Week of January 17, 2016

We didn't have CC or dance this week but, we filled our time up with many more activities.

The girls have been asking me to braid their hair recently.  It's a work in progress on my part but, I'm getting better at it.  Audrey's hair is super fine and it's a little short to do a proper braid but, she wants to be just like big sister.

Monday we stayed in the warm house and made chocolate chip cookies!

When Daddy woke up that afternoon we went outside to run around and play.  It was freezing cold outside but, we gathered up some sticks from the yard and took them inside to build a fire.

Tuesday Knox and Brex came over.  Katie had seen a youtube video of hamsters falling off of their wheels so she wanted to show her friends.  They thought it was hilarious!

We're working our way through 1, 000 books before kindergarten.

Katie does art projects that are a little too old for Audrey while Audrey naps.  This week she made a suncatcher.

Storytime at the library was all about snow.  We made giant snowflakes.

Thursday morning Daddy and the girls painted.

The painting soon escalated to body painting.

Friday we rolled out a big sheet of newspaper and drew a town.  The girls made a construction site, farm, lake and road.

Friday afternoon we braved the freezing cold and went to the rv dealership.  We climbed in and out of about 10 camper trailers.  Katie loved looking at the bathroom in each one.  Part of the time we walked and the other times we drove around in a little cart.  Audrey loved the cart and kept begging for more rides.  She didn't seem to mind the cold at all.  We narrowed down our favorites while we warmed up outside then, headed back out to pick our trailer.  We will pick it up next week.  We can't wait for the warm weather so we can all go camping together!

Katie loves helping me make meals.  She likes to make the cinnamon toast by herself.

Saturday Boaz and Selah came over for a sleepover.  Katie wasn't feeling the best but, the kids all had so much fun.  They played until it was time for movie night then cuddled up on the couch and watched Paw Patrol, their current favorite show.

Sunday morning donuts with friends.

Week of January 10, 2016

Our sweet girls really want to help out around the house.  They've gotten to do the dishes several times this week and they also got some tiny brooms and dust pans for when they want to sweep.

We've had one of our "typical" weeks with CC and dance on Monday and friends visiting on Tuesday and Thursday.  We got out our dig for jewels kit and the kids worked at slowly chiseling away the plaster around their jewels.  So far they've found some quarts and amethyst.

Thursday Boaz brought over a big collection of rocks for the kids to look through.  We looked at the rocks with magnifying glasses, read a couple of books about rocks and experimented with the rocks in water.

Katie loved looking at the geode.

It was such a beautiful day outside that we got to spend most of the day playing in the backyard.

 Sweet Lillie loved being outside with the kids.

Daddy has been having fun with his drone...notice Audrey hiding behind the pillow?

Saturday Katie and Audrey wrote notes for their mailboxes.

Papa and Tina came for a visit.  The girls and Papa braved the cold to play for a few minutes in the backyard.

We got to open some of our own geodes Saturday.  They were tough to open...and loud!

The girls loved the end result of opening them and seeing what kind of crystals were inside.

We got a new game, Sequence for Kids, to play together.  The kids didn't really get the objective of the game but, it was hilarious to watch them playing.

We started a new program in January called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.  Our goal is to read    1, 000 books together before Katie starts kindergarten this year in August.  We hit the 100 book milestone this week with "The Josefina Story Quilt".  Taking pictures of the girls with their 100th book resulted in many silly faces and poses.  Katie held our 100th book and Audrey held one of her current favorites "First Thousand Words".