!  My little sister is so much fun. :)

Since Christmas was on a Sunday, we told the kids they had to dress for church before they could open stockings.  They were ready in no time!

I was super sick with strep throat during Christmas, so I stayed home while Jim took the kids to church. After church, we opened presents and spent the rest of the day relaxing as a family.

Annie loves her mermaid tail blanket that my dad sent her.

Abby was so much fun this Christmas.  She's at an age where she's so excited about everything, and we all had difficulty limiting our gifts to her.  I found these butterfly wings for $2 after Halloween and she absolutely LOVES them.  She's so cute.

Once Laurel understood about unwrapping presents, she really dove in.  Eventually, she tired of waiting for us, and began unwrapping anything she could get her hands on.

Alex can't fake anything.  When he was excited about a gift it really showed.  When he was disappointed (the jeans I gave him...LOL) he couldn't hide it.  I love my honest boy.  These books received cheers and fist pumping.

Abby wanted to model everything.

Abby had a very 'Frozen' Christmas.  Her siblings all chose to give her Anne and Elsa items, and I kept finding cute little Frozen gifts for her.  In every store we went to during the months leading up to Christmas, we saw several Frozen themed items she would love, but we restrained ourselves to just a few.  Ha ha!

Freezing Rain

Yesterday we had a big rain followed by freezing temperatures. In our front yard, a big stretch of water pooled from it and then froze overnight. So today, the boys strapped on their ice skates!

They had a nice long stretch to enjoy. Parts of it were thin, so they broke through in a few places, but they had a great time! It should freeze even better tonight, so they plan for another round tomorrow.

December 2016

We wanted another way to focus on service during the month of December this time, so we decided to leave all of the ornaments off of our tree initially. Whenever someone gave service, he or she could add an ornament. It worked really well, and our tree filled up quickly! I forgot to take a picture at the end, though.

Annie didn't start dance in the fall as usual because we wanted to be sure she'd be able to participate in the recital this year. A few weeks ago we heard that the date had been chosen and it will work for us, so her teacher graciously allowed us to join late. Abby will be dancing for the first time this year. The girls were so excited when we told them that they put on old costumes and spent the evening dancing. They've been having a great time since they've started classes as well.

I heard Abby crying one day and found this. She'd tried to pour herself a smoothie, but got it all over herself and the rug instead!

I put Abby in the bath and commenced cleaning the smoothie mess. Within a matter of minutes, she was hollering for me. This time I went into the bathroom to find this. Laurel decided to join her. Ha ha!

My cute little girls.

Abby, "Take a picture of me!" Happy to oblige...

A friend made me this amazing and beautiful hat just in time for snow shoveling season! I love it!

Our dining room chairs have been threatening to break for a couple of years, so every so often I've tightened screws and gotten creative with strong tape and wood glue to keep them together. One had almost reached the point of no return, so I placed it upside down on the table to see what I could do about it. I then stepped away to grab a tool, and in that moment Laurel pulled it crashing to the ground. Now thoroughly broken, I decided to use its good remaining parts to repair another chair that had been in poor condition. The end result: one decent chair!