Child Labor

Well we have been putting our kids to work and some of it they like and some not so much and they have been a big help but they also make sure they get lots of breaks and free time!  And even Daddy gets in on the fun!

Sam has been a huge help all around and especially with scraping ceilings to the point where scraping ceilings is not so much fun anymore! 

Scrub scrub and scrub some more!

The kids really enjoyed destroying this wall with Daddy & Grandpa!

 

Hey kids back to work!!

Too cute!

Our driveway has had a lot of thrills and spills!

Daddy is just a tiny bit excited to finally have some land to use his toys on.  But he probably wishes he could be doing more of this than cleaning and remodeling!  I think Jake is enjoying the ride too!

Bryan taking all 5 kids for a 4 Mobile (what Bella calls the 4 Wheeler) ride.

Scootering in the basement.

Construction - I Mean Destruction

Lately it seems more like we are doing a whole lot of destruction instead of construction and we are ready to see our house a little more put together but we still have a long ways to go!  So again we are praying for patience.  But we have been blessed to have family willing to come and help us out and make the house move along a little faster.

Grandpa karate kicking down the wall!!  He showed that wall who was boss!

Grandma patiently peeling off lots of really stuck on tape.  Good times!

More weird walls that need to come down!

Alan & Roberta & Mathew also came to help and take down another wall!

The wall has been defeated!  It is so much nicer and more open without it there!

Leah was really good at getting those stubborn flooring pieces up and she worked a long time on them!

New House

We have finally closed on our new home and have been working hard on it for the past few weeks.  We have not moved in yet and we have been very blessed to be able to still rent while we finish working on the house.  It is very exciting and tiring all at the same time and right now more tiring than exciting since it seems like the work will never end and so much of the house is tore up.  But God is good and gracious and we have to be patient and see the good that comes from good ol' hard work!  And He sure is blessing us with a lot of that! My Uncle Alan (who is a contractor) and Aunt Louise have also come been coming a couple days a week to help us with the bigger projects and they are even willing to stay overnight to try and get it done!  We are so thankful!

Beware - Louise is pretty dangerous with that hammer!

The weird half wall in the bathroom is gone!  Hip hip hooray!  The room looks so much bigger without it! 

Alan showing us one of his handyman tricks!

Mousse Mustache

We usually use our avocados to make guacomole and are still adjusting to the taste of avocados.  There are still a few of us who do not even like guacomole so I thought I would try this recipe to get some healthy avocado into their diet.  It was very good and they didn't even complain about the avocados in it!  Plus it made for cute photos of Maddie who actually does love guacomole too!  She not only had a mustache but also a beard!

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:

KONOS: Determination Culmination Night Part 1

These nights are always the most fun for the kids.  They get to decorate, display their handiwork, and share some of what they have learned with their dads & grandparents.  Oh, and eat yummy food too!  So, here is some of the decorating we did.  We had the arctic/ antarctic upstairs and the ocean downstairs.  We also very lightly covered mountains as part of this unit study but didn't get together as a group to learn more about them.  The kids love to get creative and add their own personal touches.  They did most of the decorating and I gave suggestions and helped tape it up.

Arctic/ Antarctic

Now it is time to enter the abyss.  Beware:

 You don't know what creatures lie down there!

Leah wanted to have her dolphin's head look like it 

was popping out above the surface of the water.

They even decided to decorate their bedroom for the fun of it!