Porch

The roof of the porch was framed today. 

Josiah was snowed out of school again!  He has not stepped a toenail in that school building for the past 11 days!

Eleonora and Caleb put on a gymnastics show for their Poppa today. They both were doing headstands followed by somersaults. You'd have to see it to believe it. (Eleo had a bit of assistance.)

Here are our seedling hanging out in a patch of sunlight. Looking a little leggy, eh?

Eleonora's 1st Birthday Party

Eleonora's birthday party was a very cold and icy day.

Warmer weather was supposed to be on its way, but it was much slower coming than we had hoped. We delayed the celebration a bit, and Eleonora got to sneak in a good nap before party time.

She was just waking up when the guests arrived.

 Jenny and her girls.

 A sweet girl and her Poppa.

 The Grandchildren.

 We played 'What Time is it, Mr. Fox.'

I had no idea Eleonora was ready for party games - she loved it!

 She also loved opening her presents!

 And cards!

 She thoroughly (and daintily) enjoyed her first cupcake.

 We missed our snowed-in party people, but Eleonora still had a fantastic first birthday party!

The Weekend

On Saturday morning, Chris and the boys headed up to camp for the 'best sledding at CSBC ever.'

Eleonora and I used the opportunity to set up for her birthday party. 

We had a fabulous time partying - I'll show you more pictures when I'm on the real computer. Here is Eleonora in a new birthday dress at church on Sunday. 

After church, I asked the boys about their plans for the afternoon. Josiah said they were doing 'Centers' (like at school) and composed this list. Ha!  And they really did each mop a room. Too cute. That's Caleb's signature -backwards - beside #4, they rolled to see where they each started on the list. 

Last, but not least, sweet cousins out to eat for their Poppa's birthday. 

Snow Day

The kids and I headed up to camp this afternoon to take full advantage of the snow. 

While Eleonora stayed warm with her Grandma, Josiah and Caleb each enjoyed their own one-horse-open-sleigh, thanks to Heather and their Poppa. 

A little crash into the Bean. 

And our fun time outside was wrapped up when Caleb ended a sled ride with a little creek action. 

A grand time was had by all!

Happy 1st Birthday!

We were thrilled to wake up in a winter wonderland for Eleonora's first birthday.

Presidents' Day

We have enjoyed a damp and icy day at home doing a bit of cleaning. 

Eleonora even got in on the dishwasher-emptying action. 

Our first seeds have sprouted!  Zinnias and cabbages!

Here's another view from inside the cabin on Saturday. 

And the outside. 

Chris got the front door today!

Saturday

Here we have the chimney chase going up. 

And some good-looking log steps heading down into the lean-to. 

And Eleonora's first Jeep ride. 

Momma and baby in a fireplace hole. 

And if you think that looks like a space more suited to a closet than a fire, I'd have to agree and I'm thankful I'm not the one figuring out how to make it a fireplace!  In it's former life, this was a window, but the logs beneath the windowsill rotted, hence it's new life as a fireplace zone. 

Chris in a cleaned-up cabin!  

If only it were a bit warmer, it would be time for a square dance. 

As of today, all the windows and doors are framed so the braces could be removed.

Speaking of windows, these windows are basically the same size as they were originally. In old books, it seems like the windows were little-bitty in lots of log cabins. Guess this log cabin wasn't so old or remote as all that. 

Now everything is covered in tarps in case of rain and/or blizzards. 

Happy Valentine's Day to you!