Day 30: Looking Forward

A friend introduced me to the concept of picking a word for the next year.

Today I figured out the word I want to focus on.

Once I had that in mind, I put together a little something to hang on the bedroom wall - where I'll see it first thing every day.

I combined my word with ideas I have about what I want this year to look like. I also left some room so I can add more thoughts later.

Day 29: the game

This is what you will usually see when Kim is home.

And often, I'll be playing with him. But I'm not nearly as good as he is.

My strategy skills are in need of much assistance.

Thankfully, Kim is pretty good at helping me out.

Day 28: Nighty Night

After a series of late nights this week, the kids were exhausted.

We let them sleep where they'd crashed on the couch last night.

And, yes, Yonah is underneath the red blanket.

Goofy boy.

Day 27: Sisters

When Arabelle and Lila aren't at each other's throats, they really are the sweetest little sisters you've ever seen.

Day 26: Recovery

It snowed a bit through the night.

I was thinking we were going to play in the snow today . . . 

But it didn't happen. The kids were too busy trying to kill each other over their new things.

Nap cured the bad attitudes.

But thanks to their initial refusal to go to sleep, the sun was setting when they finally woke up.

No snow for us today.

Instead, we fought over and played with Christmas toys.

And Lila started rearranging the candy on her gingerbread house.

Day 25: Christmas

It seems that everything gets more fun as the kids get older.

Christmas especially.

Day 24: Christmas Eve

We started the day yesterday by opening our family's presents.

It just doesn't seem right to go without opening some presents at home, and we figured we'd be too tired to do it Christmas evening.

(We were right.)

As sweet and special as that time was, my favorite picture-worthy moment came last night.

Gammy was coerced by toddler charm into painting Lila's toenails.

She sat as still as a toddler can possibly sit.

It was so adorable.

Day 23: An Early Christmas Eve

Usually Christmas is a chaotic sort of mess, as we mix in both of our extended family's celebrations with ours.

It's a lot easier than it sounds, since our families of origin are quite the opposite as far as timing goes.

This year is even easier.

One family bumped Christmas Eve back a day.

After eating, the kids played Bingo for prizes.

Mostly the prizes were sugary goodness. But there were also some little three-drawer containers that will be brilliant for storing school supplies. Both Yonah and Arabelle wound up with one.

I doubt I've ever seen them love something so much.

Arabelle is still snuggling with hers.

Day 22: An Aunt

My kids love my sisters.

The girls especially love Rhi.

I'm still getting used to the fact that she can just drive over to our house now.

Day 21: The End

Today was, of course, the day we were supposed to all die.

Zombies.

Flood.

Fire.

Something.

Well, there was fire tonight.

FIRE!

But it was only a bonfire at an "end of the world" party.

Pretty lame for an apocalypse.

It would have been a great day for the world to end, though.

I got to see my retired babies.

The kids helped me groom them.

Yonah made a new friend.

I spontaneously got my very first official riding lesson.

And Kim and the kids got to finally meet and play with Sugar. 

Day 20: Sleepy Baby

Today was one of those days where you have a really tired and grumpy baby who refuses to go to sleep.

I hoped that Netflix would convince her to stay in one place long enough to go to sleep.

It didn't get her to sleep.

But it did keep her in one place for a while, and I got a break from the crying and screaming that was today's soundtrack.

We officially hate teething.

If you didn't know that before.

Day 19: Kindness

Today we decided to pick up Papa Murphy's for dinner.

Things like that happen when Mama is tired.

There was a guy who got to the door before I'd gotten all the kids out of the car.

He waited until we were all ready to go in so he could hold the door open for us.

In the cold. Without a jacket.

Proof that good people do still exist.

And then the kids shared the chalkboard so nicely while I placed our order.

Day 18: Being Girls

Yesterday Arabelle found one of the relics of my teenage years.

My crimping iron.

I told her we'd play with it "tomorrow".

Today she reminded me that it is tomorrow.

Another procrastination ploy bites the dust.

Day 17: Impromptu Family Pictures

Today Kim randomly decided that we are sending out Christmas cards.

Better late than never, right?

So we quickly took some as-is family pictures.

My favorite picture of the day came when I was testing the camera settings and the lighting before setting the timer.

It just tickles me.

Day 16: Four Cousins in a Row

Today Gammy and Papa requested that their children and grandchildren join them for a photo session with a photographer friend.

We brought our camera, too.

I managed to catch this moment in time while the kids were waiting for their next picture.

Day 15: Gettin' Comfy

It isn't uncommon to find Lila using the rug for a blanket as she sits reading, or curled up on a throw pillow "bed".

Today we discovered that she had decided to pull most of the couch cover off, and then roll herself up into the cutest baby burrito I've ever seen.

But I guess I've been taking too many pictures lately. She gave me the funniest scowl when she realized what I was up to.

Day 14: Lights in the dark

Day 13: Odd Traditions

Yesterday's post is coming to you today.

It didn't come yesterday because Kim and I went to the midnight showing of The Hobbit.

It was a good movie. But also a bit disappointing.

Such is life.

I snapped this picture at Mom's house when I dropped the kids off for babysitting.

Every year I forget about this recent tradition brought to us by my crazy sisters.

But I can't figure out the tree-topper Santa's motive.

Maybe he's giving out glittery vampires instead of coal these days.

Day 12: Snuggle Up With Me

This morning while doing school with Yonah, I snuck a peek at Kim.

There are many important reasons why I married him. This is one of them.

(Those who know him well will understand just how much of an act of love reading that particular book is.)

Day 11: Adventures in Paint

Today I attempted what seemed impossible.

I covered the table in wax paper.

I stripped the children of their clothes and tied their arts and crafts aprons on.

I selected three of my least favorite paintbrushes.

And then I set out the liquid paint.

They have painted many times before, but always with the dry watercolor sets.

The older two were much tidier than I expected. Lila, on the other hand . . . Well, it's nothing a bath can't fix.

But it is done. The house came through unscathed. And the ornaments have been painted.

Mostly, I sat back and supervised. But I did most of the details once they put the background color on.

I also painted the ornaments representing our family.

I painted them according to requested colors. I feel quite proud of my Aravis ornament.

December Photo Project: Day 10

Over the weekend, Lila destroyed some of the ornaments we'd made.

Today we made some new ones to replace them.

There was a lot of salt dough left over. So the kids and I played with it.

I had to show them that their creations didn't have to be two-dimensional like the ornaments we had made.

I taught Yonah how to roll balls instead of snakes.

And how to then turn those balls into cubes.

Lila ended up with a salty, floury face.

She kept sniffing hers.

December Photo Project: Day 9

Today's picture is from a visit to Kim's grandparents' house.

They brought out one of the first grade learning-to-read books that they used in school, and Yonah read it with only a few understandable stumbles over the trickier words.

(The picture quality is not as great because it was taken with my phone.)

December Photo Project: Day 8

Today was simply glorious.

When I stepped out the front door, snow!

And then I got to replenish my emotional sanity in the company of horses.

The days spent loving on Irish and Sally are my favorites. But today was even more special. Though I didn't ride, I still had time to spend with Sugar.

Sugary kisses

December Photo Project: Day 7

No ornament painting happened today.

Instead, we watched some classic holiday cartoons on Netflix. Mostly they were funny, but they did have some awkward moments. Like when the crocodile slammed into a tree and turned into several purses.

This mama is tired and worn out.

But the same can not be said for the kids.

December Photo Project: Day 6

In preparation for the Christmas tree coming this weekend, the kids and I got to work making some ornaments.

2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water later . . .

The kitchen is trashed, and I'm procrastinating cleaning it up.

I wasn't able to take many pictures during most of the adventure. Lila was far too eager for me to step back. But she and Yonah lost interest before too long, and I had a chance.

Tomorrow, if I'm feeling adventurous enough, the kids and I will paint them.

The hand prints were tricky. We needed the dough to be thin enough to be able to hang in the tree, but thick enough to keep the hands from going through. We erred a bit on the thin side . . .

December Photo Project: Day 5

I had the perfect moment to snap some awesome shots today.

Five days late, the kids and I were finally putting together the days-til-Christmas chains. Natural light was streaming in the window next to us . . . The kids were doing it all mostly by themselves . . . There were smiles, and pride in personal achievements, and much happiness . . . 

And the camera sat untouched on my desk through all of it. Sigh.

So instead, I am sharing some (kind of half-assed) pictures I took of our current indoor Christmas decorations. Kim and I are planning on bringing a tree home this weekend.

Hoping to have something more interesting to look at tomorrow.

December Photo Project: Day 4

Most people know by now that we "officially" started homeschooling our kids this year.

It's been (mostly) a blast for everyone, in part because we're keeping it pretty casual. Our primary focus right now is learning to read. Though we have "real" school for reading and math, everything else is picked up throughout the normal day.

I like to think that I'm pretty awesome with how I pull lessons out of whatever we're doing each day. But Kim was the one with the brilliant idea to start teaching Yonah how to type.

I snapped this shot of his "type school" (a.k.a. Mavis Beacon) today.

December Photo Project: Day 3

Lights, Camera . . . 

December Photo Project: Day 2

Today we had a Christmas party with Kim's unit. While usually military shindigs lean toward the side of boring, the kids being old enough to actually participate in things made it more fun. Especially since they aren't old enough to participate in things without some parental involvement.

They responded to their first encounter with a "real" Santa as I expected.

Arabelle was the only one courageous enough to sit on Santa's lap, even though she wouldn't give a real smile.

I had to beg Yonah to stand near enough to have me be able to take a picture, and even then he would only do so if he got to hold his new Angry Birds puzzle.

Lila required both cookie incentive and Kim holding her down long enough for me to get a shot.

Kim took some pictures, too.

I especially like these ones. Usually I'm the one behind the camera, so I don't have very many pictures of me with the kids . . . Or me at all, really.