Snapshot - January 19, 2013

Last year I had what I thought was the brilliant idea of doing a monthly newsletter for our family, to document what we had done in that month.  I thought it would be a great way to keep our friends and family up-to-date on our lives, as well as documenting it for our own future reference.  Unfortunately my first newsletter was also my last.  You see, I lack both discipline and continuity - coupled with my extreme lack of time, and you can see why playing "roving reporter" at the end of the month to try and dredge up and document our best memories may not have been such a doable thing for me.

However I do like the idea of documenting our daily life, if only to create something I can come back to when these days are long gone.  Something that stands the test of time, which sadly my memory does not.  To help me celebrate the little things in family life that make it so great.

I had the idea a while back to do a "snapshot" post, something that I could put together in a few pictures that best showed my life that day.  I'm hoping to do at least one of these a week but, due to my aforementioned weakness with continuity, am not putting too much pressure on myself.  We'll take it one day at a time, and see how things go.

So, here is my first official snapshot:

I'll start with the middle photo on the left and work clockwise.  We've had two snowfalls this week, and the kids are loving it.  They spent much of the day Saturday sliding at our neighbor's house with their best friend.  I am so very grateful for snowy, winter weather, and good friendships between boys.

Mary continues to grow and do more and more each day.  These days she is into telling long stories, which are loud and theatrical in nature and bring so much delight to her siblings, who absolutely adore her. My favorite time of day with Mary is in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed, and Jeff and I are sitting together in the chair and a half to watch TV, which seems to be just about her favorite time to distract us.  She tells these big, engaging stories that make us smile so much our faces hurt!  Love that little girl.

Stephen had a bit of a rough day.  First he went to the washroom downstairs, and since the music was on really loud (the way Jeff likes it) nobody could hear him shouting that he needed toilet paper.  Not sure how long he was in there, but I found him after I came in from shoveling (Jeff was making supper) and he was pretty upset.  A few minutes later he came upstairs crushed because he thought Aaron had broken one of his toys (turns out it was fine) and when I fixed it, I was a superhero.  All in a day's work.

Aaron was super-cranky so Jeff decided to lay on the couch with him and before you know it, they were both out like a light.  There's something about a heavy blanket of snow outside that makes you want to cozy up with a heavy blanket inside.

I am enjoying Katie so much these days.  Three years old with her has been rocky, mostly because it's been difficult for me to adjust to how different she is as a girl (and to be honest, because she is so much like me in that I am quite often as tantrum-y as a three-year-old).  I've been spending lots of one-on-one time with her and really feeling a special bond with her as my oldest girl.  I love how sweet and girly she is, but also how rough-and-tumble growing up with three older brothers has made her.  She is an absolute gem.

I am way behind (way behind) on so many household chores, and debated whether I should get started on some of those, or just sit and take it easy as my body was calling me to do.  I decided that since we had a busy day on the agenda Sunday, I would wish I had taken the time to relax while I could if I let the moment pass.  So I pulled out a word search book I got for Christmas, made myself a tea, and sat down to spend some downtime.  Stephen and Katie, who have been dying to dive into these puzzles since I got them, asked if they could help.  I said sure, and they pulled up their chairs beside me, crayons in hand.  Katie circled random letters and delighted at me trying to pronounce the word she had just circled ("nmlzip", for example) while Stephen, who is just on the verge of reading, helped me search for smaller words and circled letters I pointed out for him.  The result was the messiest word search I have ever seen, and time well spent with two of my middle children.

Katie got all bent out of shape about something.  I forget what.  But it seems that Dora, her thumb, and a fuzzy blanket were all the comfort she needed.

As it turns out, Sunday was beautiful but crazy-busy, and I am terribly thankful to have spent our day enjoying life and our family.  The big kids didn't get home until after dark, we ate a beautiful restaurant-worthy meal that Jeff made for us, and had a movie night.  I am so grateful for this life, and all the little things that make it great.

And now, off to do some laundry.  Which after this weekend, has become mammoth-like.  Until next time, cheers!