Pictures and Stuff

My parents came to visit for a week after Christmas.  This is one of the few pictures we actually took.

We spent two days in Nauvoo, and we enjoyed sleeping in a log cabin with lots of beds and bunkbeds.

Most of the time at home was spent watching movies while Grandma and I sewed 360 flying geese blocks for Grace's quilt (more about that project in a few months).

We battled the stomach flu the whole vacation which is typical for our Christmas.  However, we did make it to a few parks, looked at a few quirky places in Iowa and mostly played at home.

Grandma and Grandpa left early in the morning and we woke the girls up to say good-bye.

Grace received a crystal growing kit for Christmas so here she is with her dad and Anne concocting science experiments.

This year we decided to "work for family dates".  The girls help with more chores around the house.  Instead of earning treats and toys we put our money in Family Date Jar and once a month we go on a family date.

 

We decided to go miniture golfing for our January Family Date.

Edwin also took us on a geo-caching trip through the bird reservation and we hiked through the trees on off-beaten trails to find this little treasure.

It's hard to tell it's winter around here some days.  James, Edwin and our neighbor, Dave took the remote control cars out for a drive one afternoon.

Grace was thrilled the snow finally arrived.  We have a small hill in the front yard she sleds down every day after school.

Occassionally Anne joins in the outdoor fun too.

I made too many gingerbread cookies this year.  So whenever we have friends over for a playdate....we decorate cookies.

Someone once asked me why I don't decorate....well...most of my decoations get incorporated into children's attire or games.  Decorating will just have to wait a few year.

One of Grace's classmates has spent the majority of her Kindergarten year in the hospital fighting Lukemia. 

Grace asked me to make some hats.  Thanks to a dear sister in our ward I was given a pattern and whipped these up in no time at all.

Since the snow wasn't conducive to making snowmen, Grace and I sculpted a turtle and she went outside the sprayed the turtle green.

This week Grace sewed together her very first project. Grace sat at the sewing machine by herself and with little supervision was able to stitch together the sideseams.  This pillowcase is a gift she's giving to her best friend as a birthday present.  She sure felt grown up sewing by herself and completing a project.

It's nice to gain independance.

Florida Winter

James and Anne love to watch the city workers busy in our neighborhood.

Several times in the fall they come and vacuum up the leaves so I don't have to bag them....just rake 'em to the curb and the city will vacuum 'em, mulch 'em, and send 'em to the compost. 

This is by far my favorite city service.

Because the kids are waving and treat the men like celebraties they do an excellent job cleaning my curbs and keeping things nice and tidy.

We had a brief snowfall in December, it lasted a few days before the 50 and 60 degree weather arrived.  Anne was excited to find tracks in the snow.

 

All those snow clothes made me realize how small my little girl really is.

Kindergarten is a wonderful time.

The snow came last week, but I doubt it will linger too long with the rapidly rising temps.  We've been at the park tons this winter.  Crazy weather we're having.

Christmas Fever

This year Grace read the tree instructions, Anne found all the matching branches, James helped somehow, and Edwin supervised the proceedings while working on the computer.  Family activities sure are fun as the kids get old enough to help.

Reindeer Cookies....Anne broke all the antlers for our treats.

Grace helped assemble the cookies.

Here's the final product according to some professional....I neglected to take pictures of our success. 

Our crafty friend, Laura, came over for a cold Saturday when dad was away at work and James was asleep in bed.  We made all sorts of ornaments and candy cane reindeer (Grace took a reindeer to everyone in her school class).

Christmas Eve has become a favorite day for our family.  This year we invited the missionaries to join us and a few friends to make gingerbread houses.  We cheated this year and used graham crackers for the houses.

Troy just finished knee surgery so he decorated his house on the sofa in comfort with all the kids.

Our friend Patricia has never decorated a gingerbread house before.  She always ordered them for a gifts, but never decorated one herself.  What a good sport!  I think she's coming over next year for more Christmas crafting.

Patricia was glad I made actual gingerbread for the cookies the kids decorated.

Here are Sanah, Zia, and Olana sporting the aprons we made for their Christmas Gift.

It was a great holiday season.

Where are the Christmas Cards?

Once again I have neglected to send Christmas cards.  That was not my intention last year when I purchased hundreds of cards I was planning to send, but alas I have failed. 

You will not be getting a card from us this year....but then again I'm four weeks late posting pictures on the blog.  So, this is what you get for now....old pictures on the blog.

Enjoy!

Grace turned six years old.  She's all girl.  Jewelry, belts, boots, accessories, nail polish and stick on ear rings are a few of her simple delights.  She loved her sleeping bag and we enjoy family campouts in the living room on the occassional Friday night now that everyone has their own bag.

For Thanksgiving we drove to Colorado (a 13 hour drive) for the weekend.  Anne enjoyed snuggling the baby.

James occassionally played nicely with the his cousins.  Katelyn was mildly terrified of him by the end of our trip.

Edwin and his brothers, Daniel and Ben, took the kids geo-caching.  They found lots of loot.

One of the treasures we brought home was a Startrek ship.  We drove to Riverside, IA (which is officially declared the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk) and buried the treasure in another geo-cache nearby.  What an adventure. 

So now it's a week away from Christmas and we are busy preparing for the festivities and the arrival of our family.  You probably won't hear from us for a while.

Have a Merry Christmas! 



Bloomsbury Farms

I love small town activities that are both entertaining and eccentric.  Here is one we look forward to visiting next year with Edwin.

The train ride was the ideal activity for James.....we arrived early and got numerous rides around and around the track.

This is a corn box.  We found it's much easier to clean up from the corn box than a sand box.

Only in Iowa, right?

Our neighbors were with us and that just added to the fun.

Anne, Gavin, Loie, Grace, and James stood still for a brief moment.

 

These are corn cob guns.  We shot corn on the cob in the pasture that was still filled with cows. 

Sorry for any pain we may have unintentionally inflicted on the poor animals across the ditch.

This is the pumpkin cannon.  They moved all the cows for this activity, but really the cows were safe.  The cannon shot the pumpkins across the pasture and into the neighbors farm. If I was good at distances I'd guess how are far the pumpkins flew, but alas, that's Edwin's area of expertise and you'll have to wait until next year when he is there to gauge the area.

The kids found this 45 pound pumpkin. 

 What a beast!