Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Snow Day Take 6

While I love the routine of school and the busyness of fun activities, the 6 (6!) snow days we've had in the past 3 weeks have confirmed to me something I should have known but lost in all the craziness of running around and cleaning and cooking and taking care of all.the.things: I love spending time with my kids.  The more time I spend with them, the more I realize what amazing people they are and how lucky I am that this is my life.  I know that I joke about selling them to they gypsies and I will not lie by pretending nap time is not one of my very favorite parts of the day (Milo looks so peaceful when he naps :)), but I do just truly love spending my days with them; teaching them, hearing them navigate sibling relationships, and watching them turn into who God created them to be.

This morning, Maya lamented that she can't move her ears.  At first I thought that she meant she wanted to be able to remove them for hair-brushing, so that I don't accidentally brush her ears (it happens to the best of us ;)).  She corrected me that she wants to be able to move them back and forth like some people can do.  I'm not sure where she saw this or read this or what, but I jumped on the opportunity to show off my talent-that-I-never-thought-would-come-in-handy :)  They were amazed that I can wiggle not only my ears but also my nose.  Hilarity ensued as Maya and Charlotte both tried their hardest to make their ears moved.  Maya just stared straight ahead in concentration, while Charlotte figured out that hers will move if she opens and closes her mouth.  So fun.

Maya woke me up about a week ago, talking a mile a minute to explain that she and Charlotte were going to start homeschooling Milo for preschool.  Their plan is to teach him his letters and numbers and colors and "other important stuff like that" which is so stinkin adorable.  Today was his first day, and he came "home" with his backpack full of goodies ~ a homework page to color (hand-drawn by Maya), prizes that he won, and a note from his teachers describing how he loves preschool so much because of all the "aktividys" and because his sisters are his teachers.

We're getting ready to start our day of schooling and working out and lunch with daddy and library time and church (pretty busy for a snow day!) but right now, as I multitask (clean desk, blog, eat breakfast), the kids are sitting around the table playing a made-up movie line game.  I love that they are at this point of playing together so that, at least for a few minutes, I can stand back and watch.

Just one picture today ~ working through quite the backlog!


Monday, January 27, 2014

Wow, that's a lot of Christmas pictures!

No text necessary, right? :)









Santa seems to think that *someone* is ready to use the big boy potty ;)

Charlotte got Milo a shark (or whale?) from Secret Santa.

Maya made matching princess crowns for Charlotte and I

She spent weeks (months?) making Christmas gifts for all of us.  They were all adorable.


She even made her own wrapping paper!



I was in a knitting exchange with 11 others and we each knit 12 of the same square, then exchanged at a fun party.  I attached them to make this awesome farm playmat for Milo!

Christmas morning breakfast tradition!


Maya's food restrictions made this year a bit more challenging, but she could not have possibly been happier than she was!  Gluten-free hamburger bun, toasted, add cinnamon/sugar, top with glaze made from powdered sugar and almond milk.  She was *stunned* at the amazingness.

Milo insisted on putting this shirt on immediately.  This was approximately 3:17pm

3:18pm :)



This toy has been quite the hit with Charlotte *and* Milo.  He often asks me, "can I check you?"


Way too big.

They opened tons of new toys, but the big hit for Milo and Eneko was the princess castle that Penny has had for well over a year :)  


She is quite the Rainbow-Loomer

Her first product (sorry for the terrible picture)

A password-protected journal.  "I've always been wanting one of these and now I have it!"

Kayla's new hamster, Carls (named by Maya).



Milo was enthralled.


We have another lego-lover on our hands.  I love how into building he gets!



That girl...



Goldie Blox (super fun!)