Jacob and Ethan have to walk their dog first thing in the morning and last week, Jake came in to tell me that the sky was changing into a beautiful sunrise.
I took this picture;
And then just a few minutes later, it looked like this;
A little centerpiece on my table of odds and ends;
My sister came over to help make a Christmas craft with the kids. We traced their hands on sticky back felt and cut out mitten shapes…..peeled and placed them on thick white paper, added decorations to the fronts, and taped the mittens to a string (one on each end) with the child’s name and year on the back of them.
We took the time to take some sister pics. It was fun;
Christmas cookie baking;
Ethan borrowed my camera to take this picture;
More baking;
The children have been waiting and waiting for this time….when the ice is hard enough to skate on…..they skated this morning, what a flurry it was finding all the skates.
I love that we have ponds to skate on. The ice is perfect and almost too slick. It’s even difficult to simply stand without falling down.
I managed to step outside (at 8am) this morning…by tucking Seth into the Ergo and zipping us both up in Rich’s big winter coat.
Rich pretended to fall and Caleb went right to him, and said, “I’ll help you, Dad”. He is holding his hand so he doesn’t fall again.
I have no spunk today….and plan on staying quiet and cozy as much as possible.
Last but not least, as I was on the couch, E came in with a new egg……
And now it appears we have two egg layers. Grace said, “I’m SO proud of our girls.”
Rich is leaving in a few minutes to take Jacob to his first church teen activity.
Then, he’s shopping with the other children, while I stay at home and rest (with Seth).
As I was finishing up this post, Ethan came in with another egg! The new layers are Silk and Star (Margaret has been laying for weeks now). And he thinks another hen (Jenny) is about to lay. We were all grinning and happy as we admired our third egg of the morning…and Rich said it looks like I won’t have to buy eggs from the store again.
Have a happy and restful weekend,
Shanda
Good to be Home 
Yay for the”girls”! Here in Pa.it is snowing.Could be 6-12″.We shall see…….Merry Christmas!
@loaine – It’s supposed to snow here later on, I can’t wait! Merry Christmas!
Have a wonderful day!
Your home is so warm and inviting–I like your centerpiece. Your little cookie helper looks like he was a big help in the kitchen!Enjoy a restful day and the snow!!
Ah…the December issue of Real Simple!! I LOVE Real Simple! EVERY article is worth reading. I love the chickens in the recycle bin!
Looks like you’ve been having tons of fun there! That sunset is so pretty! Can’t say I’d want to get out in the cold to capture it though or walk the dog 🙂 Makes me realize I’m kinda a wimp when I’m to lazy to take my walk/run when it’s not half as cold here :)Love the recycle chicken picture 🙂 too funny!Yay for christmas baking. I’ve been doing that a bit too.That ice skating looks so fun! I think I’ve missed out on the awesome winter fun down here. Someday I shall have to live up there for a winter just to enjoy it 🙂 The crazy thing is probably no one would get why I would be so excited over snow 🙂
I just love all these pictures!! The one of Seth on the counter is tooo cute 😀 And how exciting that you have more layers now!
I love visiting you here on the web! enjoy your day of rest (as much as you can rest with 6 children!:). Your center piece looks…well…EDIBLE:) do they leave it alone:)??Yay for the frozen pond…that looks fun! So nice your sister could come over….I wish mine were close like that…she is 3 days travel away!
oh and the recycled chickens are hillarious!
Wow, a great place for the kids to have fun, both inside and out by the sounds of it. Hey where are the pics of the kids mittens, I sooo wanted to see a pic of what they created! :)Merry Christmas
Your cookies look delightful! And what fun to have your own layers, I’d love it! Love your post of Seth and the ornaments, the pictures are darling! Have fun keepin’ all the skaters warm and the hot chocolate nice and toasty 😉
I’m at a place (finally!) of being able to relax and not worry about doing anything else! I hardly know what to do with myself! I hope you have been able to rest today!My husband and girls gave me an early present last night – a Canon EOS digital camera. I think I’ll sit in the warm den, listen to Christmas music from our cable channel and read about how to use my new camera!Loved the pictures of your skaters! I used to ice skate (high school years) but wouldn’t dare try it these days! Too old and too clumsy!!!
Ethan is developing quite a photographic eye! I love the artsy look to his photo. He must have your creative talent. The chickens in the recycle bin made me laugh! 🙂 Too cute.What an adventure every day must be in your household.
aren’t those “girl” eggs just the “best” things! ours have slowed way down this winter, and the other day I bought some from the store and was amazed at how pale they looked. Looks like lots of fun things going on your way. Merry Christmas~
Oh little Caleb is so cute helping daddy! I love all the pic’s. It looks like a wonderful day! Love, Lish
I loved this post. Wow, what a purple sky! Your little helper made me laugh sitting on the counter like that. Bob was worried about his hands and the mixer. I made chocolate-chip cookies this week and they turned out flat…I wonder why. They still all disappeared though I like the sound of your craft. Are you going to add to it every year? I enjoyed seeing my sis this week when we brought them dinner. It is so cozy to visit at Christmas time. You and your sis look so cute together. Tell Jenny to get with it…LOL. I have to root for her you know. How exciting to have “your girl” laying. Thank Ethan for that priceless picture…too funny. The pond and then hot chocolate by the fire all snuggled up sounds good to me. Take care and Merry merry Christmas week! I am busy cross stitching my DIL name on a stocking top, I need to go buy the velvet on monday! HMMM, and I need some more things to put in the stockings.
Gorgeous sunrise!!! I love capturing beauty like that when I’m up and have my camera ready haha. I love those pics of you and your family playing on the frozen pond. I have great memories of my family and I doing that years ago. Have a Merry Christmas!!
I love how those little cookies with the sprinkles look! Do you have a link to the recipe?
Looking at your photos makes me want to cuddle Ethan, eat your cookies and stand out in the cold watching the kids skate! Oh, and I’d so do the fun craft too
so awesome to see the kids able to skate on the ice. its hard to wait until its frozen enough to be on the top of it. i love that picture that your son took of the hens in the recycling box. i think that would definately be an awward winning (or at least very unique) picture. loved the ones of the sunrise as well.
What a precious gift is the love that you share with your sister, as evidenced by the squnching-in, hug-from-behind picture of you two. Lovely!
What a fun post, Ethan’s photo is hilarious!SO SO SO SO cool that they are all on the pond..a great childhood memory!!!The sky pics are beautiful! And I think you and your sister look so pretty!