Snow Day

We started school a little late this morning. Snow is a bit rare here in the Northwest so we had to get out and enjoy it for a bit.

There wasn't a lot of snow but for sure enough to make snow angels and small snowballs.

I think the happy faces say it all. (The older two decided it was cozier to stay inside by the fire.)

Signs of Spring are popping up but Winter is still lingering.

The kids were finding every surface they could to make more snowballs.

Even the odd pool tool worked for playing in the snow.

The best part?

Coming in cold and warming up by the fire while working on school. Now that's the stuff.

Motivated Monday

I waited to work on my Motivated Monday post until yesterday afternoon because of the specific project we were working on. We have been spending a lot of time watching The Food Network in our house and were inspired. We decided to make cupcakes for extended family and deliver them for Valentine's Day. While the kids worked on seat work I baked and baked.

In the late morning we frosted and decorated. We had five dozen cupcakes and made a cream cheese frosting to go on top. Yum!!! 

They were so much fun to decorate and tasted even better.

Simple heart tissue paper in plain white gift boxes made for a perfect way to deliver them to the recipients.



My only regret is the distance we live from my parents. We thought of you, Mom and Dad! I hope everyone had the chance to be with a loved one yesterday. Happy Valentine's Day!

Group sports

I know that organized sports aren't for everyone. We choose to participate in them for several reasons. For one, we homeschool so we are home a lot and we have some really social kids. Kids who went to school for a few years and have some good friendships from that time.

We don't write homeschool on the school line at sign-ups. Not because we distance our kids from homeschoolers but because we want them to be on teams with kids they already have friendships with.

The twins are particularly gifted when it comes to athletic ability. For obvious reasons they feel so different than a lot of kids. Having confidence and being known for their ability when we go to events helps them to feel like they belong. 

That comes with challenges, too. We have lots of conversations about humility and where our identity truly lies. Sports shouldn't be the place they find their value. It is a part of them, something they love, but if they didn't have sports they would still be valuable.



The twins were both selected for select traveling teams this year. We have been crazy busy and it has been somewhat challenging. But these two light up and are in their element when they are doing stuff like this. It wouldn't feel right to say to them, "We aren't a sports family, that's too busy," when it has such positive effects. We try to balance it and time and family are important factors to consider. The younger three love to participate in sports or other activities and the twins will be there cheering them on when it's their turn. It's a mixed bag. The older they get, the harder the lessons become. Attitudes, emotional growing pains in addition to dealing with coaches and teammates can be difficult but we value the opportunity to help them navigate those situations when they are young. Each season we weigh the pros and cons and make the decision what to participate in. Everyone knows just because you play this year doesn't mean you will next year. It depends. We always put family first and I may be going out on a limb here, but sometimes the greater good is doing what works best for someone individually. I wouldn't be honest though if I said I wasn't looking forward to an extra curricular activity free summer. But that's just my story and I'm sticking to it.

Motivated Monday - Movie Organization

Motivated Monday posts seem to have taken over on the old blog. Never fear, I am working on a basketball post about the twins for tomorrow. I am trying to get this house in order and that takes time, people. Speaking of basketball, time is something I am short on these days. So this week's project was movies. Our movies drive me crazy not to mention the fact that storing them drives me even crazier. With Netflix, keeping them on hand is becoming less necessary.

Storing them on one long shelf was proving to be a horrible waste of space. One long row was nice as it let us glance at all of the movies at one time. But you can see in the picture above that it left the front half of the shelf unable to be used. 

I got rid of some movies that we no longer watch or the kids have grown out of. Don't worry, hon, your favorites are safe.

I was able to get all of the DVD's into one basket and the VHS tapes went in the other with a little overflow, for now. Once I did that I was able to store all of our tie dye supplies as well as my cards basket on the same shelf.

The kids can still easily grab a basket from the shelf and pick something to watch. Not only does this shelf hold movies but also my cards and other supplies. It is now a much better use of the space if I do say so myself.

Motivated Monday: Menu Planning

One way I am working on being more organized this year is with meal planning. I have done it over the years but haven't been very consistent. Not only do you save money by doing it but there is less waste and it's easier to eat healthy.

(Corn cheese chowder)

Basketball is in full swing and with two kids on traveling teams (what were we thinking!) meal planning is a must. I start by looking at my calendar to see if there are evenings where we will be gone or need to eat late/early. Those days get skipped or are going to get crockpot meals so we can eat anytime no matter who is coming and going or when. Instead of coming up with a meal for each evening I come up with up to 14 meals for the next two weeks. This gives us freedom to move things around based on time or in the case of forgetting to get something out of the freezer. Does that ever happen to you?

Here is my list of meals for the next two weeks (13 meals):
Broccoli cheese soup and bread
Beans, cornbread and fried potatoes
Cheese tortellini with pesto and salad
Roasted chicken, potatoes and salad
Porketta roast, creamed peas and salad
Tacos
Homemade pizza
Crockpot chicken enchilada dip
Soup and grilled cheese
Corn cheese chowder
Hamburgers and home fries
Grilled chicken salad
Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad

There aren't really any make-ahead meals on this list, something I need to work on for the next 2 week stretch. The more I make ahead of time, the better. Delish!

Cozy happenings

We have wanted to put a woodstove into this house since we purchased it almost five years ago.

There used to be one in the house before previous owners put a new roof on and removed it.

We have been buying pieces of pipe one paycheck at a time and finally got everything into place this week.

In anticipation of the stove being installed my parents bought us this great tool/wood holder for Christmas. We probably loaded it with more wood than is intended but we were pretty excited.

I can see many cozy nights ahead for us sitting by the fire. The lower energy bills won't hurt either.

So it's Tuesday...

I intended to have a Motivated Monday post up yesterday but I was actually getting motivated on Monday. This is the area outside the storage room in our garage. Disgraceful I tell ya. This is the area we keep extra homeschool materials, where the kids work on the computer and where we keep our freezer. Over the holidays it became embarrassing with less checking by me to make sure things made it to their proper homes. Then once I did check, well, let's say I just chose to pretend it didn't exist.

We decided to take advantage of the holiday and get things back in order. Nothing fancy, just basic organization. Do you love the beautiful blanket as a curtain? Nothing but the best around here. The kids actually hung that to combat glare on the computer screen.

We removed all of the cardboard from our many Christmas Amazon.com purchases, moved in a stacking shelf organizer from another room and just generally cleaned up. (Just igore the white splatter on the floor, that was from the Great Spraycan Incident of 2010.)

I put my less than enthused to be cleaning 12 year old son on the task of hanging up our chalkboard. We have had it for over a year but have never had it hung before. The kids all love to go out here and draw but now it is much easier to use. He did a great job and I'm pretty sure he was walking a little bit taller when he was done.

All in all I would say this job was a success. It only took a few hours and I can breathe easier. It is nice to get into the freezer out there without kicking things out of the way. Ahhh, the little things.