We woke up this morning to snow! Everyone was so excited and could hardly wait to eat and get outside - well I didn't want to go out. I'm only fond of looking at snow - not going out in it. I like to just sit inside by the fire and look at how pretty the trees and yard look covered in white.
We don't get much snow here so today was thrilling for the kids and though I had not planned on posting again this weekend I decided I really wanted to put up some snow pictures. It was a great day!
Bethany's older sister, Emily, gave her a DIY greenhouse kit for Christmas. She started working on it a week or so ago and it is really coming along. This little greenhouse is so cute. She has to make tiny flowers, watering cans, a tiny little pencil, a birdhouse, and all kinds of little things. I'm really impressed at how nice it looks. She has worked really hard on it and says she should be finished tomorrow or Monday. She spent about three hours on it today and seems to really like doing it. Bethany is always ready for a project so this was a good choice for a Christmas gift and it is going to look really nice in her room when she is done - and it has given her hours of entertainment.
So many times during the day Bethany disappears to the library to play the piano. She started teaching herself this past fall or maybe late summer. I thought she would work on her first book for a little while and then give it up - especially since she does not have a teacher. But, she continues - teaching herself and asking me questions when she has a problem. She has actually done very well and I love to hear her play. It has been a long time since I have had piano player in the house.
Early this evening I walked by the library and there she was practicing again. For some reason it always gives me a thrill. I grabbed my camera and got this picture. I don't ever want to forget this time.
This morning we got a delivery of biscuits for breakfast. There is something wonderful about bacon, egg and cheese, sausage and cheese and butter biscuits arriving at your door early in the morning for breakfast. A breakfast surprise. There is also almost nothing the kids like more than biscuits for breakfast. They were absolutely thrilled and the surprise of it made it even better. We thank Megan (one of my older daughters) for a wonderful breakfast. She is spoiling us for sure.
It seems lately that my girls are in the kitchen all the time. We used to have special days we would bake together and maybe make something special for dinner, but now baking is just what they do almost every single day. They have gotten good at it, too. I think in the past week they have made gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate cake, oatmeal cookies, pudding and a cherry pie. They are always making something. It's actually kind of nice - we have plenty of snacks.
I had to make this picture black and white as I took it in the evening and the light was awful. The only way to save the picture at all was to convert it. Tess is not in this picture, but she is the first to ask to bake - she loves to bake and cook and make anything in the kitchen. If anyone goes in the kitchen to make something, Tess is right there watching. When she first came I realized cooking was a good way to bond with Tess as she was always ready and willing. It really worked for us.
As the kids get older they tend to not be on the blog as much and sometimes I get emails asking about one or two of the kids. I have been asked a couple of times about Andrew in the past months. Andrew left on January 12th for army boot camp. He turned 17 this past fall and signed up immediately. This is something that he has had planned for a long time. I got a letter from him this week and he said he was really having fun, which I thought very funny - not what I expected to hear. We will see how he feels in a couple of weeks.
These pictures were taken when Andrew was helping with our gardens last spring. I really loved my raised gardens - though the deer and squirrels and birds ate almost everything in it.
After I saw how few pictures I took on Christmas I was a little sad I had not taken more. I took so few. The thing that surprised me the most is that I didn't take any of the girls' dolls and I love having pictures of all the dolls they get. So, today I asked the girls to bring down all the dolls they got this year and we lined them all up and I got a few pictures of them. I'm glad I did this before some of the dolls get wear and tear. A few of the girls got more than one - we love dolls here and it will be a sad day when they no longer want one.
We are reading two books right now - sometimes we do that. We read one during the day with our history since it goes along with it and the other one we read in the afternoon or evening. We are almost finished with Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. We really like this book and I'm sure most people have read it and know what it is about. This is the second time we have read it, but we do that all the time. Our second book is The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. We are also enjoying this book. At first I think the kids were uncertain if they were going to like it, but by the second chapter they said it was a definite winner. I think we are going to read the next book in the series after this one is finished. This book is about the Melendy family. The children decide to pool their allowances and then each one takes a turn doing something special on a different Saturday. Then there is a chapter about how each child spends their Saturday. It doesn't really sound that interesting, but the kids do like it.
Also, again, we got a special delivery from my older daughter. I say it all the time - big sisters are great. Megan, surprised us this week with a delivery of all kinds of ice cream, chocolate syrup, cherries, whipping cream, cookies, snack bars, burritos, lasagna, and so many other things. The kids are always so excited as they have no idea what kind of things she will pick to send. It is kind of fun to get surprise groceries for no special reason.
Several people asked me to post pictures of Christmas day even though it seems way too late to do that. But, I thought I would see what I had. I actually had not even loaded the pictures from Christmas day onto my computer and could not even remember how many pictures I had taken - it is really kind of a blur. Unfortunately, I had taken almost no pictures - not like me at all, but it was not our usual Christmas. So, I have almost nothing to post and the ones I have are not very good or interesting. But, I will post them anyway.
Our Christmas was not bad but very different with Bill not here, and not being able to even have our older kids over. They brought gifts to our front porch, but that was all. Just not the same as usual. We were obviously worried about Bill and I guess I just didn't feel like taking a lot of pictures - though I wish I had. It was definitely a quieter than normal Christmas for us, but we still did enjoy it and I think everyone seemed to be a little extra thoughtful.
This first picture I took on Christmas Eve - the rest are Christmas day. I don't even have pictures of the dolls the girls got and I always get pictures of them. These pictures are pretty much it.
Yesterday we decided to get out of the house and take a walk - even though it was pretty cold. We walked to some woods close by and spent about and hour and a half just wandering around looking at everything. It was a nice walk and the kids always have fun when we take long walks - especially when a creek is involved. They explored a few new places and visited old spots they always love to see and it ended up being a really nice Sunday afternoon.
After our walk we came home and the kids had snacks while I read The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. It was a very pleasant end to our Sunday. Reading and snacks are always a favorite.
