2017 Family Picture Update #1

It has been a while since I've done a family picture update!   Here is the beginning of 2017 in pictures:   

We have really been enjoying the mild beautiful winter.  I don't think it's been below zero at all this winter, most days are warm enough to go out and enjoy the snow that has been falling pretty regularly.  The woods are beautiful to hike in!

 For Christmas Thomas got a Mickey Mouse Teepee and he and John got matching Mickey Mouse pajamas.  We had a lot of fun celebrating the 12 days of Christmas as a family with special activities each day.

The kids love all of the great STEM activities we take advantage of at our local library.  

One of our 12 days of Christmas activities was to watch the Star Wars Movie in the Theater as a family.  I got to watch about 30 minutes of it before John was ready for a new activity so we went shopping at the outlet malls nearby.

The kids are old enough for family games and we're really enjoyed having family game nights together.  

 Fr. Harlow came over for an afternoon tea and the kids loved that he got down on the ground and played with them.  We are so blessed in the many beautiful priests we know!

One day we went to New York so the kids could play at a water park.  It was a lot of fun.  

 The Library had a stuffed animal sleep-over where the kids dropped off their stuffed animals in the evening and then came back for breakfast and a slide show of their fun night in the library.

One day we went for a walk on Lake Champlain.  

There was a brief January thaw and John took his van for a spin.  

The kids' favorite evening activity is playing "Tornado" with Dad

Thomas poses mid-hop.  He had to have a tooth pulled because it was infected.  He was a trooper about it though and we love our dentist - he even played "light sabers" with Thomas to help him feel "at ease."   

It's a bird, it's a plane....no it's super Thomas, here to protect football watchers from the fuzzy blue Monster attack. 

The kids are enjoying a new to us teeter-totter.  

Thomas working on his 100 days of school activity.  The year is flying by!

Light saber fun.  Thomas told me he changed his name to Thomas Skywalker.

John's favorite reading corner at the Library with the giant Teddy Bear. 

Every night Luke's been requesting a chapter of Life of Fred and we're up to "Goldfish."  He's doing some pretty challenging Math for a six year-old and loving it.  

John's new skill is scooting around on his little trike.  He insists I take him outside every day.  His favorite sign is for "jacket" so he can go out.  His San Diego born Mom is ready for Spring to come with its warmer weather!  At least it's a bit warmer here than it was in Wisconsin.

 The kids participated in a "Squishy Circuits" workshop at the library.  Who knew that play dough can either conduct electricity or act as an insulator depending on the ingredients.  The kids had fun and were inspired to pull out their "snap circuits" today to have some more fun with electricity.

Today was World Marriage Day and we went to Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral since Phil was part of organizing this beautiful celebration of the "significant anniversaries" for married couples in Vermont.  There was even a couple there who was celebrating 70 years of marriage and all the couples present represented more than 1800 years of faithfully lived marriage.  What a beautiful witness!  

Doesn't John look handsome with his fresh haircut. His speech is really taking off and it's fun to hear John express his thoughts - most often in the form of commands right now but he will add a please when prompted.  

Praise the Lord for His many blessings!  We rejoice in His goodness and merciful love as we near the day of Phil's ordination to the permanent diaconate.  We rely on your prayers!  You are each in ours as well.  

Snow!

When Phil said snow was in the forcast, I pictured a typical "first snow" where it snows a bit, doesn't stick but melts as it touched the ground. Instead we got this:

LOTS of snow!

Enough to go for a sled ride.

Enough to build a snow-leaf man

And plenty of fun for everyone.  Also, the craziest driving conditions I have ever driven in!  Thankfully the snow should all melt away next week - it's too early to have so much snow!

Some Winter Fun

Though the Winter days may seem long and sickness has kept us home and inside more often
than we would like, we have had some really fun winter days.

William and Phil built a snow castle outside:



William has built many and varied tents in our house, Cleo is a good sport since William has claimed her corner for this one.  It was thoughtful of William to make sure she was warm and cozy in her new spot.

We went to our local Children's Museum for it's Grand Opening in its new location.

Here Miriam is enjoying their play area.

Miriam and William have had fun building with Legos.  They built this "house" together.

We went to a friend's house to help them make a "Tigger Pinata" for Anna's 4th Birthday.  Here's an interview with the soon to be birthday girl:

Once it is dry we'll be able to add another coat of Papier Mache and paint it.  A messy but fun project. Considering the fact that we had 7 kids age 5 and under working on the pinata I think it turned out pretty well.

We are ready for spring and to be out and about and illness free..yet we're grateful for the fun days we've had this winter.  Praise God for His many blessings!