Sledding

So when I went up to do my camp job on Thursday, it looked like sledding would be a bust. 

It turned out that there was plenty of snow and ice on the shady hills. 

Josiah and Caleb outfitted themselves with their bike helmets. 

They had 'epic' rides as their goal. 

A fantastic time was had by all!

First Snow

We enjoyed our first big snowfall of 2016 on Wednesday.

 The boys were out of school on Wednesday, Thursday, and had a two-hour delay on Friday

in honor of this massive winter storm.

 I took the boys up to camp on Thursday and they enjoyed some great sledding.

Better than I expected, for sure.

There wasn't much snow, but the ground was so icy that they flew down the hills.

 Has anyone heard of the challenge to declutter by getting rid of 2,000 things in 2016?

I think I could do it with one hand tied behind my back.

Yesterday Chris and Josiah each gave me a book to read.

Josiah's was historical fiction.

Chris's was a collection of theological letters from the 1500's.

Guess which one was my favorite.

Caleb is home with pneumonia lung.

I hear him thudding around the living room now, 

watching 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' with Eleonora.

Now that is a sweet show.

Happy Monday to you!

A Snowy 2014

 We had a lovely snow in February 2014 -

 less than a week before Eleonora made her grand entrance.

I remember standing on the porch with Chris taking this picture

and discussing whether or not we would be heading to the hospital that night.

(Also this was right before our side hedge got a major trim!)

 The next day Chris and the boys made a tropical snowman.

 In a little patch of shade so he would last longer, of course.

 Can't wait to see if this day holds enough flakes for another snowman!

 Here's hoping!

Bows & Pyramids

Tomorrow is a snow day.

The boys are ecstatic.

I hope we see a flake.

 For today, here are some more pictures from back in the fall.

I had to take a few pictures before Eleonora and her clothes moved to her new room and closet.

I loved having all the kids' clothes together in the same closet.

It made it fun and easy to put away laundry.

Eleo had more clothes than the both the boys combined.

Eleonora's bow collection is both extensive and dear to her heart.

Her first two word phrase was "ma (my) bow!"

But if you think this is something,

you oughta' see Lydia and Anna's collection.

Leapin' lizards.

That thing is rainbow-color-coordinated and thrice as big as this one.

(Another fall pic, obvs.)

Today I was helping Caleb write some thank you notes.

He calls periods 'pyramids'.

Pronounced 'pee-wa-mids.'

Like this - 

"No, Momma.  Erase that pyramid. 

 See how I like to have fun with pyramids?  I make 'em wocks (rocks)!

Happy snow day, folks!

MLK Day

The boys are off of school today. 

We celebrated last night by eating Chris's wings and watching 'This Old House' - our wing-eating tradition.

Eleonora made the salads by ripping up the lettuce and spinach and passing out the carrots. I think it was probably her first actual helpfulness in the kitchen. 

Write it on the calendar. 

September 16

Here is another blast from the past. 

The day that Josiah got home from his field trip to the pumpkin patch, he was ready to get to carving!

Seeing as how I was in no kind of a jack-o'-lantern carving mood in the middle of September, I let them have at it with butter knives, which worked surprisingly well. 

I have been working on putting my old pictures in photo albums this week, and the adorable pictures have been making me feel nostalgic. I typically try to save that emotion for my sister. :)

Facebook has been sharing old favorites with me, too. Here's Buzz and Caleb from 5 years ago. 

And Lou and Josiah from 7 years ago!

Wood Floor

I found some pictures from back in the fall that I probably never shared.

 The days when the log cabin floor was being laid were super exciting, 

because that was the last huge step before moving day.

 Eleonora was surely getting excited to move into her big girl room.

 And Chris was surely even more excited to be nearly done with his 'Ambitious Project.'

 These were also the days (weeks, months) when impetigo was sweeping through our house, 

infesting our friends and family.

Those were happy days, but I don't mind a bit that they are behind us.

What is a 'week-end'?

Hello, everyone!

 I was given a cute little pre-scrapbooked Christmas album long ago, 

and I finally got around to filling it with pictures from 2008-2015.

If I keep doing one page a year, Josiah will be 20 on the last page!

(Sniffle.)

 I also put some pictures in these adorable 2014 ornaments and added pictures to baby books.

Yesterday the boys took it upon themselves to rearrange their room.

They were so proud of their beds facing out the window.

My personal favorite was Caleb's birthday "back scratcher" displayed on the wall.

A Sneaky Disguise

Bins

Let me tell you a story about my bin collection.

I love storing seasonal clothing, decorations, and memorabilia in bins in our cellar.

A while back, we had a bit of a flood down there and one bin of clothes tipped over into the water.

I washed them and put them away in the pantry instead,
not a big deal.

Then a few days after the big Christmas rain, 

we went to the cellar and discovered there had been an even bigger flood.

The boys love going down there,
so I sent them down first to count the number of tipped over bins,
to prepare myself for the job that lay ahead.

They stood at the bottom and started counting much higher than I had anticipated.

I thought they were pulling my leg.

 Turns out they were telling the truth.

The bins are usually all stacked neatly on the left.

The empty bins at the bottom of the stacks must have floated,

knocking all the rest over.

If you think a bin full of clothes or paper is heavy dry,

you should try to carry it up the stairs soaking wet.

So Chris and I spent a lot of December 29
 going through ruined wet papers and objects 

and washing load after load of clothes.

I will say though that I had been saying that I wanted to get rid of all my Christmas decorations that I didn't actually use this year in my house -
and since I had stuck them back in the cellar when company was coming and they got soaked,
 my wish was granted.

There were also plenty of other things ruined that it was long past time to get rid of,  

my American Girl doll trading cards, nearly all my past CSBC name cards from Sunday night prayer meetings, printed conversations from AIM, high school projects including a leaf collection and a Greek puppet show script and puppets, hundreds of handmade Spanish flashcards, all my negatives from the pre-digital camera era, molds of my teeth pre and post braces,
just to name a few.  

So if you're like me and have a hard time letting go of things, 

might I suggest a gentle flooding of your bins.

The End

Life with Brothers...

includes train tracks,

 being dressed up in Angry Bird undies, 

and an all-together jolly good time,

when you have the best big brothers ever known.

Fall Creek

We are just home from a glorious weekend at Fall Creek Falls.

There were other women doing a great job photographing the event, 

so I took it easy on the pictures.

 My favorite parts of our trip included crafting with paper with the ladies on Cricut machines, 

playing games late into the night after the children were in bed,

watching and partaking in fun with a Nerf gun, and singing 'Scotland's Burning' in a multi-part round over and over.

 Eleonora loved ripping buttons off packages and unwrapping presents slowly and deliberately.

She also enjoyed arranging her dolls at this little table, and then sitting in the tiny chairs herself.

 Chris's favorite part was exploring a cave with his boys.

He also got in a bit of practice with his drum sticks.

The boys loved the Nature Center, seeing all the deer, the playground, the waterfalls - especially seeing the crunched up boat at the bottom of one,

and, according to Caleb, family.

Thanks so much to the four 'adults'

 (as we younger adults kept accidentally calling them)

for the absolutely fabulous time!

Potato Stamps

Lots of the boys' gifts they were giving were in brown paper bags.

We decided to doll them up with some festive potato stamps.

 Here we are just getting started.

The whole table was a festive mess before too long.

We happened to have these small cookie cutters.

You simply cut the potatoes in half, 

then press the cookie cutter into one of the cut sides.

Use a knife to cut out around the cookie cutter,

while it's still there!

Then add details, like a snowman's face or a candy cane's stripes.

Voila!

A very merry time was had by all.