Life Lately

We have had a busy January somehow, but the kids and I have still managed to have lots of fun!  Here are a few photos from my phone from the past few weeks.

 the girls taking care of their twin babies. 

 All of us getting ready to go for a chilly walk before bed.  We really enjoy going for a quick walk, and I find that it helps them go to sleep more easily.  It has also been neat to see the progression for each kid through the years.  Enoch now does great on his bike and I can trust him to be far ahead of me because he has pretty good judgment about cars.  Alaythia is very confident on her balance bike now (except for hills), and she loves to show me how fast she can go.  Karis used to complain a lot when I would ask her to walk (as opposed to sitting in the stroller), but now on most walks she is eager to either push Zoe's stroller or to chase after Enoch... and the girl can run!  She likes to say "one, two, go" and then sprint ahead 20 feet before she stops to repeat the 1, 2, go.  :)  Zoe thinks it is all pretty entertaining, and she typically enjoys going too!

Enoch sewed this fish all by himself (I just cut out the fabric and pinned it together for him.).  We attached a metal washer to it so that it works with his magnetic fishing pole, and he's really enjoyed playing with it.  (More about his sewing soon!)

 Playing in Zoe's room (they made a little tent under the curtains).

On a different night walk, we borrowed a neighbor's hill and looked at the stars.  We ended up being able to find Orion's belt, which was super exciting for Enoch.  He is really interested in planets and space right now, so hopefully we can continue learning more!

Reading has been going really well lately!  Enoch has been able to read quite a number of beginner books aloud to me, and he really enjoys that feeling of accomplishment! 

And lastly here's a video of Zoe crawling.  She thinks Enoch's excavator is really fun because it makes loud noises and even plays music!  

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Snow in the South

All morning long the sky was white with falling snow.  Although we got less than 1 inch, it was still so much fun for the kids!  Sometimes when the wind would blow the snow, Enoch would say, "Mom, maybe we're going to have a blizzard!"  (We just finished up the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and they had a LOT of blizzards!)  To make the day even more special, we had snowman pancakes for breakfast and hot chocolate to warm up after our time outside.  Here are some pictures of our time outside:

 Alaythia mopped the street (to keep the snow off, of course)

 Karis shoveled the snow for a few minutes.

 And Enoch swept the snow.  

He also managed to escape outside pant-less earlier this morning, and he swept all of the snow off of our picnic table so that he could bring it in and show the girls.  I have no idea how he didn't freeze, but his enthusiasm was certainly not dampened by the cold!

My three big kids posed for a picture right before Karis demanded to go inside because she was cold.  :)

 And little Zoe made it outside after her nap.  She thought the snow was fun to hit!

Isn't she a cute little baby bear?  I just love sweet little babies in snow suits!

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Getting Outside in the Cold

It has been rather cold this week down South (I know, I know, it is January, so it is supposed to be cold... but still!), so the kids and I have stayed inside almost everyday except our errand/therapy day.  We've had a lot of fun doing school work together in the mornings, and we've managed to keep the house tidy, but we were all a little stir-crazy, so this morning we went out and played.  After putting Zoe down for a nap, the big kids and I went out to rake and bag leaves, and it was SO good to get outside!  The sunshine was bright and cheery, the wind was busy somewhere else, and it felt great to break a sweat from raking!!  Here are some fun pictures of the kids playing in the leaves:

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