Last Week's Fun in the Snow!

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Beautiful Words

Don't you just love it when you come across words that are moving/inspiring/so perfectly descriptive that you can effortlessly picture the described in your mind? Today, in my read-aloud chapter-book time with my eldest, I discovered part of a paragraph in Charlotte's Web that I found to be a treasure.

"The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell--as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope..."

Isn't that marvelous? I guess that is one reason right there that CW is a winner of the Newbery Honor.

Gingerbread House Creation

Our art project this week was to build a gingerbread house. (Thanks, fam, for the great Christmas gift!) I had never done one before, and it was quite fun! Both big boys created with me, and we had our neighbor over too.

Some New Pics

Here are some new pics. The eldest here is partaking of his new gummy candy from his Uncle David. The Redhead is flashing me his one-of-a-kind enormous smile. Baby boy is bundled to the max and red on his extremities from the family walk we took yesterday morn when it was 20 degrees outside. And then lastly, we had a fam pic taken at our homeschool Christmas party in front of the tree.

Honestly, I have no idea why Baby Boy's pic is huge and the others are small. I'm not smart enough to figure out why or how to make them match, so forgive that aesthetically unpleasing aspect of this post, please! Thanks!  :)

Butterflies and Eskimos

Many nights before bed I give the big boys butterfly kisses and Eskimo kisses. It's fun because they love it. Isn't that just sweet? I had the thought the other day that it likely won't be terribly long before they are pushing me away if I try to do that to them. Makes me want to cherish these small days as they are still present. O, the joys of parenting are tremendous, and the depth of love God gives us for them is as well! What a gift these little people are....

Turning Five!

Our eldest child just celebrated his fifth birthday yesterday. What a fun day! Here are some pictures from the moment he woke up, through to the end of the Superhero birthday party at 6 pm. He began his day with his breakfast of choice--Fruit Loops! (He had never had them before and wanted some!) Many friends joined us, and our sweet relatives from Ohio came down as a surprise to party, too! It was a blessed day--even the heavens rejoiced with us and poured down some snow for a special treat that lasted all day long. Life is precious!

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Haircuts

My littlest boy and my very biggest (hubby) both have new haircuts in this pic! Sweet Baby Boy had his cut for the first time at Thanksgiving, at 8 months old. No more little behind-the-ear curls for him!