When we had snow!

Just a few pictures of the kids in the snow!!

The pool was frozen over.

Joshua and his big chunk of ice he found.

Matthew with his magnifying glass. Trying to melt the snow.

Gingerbread Houses on a Snowy Day

We were all stuck in the house for a few days with the icy weather and daddy had a day off, so we had to make the $1 gingerbread houses, that I got on sale after Christmas. And they loved every minute of it. I did not know that daddy had said he would help them on his next day off, but first thing when they woke up they were chiming in about how daddy said they were making houses today.


Joshua was pre-eating much candy.

So was Mark and it looks like it's all over his face.

Daniel's finished house.

The construction process...

Cynthia was so sweet to help Lauren with hers.

Let the eating begin!!

Yummy, mouth full!

They all just had a blast!

Daddy was a great house builder.

Decorating was lots of fun but I think eating was better.

The finished houses...

Gingerbread Land! Which now resides on top of the fridge for all not to eat!!

Reading on Winter Days

What?!? You say your "bored" in the Grissom home, "Go read" that's what I say!!

(from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Author Roald Dahl)

"The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set–
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all the shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink–
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK–HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?
'Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY...USED...TO...READ!
They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more.
Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy–Winkle and–
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole–
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks–
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start–oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hears. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Sewing project complete!

I am just so thrilled, Cynthia showed me how to sew from a pattern. Yes we made an apron, doesn't everyone make an apron first? It was so fun and I did it!! Looks good too, but you can't see all the little mess ups through a picture. hee hee

Warm winter days!

We went out to fly Matthew's plane. It was fun to watch and they ran all over the field chasing it.

Matthew with his plane.

We had to make a run to dollar general to get some tape, as it crashed and needed some repairing. But it did repair and kept going. We can even go again when the weather is nice.

Just trying to enjoy the few nice days of weather by being outside.

Biking and skateboarding up and down the road. Oh and collecting metal, is what the boys do when they are out.

Lauren and Sarah were loving the swings.

Playing ball!

Happy Birthday Sarah

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Sarah!! I truly can not believe she is a year old already. She didn't know what to do with the cake icing on her fingers. But she did eat it eventually. Cynthia was sweet and made her cake. Sarah liked her little ride on music pony that the kids all bought her. It was so sweet they all paid for some of it, and picked it for her. How precious are those kids!!