All the doings...

We've had a busy week, with one lazy snow day, and a whole lot of fun.  On tuesday night, we had the pleasure of the Sevin children!  This is all four of them with their babies!  Oh the endless playing and creativity!

Then Benj found a new way to entertain himself.  First he opens the bottom drawer, then he throws out all the dishtowels and random tupperware/yogurt containers, then he climbs in!  What a silly boy!
That's all for now, folks...hopefully more soon!  Maybe I'll finish a project to post soon, I feel like I've been knitting away, but finishing nothing!  Soon, soon.

Par-tay!

All the festivities surrounding Mia's birthday are over.  She really enjoyed herself...and we all had fun celebrating her!

Mia looked so sweet in her rose birthday crown!
All the kids helped open presents!

Then it was cake time!  

Make a wish!

Yum yum yum!

Thanks to all for helping to make Mia's fourth special!

Mia, Our love!

We love your spunk, sweetness and spirit! What joy you bring to our family. We love to watch you grow and flourish. Happy Birthday dear girl. We love you.

Practice Children

Recently, I realized I take a lot of pictures of other people holding my children.  Usually, they are friends and family with no children of their own yet.  I like to think that my children are their "practice" children...perhaps inspiring them to have a few of their own!  Check out Luke with Benji!  So cute!  I know Auntie loves to see how Luke interacts with her niece and nephew!

Then my dear dear friend Hannah and Brian came over last night (all the way from Oklahoma!) and soaked up some quality babe time!  My children rose to the occasion to be good practice! 
Hannah read plenty of bed time stories...
They actually look like quite the happy family huh?  Ha ha ha.
I love to see how my children inspire my friends to snuggle and play and read to them.  Thanks for loving my kids so much you all!  

These are a few of my favorite things...

Looking around my house this week, there are quite a few things that I love, that make me smile or make my life easier...Meet the newest addition...I was checking etsy for a birthday crown for Mia (I ran out of time to make one myself!), and came across this sweet angel holding the world in her arms...I had to have her!  She was made by nushkie, check out her etsy shop!

This is not new....I have had my Le Creuset dutch oven for years...and I love it.  I use it so often...every monday for soup, for boiling water, for baking, for making sauces and stews and anything under the sun!  If I could have just one thing in my kitchen (and that would be tough!) I would choose my red Le Creuset dutch oven...I worthwhile investment for sure!
Speaking of cooking, I love soup.  Once the weather gets cold, we have soup every monday night.  I received the Waldorf Book of Soups for christmas and have been choosing from there lately...last monday we had fire-roasted tomato...it was sooooo delicious and warming!
With the left over cream from the soup, the next night I made an artichoke, sundried tomato and chevre tarte!  I love goat cheese...I love it with complete abandon.  I eat it by the spoonful, I am obsessed and proud of it!  This tart rocked!
So there you have it, the things I've been thinking about this week.  I hope you all find joy in the things that surround you as well!  I'm off to plan the dinners for the week....what soup will I choose?

What a help!

Benji is at that great age where he wants to "help" with everything.  Here he is helping with the demo of the downstairs bathroom/laundry room.  Bye-bye ugly wallpaper.

He was so proud of himself, helping Daddy.  We sometimes call him he littlest contractor.  He actually gets a little bossy.  I wonder where he got that trait from???
He also likes to "help" with dishes!  Mia does too, so we are hoping to train them enough to take over someday--ha ha ha.
Ahhh, life with the babes....pretty sweet.  Happy monday friends.

Snow Day!

Wednesday we had a snow day! Hooray for snow days! Mia & I took advantage of Benjamin's nap to construct a fairy house. My mother found this little kit at a craft fair...it is one of those ideas that I wish I had thought of to market! It comes with all the supplies (scavenged from the woman's backyard!) and you glue and place it together to form a darling little home to intice fairies to visit! It even came with wings to put you in the fairy mood. I let Mia wear them (how nice of me huh?)
So, while Benji did this:

We made this:

Hooray! Mia has decided that a fairy has already come to check it out! I love fairies...and little girl imaginations too!

New Year!

For a little New Year cheer we headed up North to our favorite host with the most's home! Donning their new hats for the New Year, TG and Mom posed for some  pictures!  Thanks guys for humoring me!

We indulged in wine and snacks--my children ate their weight in shrimp!  We snuggled and hung out until about 12:05 when we all fell asleep!
Mia poses with her brother and shrimp...she's a nut.  TG will be finding shrimp tails all over his house!
This morning, Mia & Tom headed out in the cold for some skiing.  Mia loved it this time and even wanted to go out for more after a hot chocolate break.  This made her Daddy very happy!
She looks like a little racer in her get-up.  The reins really helped Tom encourage her to really ski!  Hooray for Mia and skiing!
Check out that "snow plow"--watch out!  Gunstock here we (ok--they) come!

Happy New Year!