Randa gave me The Help to read on Sunday, and I finished it last night.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more with the ending.  And it is not the type of book to have a sequel.  I just wanted to know more of what happened afterward.  I am looking forward even more to seeing the movie now. 

I made my tomato soup today, and instead of canned tomatoes I used fresh, and I think it turned out well.  I actually can't taste anything, I haven't been able to for four days now, but the texture and color looked right.  I'll let you know once I can taste it!

We didn't really have an exciting day so there is not much to write about tonight!  Have a nice evening:)

Some Cousin Love

It was my niece's birthday on Sunday, and we went over to celebrate with her.

She is five now, and her daddy made her this beautiful cake! 

This chubber lives there too.  Isn't he so sweet??

LB loves his baby cousin so very much!  He would especially like to lay right on top of him!  He wants to pat him and says Awww!

Tenting

We were able to do two days of school today, which was good.  I figured it out, and to finish all of the lessons in our books, we would have to go into June.  Especially since we seem to miss a lot of days.  We rarely do 5 days in a week.  So we are going to buckle down and do better! 

After school, the girls were bored so I asked them if they wanted a tent.  And they did.

They ate lunch in there too.

They really did well, ate their lunches quickly, and didn't let the dog get their food.  Always a miracle, that last one!

It was a nice break-up of our routine, and they played in it for a long time.  It looks like it should be warmer than it is outside so I'll open the back door to check, and it is just way too cold to take them for a walk.  Poor little LB, he turns purple from cold so fast, it isn't funny!  I will need to think up more activities for them!

Drawing Books

We had a relaxing day today.  Pnut claimed that she didn't feel well enough for school so we did art projects and played games.  We tried Red Rover and Sorry today for the first time.  Red Rover is a game that my MIL got Pill for Christmas, and both the girls enjoyed.  They actually can play that one by themselves so we will probably do that again soon.  Sorry started out very well, but eventually Pilly threw in the towel.  We were really almost done, and really I thought she did well.  We also took the ornaments off the tree and put most of the Christmas stuff away with many sad phrases coming from the girls' mouths.  This afternoon, after a short nap because of Pnut's coughing, we played games and then drew.  I've been meaning to mention the two books we got the girls for Christmas.  The first is one that we found pictures from on Pinterest for drawing:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486298671/ref=oh_o04_s01_i00_details

It is a really fun book with simple drawings.  The girls are going through it page by page, and at the beginning are a bunch of birds.  The first day we drew a chick and today was a rooster so we added chicks to our pages after we finished our roosters.  It is fun to see what they draw for backgrounds.

The second book was for Pilly because of her love of dogs:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600591531/ref=oh_o05_s00_i00_details

This one is a little more advanced so we have only done one drawing out of it.  Pilly got a little frustrated because of all the small details.  Her fine motor skills are quite there yet.  But, really, you could tell what she was trying to draw.  It is a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Things I Learned Today

Today I learned that you cannot put a glass pan in the oven, heat it up, and then pour water into it.  It will shatter inside your oven.  In other news, my oven is very clean now!  Pnut now has the stomach bug that Pilly had on Monday morning.  She has not thrown up for a while so I am hoping that part is over.  I am also hoping that I do not get it.  Or Joel or LB.  We just did this a month ago; I thought there was an exemption that said you only have to have this once a year.  Apparently I was wrong. 

I also learned that LB can now turn on our gas burners.  Great.  The girls never messed with those.  He is constantly messing with things, turning knobs, opening doors, removing all the chairs from under the table and pushing them around the kitchen.  He does keep me on my toes!

We had Bible study tonight after one week off, and I am just so thankful for the study, for the group of ladies doing it, and the way the Lord is using it to challenge my thinking, to humble me, and to help me grow in Him.  Just so good.

Back to Normal

We started back to school today, and it went really well.  Tomorrow we are officially 70 days through school.  Since I don't have to report on Pnut yet, we will probably not get to the full 180.  Our reading curriculum only has 160 lessons.  We drew and played and had a nice time today! 

The girls "dressed up fancy."  I especially like Pilly's sunglasses.  LB is wearing a hat that he wore home from the hospital.  It stretches to fit on his head still, but of course he doesn't let it on.

I wanted to post this picture for Kacy.  She got the girls pajamas for Christmas, and she got the right sizes, but for some reason Pilly's are way too big!

I'm so glad to have things back to normal!

Some Christmas Pictures

We have had a lovely Christmas and vacation time.  Joel goes back to work tomorrow, and as much as I enjoy having him home, I will be thankful to get back on schedule.  The girls need it and so do I.  I've almost finished putting away all of the things (the many, many things) they received for Christmas.  Our children are very blessed, but they don't want to get rid of anything so that makes it hard!  I had a big clean-out while they went to the movies with their Daddy, which helped, but I think there is still stuff to get rid of.  There always is though.  So without further ado, our Christmas pictures!

The last picture is Pilly and her giant dog.  She loves that thing and sleeps with it and drags it up and down the stairs.  Really a big hit!  LB actually opened some gifts.  He enjoyed tearing off pieces of paper and ripping them into little pieces.  He also enjoyed tearing pieces of paper off of his sisters' gifts, which did not go over well.  He unwrapped my sister's present so I had to rewrap it. He was really getting into the unwrapping spirit!