Samuel's drawings

Go to the snow

We really get irritated with our weathermen around here.  It seems that their snow predictions are rarely accurate.  Brian and I feel like we could do a much better job and our children are absolute believers in us!
We had some crazy predictions for snow yesterday and today.  One local station said 5-8 inches!  Another local station called for 2-4 inches!  We saw a National weather reports for less than 2 inches total.  This was supposed to all begin with rain and then change over to snow.  That part was correct.  We got rain, a little sleet, a few snow showers and zero accumulation.
We had already prepared the kids for little to no snow, so they weren't too disappointed.
The really strange thing was that where Brian works (20 minutes away) actually got three inches!  There usually isn't much difference between us and them.  So, today I took the kids sledding in that city!
We had a great time with a sledding hill all to ourselves, but it was crazy windy!

 The snow was SO wet and pack-able-- the absolute easiest snowman we've ever made (we had to scrounge in the car for items for it's face though)

Moving on...

Some friends of ours moved recently.  Emma got to attend Hannah Claire's birthday party as part of her goodbye.  She and her family have been a blessing to us the last few years and we were sad to see them go, but wish them the best!

Book of Love

A few years ago Brian started a book for me where the kids draw or write something each Mother's Day, my birthday and Valentine's Day.  This is in place of cards from them and it is something I always look forward to looking through.

When I saw the page from Lucas I thought it was the sweetest thing I've seen him draw and I loved it!  Then I heard the story.  Now I still love it, but there is a story that none of us will ever forget because of the reminder in this sweet little picture...

Apparently Samuel thought it would be funny to tell Lucas to draw "pee" on the picture.  

So, Lucas did.

Life with boys.

Flowery snowflakes

A perfect day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  There was fresh snow on the ground when we woke up and by the time we left church it was snowing again.  The entire day was snowy and beautiful!  We stayed home and enjoyed each other's company.  It was the best!

Brian and I celebrated last night with the couples from our Sunday school class and we will have a date later this week, so today was about being together as a family.

We ate the cookies we made the other day:

 Of course there was time to play in the snow!

 Samuel set out corn in hopes of luring squirrels into his trap

 Nathan's buddy Nathan came over to spend the night.  We always enjoy having him here.

Valentine's Day

Spending the day with my loves with lots of snow coming down... couldn't be better!

Joy

Snow play

While in Wisconsin we did get a little time to play in the snow.  It was good timing for that since we have only had 3-4 inches total here the ENTIRE WINTER!

I built a fort out of the snow piles

 Happy Snow Kids

 The little boys loved traveling side by side!

Incredible loss

Recently we had to say goodbye to Brian's Grandma M.  To say that she was an amazing woman, is an understatement.  She lived to be 95 and was married to Grandpa M for 73 years.  I can't even imagine such a long life or the companionship they experienced after being married for so many years.

Brian said some of his favorite memories with Grandma were playing card games and other games at the kitchen table with her and going to their church.  He said she was always so kind and interested in everything about them and "we could do no wrong" in her eyes.

Nathan, "She was a really nice Grandma."
Emma, "She was really sweet and she loved me."
Samuel, "I really wanted her to be 100 one day and she was close!  And I loved her"
Lucas, "She was cute!"

Grandma M meant a lot to me as well.  When Brian and I got married I was thrilled to have Grandparents again since all of mine had been gone for many years.  She and Grandpa totally took me in as one of their own.  I did not take this for granted.  It can be hard to enter a family after divorce.  There are some dynamics that people may not realize unless you are "the one" that is new.  Grandma M always made sure I knew how loved and accepted I was.  Her encouragement meant so much to me, especially when she praised our decision to home school, and pointed out the positive changes in Brian and Nathan's lives after we became a family.

I'm sure most people who knew Grandma would say that she was a positive person... an encourager... But it's important to know that she didn't just say nice things to make others feel good... she was sincere and it was easy to know that she truly meant what she said.

We will miss her hugs, her support, her handwritten letters, and  her love, but we will always feel so blessed to have had her in our lives as long as we did.

Emma wrote Grandpa a letter the day we found out Grandma died.  Her sweet heart just melts me.

Valentine Boxes

Emma and Samuel had a Valentine exchange during 2nd hour at Class Action this year.  Samuel was thrilled to receive "thousands" of Valentines!  The next day at Classical Conversations they took in special Valentine boxes for another exchange:

Pikachu

 Piano

Lucas's Pre-K Valentine party was today since he has Friday off for a long President's Day weekend.  He couldn't decide between Gumby and Gumby's sister (Minga), so we did a double sided box!

 Minga (his favorite side), all buckled in on her ride to school

Amazement

Love the cold