Ending the snowiest winter on record in Boston

It was a really fun winter. Lots of snow in a very short amount of time and the weather has been steadily improving over the last couple weeks. Its going to take a while to melt the several feet of snow that we have left in the yard, but so far we've had no flooding- so that's great.

These photos are from the 1st storm at the end of january. Snow above hadley's head from just one storm. Then it just kept piling up higher and higher. We have a snowman buried in our front yard still. I'm looking forward to finding that scarf & hat when all the snow finally melts.

As a result of all the snow, which was too deep to really be fun for Eli to play in, we've had lots of fun inside over the winter. I've been incredibly grateful for central heat this year. And for our recently insulated house w/ a new roof- we didn't get a single icicle on our roof when everyone around us were struggling w/ ice dams & leaking roofs.

Super Hadley is such a great big sister. She is teaching Eli how to make incredible block fortresses and she loves hiding objects for him and then leading him to find them. I love listening to them chatting together at night, in their bed that they share. They do such a good job comforting each other.

If you've never microwaved a bar of Ivory soap, drop everything & go buy a bar & then prepare to be amazed. It is SO COOL. We had a lot of fun with a book called Dad's Awesome Science Experiments 

 Grandma gave us a lap harp and Hadley is becoming a pro. Its fun to hear her make music on the harp and her guitar. She certainly knows how to make a joyful noise.

 We made a diaper cake for a Mutual Activity & Hadley wanted to try making one herself, so we spent a morning rolling Eli's diapers & dressing this up with every ribbon fragment in the house.

I flew out to St. George in February for a few days with my Grandma. It was wonderful to relax with her and listen to her stories. I also really enjoyed watching her interact with her friends in her facility. Those ladies take good care of each other. It was also really nice to warm up and enjoy the sunlight again. Grandma and Carol were amazing hostesses and it was so nice to have a kid-free vacation & to sleep through the night.

Meanwhile, Josh was super dad- up on a neighbor's roof clearing ice dams, parenting round the clock, and renovating our bathroom. He is my greatest blessing.

Josh got a new job and we've been celebrating. We've gone on 4 dates in the last 2 months, have enjoyed several visits with the Wards and have enjoyed lots of game nights.
I'm looking forward to the Spring and playing outside again, but it looks like we survived & thrived through yet another long winter!

Finishing up 2014

Its been a whirlwind couple of months around our house. I'm finally taking a moment to post. Tutoring and the normal school/church/kid schedule just seems to fill the time. That and the fact that we've discovered a couple fun new board games with which we fill our play time.

What a gorgeous fall we had in New England this year. We enjoyed lots of leaf-peeping around our town and lots of raking in our yard. I love my house (and my new gutters & chimney cap have been much appreciated this fall too).

We don't really celebrate much with any holidays around our house, but Hadley had asked to be a crab apple tree for her preschool halloween parade, so I obliged and helped her make a costume. She was so proud of herself for making her own costume (and I was proud of her that she didn't want to be one of the 7 out of 8 girls in the next class who chose to be Elsa). Its always interesting to watch Hadley interact with her peers and see her level of obliviousness to their differences. I sure love who she is becoming.




We hosted Thanksgiving at our house again.

Oh the food was good. It sure is nice to celebrate with family and to enjoy such plenty. We have felt so incredibly blessed in our comfortable life right now. While there have been stresses and twists and turns this year, I still find it hard to believe that we have such an incredible balance of life right now.



We had a bit of snow over Thanksgiving, which allowed Josh to get his coveted bandsaw, but then the weather warmed up and we had a warm Christmas. We have been up at the McKnight homestead, enjoying sleeping in the cabin and gaming and cooking round the clock. It is a great way to end the year.

Now for random pictures of the kids from around the house.

This kid is in a serious train phase right now.  

Eli wandered into the kitchen looking like this a couple weeks ago. Its hard to resist a kid who accessorizes with rainbow loom bracelets and dresses in tie dye. He is also in love with consuming as much applesauce as we'll let him.

We've had lots of help in the kitchen because it gets dark so early now and we all want food on the table quickly.

Hadley is still enchanted with building complex structures. Its been
fun to watch the evolution of her buildings over the past several years.