Snow Much Fun!

Liam received a snow board for Christmas and had been

waiting and waiting for some cold, white stuff to cover the

land and give him a winter playland!

My kids love the snow (and I love to watch them have fun from my window)

and it was good to let them get outside and enjoy it!

Sledding at Mahoney State Park with friends.

Her sweet snow man.

Coming inside...

red cheeks but a big smile!

We had the perfect snow to make some snow ice cream.

We had never done this before... but know of friends who have.

The kids were so excited to try it...

and Tim and I thought after tasting it,

who needs an ice cream machine!  This is so much easier!

It was definitely something everyone loved...

and this man need to become one of our new snow traditions....

It was snow good!

7 1/2

Because her half birthday falls on Kallan's birthday...

We love to celebrate her a little early!

Making her favorite supper with daddy... Monte Cristo Sandwiches!

A Frozen cake to celebrate 7 1/2...

Her reaction to getting her own camera

(or actually just taking ownership of one mama's old point and shoot...)

She was slightly thrilled!

Happy Half Birthday to our sweet girl!

Ainsley, your sweet, tender spirit is just what we need in this house of boys.

Thanking God today for your thoughtfulness, your love for others,

your creativity, your spunk, and for the joy and sweetness you 

bring to each of our days!

We love you!

Random Can Be Fun

Random pictures from January...

A new, fun toy!

What I see many times each day...

My two littles... having fun with pans, remotes, plastic hats, and balls...

There are a million things I love about this picture...

Here he comes!

(Why does he look so grown up here?!?!)

It's not often (OK, never) that Ainsley gets to match with Baylor.

She was delighted to get these monkey jammies so she could be twins with him!

To delight Liam, we threw a Super Bowl party complete with a

football field table cloth and football plates.

Spending a few extra minutes before bed playing a game with him...

His favorite toy box...

Gotta love random!

School Moments

Math time!

Practicing spelling words while keeping time with his yo-yo...

Cool science

Keeping this one busy with everything countries, capitals, and more...

The Great Wall of China meets the Egyptian pyramids 

and the Parthenon.  After that his plastic army men

had a wonderful time battling each other 

and destroying everything.

I love it when my boy plays...

Making counties and continents with playdough...

His idea... not mine.  :)

Science... Discovering radio waves

What he does while we do school....

look up flags of the world.

A peek into our morning...

Learning about graphs is always more fun with hot chocolate...

Still one of my favorite sights to see... catching them reading.

When practicing your spelling words gets a little crazy...

Pumped.... that the catapult he designed worked!

After that, the catapult quickly became Mr. Robot...

a boy's best friend.

Writing time...

not his favorite subject, but always fun to see 

what is in his mind.

Yeah... there may be hard days.... and days when I feel like I'm not doing enough.

Days that we struggle through and days that bring tears.

Days when no one really wants to do school... yet we keep going.

But looking at these moments reminds me of the joys that 

come from doing school at home... and some of the sweet blessings

that are ours to have.  I'm reminded of how much I love having

these little chicks of mine under my wings each day for awhile yet... 

living together, learning together, and doing life with each other.  

It's not always easy, 

but I will never regret this time and these moments with them.

He turned One

The birthday boy!

ONE!

Happy Birthday to you...

Cake time.

Taking a bite...

Do I like it?

Yes!

Yummmm!!!

I hadn't intended to let him eat the whole cupcake,

but I got busy serving the other guests their cake

and when I turned around... it was gone.

I think he liked it!

For his birthday, we asked our guests to buy or donate

items that we could give to our local crisis pregnancy center in honor of Baylor's 1st birthday.

We were overjoyed with the items our friends and family brought to give.

They were so generous!

It was so fun to be able to give and bless other mamas and babies

who really need these baby items and to love on them in this way. 

The perfect way to celebrate our Baylor!

Happy 1st Birthday sweet boy!