Lance turns 10!

Each birthday that comes around is highly anticipated. Lance asked if he could have the day off of school and I said yes – good thing, because he was so excited he couldn’t concentrate anyhow!

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Lance had some very specific ideas for his birthday cake. He wanted gummi worms coming out and people shooting at them. Garrison helped.

I dubbed the cake “gummi worm Armageddon.”

The party itself was a blast. We used my dad’s partially constructed house as a Nerf war zone.

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Brian explained the scenarios and acted as Ref.

Guns were carefully selected and loaded.

And the war was on!

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We put up cardboard barriers all over the house.

The girls were skeptical about getting shot, so they watched the proceedings from a scaffolding.

It looked like so much fun they eventually decided to join the fray.

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There was cake and presents – but really, the main fun was in the play.

January recap

Our return to school from the Christmas holidays has gone fairly well. The first week in January, pre-school had a snow theme with the book, “Katy and the Big Snow.” The book is about a snow plow that clears the city roads after a big snowstorm. My sister came over most days to help so we were able to do a lot of fun projects.

They created a city map and had construction trucks push cotton balls around, clearing the “snow” from the roads.

Shaving cream snow was cleared away from the houses. Some toy cars were used but hands worked much better.

A tricycle and laundry basket made a decent snowplow to collect sock “snowballs” while practicing compass directions.

Measuring the snowfall from the story “first 6 inches, then 1 foot, then 2 feet, then 5 feet!”

Skye helps make a batch of play snow – never can have too much!

We also had fun with some snow themed food.

Snowflake pancakes for breakfast!

Hard boiled egg raisins and cheese sticks made a fun lunch.

Tried our hand at meringues – but they didn’t set well. Still made a gooey good dessert at supper.

An unexpected addition to our snow theme came a week or so later when the local ice skating rink had a free day!

 

Everyone started out on the cones…

…but it wasn’t long until they were out on their own! They enjoyed it so much we stayed the entire 3 hours!

Near the end, Riley, Brian and I played a little bumper hockey. Loads of fun but uses a lot of energy!

Our final wrap up was a snow family fun night. We used balled socks to play a variety of games.

Snowball toss. (Cousin Bruce – foreground – thinks this family is nuts!)

The best was during the snowball fight – Ivy stuffed a snow-sock ball down Daddy’s shirt in imitation of snow play and Daddy jumped around yelling “cold, cold, cold!!!” Which sent all the kids into hysterics.

We had some great bonding family time.

 

 

 

 

It’s a….

The kids find out if they are having a brother or sister!

The newest addition

Our family and farm is always growing, but this time growth took on the form of a new species altogether! A long awaited dream materialized a few days before Christmas in the form of a 5 lb. ball of fur.

The pup was dubbed SUSE (a Linux distribution; i.e. a computer nerd thing). She’s a mix of German Shepherd, Border Collie and Bull Terrier.

Her main place of residence will be in the barn – hopefully to deter raccoons – but the weather was so cold the first week that she spent some time inside. Not only did this help with the initial bonding, but it provided a great energy outlet for cooped up kids.

She also made for a handy weight during my exercise sessions.

By the end of the cold weather, she was officially one of the pack.

As she grows and her behavior needs attention I hope to mentor my older kids in the art of training.

But for now, she enjoys her pack, following them around the yard, chasing leaves and obligingly tasting mud pie creations.

December family times

Our December was full of fun family times! Here are a few pictures:

Decorating for Christmas

Watching the parade.

 

Advent readings before bed.

 

An unexpected snow!!!

 

Snow ice cream!

 

Enjoying our fireplace.

 

Finishing the co-op semester with a play.

 

Dad’s work Christmas party –   A much anticipated and highly enjoyed trip to Santa’s Wonderland.

 

Home school choir performance.

 

Iris turned 4 on the 11th – we celebrated with a caroling party.

 

Garrison turned 1 on the 18th – this guy knew what to do with his cake 🙂

We also completed our Christmas newsletter – click here to read it. In it I talked about several things that could be found on this blog. Since those links are in past posts, I’m putting the link on again for those interested.

Quoting Daniel 6:19-28:

Fiery Furnace cousin movie:

Marriage Testimony:

http://www.cahills.us/newsletters_files/2017_marriagetestimony.pdf

 

Merry Christmas!

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