What Our Kids Are Doing

They've been a bit under the weather for the past week and a half so they haven't been outside too much, but when we looked up the weather forecast, we saw some warmer temperatures than we've had lately.

And no snow accumulation.

Which means it may melt.

Soooo....

 I can't believe how big this thing got!

 Nick's little helper ;)

 He called to her to help him push and this is what she did:

 So helpful! I told her to stand beside him....

 That's better :)

 Green, grassy streaks all through the yard make me happy :)

 Finished!

 Megan's:

And her toothless grin ;)

 Brandon working on his:

 All done!

Now they're inside for hot chocolate and math :)

The Best Art Class Ever

We had a lite school day yesterday. Nicholas and Megan are both suffering with a little cold so I had cut out a few of the more frustrating things in favor of letting them rest. Even so, we still hit on several subjects: language arts, science, math....and art!

In our home, I do most of the schooling. Todd works all day and in the evenings we're busy shuttling kids to different things so when he's able to get involved it's a treat for all of us!!!

Just look at them! You can tell they're very interested in what he has to say :)

 Brandon worked on his for a long time. He even got an extra lesson from Dad on adding color and shading.

 After Nick finished his bird sketch (again with the birds! They're just giving us so much material this winter!), he switched to his favorite Despicable Me characters....the Minions :)

 Finished drawings:

 You can just tell these two are feeling pretty crappy :(

 They all did a great job! Now for some art from the teacher:

his bird (and some quick doodles ;))

 Also in his sketch book:

 Those last two were sketched previously but I wanted to include them anyway because I love them :)

We really needed a day like this. This week has been rather stressful not only in the area of school but other areas as well. It was so good to hang out, learning and relaxing together. I love days like this :)

More Sledding!

I have a few minutes right now to finish up our day of sledding. Why do I have this time during our "school" time? Because Todd is teaching!!! He has the most fantastic drawing skills and seeing as how our kids have been so interested in sketching, he is giving them a lesson this morning. I'll be sharing those pictures soon :)

For now though, I want to get our sledding finished. One thing at a time!

They were all daredevils but Nick...I think he just looked for opportunities to have a wild ride ;)

 Kristen had so much fun flying down that hill!

 Jon thought he'd be flying too

 but he left his sled behind ;)

 Megan and Mariah went down. Megan was scared to death and that was it for a while.

 Nick, Brandon, and Stephen all piled onto a little plastic saucer meant for one person. Can you see those smiles?? They had a blast flying down that hill!

 They lost one at the bottom ;)

 Bethany took Megan and drug her hands so she wouldn't go too fast and scare her. We have such good friends :)

 The boys decided to make a sled train ;)

 They laughed all the way down! And surprisingly stayed together for the most part!

It was a great day. One of those days that makes winter a little more bearable ;)

Toothless

Megan lost another tooth!! This time, one of her top teeth and her little gap is absolutely the most adorable thing! She looks so different now. It's another reminder to me of how very fast all this goes. And how very sweet it all is while it lasts :)

Sledding

Last week, Kristen told me Jon was taking her sledding. I said she should take her brothers and sister ;) I was half joking as it was snowing like crazy outside! She mentioned it to Jon and he thought his family would like to come too. Long story somewhat short, we all ended up going! (they had to drag me out kicking and screaming but I'm glad I went :))

It was a great time and I took about a million pictures which is why I haven't posted it yet. I can't choose! Therefore, this will be the first of a few posts ;)

I love this picture of Nicholas. We got there first so we were sledding down a small hill close to the parking lot so we could see when they got there. The big grin on his face is the joy of a boy playing in the snow. Priceless :)

 Brandon took Megan down the hill. Sweet, big brother :)

 Kristen couldn't wait to sled with her mini-me :

 Then our friends arrived! Mariah and Megan, two peas in a pod :)

 I love the smile on their faces. Such sweet sisters:

 We moved over to a much bigger hill:

 Stephen and Brandon have been such good friends forever :)

 Nicholas, Stephen, and Brandon went down that big hill all together several times and let me just say they flew!

 Megan was not very happy about the bigger hill but Bethany was able to convince her to go down with her. That poor girl drug her hands and feet all the way down so they wouldn't go too fast! What a sweetie!

 Taking a break:

We love getting together with Jon's family! The kids always have so much fun together! This is why I have so many pictures ;) More to come!