We continue to redeem the cold temperatures by taking frequent recesses out on the frozen pond. These guys can strap on skates in no time flat. They have an ongoing series between the birth order odds vs. evens.
Ruthie just enjoys being outside, unaffected by the cold. She lent Jim a hand the other night, spraying hot water onto the ice.
After a while, the boys reclined off the ice to rest and stargaze.
Can you solve this mystery?
Son fiddling with the hot water heater.
Hose connected to hot water heater.
Hose traveling through the window,
to the below freezing outdoors,
into the hands of husband,
who is on the ice, making it smooth. He’s filling in the valleys and diminishing the mounds. All so that his children may skate with ease.
Mystery solved.
Time to bring the hose inside.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Thank You, Jesus, for laying Your life down for us.
While we were enemies of You, You died for us.
Unfathomable.
What better way to reinforce Irish history from the early 20th century than to bake a batch of colorful cupcakes?
First we frosted them green and orange.
Then we separated them, with green representing Ireland and orange representing Great Britain.
But alas, there was the oddball cupcake from Northern Ireland.
Where did it belong? With the Catholic Irish, or the Protestant English?
The Brits claimed it for themselves, making Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom.
Then Jeremy claimed the conflicted cupcake for himself and ate it up.
Yum history!
Two kids lost teeth on the same day! Ruthie’s tooth has been loose for ages, and she’s been so hesitant to pry it out, not wanting to inflict pain on herself. But once she saw Peter’s tooth come out, she went to town.
Ruthie’s first tooth, Peter’s tenth.
A bonding moment.
Our study of World War I fresh on our minds, the boys have utterly transformed the front yard into a battlefield.
They each worked to build their own fortress.
Derek gets by with a little help from his dog.
The skies dumped a foot and a half of snow on the ground last weekend.
The weathermen called it Winter Storm Linus. We called it an opportunity to play outside! Ruthie couldn’t wait to step into the freshly fallen snow when we got home from church.
As excited as the kids were, though, Molly was hands down the most animated when her paws hit the snow.
She was more rambunctious than I’d seen her in a long time, going from one kid to another, romping on their forts.
Jake rather enjoyed egging her on.
The boys transported snow from one part of the yard to another so they could build forts and walls for future snowball fights.
Then Jeremy and Ruth helped the neighbors build their own fort.
What to do when the wind is whipping around outside? Cover the dining room table and hold an impromptu class on aviation!
The project lasted two days, with Jake as the instructor. He has learned a a thing or two about how to build a model propellor plane from Science Olympiad.
He told everyone how long to cut each piece, then they got to work.
Ruthie insisted on cutting hers by herself, but Daddy’s common sense prevailed.
Meanwhile, the instructor roamed around the table answering questions
and built the propellors for everyone’s planes. He used the plastic from a pop bottle…so resourceful.
At one point, I looked next to me and saw that Ruthie went rogue from the project and was coloring and gluing pieces of wood at random. At least there were no sharp objects involved.
The planes really began to come together, and everyone was anxious to test theirs out.
Introducing…the Hello Kitty Hawk!
