Snowy Days

Had to brag a bit about how beautiful it is here in Indiana.  This is our second real snow of the year, and we are loving it.  The only thing better than my backyard on a snowy day is my backyard on a snowy day with a fresh cup of coffee.  Ooo, the simple joy of watching it come down outside while I'm toasty warm on the inside.

Our neighbor is kind enough to share her little sledding hill with us.  It's great to zip outside after school for a half hour of sledding.  However, a new Hamby excursion in this weather is sledding at the Purdue golf course.  The terrain is super, hilly and smooth -- perfect for sledding.  Not sure how Purdue feels about tons of kids zipping over their greens. 

The other new fun winter sport -- army men in the snow.  Isaak loves all our neighbor boys (God always provides what you need -- right?!)  They spend copious amounts of time setting up army men to blow them down in a two minute battle. 

Did you hear that?!

Paige and Claire hosted their feast to the theme of ELF.  We had spaghetti with syrup (on the side) and cups of candy to adorn the noodles (if you choose).  They cut out snowflakes and set up a "throne of lies" for any fake Santa's.  The kitchen was set up as the candy cane forest, with candy canes hanging for the ceiling fan and laying on the counter tops.

They even made Lego buildings.  Don't you love the color of the candy?

And. . . oh, yes, he did.  He didn't even throw up or anything.  We did all have stomache aches from eating way too many Jelly Bellies and gummy worms.  So worth it all, as we fell into a carbo coma on the couch

A Night at the Drive-in

It's time for feasts once again. If your unfamiliar with our tradition, the kids and I came up with this a few years ago. Instead of the kids buying one another presents at Christmas, they take turns presenting a feast. I talk about how Queen Esther served her family, and they then "serve" theirs.

Ike and Ava paired up this year (with a small amount of help from Mom). They created a drive-in movie theater complete with concession stand. They even parked matchbox cars in front of the tv in rows to give that authentic feel. They made posters to go with the movie of their choice -- "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (see super, cute, monkey poster in pic). They passed out tickets to all attending, and then served us behind the counter. It was a great feast, and I love all the work that went into the prep for it.

Christmas Cantata

We made it through the Cantata.  This is a longer video, but, trust me, it's worth the 20 seconds from the four, cute soloists at the end.

New VBS Theme?

There is a liquor store by Purdue called the Village Bottle Shop, but when they advertise "Never an extra charge for cold beer at VBS", I don't think Village Bottle Shop.  : )

Great 8!

Yeah, we are officially done with car seats!   I'm just as excited as the two youngest peas.  Eight has brought on much fun.  Second grade is awesome and more friends get to come over and play.

Eight also brings on your first official Red Rider BB gun.  It does not has a compass in the stock, but notice the safety goggles, so he doesn't shoot his eye out.

Eight also brings an sweet reading nook in your room, complete with a super comfy rocker and a boa lamp.

The Gingerbread House that Was

To help kick off the season, the kids worked on a gingerbread house over Thanksgiving break. It took some time and great patience to pull this off together. After an hour or so of methodically coating the house with some new gumdrops and a lot of Halloween leftovers, ta-da, a beautiful, little house was born. We put it up on a high shelf and admired.

Do you know how crafty (and hungry) my dog is? He scooted a chair over, climed up the hutch, and ate the house. The ENTIRE house. The only evidence left behind was the foil square of cardboard it rested on and some crumbs.

Brom layed around all afternoon with bloated guts and miserable look. Paige kept petting him and saying, "Oh, poor Brom." Hmmm. Poor Brom my butt.