Lego's

She has discovered the joy of building and creating with Legos.  This winter has found her saving to buy larger more complicated sets.... she spends hours following the directions and her excitement upon completing a set is contagious.  Rarely does she need to ask for help, she loves the challenge of figuring things out.
The fun doesn't stop once a set is built. She continues to play with the sets daily. Every day finds her in the space she made for her creations taking over a corner in our living room.  "I don't want to be in my room by myself" she explained as she cleared the end table to make room for her Legos.... I rather enjoy seeing her lost in play and imagination in this space we all seem to gather in each day. 

Puzzles

From January to March each winter there is always a puzzle in progress.  It is our winter tradition.  It is common to see one person or two sotto got standing putting a piece or two in place.  We have landed in a space where a small child eating the pieces or carrying them away is no longer a threat although there is one who will take a piece and move it to another place just to mess with her momma' s head.  Another waits to join in when the puzzle is almost complete.  There is no hurry here just a simple task, often filled with quiet conversation.  A connection that brings us together in those dark nights of winter...

Snow fun

Our winter has been filled with little snow and bitterly cold temps.  Days on end of below zero temps for a high which made outdoor pkay impossible....finally the temps inched into the 30's and this one was able to go outside several days after school.  Her grin says it all....

Christmas morning

The youngest two were awake at 240 the rest waited until 7....  their excitement made the crazy hour something magical. 

Chess

He loves to play chess.  When I saw a Star Wars chess set it seemed rather fitting that this should be his first chess set. 

10

In our house January 1st isn't just the first day of a new year. And it isn't just  New Year's Day or a holiday  from work or school, it is the most special of days because January first is Pedro's birthday!
Today he turned 10.
A decade,
double digits....
We sang happy birthday at 12:02 a.m. and again at the more reasonable hour of 6 p.m. He only asked a few dozen times if it was time for his party.  We celebrated with family and ate cake.  Amazing cake!  He has spilled excitement and laughter into every moment of today, his smile and simple joy of celebrating his birthday was the best reminder of life through the eyes of a ten year old.   He asked if he could eat another piece of cake before bed  I said "you absolutely must eat cake before bed on the day you turn ten"  his cheers are still echoing through the house....  
Cake created by Wendy Besel!

New Year's Eve

Home made pizza, movies and family....best way to say good bye to one year and hello to the new year

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

A decade of books

Ten years ago I started a new tradition with the youngest  (at that time) kids in our family.  I was already doing an ornament each year with the older kids and wanted something different for these soon to be new members of our family.  Every year they each receive a copy of the same book. That collection of books has grown over time into a personal mini library filled with timeless classics and well loved stories each book has its own story as to why it was selected for that year.... this tradition is one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Kiwanis lights

Josh and Cassandra joined us this year for a stroll and drive through the lights...

Visiting Santa

Gingerbread houses

The annual gingerbread building activity  (ordeal) is in the books.  Two creations were made this year a tree and a house, this year was more successful than disastrous. 
The determination was strong,
The laughter was plentiful,
The creations still stand,
Perhaps after all these years we are finally figuring this out?