Playing 10s Three Ways

"Mom! Take a picture of us! Playing 10s big, medium, and small!"

Haha!

Apparently we have 3 different size sets of playing cards!

 

Mudroom Remodel

We remodeled the mud room this week.

Everyone helped out. 

And we love the results!

Room empty, remove old shelves, repaint and trim.

These two were in charge of sanding all the new shelves.

New shelves going up!

Shawn also built lockers for each child. It's wonderful for all the barn and outdoor gear we have.

This is what our dining room looked like for the week!

Back together!

 

A Winter Hike

When the 3 older kids are in piano lessons, it a special time for Mom and the boys.

This time we enjoyed a stunning winter walk in the woods.

 

Bowling

The kids love to bowl. We don't go often but when we do, it sure is fun!

 

Winter Things

Winter is just beautiful.
Today the sun was shining while it was snowing, and also Eli's rabbit, Popcorn, was enjoying a bit of freedom.

The kids sang a lovely Christmas song together at church on Sunday after Christmas.
They were so cute.

 

Surprise! A dear old friend of Shawn's gifted us with new kayaks!! It was an exciting afternoon when we went to pick them up. The kids are looking forward to trying them in spring.

Part of the barn rebuild included nice heavy plastic covered doors on the south side. 
This has made for a nice warm spot on sunny days.
Chestnut is enjoying the heat in this photo.

The girls were delighted to find their names on the Wall of Fame at their taekwondo school!

Now it's official for sure!

Shawn took the kids snowmobiling on the marsh this afternoon!

Hannah made this delightful little marshmallow and hot chocolate fun!

It's a Life Filled With Variety

Pearl is feeling right at home in her new and improved barn space!

Shawn took the kids to 2 coding classes at the library. They really enjoyed learned how to code.

Celene LOVES her riding classes each week. It's her favorite day of the week.

Miles, Celene, and Hannah performed a trio on Christmas Eve at church on the grand piano!
They did great, and everyone enjoyed it.

The little boys can still prevail upon Celene to play games with them from time to time.

Miles passed his driving permit test!!! We have a new driver on the roads! 
It still feels unreal, and yet I will really appreciate it soon when he can take the kids all over for their things.

Shawn has taken on the position at church of researching and writing about persecuted saints around the world, to be posted and announced at church each Sunday morning. Hannah likes to snuggle up and read along, and offer her thoughts and questions.

Hannah played "What Child is This" at church on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful.

Here's Miles taking his driving test.

The boys are often helping dad in the evenings trying to get snowmobiles running.

Hannah was delighted to find that one of her favorite teachers was sporting the same uniform at taekwondo!

Miles and Celene arguing and planning what routes to take and what stops to make on their road trip to Alabama with Grandma come March!

Some of the kids singing together at church on Christmas Eve

Imagine Mocha's delight to find a cabbage as big as he is when we came home from grocery shopping!
(Yes he likes to try to slip in the house to warm up when Miles lets him free to run around the yard.)

The kids are enjoying the new air hockey table we purchased on a great deal last week.

Some of the very best things about the holidays is that family comes to visit!
Here are some of the boy cousins from MI having a fun afternoon.

Hannah was asked to teach her first taekwondo class last week! She was nervous but she had help from her black belt coach and she did great!

Hannah has really taken to reading this winter! I can hardly keep enough books in the house to keep her happy. She's often found snuggled in the corner of the couch with a cozy cat and a book for company.

Lulu (the cat) will gladly accept any lap that's available to warm up and take a nap!

Theo is a good helper when it's time for Grams to get up and walk around.

Boy cousins all enjoying Theo's new car track together over Christmastime