the first snow...for the kids

jack has seen snow when he was about esme's age...and it is amazing how they can have such a good concept even when they haven't seen it for real....but it was so exciting to witness jack and esme's first real encounter with the snow....jack of course loved it...esme just looked at me and kept saying "told...told" cold ...cold.
jack and my dad threw stuff onto the iced over lake....and played a bit....it was so beautiful!

cardboard

really is my favorite child's toy.
this is a large piece from the crib box, that served nicely as a slide...we ended up putting it on the stairs so they could climb up the stairs and then slide down...this was quite a hit
and gave me further sliding ideas having to do with stairs and cardboard..hmmmm...more on this soon =)

playing at joan's house

the kids and i have the whole downstairs....which they love...carpet, warmth...and fun!
there are bean bags and toy tractors...who could ask for more!

good day

visited with my dad today...it was so nice...the kids ran around like banchees from room to room loving all the additions and new doors (they are adding on) dad made me a cup of comforting tea =) which always brightens my day. and it started to snow!!!! so we walked to the lake and threw in stuff to break the ice...
such a sweet day...i loved it!
and this evening joan taught me to knit!  my mum taught me years ago...but i could never remember how to get it started...well, i think this will be my new project (though i have been toying around with the idea of taking old timey photos...like with silver nitrate...i made a pinhole camera once and loved how the photos turned out...) but this will probably be a little more quickly doable and satiate my desire to work with my hands now that cobbing is over for the season. =)
off to bed....and going to awaken to snowballs and hot chocolate! yay!
harry is loving his electric blanket in the truck =)

on the road again...

 the kids and i have come to joan's house....to finish the second part of our trip we intended this past week...to see my dad and sandra....and then grace and tom...
and this morning something so excited happened!
we registered jack for suzuki violin lessons!!!!!!!
grace and tom gave this to jack for his birthday...i was soooo delighted bc we wanted to do it for him when he turned 4 but we just needed to fund other household things =) so when grace came up with the idea i just jumped for joy!!!!
more on this soon
off to bed now.
sleeeeeeeeepy.

josh in the snow

josh visited his buddy pete this past weekend in nc
look at the snow!!!!
he said their water bottles froze while climbing up the mountain....
that's cold.

pizza!!!

i am so proud of this mozzerella! and the crust wasn't too bad...but not great either
we made pizza and watched one of jack's bday presents...cars the movie
and i cried and cried! that movie is so sweet! the end is wonderful!!!! what a great lesson!

ice world ....

under the house!
so i thought we were golden...woke up and found the fire still with lots of coals....so it wasn't hard to jumpstart it...
esme slept a little longer..yay!
went outside to check on animals and found the underside of the house a stalagtite mess of ice! o my!
somehow even letting the pipes drip, one burst...
so i took jack to school (he started again today and was sooo happy to be doing so)
and esme and i ...and the turkey fixed the pipe.
this turkey really is the sweetest creature...i never knew you could have such a friendship with a bird...he loves just to be with us...and loves to be pet and scratched....
he definitely kept esme happy while i worked...

thank you alina!!!!!!

our friends alina and patrick and micah and max sent us a package yesterday....the kids and i...were sooo excited!!!!
thank you sooo much alina!!!
jack commandeered esme's little bag as a perfect tool bag almost immediately...it is filled with his special tools as we speak...
and esme wanted her little top on...
and proceeded to move everything off the bottom shelf in the kitchen and set up house.
there were all sorts of special goodies....
it was such a lovely surprise!

cheese and bread

i made mozzerella o...goodness, i can't spell it....
cheese yesterday...it was soooo easy!!!
and it worked!
and i had lots of whey left over...so made 6 loaves of whey bread
yum!