Super Bowl Sunday...

 brought our first big winter weather advisory.  Our trip to church was snowy.  Uncle Pastor reluctantly cancelled services for the evening.  "But you guys will still come over for nachos, right?! You can come earlier than the planned after church time." begged Mari.  Our trip home was snowier, but we made it.  We made some yummy treats to take and spent the evening with family...eating, laughing, semi-watching the football game, looking at trip pictures, and relaxing...while watching the snow fall and wind pick up.

 

 School was called off while we were together...and the kiddos were thrilled...so were the moms!

 "Hey, Ted, snap a picture of us!"

 "Are you still snapping?"  No.  "You are?!"

 "Wait...stop...no  more!"

"Oh...man..."  Thankful for the time to be together...safe and warm...watching the boys play outside in the snow. 

January blew away into February!

 I have not forgotten about blogging...I just haven't felt like doing it, to be perfectly honest!  If I were a bear...I would be hibernating right now, honest and truly.  My brain is shot at the end of the day and I couldn't figure out why my pictures wouldn't transfer.  TODAY...it was light out till 6:00pm and the sun was shining...I felt like I could conquer the technology difficulty.  NOW...time to catch up!  We finally got snow that stayed on the ground in January...and clouds that moved in and kept it dark and dreary.  Yeah for the Michigan winter gloomies.

 We've been fishing in K3....

 coloring inside the lines...

 working together doing puzzles...

 arranging patterns...

 reading lots of books...

 snuggling little friends who are feeling well...

 missed a day to take care of cute guy with a painful eye problem!  Corneal ulcers are not something to ignore.

left early to take number one daughter for first cavity filling ever...

 participated in Spirit Week...this day was Character Day...Little Red Riding Hood, Mary Poppins, and Fancy Nancy...

 Oops...no picture of Teddy that day...he was Gilligan.

 Lots of studying for exams, homework, and projects...

 constant use of creative and scissor skills...

 Just being all around adorable and silly...

 "Oh. no. my crown is sliding.  Miss Kawii, oh. no."

After 4 days of crazy dress that causes all sorts of consternation...as a mom, helping children that live with you come up with ideas that are then rejected; as an employee, coming up with your own idea to participate with; as a teacher/aide, corralling all the craziness that dress up brings...finally, Friday brought normal clothes...at least for our class!

 Learning all about pep rallies...and not crying about the noise....but joining right in and screaming at the top of our lungs while jumping around...

Watching our boy play basketball...and watching our cousins play too.

Reminded this week that God is faithful...

and He wants His children to be faithful!   

Where I am...  

What I am doing...  

Where I am going...  

How long I am going and doing...  

Why I am going and doing...  

How I am going and doing...  

When I am going and doing...  

God wants me to be faithful!  

He has a purpose and a plan...

for my good and for His glory!

Thankful for God's peace in the seasons of life that bring grief, sadness, pain, struggle, and tears.  God called one of His children from our church home this past week.  Two other families are hurting as husbands/fathers face serious physical trials.  My auntie faces her last round of chemo on Monday.  Through the seasons in our life, are we testimonies of God's faithfulness?  I am thankful for the faithful heroes in God's Word!  Our SS small groups have been going through the book, Have Faith In God.  What a timely study!  I am thankful for those in my life that are demonstrating their faith in God...during the changing seasons in their life!

Friday night date with my love

What to do when the kiddos have plans??!!  Spend time with your husband!  And be thankful for that time!

Hot Chocolate Party

Sweets

Sunny, snowy days are beautiful!

We are seeing the sun for the second day in a row and it is lovely!!!  The snow was hanging on the trees after Monday night's snowfall.  The kiddos are hoping for snow days...I keep telling them it isn't going to happen this week!  For now...we are enjoying the beautiful blue hues of winter!

They are on their way!

Sunday morning, we prayed as a church family for Uncle Pastor and Mari and Scott and Michelle.  They left this afternoon for a missions trip to Thailand and Cambodia.  I would say they were all anxiously excited for this first trip ever to this region!  Praying for a safe trip and an encouraging visit for our missionaries!

Saturdays are for using tools!

 What my husband has to get to deal with a broken padlock of reenforced strength steel!

 What I now use to make yummy rolls and cinnamon rolls!

 What Teddy is learning!  How to build and repair small motors!

 How Alisa studies for mid-terms!

How Ashlynn studies for mid-terms!

Two neat blessings...

 that we have been enjoying!  A new cutting system in the teacher workroom.  A cute, layered snowflake border and letters cut in under 15 minutes.

Our bigger tv and apple device to bring pictures to life and to make learning all sorts of things fun.  We are grateful for the funds that our families raised this year.  These pieces of equipment add some flair and fun for our whole school/class!

It is Friday!!!!

 This made me laugh out loud during nap time the other day!  Everyone is on their annual-short-lived-healthy-kick.  I'd rather do one small thing and be successful at it till I make it a new habit.  I really am trying to drink more water...it is just hard to get away to the necessary room during my day for personal reasons...yet I stand in the doorway all the time to supervise.  This afternoon...we pulled out the 5 cup coffeemaker in our room and made a pot of chocolate mocha coffee to get through nap time without  nodding off.  It was a good thing!  And we will do it again and again...after we drink a bottle of water too!

 We had a good week back to school!  Snowmen and snowflakes are everywhere...

making us laugh!  "Who made the snowflakes?" asked Mrs. K.  "Elsa!" yelled Little L.  Another winter picture and more questions, "What do we call lots of snowflakes blowing around and piling up?"  Little A yelled, "A lizard!"  We've been a little chilly in our room this week with the below windchill temps, so we have gotten lots of hugs and cuddles from our little friends.  Cold hands and noses have been shared...and I am hoping the germs were trapped in the frigid air on the way to school!  Thankful for safety throughout our week!

We went from a layer of ice...

to a layer of BRRRR! 

to a layer of snow.  

Today, we reached a whole 3 degrees that felt like minus 14.  Tonight, the snow is falling and I can hear the wind rattling our windows.  Winter is finally here to stay!

I've been thinking a lot about the words LEARN and CONTENTMENT as we started the new year.  We sat as a family and talked about last year, and looked forward to the new year.  We read Proverbs 2 together.  Ted asked us to ask ourselves, "What can I learn from Proverbs 2 that will help me this year?"  There were a couple puzzled looks.  "Look for the action words.  That will help you as you read."  I had been reading as he was talking.  My eyes caught verse 6, "For the Lord giveth wisdom..." about the same time Ted was pointing out that verses 1-4 are "If you..."
RECEIVE
HIDE
INCLINE
APPLY
CRIEST
LIFTEST
SEEKEST
SEARCHEST
and verse 5 gives the "Then..."
I WILL UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF THE LORD.
I WILL FIND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Why? verse 6-8
and verse 9 gives the "Then..." again
I WILL UNDERSTAND RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND JUDGMENT, AND EQUITY; YEA, EVERY GOOD PATH.
The rest of the verses in the chapter explain what wisdom, knowledge, discretion, and understanding do for the person who chooses a certain path.  There are still so many things that I can learn.  There are still many things that I struggle with on a day to day basis.

 So thankful for another year to choose to learn from God's Word and be content with what God has given me!