Teaching and Learning and a New Family Legend, Jan 5-11

 Showing off new pj's! The boys love wearing matching clothes right now. So they were excited to have gotten these from Uncle Davey and Aunt Jamie for Christmas.

 Henry is getting into reading a lot more lately. He likes the children's bible and turns right to the page of the story about Elijah, which is a favorite for him now (maybe because of his cousin Elijah??).

We finally finished putting up all the stickers on our Nativity scenes we got from the Pancakes with Pastors event (you can tell they were arranged by preschoolers...). It was a fun way to reiterate the Christmas story and the boys enjoyed choosing which stickers to put up each day.

Helen got to spend some time in the boys' tent this week.

She enjoyed looking up at the colors above her and looking for her brothers.

Tummy time in the tent!

Lots to look at on the blanket that Mrs. Dassow made for Helen.

We borrowed an alphabet idea from Mommy's friend and Micah practiced finding the letters of his name in our homemade parking garage, parking the cars on the letters of his first and last name.

He also discovered some Disney books on tape that we were given. And we pulled out Mommy's old purple radio/tape player to listen to the stories. (It was Mommy's first major purchase as a child - $40 - and it is still working well). Micah learned to listen for the chime to turn the page.

Henry was Mommy's big helper to make stir-fry, while Helen supervised. The Christmas gift helper stools are getting lots of use already.

On Wednesday, we went to the "Dinosaur Library" for story time with Miss Mary. On this day, the story that she read was about monsters. Mommy was a little concerned about how this would end up, as Micah has trouble with nightmares from even the most subtle of scary stories. But he stood up as Miss Mary began reading and told her, "I know how to get rid of monsters - pray to Jesus!" We're thankful for what our kiddos are learning - and for their eagerness to share these lessons to encourage others. :)

Both boys helped prepare Wednesday's dinner - they cut the peppers.

In the evening, Daddy read bedtime books by flashlight, just for the adventure of it.

Thursday's devotion time was about God creating the world. So someone decided they should "create" with play dough. That is until Mommy heard the words, "I put play dough in my nose!" Never a dull moment at the Roe house.

We started off with commercial play dough but switched to the homemade stuff because it seems to be less messy than the brand we had (and Mommy isn't as worried about it being eaten... or shoved up noses).

Helen made her own observations while the boys created.

The deer have been feasting on the bushes up near the front door and front windows. Sometimes we surprise them as they surprise us when we open the blinds in the morning. Their footprints are all over - as are their droppings.

Our dear friend Nami came to visit this week and read Micah fairy tales - a chance for her to learn some new stories (and Micah isn't shy about correcting her pronunciation).

On Friday, Henry was sad that he couldn't talk to Daddy, who had gone to work. So we made a video message to send to Daddy...

Friday was also a work day: it was time to can our sauerkraut. First, we had to get the big crocks up to the kitchen.

The boys were excited to ride along in the elevator.

Helen was no help at all in the sauerkraut process - she napped in the living room with her new snuggle toy from her godmother Karie.

But Grandma and Poppa Moldy came to work, as well as Eri Takahashi.

Put the sauerkraut into the jars.

Smash it down firmly.

Put the lids and rings on the jars and boil them up. We tried cold packing the sauerkraut this year and saved ourselves some effort and a lot of time. We ended up with 40 quarts. Much less than the year before, but we still had some left from the previous year, so it was a good amount.

Saturday we were baking Amish Friendship Bread. We planned to fill our freezer with bread... before Mommy's enthusiasm for baking would wane and she would give up feeding the "starter" (it seems she goes in this cycle about once every two years of baking bread for weeks and then getting burned out).

Micah left before we finished baking to go with Daddy who went to donate blood. So Henry got to single-handedly lick the bowl and spoon. (No need to feel sorry for Micah - he got cookies at the Red Cross station.)

Helen and Mommy got to snuggle during the boys' quiet time. Sweet baby cuddles!

Saturday evening dinner was homemade pizza (with our pizza crust made from the Amish Friendship Bread starter). However, it was a late dinner because Daddy worked late (yes, he had to go into the office on a Sat - boo). Helen woke up and was ready to eat her dinner, just as Mommy began to prep the pizza. Meanwhile, the boys were dancing on the furniture. Oh, it is a crazy house sometimes!

So often, when Mommy is feeling stressed by the conditions or at her whit's end, God brings her a smile and a chuckle from these kiddos.

And then there is Daddy...

Sunday was Henry's first solo sledding experience. Apparently, it was not so great. As Daddy said, "He was doing fine until he hit the tree." Or as Henry said, "I was going down in the boat and BAM into the tree!"

It seems a family legend has been born... The story got progressively more dramatic with each retelling. Mommy found out later that Daddy tried to run down the hill after he realized Henry's trajectory into the woods. But Daddy slipped and fell, sliding on his side, as if sliding into 2nd base. And when Mommy washed Henry's face up after dinner, she discovered a gash on his forehead, which would account for him being in tears after the incident. Ah, memories!

The boys also shoveled off the patio while Mommy stayed inside with Helen to do laundry and prepare the hot chocolate.

While the boys were out, the girls were watching football.

Helen couldn't quite see Peyton Manning well enough, so she rolled over for the first time! It really seemed like she was making the effort in order to have a better view of the game while the Broncos were on offense!

She appeared as surprised as Mommy when this happened. (Soon after the exciting milestone, she had a major diaper blowout, perhaps from the exertion. Neither Helen nor Mommy found this particularly exciting.)

Unfortunately for the boys, she didn't repeat the rollover feat for them when they came back inside.

But it is fun to see them encouraging her as she tries!