Super Soccer

BB would love to be 5 so she could play "super soccer". Here she is practicing inside on a snowy Saturday.

ipad education????

Barefoot Dad found a bunch of Montessori ipad apps. Here is BP doing the Hundred Board, which is one of her favorite "works" to do at school. Scary thing is this is what our world will become. It will be like..."Welcome to Kindergarten Johnny, here is your ipad. Now get to work".

My babies with their "Bitty Babies"

Your Life...

Saw this on my friend Jenny's blog the other day and I CANNOT stop thinking about what it says. I agree Jenny we need a poster of this in our house too!

A Thousand Sisters

A Thousand Sisters: My Journey Into the Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman

A book every woman should read. I highly reccommend it.

If you do read it please let me know if you would be interested in a 5K for Congo Women?

Snow Day

We have had so any snow days lately I cannot even remember which day these pictures are from...but I can tell you that BP, BB, and Baby C all love the snow, don't mind the cold, and could care less about Spring coming quickly. I am trying to learn from them.

How can such a bitter cold January day have such a beautiful ending? Mother Nature has such an oxymoronic side to her I guess...kind of makes me think about how good can sometimes come out of other bad situations in life. I'm off to ponder this some more. Happy Friday!

Baby Sushi

Mr. O made Baby C her own little entree, which he called "baby sushi." She devoured it!

Sushi

BP and Daddy at our favorite Sushi restaurant in the town we used to live. It is an hour away now, but totally worth the drive.

It all started with a rug.

An IKEA rug to be exact. I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye + immediately thought of BB. It is bright + spunky just like she is. She had definitely grown out of her toddler bed. (We could hear her bashing into the sides of it at night). It was time for a big girl bed for BB + I thought with a few simple + economical changes I could give her a big girl room also. First, I asked my dad if he could dig out my old bed from when I was a little girl. I knew it was stored somewhere in one of my parent's barns. A couple days later he delivered the bed to our house. I sanded it + spray painted it with Rustoleum high-gloss Candy Apple Red. Then I spray painted the rails with a textured metal paint that keeps them from ever rusting again. I like the simple look of the four poster bed + a canopy is too girly-girl for BB so it was ready to go as is. Barefoot Dad took BB to Home Depot to buy wood for the support slabs. They cut it up in the basement + we assembled together. New white sheets + some other linens we already had + voila BB has a new bed + room!

Stay tuned for curtains that I am going to try to make myself. I may need to borrow BP's sewing machine Uncle Matt + Aunt Nicole gave her for Christmas. Ha! And also for a do it yourself project for BB's wall art.

Skating

Over Winter Break we spent the day with friends on the ice. At one time or another we each had a pair of skates on. Some of us were better than others :) Ok, I'll admit...everyone was better than me. Except Baby C who was happy being pulled around on the sled most of the time. We decided that since she was a very new walker, walking on the ice would not be a good idea for her.

I have this on-going list of "The Best Country Days" since we moved a couple years ago, and this one at the top of the list. The setting was breathtaking. The views panoramic. The company was warm and funny. The pond, barn and house pristine. The chicken noodle soup and hot cocoa to die for. The ice hockey game hilarious. We did not want the day to end.

We all slept really well that night. One of us was pretty sore the next morning.

3 + 3

Taking this picture has been on my "to do" list for a while.

I was so happy to snap it on Christmas night.

From Left to Right (in birth order):

Mama + BP

Aunt Cynthia + BB

Aunt Debbie + Baby C

Now on my "to do" list is to make a copy for each of my girls for their memory boxes.

Flashback: Chrsitmas Morning

Almost 1, 3, and 5 I would say are the perfect ages for Christmas. It was so much fun this year!

Flashback: Christmas Eve

Opening gifts at Aunt Debbie's house.

Guess Who's Walking?

Excuse the boogie nose She has been battling it for two weeks. Poor kid! But Baby C is walking...really walking. She started on Christmas Eve. (It will be easy to remember the date) She is into everything + our lives have changed once again :)

Bag Balm

Lovely name for a product right? But, yes, it is supposed to be used on farm animals. However... I have found it to be the ONLY thing that cures dry, chapped hands from harsh, cold, Northeast winters, and I found it right at my local grocery store. I am sure it can also be found at a farm supply store too.

Christmas Card Rejects

These three pictures were cute, but not the winner.

So many people asked how I got the 3 girls to stay still, look at the camera, and smile at the same time. Pure Luck!

I got them all excited about putting on the red velvet Christmas coats, told them we were going outside for a photo shoot, and then clicked like a crazy woman for about 15 minutes.

Basement Project Update

Barefoot Dad's office is almost complete.

The concrete floors are polished, stained + finished. Painting is 99% complete + should be done tomorrow.

More pictures + details i.e. paint colors etc. to come. Just one last thought...do you know how hard it is to find a TRUE "barn red"?

Gingerbread House

From the minute Nana gave us the "create your own gingerbread house" kit, BP incessantly asked to do it. So after 1,000 times of asking the girls created this on Sunday afternoon. BP loved the whole artistic process. BB just liked sneaking the candy.

And After...

All done up...Our tree in all its glory!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

We are totally behind this year, but we are slowly checking things off our list. Such a fun, but crazy time of year. All 3 girls are loving both the fun + the craziness.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Seeing this Frank Lloyd Wright design was another highlight for me of our trip to Sedona.

PHX Zoo

If you are ever in the Phoenix area you cannot miss this zoo.

Sedona

Sedona from a little red Bell helicopter was AMAZING! BP, BB, and I loved every second of it. BP kept saying "This is AWESOME!" and BB was obsessed with the microphone attached to the headset. The views were like nothing I had ever seen in my life and sharing it with my two big girls was so special.

A few pictures from our Thanksgiving holiday trip to Arizona. More to come...promise.