Something I’m proud of

One of the goals I set for our family in 2010 was to make an organized effort of teaching our children to have giving hearts. So the idea was born to do a giving project each month with our kids. It had to be something "hands on" for them so it wasn't just mom or dad doing it. Let me preface this by saying I am not posting this to brag on myself – that's not my intent or heart (if you know me, I hope you would agree). I just wanted to share this in hopes that it might inspire someone else, or spark an idea. I get so many of my ideas from reading other blogs! My parents instilled such a heart for giving in my brother and I, so I want to do the same with my kids. I had a plan that worked for us and since I set it as a goal, I was motivated to find a project we could do each month!

What fun we had giving back to others in 2010! Here is what we did: January – collected coats, hats & gloves for our Community resource center; February – filled backpacks of weekend food for kids in need; March – made cinnamon rolls & passed out to postal worker, garbage truck driver, librarian, hair stylist; April – picked up trash in our neighborhood; May – made gifts for their teachers; June – made & passed out flower pots in assisted living / nursing home; July – sent a package to a soldier; August – collected pencils for The Pencil Project; September – donated & filled sacks in our church's food pantry; October – made cookies for a neighbor with cancer; November – Operation Christmas Child; December – made chocolate popcorn for each of our neighbors.

It was definitely work and we found things that they could "do". I'm so proud of them. My 6 year old really got into everything we did – it was having an impact on him. My 3 year old didn't exactly understand everything, but I trust that he learned as well (even though, many times it would have been easier to just leave him home – we pushed through)! We enjoyed doing this so much and plan to do it again this year. We have been blessed so much by God and out of that abundance, we give! Hope you are inspired too! Happy giving in 2011!

"It is more blessed to give than to receive"

Acts 20:35
Tara

Snowpacolypse 2011

Since January, we have received 35 inches of snow! Amazing! The first snowfall was lots of fun. The blizzard that dropped 21 inches of snow was pretty cool too (especially since we were safe, warm, and well prepared)! The 6 inches of snow that fell this week was over the top for me! Eli is now going on 9 straight days of missed school. It's crazy. Thankfully in the next week we are supposed to have almost a 100˚ degree change! That's right this past week recorded temps of -21˚ and forecast is 70˚ next week. Thank you God for sending us 70˚ weather to melt our mountains of snow! I think I'm done with winter. Here are a few notes from past 2 weeks we've been confined to our home.

• snow days are not relaxing when you have a 3 month old, 3 year old, & a 6 year old (I never got to sit by the fire and read!)

• For some odd reason snow days = low motivation (had a difficult time accomplishing anything)
• Snow ice cream loses it's luster after 3 straight days of it!

• Wearing pajamas all day gets old after 3,4,5,6 days!

• Dinosaurs make a good way to measure snowfall
• I've made a record number of meals in a row
• I love snowboots
• I thrive on a routine for my little family
• Owen is an awesome sleeper – seriously!
• Thank goodness for Facebook to give me a little socialization!
• Eli and Caleb have been great little playmates for each other.

Here are some pictures of our little snow life!

Our house during the blizzard

Outside the front door – the snow is deep!

Snow fort!

A familiar site

Snow tunnel

Snow after the blizzard – a mere 6 inches, but a fun way to document it. I was planning to wake at 3:00am to get a pic of the progression, but slept through the alarm. I know, I'm crazy!

My house looked like this at some point every single day!

Hopefully life will be back to normal next week! Ha!

 

Tara

More Snow Fun

Friday was another snow day, so we made the most of it. I had so much fun playing with the boys out in the snow. One of those days when I was glad I wasn't in a hurry and could just "be" with them, if you know what I mean. Check out what we did – we made some snow paint. Food coloring + water + squirt bottle. Note: the squirt bottles worked much better than the spray bottles. Here is a little of our artwork. Caleb had the yellow squirt bottle and he painted here and there and it looked like you know what in the snow! You can see it in the upper right hand corner of this picture! This was lots of fun! Next, onto snowman making.

Pretty cute if I do say so! Oh what fun! Eli and I made predictions on how long it would take our snowman to melt. I said 5 days and he said 6 days. Lastly, was some sledding fun down a perfect little hill my parents have in their backyard! They both loved it. Hot chocolate made by Pamma was a perfect ending to our fun time in the snow! Eli prayed for snow, God answered, and we enjoyed!

2 posts in a week – seriously, I'm on a roll!

Tara

Snow Day!

I'm back! But I'm not promising much people. Can't. Catch. Up. Oh well, today was a SNOW DAY! Eli was so pumped about missing school. They couldn't wait to play in it. After bundling each kid up (15 minutes per child I might add) they were set for an afternoon hour of fun in the snow. Lance went out with them and pulled them on the sled – lots o' fun for them. He's such a good dad! I'm pretty much a wimp when it comes to being cold. My 4 boys – aren't they handsome.

And then, I had to capture Owen in his first real snow, so I used the bumbo seat that I just borrowed from my friend (thank you Stacey!) to capture this.

I can barely stand the cuteness. This is just one of those pictures that makes you smile when you see it! Love this little one.

We completed our snow day with chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate! Good times. Tomorrow – another snow day!

Tara

Happy New Year 2011

So much to catch up on but for now, this will have to do. We got this little beauty this week - a Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner. Let me tell you, it works like a charm! Now, you may be thinking, who would spend that much on a vacuum cleaner - I am too. In fact, I wouldn't buy something like this - I'm too cheap. Our previous vacuum was 6 years old and we got that by using some award points (points that you use like money to order stuff from an award catalog)that I had earned from my previous Lilly job. It now makes strange funny noises and has a crack in the "dirt collector thingy", so it was time to get something new. So, we chose this Dyson and used some award points that Lance had from his job! For my first run through the house - this is what it collected!
Can you say nasty!!! From this picture, it would seem that we walk around in a layer of dirt - not so. But I guess we have lots and lots 'o hidden dirt! Another thing I like about the Dyson is that you don't have to buy filters for it - you just wash the filter out with water and let it dry overnight every 3 months. My vacuuming just got a little more fun! Here's to a "dirt & dust free 2011". Oh, who am I kidding, I have 3, no make that 4 boys!

Happy 2011 to you!
Tara

Our Family Christmas

This is our mantel decorated for Christmas. I love it! I started collecting those red trees a couple of years ago and try to add one or two each year. Never imagined last Christmas that we would have another stocking hanging on the mantel! So thankful for God's goodness. I bought these stockings when Eli was a baby and planned ahead and bought 4. It was perfect when we had Caleb. But this year, I couldn't find a matching stocking for Owen and I didn't want him to be odd man out, so, I made his to match the rest. It isn't exactly the same, but it's pretty close and I bet you wouldn't have known. I was proud of how it turned out! We spent Christmas Eve at our house and invited my parents to join us. This was my brother's year to do Christmas with his wife's family (they switch every year). So the boys got dressed up in Christmas outfits that Pamma bought them. This was my first take and when Caleb said cheese, it was really loud in Owen's ear and caused some major tears!

We attended Christmas Eve service at First Christian Church and it was beautiful. They had asked Lance, Owen, & I to play the role of Mary, Joseph, & Baby Jesus. But, after considering how big Owen was and that he doesn't like to be swaddled or really held like all the pictures you see of the nativity, we decided it would be too stressful for his mother and declined. Our decision proved to be the right one as we had to walk and stand with Owen during the service! It was awesome to worship on Christmas Eve - missed doing it last year because of the blizzard.

We always make a birthday cake for Jesus and eat it on Christmas Eve. Fancy cake don't you think?! Eli picked out a pink cake this year.

We read the Christmas story using felt pictures the boys put up on a felt board (it was definitely crazy this year!). Then the boys opened a "first gift of Christmas"! Next they set out cookies for Santa and were off to bed. Eli was beside himself excited, and I was just thrilled watching him! It was a moment I wanted to freeze in time.

Santa left lots of fun things for the boys, and they played with them all morning long. They stayed in their pajamas until after lunch!

Later that day, we went to Papa & Pamma's house for a yummy Christmas dinner. It was such a relaxed day for us. Oh, and Owen has been sleeping through the night which was a perfect "gift" for Mom!

Boy do I love these three!

Hope you had a blessed Christmas!

Tara

2 Months

Can't believe our little (actually not so little anymore) Owen is 2 months old! He has settled into a good routine and has been such a joy these past few weeks! We had his 2 month check up last week and found out he weighed 12 lbs 9 oz and is 23 3/4 inches long. The boy is growing like crazy and definitely thriving. And I am happy to report, the past 2 nights I've gotten a 6+ hours stretch of sleep! Hallelujah! So, I have to share our 2 month bear pic. This was the month I dressed all 3 boys in the same outfit, so you can get a look at them all.

Owen at 2 months (12/15/10)

Eli at 2 months (11/29/04)

Caleb at 2 months (1/15/08)

Don't you just love it! Eli gets the award for the biggest cheeks definitely, and Caleb was the smallest, and Owen has the most hair!

Tara