Winter Wonderland

Leah made this snowflake using old cds for her grandparents for Christmas.

 

 Even though winter can be seen as a hassle to many of us adults it is usually seen as a wonderland to children and for good reason.  God has provided so much beauty in every season including winter and we love looking out our window at the snow covered trees and the fluffy feathered birds!  The kids love sledding, building snowman and snowforts, skating (with their boots since we don't actually own ice skates) on the pond, exploring, and especially coming indoors to warm hot chocolate or cider!  Thank you God for the beauty you have so graciously provided us and thank you for our children to help remind us of its wonder!
 

Bella's "baby" snowman

Leah's snowmen

A message in the snow for Daddy with a heart made out of corncobs.

Hiking & Sledding at a park near our home

While hiking we found 2 different really well made tepees and had lots of fun playing in them.

Magna Tiles Creativity

Leah & Bella received Magna Tiles (100pc set) for Christmas and all of the kids have been enjoying them since.  We first learned about them from their cousins at a birthday party and so we thought it would make a good Christmas gift encouraging creativity and it certainly has.  They use them almost daily and make all sorts of set ups and designs and use them for all different toys like barbies or army guys etc.  Now they do come apart semi easily if you put any sort of  real pressure on them but they do support a toy like a My Little Pony so the kids just learn to play with them carefully if they don't want their structure to collapse but if it does they really don't mind too much since it is so simple to rebuild and so much fun.  And they actually enjoy picking them up since it is such a cinch!  They are a pretty pricey but so far have been worth it and have held up really well especially since part of the fun is knocking them down.  Here are some of their creations: