Mx4

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Rollin' in dough

Hard at work on her snail

10 second later, the boy in the background of this picture flung my snow man off the table where it was promptly gobbled up by a waiting,drooling set of jowls belonging to Gunner. Such is life.

Finished product!

Mackenzie has an insatiable curiosity. She is constantly feeding her mind through reading and asking questions, by methodically taking things apart or try and trying again.

Mason has the same curiosity. Like many children, though, Mason attempts to satisfy this by deconstructing or, if that doesn't work, demolishing. He has recently learned how locks work ( and how they unlock) and how to take parts off of the screen door ( with out tools!) . His one obsession has always been watching the washer fill with water. Daily, we sit in the laundry room listening to the water filter in and watch the drum start it's slow churn, Mason repeating " Round and round and round". It's amazing to watch his little mind trying to figure the whole process out. What's even better? He helps me load the washer , even if it means rewashing already clean loads!

Cold weather returns

Thought are temps have not been as cold as those reported in the midwest , we did dip down to -18 and received several inches of snow last week. Mack has always loved the snow ( she's going to be a great snow-shoer one day!) and she played outside for an hour ( once the temps climbed above 0 ) . She wanted Mase to go out and play. Despite his previous M.O. of screaming his cute little head off after three minutes, we tried it. To our surprise, he made it five minutes before asking to go back inside, this time with no tears!

After some snow time, I lugged out Mike's old wooden train set. The kids had so much fun playing quietly for a few hours! After snapping a few pictures, I sipped coffee while they tinkered with the trains and the snow fell.

Sliding off the swing was not her intention

No crying= success in my book!

Having a snack while she ponders the next addition to her lay out.

Skitterbug

Mike found these little " creatures" at Target called Skitterbugs. They are basically a little vibrating piece of soft plastic that looks like a bug. This simple toy brought a lot of excitement for Mason and Ellie:

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Old toys new

Just love those little fingers

I've always been fond of the idea of taking half of the toys the kids own and putting them up. Then on " rainy days" where boredom strikes and it's too cold to go outside, you pull those babies out and it's like a brand new toy!

That's what we did today with the play kitchen and accessories. The kids played for an hour together , rediscovering this old toy:

Please pass the grapes, Sister!

Lost in thought

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Mackenzie was so tired after staying up late with me on New Years Eve that she could hardly keep her eyes open by noon on New Years Day! This is the sweetest thing ever!

Someone is loved.

Happy New Year!

There was much to celebrate, 2013- 1st and 5th birthdays , health, a stable roof over our heads, many trips to visit family and friends , new starts to school, some hardships that made ups stronger .- but now we look forward to a new year with new experiences and perspectives under our belts. There are some challenges ahead; there always are. Even more, there are memories to be made and life to be taken in. This year, I hope to conquer my anxiety, slow down the pace of life and continue to hone the skills of photography. Mike and I together joined Weight Watchers- we are a team and hopefully this year you will be seeing less of us! We're hoping to see less home repair in the new year and more improvements! We hope to grow the kind of garden that sustains us and teaches us to appreciate the earth. We hope to travel more to see those we love.
Not a lot in life is certain but there a few things I know. In 2014, there will be much growing, much learning and much love.

This year's celebration was another quiet one with just Mack and me staying up late-ish to send out the old year ( at 10 pm , as long as I could stay awake!) We toasted each other with apple cider and I was awakened by a little blonde busy bee bright and early to greet the new year.