Finally, Friday!

 I left the house for Country Cuts before anyone else was up. ::snort::  I came home, encouraged Melia in her coursework, blogged for a bit and then we ran out of the house...back to Country Cuts for Melia to get a haircut. Mandy took off Melia's split ends and gave her a few layers. I cannot believe I didn't take a single picture. Melia laughed and said she was surprised I didn't take any pictures. 

We spend a couple of hours every Friday afternoon with CoRielle's kids. We began today with a "tea party" though the kids have begun calling them "chocolate parties."  I pulled out the cute little plastic mugs Aunt CoCo sent from Japan and reminded them of the fact that she sent these cute mugs for our tea parties. We had a healthy snack along with their hot chocolate. 

We have been playing Outfoxed but it is warming up! We decided to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. Goodness. It took a full 30 minutes to get ourselves and the kids dressed and ready to head out. Benny and Danny take care of themselves - Charles and Ellie took a bit of stuffing into various snowsuits etc. 

I had just gotten Charles set up with the snow shovel when I realized what his brothers were doing. I DID see them jump off the deck out of the corner of my eye. 

The snow IS pretty high up and the drop isn't THAT big, but I did warn them about the potential of getting hurt. They BOTH informed me in unison, "We are MEN!" I told them to make sure there was no ice in the space they were jumping, or they would be men in pain. LOL 

Benny jumping

Danny is actually jumping....

I was so worried about these two that it was a bit of a shock to look up and see Charles was licking various surfaces...a quick look confirmed we have nothing metal in the vicinity. I was NOT up to pulling a frozen tongue off the chain link fencing today. My word - he is licking the railing in the photo. ::snort:: 

Benny tried some shoveling

Danny

Charles wanted to go inside about 5 minutes after I finally made it outside. I told him we were staying out at least 30 minutes and set an alarm. 😂 It take a village to make sure Ellie is safe AND having fun. 

Ellie's Village

Danny and Benny found ye old weed patch to be a fun winter hill. 

Melia and I discussed how we could pack down the snow for a cross-country trail around the yard. This didn't work well at all.  Any ideas? 

Melia, Ellie and Benny

Melia and Ellie 

My winter garden

I have decided to give these four kids one of my garden beds this summer. They are coming over weekly and so it will be "easy" for them to maintain it. I'm pretty excited at yet another ploy to engage the grands in the garden. LOL

Melia chatted with her sisters while I got dinner ready. Michael is prepping a sermon. Stacia has 7 or 8 friends over for a game night. Melia is finishing up a project for her room; I am blogging and then plan to read. 

A very relaxing start to the weekend. 

A Fun Project

 Aren't these cute. Melia has been working on letters to spell out her full name for her bedroom wall. They are going to look great when they are all hung. 

It Began as a Joke...

Stacia and I were out shopping one day while Stacia and the boys shared the downstairs bathroom. She saw a painting of a cow that she liked. I suggested she hang in in their bathroom. She did and her collection has grown. 

 Krista saw this one and had it sent to Stacia. It was a great ending to an incredibly long day for Stacia. 

Yes, it is hung in the appropriate place of honor. 

Josiah's Birthday

February. Josiah would be 37 today. 

 

Prom Shopping

 Melia and I went prom shopping, today. First stop - drinks! 

Yes, we do have homeschool proms. Melia will be attending two homeschool proms this year.  (Editors note from Mar 6th - We saw a flier at the IDEA office and assumed this was the IDEA Prom. We have discovered that it is not...but we've already bought a dress, makeup, nails and invited Alena - we aren't cancelling now.) 

The theme is Roaring 20's. Though Melia has found a dress online we wanted to do a bit of thrifting. We hit all the thrift shops and decided to order the dress she saw online. 

This is NOT the prom dress! 

We did find a nice pair of shoes and a bag. We also spent a nice chunk at Ulta so she's ready to try a new make-up look and hairstyle. We have Rebekah on board for make-up and Arielle for hair. Alena, Melia's sister, will join us to get ready and then will spend the night after the dance. Since we WERE over in Wasilla we stopped at Melia's favorite restaurant - Raising Caine. 

We also discovered Keinoy Asian Market. If we hadn't already eaten, we for sure would have enjoyed some of their food. I was able to find the Japanese salad dressing and nuts I like. Melia found rice toppings and rice cakes. We will be back. 

It was a fun day! 

TGIF

A yummy sugar free treat at the end of a long week. 

 

Furnishing a Room

 

Melia decided she would like a little shelf in her room, after all. She and I headed to Walmart to pick it up and then she got busy putting it together. In the end she called for a bit of help finishing the project.