Winter Olympics and a Birthday

I'll cook in snow.

 And why was I insane enough to suggest going faster? I guess I one of those moms.

Daddy tries slopstyle out. Too bad he doesn't have a sponsor, so no cool board for him.

 OH, yeah, a future Olympian.

 Pretending to be Susan and Peter in Narnia.

It is funny how the Chronicles of Narnia come out in normal life. Alden was watching cars go by, and he said, "A mommy car...a daddy car...a sons and daughters of Eve car...". Totally laughed at that.

 Corwin quickly tired of his Olympic training and decided Daddy needed to train for the winter Olympic biathlon.

 2 man bobsledding on a not so ideal track. A tree had to be moved off the track after an initial hit.

 Relaxing with hot chocolate in the lodge.

 Happy birthday to Corwin!!! "Who, me?".

 Monster yellow decorations. 

 He loved his homemade card so much he took it to a Dr.'s appointment and told the lab tech: 3!!! Great job, daddy.

 His fave toy from us...hand held rockets. He tried to convince me that daddy said he could sleep with them. I'm not so gullible yet.

 No more fighting over armor...just more real fighting now.

 Corwee's yellow monster cake...I was feeling like it looked lame until I put almond claws on it. Amazing what little finishing touches will do.

 Decorating his own monster cake for craft. These were so fun and adorable.

 Guess what he ended up eating when given the chance? The sprinkles and the frosting. He left the rest of the cake.

 Other friends working on their creations.

 Pin the stuff on the monster. They didn't like the random results and felt compelled to replace them correctly.

 A few of the creations.

 A monster treasure hunt. I hid monsters with clues to the party favors.

 Corwin insisted he could read his clue.

 Titus was so excited about the gift he was giving Corwin. Love little friends.

 Cousin Benjamin taking a monster bite.

 More gifts. This was funny b/c it was in a box, and after Corwin got the paper off, Alden said, "It's a box." Corwin took a disillusioned look at his friends Sara and Eli, dropped it, and walked off. We convinced him there was something in the box, and he is now enjoying his own pair of scissors and pack of construction paper daily.

 Granddaddy and Smiley aka Kallie.

 Opening rocket man with Grandmama.

Corwin counts up for blast-off. Yeah, I totally confused him when I started counting backwards. I decided we'd better stick to getting the counting up down first...get it...ha ha.

 When he opened his shield from NannyKim and Grandpa, he said, "My shield!". He asks daddy to fight regularly but gets mad at him if he does not submit to his onslaught.

He changes the last thing all of the time. Before this clip, it was "My mommy says be quiet!". Yes, he knows my phrases if not his ABC's.

New monster jimmy-jams. He has refused to wear anything else, but his old set had holes in the toes and was getting really tight. Thank you NannyKim for sending a 3T for our little boy.

What can I say about this little boy? He can be a terror and a joy, a cuddler and a pounder, nearly always messy, doesn't know his ABC's yet, just barely has learned to count to 10, hasn't potty trained completely yet, just a relaxed boy who enjoys life. He loves cutting and pasting, loves stories, has begun memorizing Bible verses, says he "wants Jesus" when he's feeling guilty/being disciplined, loves his "chocate drink" (cocoa) and Orange juice, loves bringing his noisiest trucks or toy horses to wake mommy and get some quality play time first thing in the morning on our bed, and always asks where daddy is if he is gone. He's growing so big and I hate to think of the time when I won't be able to cuddle and snuggle with him. I've never gotten this far without having another baby, so it is a strange feeling to have such a big little boy as my youngest. My prayer is that his heart's desire would always be to "want Jesus" and that he would grow in strength and purpose in the Lord.

Winter Song

I think NannyKim gets to read this every time she comes.

I always seem to need my mom in the winter. She willing drives through threats of ice and snow to come help cheer and feed us. So thankful for her! My kids are too, as you can tell!

After NannyKim left, I emailed her with this update:
"Corwin dumped an enormous pile of ashes all over the deck, waded through it, and started transferring it by bucket to our firepit. Then he came in, walked across the family room floor spreading ashes and soot all over. I was a bad mommy and just got plain mad. These things always seem to happen when I am kneading bread (which is why I almost never make it) and my hands are covered up to the wrists in dough.

Wish you had been here to rescue us!

Sometimes I get so weary trying to live this life...I either want to give up or be done with it. I'm feeling a little better now, but I wish I were a different person better suited to motherhood and mundane challenges."

Now, you may wonder if Corwin ever gets attention during homeschool, or if this is his way of getting it. At least, that is what I have been wondering. But I truly think this is just his nature. I read, craft, include, play, and romp with him, but he manages to do things like this anyway. I do, however, wish I were a natural at joy, peace, and loving well. I checked out Harriet You'll Drive Me Wild to make us all feel better after reading about it in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine which basically said that if I am transparent with my kids about my sin, then they will relate better with me in the end. I certainly hope this is true.

Showing off. Alden has a new breastplate that makes him feel strong, but of course, Corwin fights for it. Here, we have satisfied him with the old double-cape-paired-with-fedora trick.

We were blessed to celebrate Grandmama's birthday in York and to see my niece Kallie, whom I now refer to as Smiley. Sadly, she is only smiley if she is sure she is not being handed off to a non-parent. But, otherwise, she is bountiful with her smiles.

Happy birthday dear Grandmama! My other niece Mary Ruth is getting her fill of Grandmama too. She did not understand why she could not open all of the gifts. But she had quite the good attitude about it anyway.

Tickle time with Grandaddy!

It is Corwin's joy to get into all of the kids' board games and wreak havoc while I homeschool the other 2. At least here he has used the board game to a semi-rightful purpose totally decked out from Pretty Pretty Princess and loving it. I have since resorted to putting our games in a more secluded spot, but the perpetrator has discovered this as well. Hopefully it will at least mean that he will think of this type of fun less often.


Rhianwen in her new pink room with a yarn doll she made at American Girl bookclub. She's really enjoying reading and loves the Chronicles of Narnia books, which Averett and Jaime gave as audiobooks for Christmas. My kids think that their secret of believing in magic is safe from me, but I've heard the whispers. Alden also came up to me the other day and said, "I know you don't believe in superheroes, but I believe in superheroes."


"And he found something sticking out of the snow to make a new track. It was a stick-a stick that was just right for smacking a snow-covered tree." Gotta love snowy days.

They even got to sled. I love our hill!

I did convince them not to put a snowball in their pockets, but they ate quite a bit of it.

Our builder. I keep wondering what he will be when he grows up. Then along comes Corwin saying things like, "Hey, ho, blow the man down!". I bet you can guess what happens. And I'm the one who is stuck as referee. Sometimes I think there is no right answer to this parenting thing. My 2 year old needs to learn to resist his urges, yet at the same time, he does need to knock things over. My 5 year old needs to learn that things cannot last forever and not to feel sorry for himself, yet, at the same time, needs to know that we respect his efforts and creations. These situations are constant and I feel like I never have the discernment to say or do the right thing...even if that thing is total non-action.


Rhianwen's 500 year old melody. I forget the official name, but I like to call it Winter Song. It just seems old and wistful.

Perhaps I have sounded a little heavy, but I truly think I am better than I was last year at this time! It's not saying much, but I am loving this homeschooling thing, and I am not madly applying for every charter school in a 30 minute radius like I was last year. I know there will be gaps, but I know God will make it clear if He wants us to change what we are doing.  For now, I have a peace and satisfaction about it.