This & That: Jan/Feb

We got some snow last week! The kids made a "snow chipmunk in a recliner." I asked how they came up with such an idea and Selah said she made a snow chipmunk & Ben made a recliner, so they put them together. ;)

They also made a snowman. Jude took my camera outside and snapped some photos, too.

I ended up catching a bad cold that's been going around, so I spent a few afternoons right here, resting, but enjoyed the view.

Josh and I recently took every piece of clothing from every drawer and closet in the entire house and "Kon Marie-d" it. If you don't know what that means, it has to do with the popular book, and now tv show on Netflix, about Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. We kept only what we loved and parted with the rest. As you can see, Josh was uber realistic about what he regularly chooses to wear. I loved that he did this project with me. He's amazing like that.

We've done this in the past and it was great, but we did it much more thoroughly this time, eliminating even more clothing. Every dresser in the house was sorted through and folded and organized. Our kids have one three-drawer dresser each, and all of their clothes fit in their one dresser. Jude only uses two of his three drawers and he still has more than enough clothes.

Towels were savagely purged and tidied up too. It was so gratifying. 

These microfiber cleaning clothes are my favorite. One color is for dishes, and the other color is for dusting and cleaning. But I think I may still have too many.

It's been two weeks since we did this to our clothes and the biggest impact has been on our laundry. We now just keep one laundry basket on top of the washer and everyone puts their clothes there to be cleaned, and I do one load a day max.
This method also makes it easier to see what clothes I never choose to wear. And we've all realized we still have too many socks and pjs, etc. The more Josh and I purge from our home, the more we realize we're much happier owning less. We love it! It's taken us a long time to figure it out, though. :)

Back in January our charter school planned a field trip to go see the Broadway production of The Lion King. We were so impressed by the lighting, music and creativity!

My favorite song was called He Lives in You because it made me think of Christ living within us. Here are some of the lyrics: 

There's no mountain too great

Hear these words and have faith

Oh, Have faith

He lives in you, He lives in me

He watches over, Everything we see

Into the water, Into the truth

In your reflection, He lives in you

We went to the Wild Duck afterward for dinner and who did I happen to sit by? Luke of course! It's an old joke with my mom. This guy was the star of the Duck's basketball team years ago and my mom's favorite player. I happened to run into him once in a small sandwich shop and he graciously took a photo with me for my mom. So I had to text her this cardboard version of him too. ;)

The kids and I love good read aloud stories. My favorite book lists come from a company called Beautiful Feet Books. We recently finished this book about Benjamin West, the Father of American Painting. We loved it. Our Benjamin drew a picture.

In January we went up to Portland to celebrate a great career promotion with close friends. It's always fun to rejoice in a friend's accomplishments!

Speaking of friends, these kids sure love being together. So thankful for this bunch.

Ben continues to have his weekly guitar lessons. His teacher's dogs have become the highlight of our visits. They are about as sweet as they come.

Josh spent four days in Florida in January, for a work conference. We missed him, but had a great time visiting my mom. She and Wayne spoiled us with good food and company. Ben even started to look a little more like Josh as time went on. ;)

Josh in, not-so-sunny-in-January, Florida.

I was soooo happy to have him back.

We had so much fun celebrating Cornelius Christmas in January as well. It's always a highlight.

Dad and Janet made a feast for us, complete with Grandma Gayle's rolls. Yum!!

My dad looks so handsome clean shaven! And young!! Go Dad!

Love this sweet bunch!

Gina and I have been going to a weekly work out class with friends from church. We always leave feeling energized!

And often enjoy tea and conversation afterward at our friend Hannah's. Love these ladies!

One of my favorite memories from 2019 so far would have to be the night the kids and I had a dance party. It was the night before Selah started her hip-hop dance class and there was excitement in the air. The kids picked a bunch of songs from movie soundtracks they like, to dance to, which happened to also be songs from my childhood, which made it extra fun. We definitely felt the beat. :)

Jude worked on a dinosaur model and Josh helped him glue the smallest pieces in place.

Jude has passed up Granny! Sorry for posting this pic, Grandma, but I love it and think it's so cute! Love you!

One more cute shot of Jude, from a recent trip to the library.

Frozen yogurt is always a good idea when temperatures drop! ;)

In February we got to celebrate my mom's birthday. Wayne even played her the Beatles Song, When I'm 64. He made us all an amazing lunch and we had a great time playing games!

Caleb brought over this fun group game again, that reminded us all of Clue.

My cute grandparents.

Selah and I recently went on a clay/carving field trip with our charter school. We had a fun time and sat with our good friends. We carved things out of bars of soap, and formed things out of clay. Best of all, I got to enjoy the company of this sweet girl.

The kids and I enjoyed an afternoon getting pastries at New Morning Bakery after their mid-year school testing. Ben scored 100% on his test, Selah only missed two points, and Jude didn't have to take one. We thought that called for a treat. :)