“It’s the small things! Carrot grins, flowers & new hairstyles, happy mail (especially books!), catching a snooze on a lap, making “cakes” in an art palette & omelettes with friends. Reading a new book together (The Happiness Advantage) and applying it – thus the sparkle shoes while getting a root canal done, something fun to focus on.
Delicious bread created by Josh with his scout leaders and a yummy wooden ice cream bar created and devoured by Hyrum (he did share!). Classic Katey creations in the form of a caramel apple and an open face sandwich with a swirly smile. Perhaps my favorite simple, delightful moment of the whole week – Meri and Caleb acting out the story of Tangled (Rapunzel) complete with Pascal the chameleon played by Andrew.

6-12 February 2017″

Runner-up photos:

Hyrum falling asleep on his piece of bread in the alcove.

A teeny bit of their play… with really bad lighting:

Katey making eggs for everyone and describing “cheesy goodness” inside “… and bacon. I mean who doesn’t love bacon?” 😂😂😂  fyi… at the end of the video when Meri is very concerned that “Daddy stole my apple!”, they were playing house and Hyrum was the accused daddy.

Signing off with a close-up of Meri’s flower hair and some curtsying cuties:

“Imaginations have been running wild this week! Sword fighting between the oldest and youngest, open face sandwiches in all their creative glory & computers being created out of paper in the middle of church. Curious George cookies designing by Autumn & Hyrum, Katey posing herself for cape photos in her beautiful crocheted gift from Melissa Johnston and beastly conversations with Dad.

If you are looking to find the right gift this Gift Baskets for Women Collection is the best for any occasion. Reach for the Stars began on Tuesday and imaginations have been fueled by books all week long. Meri began with a stack of books and I kept catching groups of children clustered around books throughout the following days. I got to get my creative on during a live training for Usborne Books – with a disco theme.  The Ladie’s Literary Club had their annual Mid-Winter Social on Thursday. The theme was “Delve into the Past” and we learned about the club in the early days as well as the 1950s. Fascinating! A lunch date at Main Street Pizza resulted in two extra free pizzas when a location error occurred. No one at home complained! 9-15 January”

Honorable Mention photos. 😉

Glanced over and saw this little creature playing on the computer. Ha!

Bubbles always make moments better.

A little help from a big brother…

leads to a much more “balanced” photo. 🙂

Close-ups of the Literary Club Ladies – so thankful for Jacque Sorensen & Sabona Eddy for leading this year – they do a marvelous job! It was fun to take the time to learn about the past and imagine what life was like for them and the role the club played in their lives as well.

A fabulous portrait from Meri & an art break shared by Caleb and Meri.

Game Time! These little ones loooove the new Christmas game – Share a Berry. <3 It reminds me very much of Heigh Ho Cherry-O! but with a sharing aspect I cannot deny is a good thing to practice over & over. 😉

A look at one of my favorite Christmas gifts to reveal this last year (comes with a trip to Disney World in July!! 😀 ):

I received the chance to “babysit” Hyrum’s water bottle & book light (two different occasions)

and then I shall leave you with a few of my favorite moments featured in the Project Life layout. <3 Reading all day…

and all night. 😉

Pretty normal, every-day things happening this week. Lots of outdoor time in the gorgeous weather and creative minds in full splendor. <3

A few more pics from the Labor Day BBQ with grandma.

More parade action:

A close-up of our food at Cubby’s – because, honestly, so yummy!! Weak knees. 😉

And a happy celebration of the 24 in 24 Usborne Challenge. The idea is to schedule 24 book parties in 24 hours. This was my fourth year doing it and the first time to schedule 24 – and beyond!

The kids were so sweet to make dinner while I was working on the challenge. Katey (8) made a fruit salad and Josh (13) made the blueberry muffins. Serious win!

An ouchy hand on Jim Bob – and my first metal splinter pulled.

Finally, the cutest little guy that looooves books:

And gets so scared at a paper pop-out tiger. 😀 <3 His faces slay me.

The Mother Daughter Tea was a delight! Brynlee stayed the day with us and got to attend as well. We read Stargirl together before going and the book was fresh on their minds for the discussion.

The girls especially enjoyed the treats and put together a plate to take to Jim Bob as well. Chocolates from Candies on Main, deviled eggs, Black Forest cake and a variety of sandwiches were all hits!

Meri loved that the little glass trays had “cupcake holders” and her teacup sat elsewhere. 😉

At the end, after the girls helped clean up, they let them take home extra chocolates and mints. Brynlee found a handy pocket in the bow on her dress. 😉

A fun week of Stars aligning as we went out on a movie date that weekend. 🙂

A week filled with “multiple versions”. Starting with Aslan masks from our Chronicles of Narnia studies:

The lionesses:

And Katey-Lion is all her glory:

Thankful to have help from our oldest boys for the Thanksgiving pies. Caramel Pecan Pumpkin and Lemon Meringue with graham cracker crust. Meringue pie – and hair! 😉 As well as multiple paper airplanes from Katey for her invented game:

Gorgeous snow in the mountains and only one version of our favorite Subway sandwich Christmas-tree cutting tradition. Oven Roasted Chicken with bacon and *lots* of veggies – on Italian Herb and Cheese bread. The cookie can vary though – White Chocolate Macademia Nut, Sugar Cookies and Raspberry Cheesecake topping the list. 😉

And one happy p.s.: So thankful that when Andrew’s cable for his receiver stopped working we were able to use the juice box earned as a home office challenge prize from Usborne to re-charge it. Lifesaver!

Hyrum’s set-up for hours of enjoyment:

One car, one train set piece and one orange…

And then there was no orange. 😉

Storytime with Daddy is the best! It started out with this story…

And then quickly others gathered around to hear a couple of new Christmas-y stories.

Little, insistent hands crack me up. This way Daddy! 🙂

A little directing of the music from Meri.

And then all snuggling in to enjoy. 🙂

I cannot get enough of this mini photo-shoot with Meri. We had so much fun! Her loving on the first snow of the season – and perhaps posing just a tad. 😉

Here’s the up-close photo of the parts for the Primary Program too. 🙂

Such a wonderful week full of reminders that Someone is looking out for us, knows us and loves us!