Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pileated woodpecker








Our lunch treat today was watching a pileated woodpecker in a tree in our backyard. Beautiful creature. We are hoping that the woodpecker is preparing a nest for future use :o)

Hiking

On Sunday (Dec. 27th) we went for a hike in Reston (Lake Audubon area). Rain and 45 degree temps melted a lot of snow -- but there was plenty to be found on our hike!


Christmas morning
















Christmas Eve at home











Christmas Eve

Abby's solo -- the video did not work on the earlier post...

Christmas Eve


All three kids are in church choir. We missed the last two rehearsals (one because of our trip to Great Wolf Lodge and the other was snowed out) but the kids did a great job. They performed at the Christmas Eve service. Ben had a line to read, Taylor was an angel and read lines, and Abby had a solo (my memory card ran out -- I was only able to record the first part of her two part solo). They did an awesome job:)

Gingerbread house

Leftover Halloween candy + gingerbread walls and roof = a spectacular creation!!









Snow video

Benny shoveling the back yard:)

Dec. 19th A really big snow!

Dec. 19th was a glorious day!!! We were snowed in -- about 19" blanketed our area. Greg shoveled and shoveled and shoveled... The kids played a bit (a little too much snow for them -- they made up for it later by doing a lot of sledding). It snowed on a Saturday, but the consequences were far reaching -- Greg's work was canceled on Monday and school was canceled for the remainder of the week (but not our school -- hee, hee).

Drinking a cup of hot coffee and looking out at the beautiful snow was awesome:)














Monday, December 28, 2009

December -- Great Wolf Lodge

Fun, fun, fun -- we had so much fun at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg!! We arrived on Sunday, Dec. 13th and stayed for 2 nights. Friends of ours were there the first night -- fun to share the excitement and thrills with friends. The room was great -- 3 queen size beds (one in the loft) and a pull out queen sleeper sofa. It had a bathroom in the loft and downstairs -- and a fireplace to keep it toasty. I am so glad that we made the trip:)














December -- creative Tay


Taylor is so crafty:)

December -- Thailand study

We wrapped up our study of Thailand with a craft and Thai food (Pad Thai and rice -- with a little American fare added -- carrot cake). Donna bought spoons for the kids. They had a great time eating with those big spoons!!









December -- snow

We have soooo much fun in the snow!!! This was our first big snow on Dec 5th (about 5 inches). We had fun making a snowman, snow walls (for snowball fights) and roasting marshmallows. Beautiful:)














December -- Taylor


Taylor and her Bible craft -- she had a lot of fun making the glasses!

November -- Thanksgiving

After our big Thanksgiving feast (Abby set the table and the kids made place settings) we went for a walk at Runnymede Park. Check out the picture of Ben -- he is holding his boot up to drain water out of his boot after falling into the water! It was a fine day:)














November -- Thanksgiving study



















Instead of our usual country study we have with our friends -- we had a study on Thanksgiving. The kids favorite part was dressing up in pilgrim costumes (provided by Donna). We had a great time!















November -- crazy hair

On November 22nd AWANA had crazy hair/hat day. As you can tell from the pictures, the kids chose crazy hair! Abby won first prize -- a Super Silly Riddles book. Great job Abs!!


November -- obsession





My new hobby -- making bread.