One Year Gone...

Today marks one year since you left us.  I am not sure what else to say. We all miss you terribly, not a day goes by that I don't think of something I would like to call and tell you.  The kids talk of you often. At any event or special gathering, no matter how big or how small someone always mentions that you aren't there. Your quiet presence is always missed. The older kids especially will often say, "Grandpa would really like this". They still carry their "flat Grandpas" to make sure you are there. Noah is constantly thinking about you and loves keeping close the things you loved and taught him. James talks to you nightly as he is falling asleep. Ben wishes you were here playing with him. Audrey requests we sing "You Are My Sunshine" every night because, "It was Grandpa's favorite." The rest of us are trying hard to live by the example you set for us.  At each ethical/emotional crossroads we think, "What would Dad do?". The answer is always to be kind and to always show up.  We are trying. We miss you here more everyday. We love you!    

February Vacation 2017- Sort of;)

We didn't take an official vacation from school this year in February since we will be taking a few days in March to do some skiing.  But, we did take a few days to ski, bring the pigs to slaughter, watch some basketball and finally build some snowmen:)  

We skied at Black Mountain on both Friday and Monday and guess who has started skiing on her own?!?!  I have been skiing with her and she was going way too fast down the bunny slope so I took off her back pack in the hopes that she would fall a few times and be a bit more appropriately scared of the hill.  As it turns out she can totally ski on her own... So, after 2 half days of skiing she stopped using both her back pack and edgie wedgies.  She skis with great control and can stop on command (when she chooses to that is). At the same time and out of pure necessity, Ben learned to ride on the chairlift independently.  He is also doing an amazing job skiing and continues to be terrified of skiing too fast if it is steep.  He is still working on personal space and awareness of others around him, but baby steps:)  

The pigs have not stayed in their confines, but have instead made many paths throughout the backyard (they are staying back there at least!).  They love to watch the kids swing and be a part of whatever is happening out back.  The snow was perfect and we had a perfect pathway to coax the pigs up onto the trailer... until we had two warm days just before slaughter day... It was interesting to say the least.  Pigs are smart, fast, low to the ground and don't like to walk on ice.  3+ hours after we started we finally had both pigs loaded onto the horse trailer.  There was lots of squealing, some actual hog tying and it took 3 grown adults to keep each pig down. None of it was pretty;) When we arrived at the barn the pigs were clearly mad at us which made saying good bye a bit easier, though Noah and I still shed a few tears in the parking lot.  

After the pig fiasco and our new found freedom, we took a day to watch the high school basketball tournament in Bangor. We also got to explore the Children's Museum of Maine with Nannie, Grammy and Grammy.  Now, back to school work;)

Snow and Gabe's Birthday!

 

Last Sunday after church we picked up some lobsters to celebrate Gabe's birthday early. The kids fully enjoyed celebrating Valentine's Day, getting ready for Gabe's birthday celebration and celebrating with him when he got home.

We have all been enjoying/loathing all of this new snow.  We got two back to back storms with barely time to clean up after one before the next one came.  It has been lots of work this year to keep the paths to both the chickens and pigs clear.  On the upside, the skiing is awesome right now!

The pigs have become free ranging pigs because we have gotten so much snow in such a short time I couldn't keep up with digging out the electric fence. They are going to slaughter in a week, so hopefully the snow is deep enough to keep them in the paths and out of the driveway like in this picture.  Thankfully, Gabe has fast running through deep snow skills and cut her off at the bottom of the driveway.  We did put a wheelbarrow blocking the path and everyone seems happy to stay in the backyard... for now;) At least we have happy pigs who know how to enjoy life!

100s Day

We have made it to the 100th day of school!  It went by so fast this time around:)  We spent the day making necklaces out of 100 pieces of Fruit Loops.  It was neat to see the different patterns each kid came up with.  They also made structures out of 100 legos which they then made videos explaining the intricacies of each one. We also made words, did some spelling and math all around 100s.

In the last picture James was playing upstairs for a bit and came down in this "army" uniform he made:)

More DaVinci

We have lots of snow around, but because of some bizarre warming and freezing this winter, it isn't great "snowman snow".... here is how the kids are dealing with that;)

After our visit to the museum, the kids are excited to continue with Da Vinci.  About a week ago we made some sculptures from a salt dough.  This was followed by paper mache.  I have fond, but messy, memories of this in grade school art class.  It didn't disappoint!  Audrey is making a ball, James is making an owl and Noah an octopus.  Ben wanted absolutely nothing to do with touching the paste and opted for (minimally) helping me make a volcano then sticking to painting while the others worked.  If nothing else, Ben knows his limits and what he is willing to do:)