ponderings and projects from one crafty mama
After much waiting, the snow and cold weather has arrived. We got about five inches of snow at the house this weekend, and the kids were all glad for the chance to get out and play in the snow. Mama was not so glad for the chance to shovel the driveway so we could get out of the garage, however. Here are some pictures I snapped before my fingers went numb.
We put up the Christmas lights on the house this week. For those of you who live in somewhat warmer climates, it may seem a bit premature. But, we have cold, snowy winters here, and if you don’t get your lights up before the snow flies, you may not get another chance until spring. No one wants to climb up a ladder to hang lights in the ice and snow. Much to the kids’ dismay, though, we won’t light them until after Thanksgiving.
Where did the summer go? I’m still in denial that the calendar has turned to September. This year, A. is in third grade and E. is going to first grade. They will both be out of the house all day every day. So, many days it will be very quiet with just me and E-boy in the house.
Here are the girls all ready for their first day of school:
Due to a bus snafu, we didn’t get the traditional picture of the kids walking up to the school bus, so you’ll have to imagine that one. Maybe one of these days I’ll take a picture of them getting on the bus to sort of reinvent the occasion…okay, probably not.
While my days are a little more quiet with the girls away at school, my afternoons have suddenly become filled with soccer practice and gymnastics lessons. It’s taking a bit to get used to this new routine of fitting in dinner, homework and activities. I think I’ll have to dust off the crock pot to help me out with dinners some nights!
I had a little bit of a blog break there…actually a little bit of a break from everything. The family took a camping trip to the lake. We did some boating, fishing, hiking, biking and genral relaxing around a campfire.
Hubby made a friend right when we got to the campground.
We did a little fishing in the creek:
And found a little snake:
Here’s hubby “walking on water” a.k.a. standing on an old pier right under the water that he found while snorkeling.
A. and E. were practicing their casting:
My girl is getting so grown up!
Here’s E. acting goofy when she sees the camera:
And E-boy’s cheesy grin:
And one more, just ’cause he’s cute:
E-boy has developed quite a love for the game of baseball. Daddy can hardly walk in the door from work before E. catches up with him, grabs him by the hand, and asks, “throw some balls for me, daddy”.
And apparently I’ve been to busy to keep up on blogging. With three kids underfoot all day, it’s no wonder.
We did manage to get away for a few days camping, but only ended up taking a few pictures because I didn’t know where hubby had stashed the camera.
And for the last few days, we’ve been watching the smoke in the sky to determine exactly how close the wildfires are.
I took this picture last night from my own front yard:
We took the boat up to the lake this week, and hubby convinced E. to be his partner in “jumping into the water from up high”. I stayed dry and attempted to capture the event on film, as the weather wasn’t too nice that day.
Here they are on the dock:
And daddy dives in:
E. spent a long time working up her nerve to jump.
And she does it! (Notice daddy, AKA rescue swimmer, has put on a wetsuit…yes, the water was that cold.)
And it was fun!
WaHoo! Way to go, E! Here’s what she has to say about it (she wanted to type, I helped with spelling):
DADDY WAS IN THE WATER WHEN I JUMPED OFF THE DOCK. IT WAS FUN!
…about my boy right now is these train tracks he builds.
It’s his favorite thing to do right now, there’s a new one each day. He just enjoys hooking the pieces togther, so he starts with one and then follows it around the room, making it longer and longer. Sometimes the tracks come close to connecting, sometimes not. It doesn’t bother him either way. He will run the train baack and forth along his track, just turning around when he reaches the dead end. The family has gotten used to stepping over the track any time they walk through the family room, and each evening I return the pieces to the basket where they’ll stay until the next morning, when E-Boy will get them out and set them up once again.
This week, I celebrated my thirty-first birthday. Hubby and the kids surprised me with presents and balloons at the breakfast table. There really is an “H” in the banner on the wall, it’s just my photography that’s off.
And, in one of the boxes was a brand new laptop!
Yippee! I’m loving how fast the new computer is compared to our old one. This one just zips along! Hubby did good, both choosing a present I love, and managing to pull it off as a surprise. Thanks, honey!
Really, I’ve been taking pictures this week and thinking I should blog them, but not getting around to it. So, here they are, all together, just to catch up. I have guilty blogger syndrome, since I keep meaning to post but have put it off. Until now.
This is one of my favorite lunches! Home-made soup and a grilled cheese-tomato-onion sandwich. Yum! The soup is simple, I slice some veggies (onion, garlic, celery, carrots) and saute them in a bit of butter. When they’re tender, I sprinkle some flour over the veggies, then add in chicken stock, a can of chunk chicken meat, and a can of diced tomatoes. If I add some pasta, even the kids will eat this soup.
I’m so glad the weather is warming up! I got my little garden planted in the back yard, and have had plenty of help from the kids with keeping the little plants watered. E. actually had brought home a little bean plant from school which seemed to flourish while kept on the kitchen counter, but didn’t handle the transplant to the garden patch as well. I had to take out her poor withered plant, and allowed her to “adopt” one of mommy’s plants. She chose the biggest one, but tonight she told me that she was thinking of switching for “this one with the bug on it”. Given my poor track record with plants, I’m glad she is flexible in which plant she wants to care for.
And here’s my little guy. He fell asleep on the couch one morning this week, apparently tuckered out from all his playing. Do you see he’s wearing undies! Yes, we are working on the potty-training bit here. Maybe by the end of Summer, we’ll be through with diapers. Here’s hoping…
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