janie 15 months

look who turned 15 months old this week!

we are officially in the toddler phase with our silly, snuggly 

and so so sweet jane girl!

read aloud fun - george's marvelous medicine

 roald dahl authors some of our most favorite family read-a-loud books.

i loved his books growing up, and now i get to read them again with my people.

his stories are so very rich with characters who make us squirm and often gasp 

with their crude meanness and all out nastiness.

 

the kids get quite the kick out of hearing their mom & dad read things like 

"whenever i see a live slug on a piece of lettuce, 

i gobble it up quick before it crawls away.  delicious"

or...even better

"well your mummy is as stupid as you are. said grandma." (gasp!) 

certainly quite the contrast from our other read-a-loud favorite little house on the prairie series!

george's marvelous medicine was a fun one we read this past fall,

and afterwards inspired e&b to create their very own marvelous medicine.

just like george, they walked around our house and backyard 

throwing anything they could find into their medicine brew.

moldy carved pumpkins, past due refrigerator produce, mud, leaves, 

worms and bugs were the secret ingredients in their specialty recipe.

 so gross.  so fun.  they loved it!

thank you kindly mr. dahl

winter zoo day

 it's school vacation week.

a snowy, cold and icy one too.

the kids have enjoyed their fair share of hanging in their jammies, 

sledding, movie watching, creating, fort building, coloring, snow ball making, 

lego building, painting and all around lazing around home.  

 it's been good, but when they put the christmas movie elf on yesterday 

morning i about lost it.

i couldn't do another winter day at home.

i couldn't.

they couldn't.

but mostly i couldn't.

  but i also couldn't do any of the other normal get out of the house places 

like the museum, ikea, indoor playground, bowling ally, pool or wherever.

 the school vacation crowds are just too much sometimes
especially with baby girl in the mix.

 but we needed to get out.

they needed to get out of their jammies.

we needed an adventure!

 so...we went to the zoo and it was just perfect.

a little road trip, outdoors, animals, maps to figure out, packed lunch, half-priced admission

and the best part we had these beauties all to ourselves!

hooray for a winter zoo day.

and hooray for good friends to adventure with!

thankful tuesday, 2/18

• my snow removal guy
• interviews with olympians
• how bennett calls baby sister his "jane girl"
• valentine's day sweetness
• cousin time
• being a pretty darn good negotiator
• getting to play dodge ball (ahem therapeutic target practice) against my sunday school kids
• one pot dinners
• reminding siblings that they are best friends too...that everyday can be a playdate!
• uncle matt fun in the snow
• for a swoon worthy downton episode...finally

cousins & snow storms

the weekend brought yet another snowstorm

here in new england.

but it also brought cousins and sleepovers

making for all sorts of fun!

 oh and banana boxes make for some really 

good robots and baby boats as you can see!

our grocery store was happy to unload 

a few of these smile faced boxes...and we are so glad they did!

instabits

some recent instabits.

i love these little glimpses into our days.

days that so often seem to pass in a blurr,

but here are paused, captured and treasured.

cozy afternoons reading books by the fire

snow day fun

girl scout cookie time

girl scout pajama jam

little love

5 year old check-ups

5 year old birthday party fun

post nap sesame street time

play to win sales rally for work...figured if the patriots didn't need it i could use it for my conference

winter exploring

wishing she could be outside exploring with the big kids

mud splashing and loving every bit before more snow fell

a get away to boston

cannonball practicing

my three

2nd grade teachers who make learning such a gift

3 generations of ukranian girls at ella's 2nd grade heritage celebration

the winning bobsled team ... olympics fun

study time with dad...continents, oceans, mountains & rivers of the world

kindergarten registration packet pick-up and one excited little boy

baby math whiz...
well at least she better be fore the number of times she finds and scatters sister's flashcards

secret message reveal valentines...even if the secret message is "poo"

winter time oatmeal breakfasts

that i could walk away from this scary accident with just wee bumps
and a baby girl who was as safe and perfect as can be - praise god!

sweet stripey bummed napper

winter outings to the park for climbing

and more climbing at the children's museum

making our own soft baked pretzels - yum!

i love this guy in carharts and work boots who is excited for spring

another snow day

winter blooms

tweet tweet your sweet or tweet your neat valentine bird hearts for classmates