This And That

I want to share my cute little thing I did for the kids for Valentine's day. I made them coupon books. Do you remember making coupon books for your parents when you were little? Like, redeem this for me to wash the dishes and all that good stuff. :) Well, because we homeschool, I spend a lot of time with the kids reading and doing school, but don't often spend time with them doing things they want to do. SO, I thought of a bunch of stuff that they always want to do with me but I am always saying I can't right now because I have such and such to do and made a coupon book for them. I feel like it will help me to get in the habit of devoting some time to doing things with them that they want to do! They were excited about them and then Daddy came home with a Wii. Haha! Who cares about Mommy's coupons when Daddy brings home a Wii!? :) Nah, they like them still. 

Next order of business. Logan turned ONE yesterday! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it has been a year already! I gotta tell you, I am still pretty smitten with him. He really is such a cutie and does the funniest things. I'm quite attached to the little fellow. :)

 Lastly, we made pin dolls today! This is mine. :)

Carson made a Peter Pan pin person on the right there. He had a little lego sword stuck in his belt for a dagger. He also plans on making a jedi and using a tiny dowel rod to make a lightsaber. Madelynn's is on the left, she said it is her. :) These were really so much fun. I saw them on pinterest and was dying to do it. I think I could get quite addicted to making these cute little things! I'd like to get some teeny flower stickers or something to put in their hair, maybe some little cupcake beads to glue in their hands. Seriously do a pinterest search on pin dolls, there are some ADORABLE pin dolls out there. Here is a tutorial for them. I was able to find everything I needed at Hobby Lobby. :)

I also finished the zigzag baby blanket from the last post! I just have to weave in all those pesky ends. I started on Madelynn's blanket too. I decided on doing a granny stripe and am planning on making it big enough to lay on top of her twin bed. I will post a picture of the progress of it soon. I think it will look very charming atop a white comforter. I can't wait until she has her own room for me to make all girly! :)

Thankful

I just got my camera back from my parents' house and had to post this picture from Thanksgiving. I am so very thankful for my family. We don't get to be all together often, but I sure do love it when we are! We were all together again for Christmas yesterday, minus my Grandma, she is back in Mississippi. We had a great time watching videos of my nephews wrestling, opening presents and playing cards (with lots of laughs) with the girls while the men tended the kids. :) I love the dynamic my family has when we are together!

AND, I am super excited because my parents got me a kindle! :) I think I've found the perfect kindle case tutorial! I'll have to post pictures after I make it.

(Does anyone notice my little girl in green spoiling our nice picture with her goofy self? Haha!)

Small House & Camping

I have been feeling bummed for awhile about still being in a two bedroom house with three kids and no prospective buyers. The other day, the kids and I did a little rearranging in their bedroom to get Logan's toy box in there. It has been taking up space in my laundry room and the toys have been in baskets in my living room. So, it gave me back a lot of space in the house and really didn't take up too much in the kids' bedroom. In fact, they were pretty excited about it and we snapped a picture to send to daddy so he could see how our morning project turned out.

Last night, after we put the kids to bed, I had to smile. Carson was telling Madelynn a story. They lay in there laughing and being goofy and enjoying one another and I had to see how I was blessed by our small home. If we had an extra bedroom, they would never had shared a room and while it may have cut down on a lot of fighting, it has allowed them an opportunity to bond in a way they wouldn't have been able to otherwise. So, I am really feeling happy about our situation right now, even though the logical side of me thinks it is absurd to have three children in one bedroom. Until we are able to add on or buy a new house, I am going to continue focusing on being content with where we are.

Also, we returned from our fall camp trip yesterday! The weekend went by all too quickly and I think we are considering an extra day next year. I enjoyed the peace and quiet and time with my family. I was able to enjoy a quiet time reading while Tim and Carson were out on the canoe, Madelynn was otherwise occupied and Logan was napping.

We are starting this 31 seek series at church. Kind of nice to read about creation while sitting out by the woods and next to the lake. Sigh.... A few more pictures from our fall camping trip for all my family members who look at my blog and enjoy such things. :)

The annual picture on the stump...with a new kid this year! :)

 Our campsite, taken from the popup.

 Taking a walk in the woods with the kids.

 A canoe ride with Daddy...

 ...while Mommy hangs with Logan. :)

 I'm not sure why this picture came up sideways, it was not like that when I loaded it and I can't fix it. Oh well, turn your head and see how cute he is. ;)

 Daddy with his boys.

 Daddy and his kids. :)

 I love this picture. :)

 Now here they are, all in the 'attic' (as Madelynn calls it) and being very goofy.

Our Summer Break

We kicked off our summer break with our second annual camping trip to Holland, MI in June with a couple friends.

It was a very cold kickoff to the summer. Yes, that is a baby snuggled up with me. He pretty much lives in my moby wrap when we are away from home. :)

Tim and Sean, he's cooking us up some yummy chicken, steak and vegetable kabobs. We eat pretty well when we go camping, huh? :)

Hanging out in the camper, look Logan is not in the moby! He did so well for his first camping trip. He went right to sleep every night and I got to hang out around the fire with the adults. It was great!

And here is the oldest boy, smiling nice. Notice the bundling up. This does not mean we didn't go to the beach, we did! Tim and the guys actually went in the frosty water, they are Polar Bears after all. :)

We watched fireworks at our good friends' house. This is the only picture I have because my batteries died.

End of July, we went to Disney World! We stopped in Metropolis on the way down there and here are our super kids.

Our family with Goofy at the company dinner. We had a great time, it was so neat to be able to take the kids to Disney World!

I had the pleasure of taking Madelynn to a friend's surprise birthday party! It was so great to see her and catch up with her! She is expecting her third child in January (I think).

Closing our summer break with a few days at Grandma's house before she goes back to work. We spent a day visiting Aunt Sarah and swimming with cousins!



Carson had a great time with cousin Nathan, looking at all his Army gear. Nathan gave him an airborne patch which is now one of his greatest treasures.

A day at the park with some friends...

Last, but not least, Logan started solids! This is his first feeding, he had avocado.