Digging Out!

A blizzard brings the community together. Schools have been closed all week, and people have been outside more, working together. 

Kids (and adults) carved out some fun snow forts. The black streetlight pole on the left is at our curb so these forts were technically out in the street, but no one had plowed there yet. 

To the kids' dismay the plows came through yesterday and cleared our street more completely, meaning the snow forts were ruined. Oh well...it was fun for them while it lasted. :)

Blizzard 2016!

The snow started on Friday afternoon. Kids enjoyed sledding on our backyard bunny hill right away. (That's Clara going down face first!) ;-D

Saturday brought more snow.

By Sunday morning we had over 2 ft of snow to shovel!

The world became a playground for the kids. They did help Lucas a good bit with the shoveling too.

Cars parked on the street...oh my! 

Types of Rocks

"Sedimentary Rock" trifle 

"Metamorphic Rock" Rice Krispie chocolate treats 

We made these to share at our CC homeschool coop, but...all schools were closed because of the coming snow storm. So we invited neighbor kids over to help eat our rock desserts. :)

Changing It Up

Before the snow storm hit, we did a morning of school work at the library. 

Vanity done!

Bathroom-In-Progress...A Good Winter Project :)

Floor is done! Toilet is in! Vanity (and counter top) purchased and ready to be installed, but... first all the trim goes down along the wall. 

Endless caulking. ;-)

And here comes the vanity!

Lego Club at theLibrary

Back Home!

Grandma sent us with a Gingerbread House kit...that was fun for the kids. 

WI New Years!

Went spent New Years in Madison, staying at Uncle Brian's and Aunt Julie's spacious new home. 

(Amber was such a help this vacation with all the younger siblings and cousins). 

Lots of fun playing on the Wii! Brent's favorite game was archery and Amber's was fencing; Clara liked flying the airplane. 

Enjoying the snow one more time. 

A couple of us scooted over to Sara's condo for one afternoon. Her place is adorable.

We were blessed to spend such fun and meaningful times with family in WI!

WI Christmas - Coffee and Conversations

Renee and Craig took Lucas and me out to a cute coffee shop one morning. We talked for 4 hours and then ordered lunch too! ;-D

Mom and I drove over to spend an afternoon with G'ma Sally. It's so nice to have visits face-to-face!

WI Christmas - Games!

Lucas was in heaven! A solid week of playing games. (Mostly "Coup" his new card game that was a big hit with everyone). :)

WI Christmas - Snow and Swimming

We had a little blizzard. Kids were happy to go play in the snow...for about 30 min. Then it was time for hot chocolate and good books. 

G'pa and Daddy did the heavy shoveling - 2 hrs. They both said it was the heaviest snow they can remember...sore backs the next day. 

The next day we visited Great G'parents' home which has an indoor pool and hot tub. :)