Happy Fourth of July

The big kid came home for the long weekend. It was great to have him around.  

Northwest Park petting zoo

Ice cream treats at the barn in Salem. 

A quick visit with Breton at Chipotle. 

More Snow and More Snow days

Lots of snow, lots of fun! There have been so many snow days and so many "opportunities" to shovel and clear walkways and even the roof! Uriah was the only person brave enough to get on the roof, then Adam got up there too and the two of them made quite a difference in the roof. Uriah left our house to go to Jim and Emily's to clear their roof as well. Oh to be so young, motivated and strong :)

Maura and Landon had fun with the crazy dog. Kona loves the snow, poor Saff doesn't.

Dad and Adam working hard;

Adam and Gord both have the same Mac, gord and I both have the same phone and case. I think I need to Bedazzle Gordie's so that he can pickk his stuff out easier.

Dave made his way through the waist deep snow to the back door, which had not been shoveled yet. Kona made quite the entrance:

One of David's favorite foods is "cheese stuck to the pan" and he makes it himself. Here is the sequence of events.

I've included some pics from around the house. It's been wonderful to be home on all these snow days, even if I have been working at home here for most of them. I love being here in my own space with my own people and really living here.

A christmas gift from Beth- what a special gift and a big surprise. Lots of great recipes in there too.

I'd like some more of this please.

How much do I LOVE my pink Bible? LOVE it a million as Landon would say. Isn't it pretty? I made the little bookmark in a meeting at the Saugus conference during a slow segment, shall we say. Maura taught me how. She opened up her little bag of tricks and had all the embroidery floss, scissors and Scotch tape to tape it down with. Seriously, so CUTE!

My dear old favorite dog. I heart this dog so much. I wish she wasn't turning 9.

From Etsy seller thewheatfield, we always need a reminder.

Sweet sunshine

49 shots of Uriah clearing the roof, Adam is some of them too. Thanks Uriah, you are awesome!

Quote of the week:

Landon to Maura: "You're treating me like people treated Chicken Little."

Wow, I feel 'shamed. I was just over at my little sister's blog and in her blog links it shows "heartfulhome" last posted 2 weeks ago!! Holy cow, my return to full time work has definately taken a toll on the old blog. Or maybe my kids aren't cute anymore. Not sure which.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We were lucky enough to have Ashley and Uriah here for the holidays (still are here) and as always, Vick and Co.....and it's been great.

I personally felt as though the holiday spirit was lacking this year. The month of December flew by and I didn't get to make all the cute little felt things I was going to sew; I did not decorate my stairs and that was probably a key problem right there, as it does create ambiance. I realized on Christmas Day as I opened a present from my dear friend Annemarie, that I had not been into a Starbucks the entire month of December. I had failed to enjoy a Gingerbread Latte, and had not the pleasure of drinking a Christmas Blend. Can you see why the Spirit meter was lacking? Next year, I want it to be different. So, I'll be working on that.

Landon made a gingerbread house at school, he was responsible for providing the candy canes and life savers for the houses. what that means in reality is that Gordie was at CVS at 9 am on the morning of "gingerbread house construction" making the required purchases.

The finished product:



Christmas tree Peeps!

I love the things my kids bring home from school. Here is a little gift from Landon. His teacher is the most creative teacher my kids have had. This is a photo frame with pasta on it and it is then spray painted gold with glitter on it. She used a soda tab for the "hook". I just love it.

Back:

Front:

This is the bag it came in. Squeal.

Maura and Landon "tussling"

Uriah is very helpful around the homestead:

Don't be hatin' on our amazing breakfast!!!

A little bag Maura made for me. The present was given to me in a bag and the crepe streamer was the "filler". Love her!!

Uriah cleaning again.

Landon opens his big present, the Handy manny workbench. It was forgotten about until it was almost time to open presents. I had to run down to the trunk of Gordie's car and get it, wrap it really quickly.

Maura snagged the best spot in the room. Right in front of the tree.

It was back to work today (although I came home sick, but wasn't very sick when I got home...kind of annoying) and Vicki is already talking about when she's leaving for NS again and it just all winds down so quickly.

Last night was an important occasion for us as we watched Adam being baptized. He has been wanting to obey the Lord by taking this step since earlier this year and it was wonderful to see that desire fulfilled last night. We are thankful that he has developed this desire without any pushing from us, just based on ministry he has heard coupled with his own way of doing things, which is the no-procrastinating method of living.

Happy New Year to all our friends!

Counting Down

We're counting down the days til:

-Christmas 22
-Ash and Uriah come for Christmas 21 ish
-Ash and Uriah MOVE HERE!!!! Woo-hoo!! (still being expressed in months-6)
-Jon and Brian arrive for Christmas. 17
-Mama goes back to work. 4

December has begun with so many wonderful changes and news items. We are all looking forward to the holidays because, they're the holidays! They smell good, are packed with people and friends, bring cards with your friends faces on them, involve pumpkin raviolis, and the like. Bring them on!!

I am going back to work full time beginning on Monday. I have been working from home since May and am now going to be in the office everyday. It's the same company that hired me back in 1990....I practically grew up there ;) I am excited and thankful to be going back. But I will miss my mornings with Landon, whaaaaa! I have to say that I am happy to have made the best of being at home with him and don't have regrets in that way. He will be happy at the school morning program with many of his friends, attending school all day just like I did as a kindergartner.

We put our Christmas tree up on Saturday- Maura took pics of the operation. Here is one of the oldest and youngest in the family.


My pretty collection of leaves, just before I released them back into the wind. Time to decorate for Christmas!


This yellow leaf was my favorite.


He is always photo-bombing- I have many pics of would-be still life shots that have his little mug in them.


Adam is a man of many skills. He is able to tie his own tie. Gord and I are very proud of him.