Day In the Life Video/Vlog

I wanted to do a "day in the life" video for a couple of reasons:

1) We want this blog to be something to look back on, and I know I'll forget all the little details of our days
2) People often ask "how I do it," and this is basically it, day by day!

I put together video clips from our very normal day today. I didn't start right when we woke up (like I probably should have) and I ended right before dinner - since that's pretty much the whole of our homeschool day.

Today's schedule (of clips shown in this video) was:

8:45-9:30 - Russell Occupational Therapy (girls stayed home with Jason)
9:45-11 - schoolwork, including spelling, Bible, handwriting, MathSeeds (computer program)
11-11:30 - lunch and getting ready for swimming
11:30-12:15 - swim store for new goggles
12:30-2 - swim practice
2-4:30 - more school (reading, math, CC presentation prep, music theory, silent reading)
4:30-5 - cleaning playroom and kids' rooms
5-5:30 - educational TV show (Liberty Kids was today's show)

Snow Pics

We actually got 5-6 inches of snow yesterday - a rarity here, and made for some excellent playtime! I brought out my Nikon (which, unfortunately, is also rare these days, and every time I get it out, I realize I need to do it more!)

Play time/sled time with neighbors:

Big icicle!

Front yard tree branch:

Wheeee!

Just rolling around in the snow:

Daphne was ready to go in at this point:

(Meredith took this picture.) 12.5 years later and we love each other at least as much as we drive each other crazy ;)

(Pic from Adrienne) Georgia and Paige had fun sledding today too:

Just because we had tons of fun doesn't mean we skipped school! After a morning of schoolwork and sledding, it was time for hot chocolate during silent reading:

I'd say we've enjoyed this snow to its fullest! Now bring the warmth, please!

Itch for Redecorating

Recently I got the itch to redecorate. We are home a lot because of homeschooling (obviously), and with Jason working from home too, it makes it very important to me that 1) our spaces are kept clean (clutter especially drives me crazy) and 2) our spaces are asthetically pleasing (at least, to me)! I haven't done a lot, but this is what's been done so far:

1) We (okay, I) added a sitting space to our master bedroom. 

Before: I have no before pictures - just imagine an old leather ottoman there and no window treatments.

After: It's so calm and soothing and I love sitting there with a hot cup of coffee and reading my Bible :)

2) Before: (just look past the homeschool table into the living room!) I know you can't see all the furniture (like the end tables next to the couches), but you can get the idea - it's a lot of cherry, dark, brown, wood, early-2000s-style furniture.

During/After: I'm calling this "during/after" because there are a few more things I'm planning to switch up but haven't yet! But this is an improvement, at least!

I painted the tray white (below) and finally, all of our kids are old enough that I can have a coffee table centerpiece :) (Meredith added my J coffee mug on there before she took this picture - it doesn't stay there.)

End tables and bottom part of coffee table have been painted a light gray and distressed  - makes me happy!

End table with a tidbit of Valentine's decor :)

More to come! ;)

Snow Day

I suppose it's apropos that I write about a snow day now, since we're supposed to have another one tomorrow! I don't care for snow, but the kids enjoyed the inch we got. They made snow angels, sledded down our driveway (a bunch), made a baby snowman :), and came in and drank hot chocolate - all while still having a full school day at home!

The little girls LOVED their baby snowman. They named it Belgium :) 

Celebrating Christmas at Nanny's House

We spent a nice family Saturday at Nanny's house. The kids opened more presents and we had more family time :)

New Lego sets:

Warming up a Hatchimal egg:

Snacking with Nanny:

Tickling with Paw Paw:

Playing with Nanny's Christmas village:

Introducing Margaret (the doll) to Aunt Kim:

NC History Museum Field Trip

A couple of days after Christmas, we (plus Pops and Mimi) took a field trip to the NC History Museum. It was very well done, very educational, and the price (free) was right!

Learning to milk a cow:

Seeing how heavy a bucket of water is:

Helping soldiers:

In front of a WWII display:

Inside a 1920s pharmacy:

Christmas Evening

The kids had asked to have everyone at our house for Christmas dinner, so we did! We had a yummy meal together (Meghan's homemade lasagna, honey baked ham, salad, veggie casserole, sweet n sour meatballs), opened presents, and enjoyed spending family time. The kids and I made a birthday cake for Jesus, and we all sang for his birthday :)

Lots of helpers for the cake!

Russell/Ava love - they have a sweet bond:

The girls got matching girl/doll jammies from Pops and Mimi, and were so excited :)

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas morning with our usual Christmas breakfast of strata after present opening. Jason had wanted to try having the main Christmas tree upstairs on the landing, which did look pretty from our picture window, but made present logistics a little difficult.

We try to do 3 gifts each for the kids: a want, a need, and a surprise. I think we actually ended up with 4 each this year - oops. Of course, they also get stockings.

It's so much fun to see their sweet, happy faces :) They also enjoyed giving each other (and Jason and I) the gifts they had bought with their own money at the CC Christmas market.

Excited about stockings:

Action figures:

Each of the girls got Our Generation dolls and accessories:

Selfie!

Making a stopmotion video (he recieved stopmotion software, instruction books, and a camera for Christmas):

Jamming together (playing Linus and Lucy) - this makes my heart happy :)

Paige and Daphne LOVED this Paw Patrol Adventure Bay set from Paw Paw (who came by a little later):

Just the way a Christmas morning should be!