Deer

I am a little short on photos of the kids doing amazing, adorable things because lately I have been trying to actually be more involved with the kids in their play instead of hovering nearby with the camera. So there may be fewer photo memories of their childhood, but at least I will be more fully involved in their lives...

So instead...this morning I was coming down a steep hill covered in snow. As I drove through the snow I saw a deer slowly and gently walk across the road. I was going slow, so there was no fear of hitting them. I was just able to watch. She crossed over the bank and into the woods. Then out popped a little baby deer, a little more frantic to reach its mother. Then another baby deer still more frantic to catch up with the family.

I don't know why I feel so touched to have been able to witness this. I love nature and anytime it crosses my path I get so excited. I wish I had secret powers to be able to live amongst the animals so I could get close to them. It would be so cool.

I digress...I just think it is one of the simple things that God gives us to bring us joy. He really does just want us to be happy, and I am thankful to have been given this little spot of joy this morning.

Please note that this is not my photo...just something to break up the monotony of just words.

http://www.central-vt.com/visit/fishing.htm

Change

As requested I am posting something new so that my foot is not front and center any more.

Sophie and Ben collaborated on this drawing .

GROSS FOOT PICTURE ALERT

I am not sure if this photo is gross because I just do not have attractive feet or if the nail sticking out of my foot is gross. The fact of the matter is that this picture gets double gross points.

Anyway...yesterday I vacuumed out the heater vents and there are always nails in them for some reason. When I disconnect the vacuum hose they always fall out. This one must have fallen on the doormat because I did not see it or hear it fall. This morning I found it...

RODENT ALERT

This is Sophie's new roommate. Her name is Rose and she is very sweet. She doesn't bite and loves to nestle into your neck. She is keeping Sophie company now that Bo the dog is not sleeping in Sophie's room.

Sleeping

Aaron and I went in to check on Sophie before we went to bed and I was taken with how beautiful she is.

And for anyone who knows Aaron's sleeping habits...this will give a chuckle. I don't usually see her do this, I think she was blocking out the sounds of her new roommate. More news to come on that...

Watch It!!

This is a month old, but I keep thinking about it and laughing so maybe it is worth documenting.

Sophie, Ben and I were playing a card game and things were not going well for her. When it was her turn she was hoping for a specific card. When it didn't appear, she very loudly and clearly said "Dammit." (Typing it like this makes me fell a little less bad about not modifying it.)

I am not completely certain where she got that one from, but we had a nice little talk about how we don't use that kind of language in our home. So far we haven't heard it since.

Sleepover

Friday into Saturday I participated in my first Young Women's sleepover since my youth. I survived. I was actually impressed that the girls wanted to go to bed at midnight. Of course actually falling asleep took some time. From my calculations I went to bed around 1:00 and got up at 6:45 (I am not sure why I woke up, there was no-one else awake and nothing startled me awake...anyway...)

We were able to plan 6 months of this year's activities which will save a lot of time and planning later in the year.

We also spent some time in the hot tub. I am not going to post the photos here as I am certain you can find them all over Facebook.

We played Dance Twister that was a bit hokie, but still a lot of fun. Again these photos, while not flattering, are available all over Facebook...

Finally we played pool and ping pong. Here are some rousing shots of my ping pong game.


Oh I should mention that a good part of the evening was spent texting. While I have learned a lot about it and I can mostly do it now, I am not converted. Call me old fashioned.

I love working with the Young Women and I love the girls from Newport. They were a lot of fun to spend time with.

Imagination

I snapped these photos of Sophie because I feel like she is balancing on a precipice. Let me explain.

She came home from school and very easily dressed up and was playing some sort of imagination game with Ben. She was completely at ease in her princess shoes and satin gloves

Here she is hiding and waiting for Ben to find her.

This is of course Ben's arrival.

Anyway I wonder how much longer she will play like this. She looked so tall and grown-up despite her adornments. I feel like she is on the edge of a big growth spurt physically and emotionally. Sigh...

Mess

Friday I let the boys paint on the window. I had the place covered in drop cloths, I took the curtains off the window, I had them in smocks...all was set up for a nice clean painting session.
HA!!!! After we were done and we cleaned up, I found paint in places you cannot imagine. I don't know how they spread paint over the entire room while standing stationary at the window.

I was one of the targets. Ben was very eagerly LOADING his paintbrush and I guess I ventured too close. For the rest of the day I found paint throughout my hair. I am still uncertain how it got there.

Words

We were watching for the bus this morning and we watched a car come down the hill and not make the corner and almost drive off the bank. One wheel is in the air so they are completely stuck. I said to Sophie as it was happening, "Whoa, that car is going way too fast."

Well then the driver got out and started running toward our house, I assumed to use the phone. But no it was one of Sophie's teachers wondering if I was going to bring Sophie to school and could she get a ride. I am now in a panic that Sophie is going to tell her that I said she was going way to fast!!!!

Sophie

We have had a real challenge with Sophie and reading. She LOVES to read and because she would rather read than do anything else we have had a hard time getting her to go to school, go to bed or clean. Even still I thought this photo of her waiting for the bus and reading was cute. She read the book all the way outside, across the road and onto the bus (don't worry, I cross with her.)

More Wedding

I wasn't going to post these wedding photos because it is really Abby and Brad's business to advertise their wedding, but I took these photos and they are my favorites. I fancy myself somewhat of an amateur photographer. You know, no training, rinky dink camera but a desire to learn more and have a great camera and be famous some day (ok well maybe just earning some cash off my photos...) So I add these as my photo portfolio items. They were taken at the Boston Temple.

I love the look on Abby's face. I think it says..."Look what I got!!"



It was very windy and cold, but at least the sun was shining

Wedding

Aaron's sister Abby got married the third of January. They actually had their reception the day before the wedding. It was so nice to be done with all the reception stuff so that we could focus on just the wedding! I have added photos from the reception here. I tried to stick to photos that were directly pertaining to my family here, but I did include one photo of just the bride and groom.

Ben asked Abby very sweet if she would sit next to him. Then he proceeded to tell her that he loved her dress and that she was beautiful etc...I feel honored to have such a sweet boy!

Jacob decided to provide so of the music for the evening

Sophie and her cousin Ella

Abby and Brad

Abby asked me to make the cake. It was my first time ever taking on such a task. I learned a lot, developed nerves of steel and...had A LOT of fun. The added challenge is that Abby and Brad are vegans so this is a vegan carrot cake with vegan cream cheese frosting.

The floral topper to the cake

The Three of Them

I considered not posting this photo as it is photo evidence that my children watch television...but they were all so cute snuggled up in their blankets. Once again I am a little nervous by the complete "my brain is being liquefied" Jacob has on his face...

p.s. please ignore the basket of laundry in the back...it NEVER seems to go away!

We are a Lego family. For a long time our Lego trunk has been very restricting so Aaron built a MUCH bigger one that also serves as a coffee/train table. He used the last bits of wood from a desk we found free on the side of the road.

The kids serving as trunk models

And playing trains together on the new Lego trunk

More Christmas

Since we have been read the Laura Ingall Wilder series, I have been taken with the simple Christmas gifts that the Ingall family exchanged. They would be so overjoyed with a new apron sewn onto an apron, or Christmas candy, or a piece of stitched laced. Given these sentiments and a desire to not lose the real reason for the Christmas holiday, the Birth of the Savior Jesus Christ , amidst all the commercialism, we had a very simple but nice Christmas gift exchange.


Sophie received an adorable tea set, a mini american girl doll and some books.
Ben received a remote control car than can go on land or water, some mini airplanes and a tank recognition book.
Jacob received a wooden train set, mini airplanes and a Curious George book set.
Everything was on sale and we combined shipping (we did this all online) where ever possible. It was all very efficient in my humble opinion!

Progression

I had to put this string of photos because I think the progression of them is really funny. I can't remember what crazy thing Aaron and I were doing to get them to go all crazy, but I can tell you that we all had a lot of fun!

Christmas 2008

It was raining when we went to get our tree so I didn't drag along the camera so you only get the decorating and Christmas morning photos. This was the nicest tree we ever had. It was straight and full and smelled like heaven!



Decorating the tree is serious business!!!

Until Jacob gets to put the star on then it is all smiles!

2009

Oh my poor neglected blog. I have had a desire to update it, but the idea of trying to catch up was so overwhelming. So here we go. I'll do a couple a day until I am caught up. You will all be sick of the updates by the time I am done!