January Overview 2019

January went by quickly!  I got my word of the year (SHINE) after some time spent with Jesus.  And one morning I opened my Bible to this lovely verse speaking to me.  

But the verse He gave me on January 1st when He first confirmed it was "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  -John 1:5

Can't wait to spend more time unpacking this word in my life this year.  

Some New Year's Day Quirkle game playing with my girlies. 

We celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God with a fun dessert.  

Kayla made lovely place mats for everyone for dinner with different depictions of Our Lady.  

And the girls insisted on some dress-up.  They are each a different Mary though I forgot to ask which ones they chose.  It looks like most of them are Our Lady of Fatima to me.  :)  

Kolbe wanted in on the picture fun

We had a special date dinner with Kayla.  We fed the other kids earlier and put on a show for them and ate dinner just the three of us all fancy.  Kayla wanted a Beauty and the Beast theme.  She wore her Belle dress and drew pictures to decorate the walls of the characters from the movie.  We made a loosely French-themed meal.  And we got some wonderful time to chat with our big girl.  

Kolbe is straight up crazy.  He can be found constantly doing the unexpected.  Eating lipstick, smearing toothpaste on mirrors and walls and any other surface, spilling protein powder and packets of energy fizz, putting on ridiculous costumes and showing up right behind you dancing in them, breaking his sisters magnatile towers, singing random songs, putting on other peoples' clothes, reading naked in the middle of the living room,  dumping out raw oats and stuffing handfuls in his mouth, jumping on everything, climbing on counters to scavenge food left there, looking in trash cans for gum, stripping naked and rolling in his sisters' beds....basically anything you could think of plus more.  

           

We got out of this habit, but I'd like to get back into it because we did it for a week or so and it was wonderful.  We gathered our religious themed coloring books and the girls colored while we said a family rosary.  It mostly worked out pretty well.  I am hoping we can at least get back into the evening habit with a decade together each night.  

Oh, did I mention that Kolbe also convinces his sisters to aide in his craziness; sometimes they are so gung-ho that they think of terrible ideas for him and then they carry out the terrible plan together.  This was an Ava and Kolbe conspiracy.  I'm still crying in case you're wondering.  And offering it for souls.  Why though, kids???

Sunrise...

Sunset

Chris traveled for the last time with Oracle the week of my birthday.  The kids did a great job of filling in and making my day special.  And my brother in law, Nick put the kids to bed that evening so I could go out for a glass of wine at a local winery with a few friends.  Thanks, Nick!  

Here are the a few of the girls and Kolbe making Daddy a little welcome home note.  

             

We got quite a bit of snow this January.  The most surprising part is that normally we get warmer temps in between snows so most of it melts quickly before the next storm.  It's been chillier so the snow has stayed on the ground more this January.  But we still got a few really nice days to get out and enjoy the weather.  

And here are a few Linkin' Logs creations the kids made one day that they insisted I take pictures of.  

Great work, kids!

7 QT- Feb-u-ending

1. Date Night

Chris and I decided to start saving and start planning a trip for our 10th anniversary (it will be in 2018).  One of the areas we are considering is the Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands region, so we decided to have a themed at-home date night to "try it on for size".  

Really Chris did it all.  He thought of this, he planned it, he bought the regional beers and cheeses, and he surprised me with it one night.  He's kinda great. 

2.  Impromtu Mommy/Daughter Date

I had some shopping to do and she volunteered to come with (she wanted to buy colored pencils with her Christmas money).  It turned into a little date one afternoon and we bought a bag of popcorn while we shopped just because. 

3. Snuggles

I don't get many pictures of this sweet gal anymore.  She and Elise are hard to pin down.  They are always off playing and laughing together. But Ava scraped her knee and wanted some snuggles.  So we snuggled and took a few silly pictures together just because. 

 

Everyone wants to snuggle with the Little Man. 

4. Baby Shower

I attended a lovely baby shower for my dear friend, Caitlin, who is expecting her 6th baby, and 4th girl next month.  

My favorite part was the blessing we prayed over her.  It was such a beautiful time to spend praying for Caitlin, her husband, their family, and the new little one on the way. 

5. Recent Video Clips

       

       

       

6. Homeschooling

The girls loved having my valentine flowers and their little stuffed friends at the table when they did math the other morning.  It's amazing the little things that keep them motivated.  

 

We got some wonderful sunshine and physical activity this week at the park.  One day we went to the library and a nearby park afterwards and another day after they finished school work, we visited a new park (the "train park") with friends.  

 

We sure love these 70 degree days in the middle of winter.  Park time and some hands-on, practical learning-- washing the car.  

 

Fun with math for Kayla, Elise, and Ava (each at their own level) with sweethearts on clearance after Valentine's Day.  We graphed, worked on patterns, did some adding and subtracting, and greater than/less than.  Such a "sweet" afternoon learning. 

She's learning too.  Clearing the table, and doing a pretty darn good job.  She's pretty great at making a mess too, but just the cutest little goober. 

7. Kolbe- 6 months

 

Kolbe will be 6 months in just 2 more days.  He has his two bottom front teeth.  He loves to chew and gnaw on everything.  My little sunshine and my "lucky star" (I finally found my Singin' in the Rain movie after misplacing it for about a year!!- can't wait to watch it again, in case you didn't catch that lucky star reference).  

He is so full of smiles and giggles.  He's sleeping ok, naps sporadically (sometimes 2-3 hours, sometimes barely at all!).  He's rolling EVERYwhere.  If we leave him on the floor, he's across the room when we turn around again.  He's up on his knees a lot and getting ready for take-off.  A lot of scootching, rolling, spinning, and push-ups.  And he LOVES his sisters and getting attention from all of them.  Talking, singing, laughing, tickling.  He is all about it.