These Two

They kill me... in more ways than one ;) Their bond continues to grow. It's not always pretty, but when they play well together, it's about the cutest thing ever.

She loves saying "bye," walking away a few steps, turning around and running back to say "hi" again.

 The older two were at basketball. That's the only way he could get away with strapping on a baby (my old one in a carrier my mom made when I was a child).

She is getting a little better at "playing." I have to stay very involved, but her attention span is a tad better (as long as she can keep moving).

Our baby doll collection is rapidly growing. This latest one was on the "take me" table at church. Someone spotted it and thought of Avery.

In Need of Love

In 2012, I did this for the days leading up to Valentine's Day. I look back at that post and think, who is this woman? Will she ever come back? Has 4 kids completely done her in, for good :) 

(2013 we all were recovering from the stomach flu). 

This year was low key, but with some planning involved.

The snow kept the kids home from school. We had nice breakfast together after opening their valentines from us and EJ's mom. Avery popped her lollipop in her mouth before the boy's even saw theirs.

My mom came over for awhile during the day. I was able to run an errand by myself and she treated us to pizza for lunch :) I also painted in the basement for awhile.
The day quickly went down hill from there. It was not pretty. While I was prepping for our fun surprise dessert and making dinner the kids were arguing, fighting and one took a frightening fall.
NO ONE was loving anyone but their self, there were lots of tears and shouting. Needless to say, I was very frazzled when EJ came home and I was ready to cancel the whole thing.

 

Thankfully God kept whispering reminders of his love and grace for me and my children. It was very apparent we desperately needed Him. Funny, how a hallmark holiday pointed me so much to the cross. I thanked Him for his mercies and kept pushing on. I also decided right then, that I would read the story of Jesus' crucifixion at bedtime. We all needed a reminder of TRUE LOVE.

Dinner was great and the kid's really enjoyed dessert. It was all worth it (I think).

 We've done fondue for valentine's before. It seems like the perfect occasion.

I think she thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

I choose to put Mason and Ryan to bed that night and we read from The Jesus Storybook Bible. The boys were a little confused by my reading of the "Easter" story. My decision was confirmed when we read this part, 

"If you are really the Son of God, 

you could just climb down off that cross!' [the crowd] said. 

And of course they were right...

But Jesus stayed. 

You see, they didn't understand. 

It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love."

I can think of no greater love to celebrate on Valentine's day!

4th Snow

Much more fun with daddy home ALL DAY :) 

No school tomorrow! What a winter this has been.

Today, we got rain, sleet, thunder, and more snow.

More Snow

Four inches and it's still coming down. No school tomorrow! Good thing we saved our valentines til the last minute ;)

Basement Reno (Week 12)

Sadly, the blue still needs a second coat and so does the base molding. Last week, I gave it all I had during nap times and in the evenings and then my body HATED me and I had to rest over the weekend. We were busy enough with activities plus had the tile guy working, that I wouldn't have been able to do much anyway. It just seems backwards that I'd be most productive during the week.

My mom came over Friday to allow me extra work time.

The bathroom floor will hopefully be started this afternoon. The guy is working for us on the side, so he mainly works on the weekends and some afternoons. Thankfully we don't have a deadline!

My new best friends...well, at least until my arms hurt so bad that I didn't want to go near them.

When I wrote my post about "connecting" I had know I idea it'd be with a paintbrush and putty. Not exactly what I had in mind. Thankfully it has given me a lot of quiet space to think and pray more.

Yes, there is SO MUCH more to do. And NO, we do not have a "end date." That bothers some folks, including one of my children :)