Catching the Sun

We finally got around to doing a Valentine craft last week! I've been trying to make a bigger deal out of some of these lesser-type holidays around here but really, it hasn't been going very well for me. They sneak up on me every time! Valentine's Day is one of those. It's right after Todd's birthday so I'm just not thinking about it until it's too late. My family gets an enthusiastic "Happy Valentine's Day!!!" from me and that's about it ;)

But the internet makes everything easier :) I follow a good amount of homeschool and crafting blogs so there's never a shortage of ideas it's just scrapping together the time to get it done. So I did!

I saw this Meg's blog (I love her!) and thought maybe even I could do that!

First, we cut hearts out of construction paper:

 Then a big heart. I used some scrapbook paper I had but you could use construction paper for this as well.

 We placed the big, empty heart on the sticky side of a piece of contact paper then went to work filling it up with the little hearts:

 You can put as many or as little as you want. When you're done, cover it with another piece of clear contact paper and trim excess:

 Cute, little sun-catcher! And cute, little crafter!

We made one for the kitchen window too:

 

I may leave them up for the rest of winter. You can never have enough hearts ;)

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 :)

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 ;)

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!