9th Anniversary

A little throwback to start the day

Christmas

Wedding Clothes

Shauna asked me to take pictures of the kids in their wedding clothes (that we weren't there for). So we took them for her Christmas ornament. They all look so grown up.

Broken Furnace

I got up to turn Benson and then quickly ran back to bed.  Then I lay there wondering if I smelled something burning until I convinced myself it was fine and I could go back to sleep. In reality, it was fine and had I gotten up, I couldn't have done anything about it anyway. Our furnace motor just burned up. Jon was able to figure it out himself and order a new motor on Amazon. But it took three days for the motor to come in. We were also struck with the plague about that same night. We spent the next three days, with borrowed space heaters, mostly contained to one room, trying to stay warm and get better. I also wanted to make fresh bread for Benson's physical therapist because we just love her. But our kitchen really was freezing so I decided the bread would need to rise somewhere warmer. Vanessa's room seemed like the perfect spot. And it worked great, except the kids kept messing with the dough. Because bread dough is suddenly way more exciting when it is unsupervised, on the floor. The kids also claimed that Brigham put a few toys in the dough. And not just any toy, but the Barbie doggie poop. Of course. I still gave the bread away, after attempting to find said doggie poop and having no luck. But I did warn them the kids claimed a toy might be in there. I didn't really fess up to it being toy poop.

 We decided it would lift our spirits to go get Andy's one night and see Bagwell lights. Brig suddenly had a really bad earache and was miserable, poor guy. Annabelle got a fever and I stripped her clothes off in an attempt to cool her down.

Christmas Gifts

I had the crafting itch so I decided to make a lot of Christmas gifts. For the Brady cousins, I made these game card holders. I also made the ribbon wands for the two toddlers. I made the Family Birthdays sign for Nicole and Then Sings My Soul for my Mom. I also made pillow covers for Steph. Vanessa and Benson wanted in on more of the crafting too so they came up with a few ideas. I didn't get very good pictures though, darn it. Vanessa made the #1 medal for Grandpa and a blue heart pillow for Grandma. She sewed it all by herself. Benson made a mistletoe for Grandma because she likes to kiss him.

A Bit of December

We made our annual trip to Bass Pro. We enjoyed their Winter Wonderland and visiting Santa. We also took advantage of the coupon they give for a discount to the restaurant and tried it for the first time. I ordered fish and chips, which is one of the signature dishes. It was really huge, and really good, but apparently way too much grease for my stomach. I felt sick for almost two days.

 Annabelle wouldn't let me even consider passing her off to Santa, but was still upset to be near him, even with Vanessa holding her. As a side note, Vanessa looks incredibly grown up in this picture.

 I was really proud of my red-neck solution to our hose not quite reaching to our newly planted tree.

 Annabelle brings you books every five minutes to read to her. She loves loves loves books right now. Some of her favorites are our family picture books too. Anyone around 1-2 years old is a picture of her. And all the baby pictures, even of her, are just pictures of babies; according to Annabelle.

Just practicing snorkeling in the bath.

We can be kind of lazy and school often happens in our jammies. But I guess that is one of the pros to homeschooling. Sometimes its an added bonus that we can do it by the fire.

 Vanessa has gotten pretty good about letting me try new hairstyles wit her long hair.

 Brig went through a phase where he loved to draw. He would spend hours drawing and drawing. He would ask us to draw things for him. He would stare at letters and try to copy them. He was just fascinated with all things drawing. And then one day, he just wasn't anymore. :)