Thursday, April 6, 2017

Just Another Day

One vomiting, one thinking he's going to start...


One kid hiding 30 dolls and stuffed animals in her bed you keep her feet warm.

One sweet snuggler who didn't want y2k sleep alone.

and snow. Hey, it's only April. That's the day here!




Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Life Adventures

 Sometimes life really is an adventure. Go out there and enjoy it!


 

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Marshmallow Frosting For The Win!

Not surprising, Elijah absolutely loved it!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Well Dressed Man

Elijah got a new suit today. He was do in love, I couldn't get it off of him. I had to physically remove it from his body. He was beyond adorable!

Friday, March 24, 2017

A taste of Spring!


it was 71 when we left St Cyril after partnership today!
Butt in the 13, miles and 30 minutes it took us to get home, it literally dropped SEVENTEEN degrees! (A negative if living by a large body of water!
But it was nice enough thou pretend it was still nice out and suit by a fire!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Bear with me...

I'm  trying to catch up.  I've had some phone issues and some time issues.  If you come here a lot, you might want to scroll back a bit next visit, and see what I caught up on.  I'm going to date things as they happened, so they'll show up as old posts. And thanks for loving us enough to care what we're up to!

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Killington from the top!

Okay, almost the top.  there's a peak that's 400ft higher, but it would have been too difficult with the kids.  The whole family rode the gondola up (Elijah's favorite part), and skied down to the very bottom on the Great Eastern trail twice. It's long...I think we calculated over 4 miles.  It took about 45 minutes with Elijah with us, and Jonah was the saint who held Elijah's harness straps the whole way down.  Not an easy or fun job, and in some spots he even had to ski with him between his legs because Elijah got scared.  Can't blame Elijah, the tail gets narrow with some steep drop offs in a few spots! Overall, everyone did great and had a blast and no one wanted to come home.  The kids are trying to plan their next ski trip already. ..this time to bigger and better out west!

Saturday, March 4, 2017

'Twas the Night Before Killington...

And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, Except
mom and dad who were packing the van.

I can only imagine the dreams of skiing in mountains yet unseen. 

(The flash woke the older two boys. Oops. And Micah gave up his bed for Lent, so Noah's sleeping on both mattresses. Selah's bed always looks like that or worse, no surprise that she always wakes up scared of monsters.)






Sunday, February 19, 2017

Sweet Snuggles and Burning Trees

These two ate always just the sweetest together.

there's nothing like dragging a dead Christmas tree 30 miles in February to a friend's to burn it.  watch it!

Saturday, February 18, 2017

February in Michigan??



Crazy weather for sure, though no one is complaining!

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Chicken-hamburger-Potato chip Stew Anyone?

After putting the kids to bed, I came downstairs to find a lone forgotten pot on the stove. I about I was a bit annoyed that somehow one was forgotten, but then I was puzzled because I didn't remember using that one while making dinner. I looked inside and found what could only be an Elijah creation. I will definitely miss these little surprises someday.
I sure wish he'd eat all those veggies! (Or really, anything besides the potato chip!)




Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Wind, and rain, and tornadoes, oh my!

We had a tornado warning today, yes, in February, in Michigan! Crazy weather for sure. So we packed up some scull and headed into the basement where we proceeded to ignore our school and learn about tornadoes. And then we watched videos of tornadoes. The kids were fascinated and a bit terrified. In the end, no tornado touched down that we heard about, and life is back to normal.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Just Keep Swimming

Selah and Micah are hanging out in the same class for now. I love how much they love their lessons.

After the awful time he had when we tried to do lessons last year, I was quite nervous to put him in this year. As you can see, there was no need to worry. The kid had a blast.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Football and friends

The best part is being with friends!

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Ducks and DavidDavid

Elijah LOVED to dress up as a duck...I think it's time for a bigger costume!

mom! This little guy is David!

And he killed the giant! With a rock! (Yrs, that's why we say don't throw rocks!)

Friday, February 3, 2017

Where'd Our Baby Go?

He turned into Ski-Lijah!


I didn't ever realize I took this yesterday, I missed it when looking through the pictures and videos. I feel like he looks so big and in control. I can't believe he's the baby.




Checking to see where I am...trying to convince me to just wait at the bottom for him! He can do this alone! I refused, much to his dismay. But it's hard to get off the carpet at the top because it's icy and a bit uphill. Plus sometimes he starts going down the hill without lining himself and his skis up!


This one might end up on the wall. It says so much. I miss my baby, but I do love seeing the independent kid he's growing up into- He's on a mission world, watch out!

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Second Ski of 2017

Micah successfully triumphed over the Black Diamond run...accidentally. It's the one in the shot where Selah and Elijah are staring out the window. It may not look like much, but Jonah saw it and was in a complete panic. And Bryan and I were both pretty concerned when we heard- and grateful that we didn't witness that. I wouldn't mind video of it, once I knew he was fine. But watching that live would have been rough. He rode the lift alone (without asking) and turned the wrong way. He was  pretty shocked when Jonah caught up to him at the bottom (where he'd crashed) and asked about it.
Poor Selah didn't take it well. She had asked me that morning when she could go down the Black Diamond... and I replied, "Not today!" That was while Micah was in his ski lesson, Selah didn't go because she already had achieved the patch Micah was going for. A little later, Micah finished his lesson and his instructor told me that he did so well that he not only got yellow, but also brown- the next level! When Selah found out, she literally cried on the slope. She did not like the thought of Micah out doing her. So next, Micah and I are going up the hill on the lift and we see Selah skiing down a bunny hill backwards. Micah says, "she's probably trying to outdo me, because I didn't tell her that I did that in my lesson today." Sure enough, she couldn't believe it when she tried to tell him about her skiing and he said he saw...and that he'd done that in his lesson already. So by the end of the day, you can probably imagine that Selah did not take it well when she learned of Micah's Black Diamond conquering! That is picture two...

Continuing on with firsts...Elijah rode the ski lift. Pictures 3 and 4 are of him with Jonah. It was terrifying for me, but thankfully Jonah was nervous about it as well and kept a tight hold on Elijah. He did excellent skiing down the hill. He's such a natural.

After 3 weeks of unseasonably warm temps ruining our ability to ski, we were finally able to go, but of course the weather can't be mild, it has to be miserably cold. It hurt going up the lifts where there was no protection or escape from that wind. But as you can see in shot six, the sun was out and the skies were blue and it was oh so pretty with the blanket of white on the ground.

In preparation for our upcoming trip to Vermont, I went down the hill on skis with Elijah (usually I just run with him). We didn't fall, so that was good, but he was goofing around so it wasn't easy for me. Hopefully we can get the hang of it before we go. It's been a few (or 13) years of not skiing for me...and I realistically have probably only been 15 times in my life. So needless to say I'm not super comfortable trying to ski with a little guy between my legs. I'd hate to ruin Jonah's adventure by putting him on Elijah duty though, so we'll have to get it figured out. He did well on the leash with Jonah, so hopefully he will with me, too.

The worst part of the bunny hill is that most of your time is spent on the magic carpet going back up to the top!

And lastly, Elijah and Selah were looking out at the hill when we first got to the resort. Elijah looked at Selah and said, "I think it's too crowded today." Given that there was ONE individual on the hill, I am thinking he is a bit of a hill hog! But then, he does like to go as fast as he can and not have to turn as that slows him down.

I'm just grateful for a fun day with no major injuries. (Noah did a front flip off a jump and landed painfully on his leg. Selah ran into a metal fence for the chairlift and gave herself a goose egg. And then there was Micah's crash at the bottom of the black...but overall there only appears to be bruising and sore muscules so I call that a win!)

Monday, January 30, 2017

Daddy's right hand

First, you move it in circles to the left, like this. 
 Second, you move it to the right, like this.

Now let's do it together.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Watch Ya Mouth!



  It's a game that's all the craze right now, and I have to say, I was crying. It's quite hilarious. 





Saturday, January 28, 2017

More Morning Stories

Elijah woke Selah up this morning at 6:30...and then begged her to read him a story. She tried to tell him that she wasn't that good at reading, yet, but he wasn't having it. So she did her best and she even tried to teach him about silent e's!



Friday, January 27, 2017

Betsy Ross?

Nah, just Selah dressed as Betsy Ross!



Monday, January 23, 2017

Everyone's Favorite Activity- The Dentist!


Actually, Dad isn't so keen on the dentist, but everyone else loves it. And no cavities in any of the kids' teeth made for a very happy family.

Little Miss Selah was in the area next to me and looked so sweet peeking around the corner while she was waiting on Daddy to finish up. Overall, she was actually disappointed because she is so desperate to get braces and they said not yet.

Morning Stories

Selah waited an entire hour until it was late enough to wake Elijah up...All because she wanted to read him a story!

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sunday Funday

We got home from Philadelphia Saturday night, and I had a cake that needed done by Sunday at noon. (It really wasn't done until the last second, about  3 o'clock. That's par for the course.) The day was crazy and my phone died and was dead most of the day, so the only picture I have to post is of the cake. I see all the flaws, but overall, it turned out okay. It was for a family friend's sweet sixteen. Hard to believe the kids are all growing up so fast... Jonah will be 16 this fall!

Saturday, January 21, 2017

A quick stop to see GG

It's fortunate that my grandmother lives right off the turnpike in Ohio, and that we can often make the stop to see her when passing through. It doesn't happen nearly enough, but we're all grateful when it does happen. Today we made a quick stop and ate a late lunch of Chick-Fil-A while we visited. 
Elijah and GG, in a deep conversation.

Good luck getting them all to look at once. I'm settling for they're all in the picture!



Elfreth's Alley


This is the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. Someone even came out of a house as we walked down it.



Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

It's perhaps a bit unassuming from the outside, and surely no longer the tallest around, but it is truly gorgeous.

This picture didn't do it justice at all. You're really only seeing about the middle third of the main building

inside the center dome

Above the clouds...

It's rare when you live at sea level to see the clouds from the top. It's a pretty sight that looks a lot like looking at a fresh snowfall. 



Friday, January 20, 2017

Valley Forge!

General Elijah Washington

General Selah Washington

General Micah Washington

General Noah Washington

when asked who the man on the horse was, Elijah thought for a second Ahmed proudly replied, "George Washington!"

Elijah:" We could live in this wood house! And Santa Claus could come down this chimney!" He knows that Santa isn't real, but finds the idea fascinating. I think he really just wants it ti be true. And 4 year olds have priorities, like Christmas presents!
 


Replica cabins depicting what it would have been like for the soldiers during their time at valley forge. It's estimated that there were between 900 and 1700 cabins, each holding 12 soldiers.

It definitely would have been crowded inside.

One of 6 redoubts found throughout valley forge. The kids had so much fun playing there that we missed out on seeing anything else because it got dark.
 
Elijah tried, but the hill was too steep and he couldn't get up.

Micah: "Did they make the enemies walk the plank?"

Micah would have mass their job way, if he were the enemy and had to"walk the plank!"

I definitely don't feel like this picture does it justice. This is the memorial arch, dedicated to those soldiers who lived at valley forge it was monstrous and gorgeous, but the absolute wrong time of day to take a picture.
Add caption

General Washington's headquarters while at Valley Forge, from the hill.

I, personally, would find this was more comfortable than the soldiers' quarters.


Why do our kids have to walk on every wall they can find? It's a learned behaviour.