Author: Joyce

Exciting Find

The other day we went to the park to play with some friends. The kids were playing hide and seek with a green container (great camouflage) and a bright yellow softball.  It was fun watching them enjoy the game!

I found a neat surprise while we were out.  I discovered two mantis egg cases (called an ootheca)!  I had never seen one until the kids were given one last winter to take care of.  So for me to find two in one day is exciting. I know where they are at the park, so will have fun watching them occasionally.

Now the challenge is to find one in our own yard!

 

Having Fun Playing with Pictures

The thumbnail of Andrea and a friend was taken a few years ago (see the missing front teeth?).  I have always liked it, but Andrea’s face was blurry. If you click on the picture, you can see what I mean.

Allan is still teaching me how to use GIMP  and I am experimenting with improving pictures. I tried to sharpen Andrea’s face and then played with the pictures some. After sharpening the picture, I just adjusted the first photo to sepia. In the color picture, I tried to make the background look less harsh.

I like both of them for different reasons. Mostly, I love how Andrea and  her friend look so excited about sledding.

 

 

 

Sledding with Daddy

We woke up to some beautiful snow today!  We asked Allan if he wanted to come sledding with us for “an hour”.  He had a blast!

He went down the hill with each of the kids. He even took Megan down the “big” hill twice. She did not seem to enjoy it too much, but did not cry when getting on the sled to go again.

The snow was perfect for sledding. It packed down easily, but still flew up to coat the kids.  They laughed and screamed and had a lot of fun.

After sledding, Daddy treated us all out for lattes and donuts!

We then went to the health food store and the kids got free bananas because they joined the “kids club”. After that we went to visit the newest McGuire and his parents.

I am so glad that Allan had “an hour” to go sledding with us 🙂

 

New Year Blessing

On New Years Day, we finally met my newest nephew! Henri is an adorable little boy.  He has a wild crop of black hair. We have not seen his open eyes yet, but were told that they are dark.

The kids are loving on him and so glad for another cousin.  Mark says, “the boys outnumber the girls again!”

Sam and Angelique, we are so excited for you!

Family

My side of the family enjoyed celebrating Christmas last night. We rarely all get together, so we made sure to get a family picture.

My brother, Joe, is sitting next to Momma. Daddy is holding Adrian and Megan.  My sister Lauri’s family is on the right.

Sleeping Beauty

We woke up to some snow!  I decided to take the kids to the park to go sledding before it got too busy.  We were there for awhile before others came with the same idea. When some “big kids” came, we left.  We took a walk in the woods and the kids made a snowman.  By the time we got to the car, Megan was cold and wet from falling a few times.

We got home, stripped off her wet clothes, bundled her up by the fireplace and she fell asleep wrapped up in Daddy’s warm shirt.