February 3

 

 February 3 was kind of a big deal this year. We had our first Sunday in the newly remodeled auditorium at church. Wow. Such a blessing to see the work and sacrifice of the Body come to fruition. Can't wait to see how our new setting and equipment can enhance the ministry as we go along! (And, singing with in-ear monitors makes you feel a little "Special Agent-ish", which is fun.)

And of course, it was Joe's birthday. Yes, that is a sock bouquet. Thank you Pinterest.

I've been scanning (slowly) old family photos, trying to organize them digitally and in doing so came across a lot of pictures of Dad and me. I had them pulled out of my albums when we made a slideshow for our wedding (10 years ago, ahem) and have yet to stick them back in their spots. Looking through the stack I realized that they all show teaching in some way. It made me grateful again for a Daddy who taught me in both word and in deed.

 To give the Word highest priority,

To Explore,

 To sing,

To work,

To relax,

To be thoughtful and kind,

To persevere,

To play,

To face my fears,

To laugh at myself, 

A good February 3rd reminiscence.

January 27- February 2

 Sunday mornings at our house. Luca and Court chill out in their jammies on our bed while Joe and I get ready for church.  

A playdough polka dot snake with a fancy tail.

It will be a sad day when he outgrows those striped socks. 

Snow Baby

 How do you know if you are are a creature of habit? If your daughter looks at lunch and says "what else are we having?" and you reply "nothing else" and then she looks at you aghast and says "but we always have three things at lunch", you may be a creature of habit.

Cousin play! The really funny thing about this picture to me is the fact that Isla would actually fit in the doll stroller but Court most decidedly does not.

Home Depot Day! Did you know that on the first Saturday of the month you can take your kids to Home Depot in the morning and build and paint a wood craft for free? We love this. They also provide cute little orange aprons (which we forgot, to a certain four year old's dismay) and a button for every completed project. Luca is up to eight buttons and Court is better with a hammer than I thought was possible for a 22 month old. Heads up, March is derby car month....see you there!

More Snow!

It started snowing early in the evening and gave the appearance of being a "sticking" coat. At 12:30am (just after my "go to bed" alarm went off), I started down the back stairs to switch the last load of laundry but stopped at the back door slightly weirded out by how light it was outside. I grabbed my camera. And no, we don't have any streetlights, area lights, etc. near our backyard it was just this light. At midnight! Weird, huh?

After observing the snow, the kids decided it should be examined more closely and so we began the process of layering up. I always smear a good coating of vaseline over Court's face to try and protect his excema prone cheeks. He got a head start.

 Turns out, our friends had the same idea regarding the snow. Anna and I got a little workout huffing down (and up) the bike path to the "sledding hill".

 

 

The after sledding snack: warm milk and crackers. (And yes, that milk is pink per Luca's request.)

 The after sledding hair

January 20-26

 Luca called me over during lunch and held up her hand, "look Mom, three moons". I stared at her hand uncomprehendingly so she patiently pointed out that the banana makes one, the space in relief between her fingers and the banana makes two and her forefinger and thumb make three. I grabbed the camera exclaiming over how observant she was. She asked to see the picture I took and after looking at it for a moment she said "actually Mom, there's four moons in this picture because my smile is a moon shape too". Astounded.

There's something comforting to me in a soup and cornbread combo on a cold night and this week it was better than ever because I found a recipe for the Best Cornbread Ever. If you like a sweet cornbread try this recipe! 

Peek-a-boo Court!

We have a travel sized Connect Four game that has until recently been used as play food with the kitchen set or more often been the jumping off point for an epic round of tug of war. However, this time, probably because Daddy helped set the tone, they really played! Court of course doesn't grasp the "four in a row" concept but he did great taking turns and sorting the chips after each round. Luca may have one every single match but they both had a great time.

Court is beginning to exert his "boy-ness" or perhaps his "Court-ness" and I'm finding the results around the house. Exhibit A: markers on the wall, I know that almost every kid does this but he seems to have a special penchant for coloring on everything but the paper. Exhibit B: cereal down the vents. I thought he had eaten two bowls of cereal. Exhibit C: chapstick smeared on my white knit cushion cover. He's discovered the joy of lip balm and knows where Luca keeps her strawberry smackers. This may be my fault, I did choose the white. Sigh.

 Luca and Fast Runner "sleeping" on their "bunk beds".

What? Why did I post this picture? You mean you don't see anything? Exactly. I was wandering around the backyard yesterday (plotting spring, has anyone else been happily inundated with seed catalogs?) when I made this sad discovery. What you should see in his picture is a 3ft by 4ft holly bush. It was a new addition this fall that I found on clearance and was quite excited about. Surrounding this decimated shrub were the small round calling cards of rabbits. This may explain why Luca, while cuddling the bunny that Daddy let her hold on their mini date to Petco said to the employee "We shouldn't take a bunny like this home because my Mommy would probably shoot it".