Whew! Talk about a sweet surprise today! The weather forecast called for just a few inches of snow in the afternoon, but we had a steady accumulation of big, feathery snowflakes starting at 9am and continuing all day long.
We had some friends over in the morning, and they were snowed in with us into the afternoon. Later, kids were outside again while Ellis shoveled our sidewalk. I was a little sad that we didn't have any sleds for the kids, but Mac figured out how to make do. :)
I have not been outside in that much snow in quite a while. I was pleasantly reminded how peaceful and beautiful it is when the snow is falling and the world seems to stop for a bit. I happened to read Psalm 19 earlier today, and it seemed to fit just right for the day.
Last week I ordered a Bissel Turbo Sweep for our upstairs: I purchased it specifically for picking up the million crumbs and pieces of food under Davey's seat after meals.
It's safe to say that so far, my wildest dreams have come true.
I had spent a few days telling the kids about an amazing, new "little" vacuum that would be coming in the mail. They became really excited about the idea of having their own vacuum that they could clean with by themselves.
One afternoon after naps, I had the turbo sweep all charged and ready for them. They spent about two hours "vacuuming," and they probably would have used it even longer if we hadn't had to stop for dinner.
At one point, I caught Mac and Corrie sharpening pencils and dropping the shavings all over the top floor so that they could keep vacuuming.
I don't know how long this honeymoon period will last, but I am savoring every bit of it.
Davey loved being able to do a real "job," and he had a pretty tough time waiting when it was not his turn.
He had such a focused look of determination and pride on his face. Such a funny little guy!
Today Mac celebrated Valentine's Day with his little Kindergarten class. He exchanged valentines, ate French Toast, and generally had a wonderful day with his teachers and friends.
When I went to pick him up, I saw one of the freakiest things I have ever seen:
(box for holding valentines)
When we got home, I looked through Mac's Home Folder and found a paper that Mac filled out at school:
Translation:
I love to eat: chocolate
I love to play with: Davey
I love it when my mom: reads to me
I love to: wrestle with my dad
I love to: Read
I really love: Fish Class (his Kindergarten class)
Mac, you add such a special sweetness to Valentines Day. I love you. :)
On Monday night, Corrie jumped up and down excitedly saying, "We can have tacos for lunch tomorrow on Daddy's birthday, and it will be TACO TUESDAY!"
Corrie and Ellis both love tacos, so she was pretty enthusiastic about the thought of Daddy having tacos on his birthday :).
We were all delighted yesterday, Tuesday, February 10th, 2015, to discover that were even more sweet surprises than the tacos waiting for Daddy on his birthday.
First, we realized that we could all visit Daddy at work and join in the three-minute birthday party they had planned for him.
So, anyway, we were so happy to get a few minutes of time to eat cake and sing to Daddy at work. The kids were over the moon at the sight of the big slices of birthday cake waiting for them on the table in the break room:
The kids always love visiting Daddy at work. One of the kids' most favorite people to see is Karen, the office manager. She started sucking helium from one of the balloons and singing to Ellis in her silly voice. The kids thought it was hilarious. It was pretty funny when Corrie joined in.
Davey has always loved singing. He was singing "Happy Birthday to you" all day yesterday :)
The kids made a card for Ellis. Corrie wrote "Happy Birthday Daddy" on the front and decorated it all by herself. She amazes me!
We all signed the inside (Corrie decorated it with balloons), and Mac signed his name on the left side and decorated it. He drew a picture of Ellis and himself, and he wrote, "Mac me love Badpy." It was a very good try. Those B's, D's and P's can get mixed up sometimes :)
We got home and decorated our own cake for Daddy while Davey was napping. We found yellow candles (Ellis' favorite color). We put five penguin gummies on the cake to represent our family, and also to represent one of Ellis' favorite computer operating systems (Linux). Corrie and Mac brought home M&M's from the candy stash at Ellis' office, and they decided to put those on the cake, too. Mac was pretty upset that I didn't let him eat them all.
We all loved Ellis' birthday meal, which was corned beef and vegetables. Afterwards, we had some cake and got ready for Ellis to open his present. Everyone was getting a little sugar-high and crazy!
The kids were so interested in helping Ellis open his present.
Mac looked at it closely, earnestly trying to figure out what in the world it was.
Corrie said, quite matter-of-factly, "I think it's for making circuits." That girl! She was right. It was sweet seeing Ellis explain his "Arduino Starter Kit" to Mac.
We finally got the kids in bed, and then we heard a knock at the door. Dan, Julia, and Baby T were stopping by to say happy birthday and deliver some delicious pumpkin bread to Ellis. We had a nice time visiting together for a little while.
A few weekends ago, we had the privilege of a visit from one of my college roommates and her family. We are used to saying "Ames and Jer are visiting!" (Amy and Jeremy), but now their family includes Ryan, little Caleb, and Mia (the dog). We were happy that we got to be with the whole gang this time.
Thanks for taking so many great pictures Ames!
Corrie loved Mia so much. I can't wait to see her with a dog of her own one day. (Which will be at age 18).
Amy brought a travel playpen for Caleb, which I called "the octogon" when I first saw it. I did not know that Caleb would actually treat it as an ultimate fighting ring when Davey got in there with him, and it's safe to say that Davey finally met his match. I can see him pleading with his eyes for me to rescue him in one of the pictures.
Then I went downstairs and saw all three big kids playing in the little pack n' play!
We read Winnie the Pooh together before bed. The kids were so funny!
On Saturday we went for a hike on the Skyline Drive. We had all been looking forward to it so much, and we had to drive a good 20 minutes to get there.
When we got there, the park was unexpectedly closed, and it was freezing, and we realized we had forgotten Mac and Davey's jackets!
Neither Ames nor I were surprised: just another typical adventure for us. Poor Ellis and Jeremy were not surprised or daunted either...I guess living with me and Ames for all of these years has gotten them used to it.
We did manage to find a pink sweatshirt for Davey and one of Ellis' Jackets for Mac. We thought we were just going to have to hike on the very cold, very windy road since we weren't able to drive our cars up to the park entrance where the hiking trails were. Bummer!
But then, just a few minutes into our depressing trek, we spotted a secret trail heading into the woods on our right! I silently thanked the Lord very emphatically in my head, and I think I may have even cheered out loud.
We were all anxious to get out of the freezing wind, and Mac and Ryan were happy to lead the way! Corrie was so happy that we got to hike "in the forest." Me too, Corrie :)
What a nice surprise that hike ended up being! My heart was so full of thankfulness to the Lord the whole time. I kept thinking how it went so much better than our original plans would have been!
I have been meaning to get this post together ever since I got all of the pictures from Ames a few weeks ago. Today I took a stroll down memory lane and looked at some pictures of our time during the "Haven" days (Lock Haven University).
The Lord gave us a great gift of friendship during those days...to keep pointing each other toward Him and have a lot crazy laughs in the process.
It was always an adventure then, and it still is now!
