End of November & most of December 2014.....

Honey Bunches got out the art books for Tweeters!  Just what she needed :0)

Science experiments!  Homemade lava lamp...

Happy boy!  His very own Tonka truck!  At 40% off we couldn't resist...

Poor man's Hanukkah Menorah - plastic cups w/ beans from the sensory table & birthday candles!

Homemade jelly donuts - very delish. 

Finished my braided rag rug!  It gets used every day & we love it - oh yeah & that's my huge o pregnant belly! Due any day, just waiting....

Tweeters making chocolate dipped pretzels with Daddy Pops

Jam's turn

HB & the littles having a snuggle

Sunshine cake for the winter solstice - days getting longer now hooray!!!

Winter table

Flash & Jam having a lego night

Flash's turn to snuggle littles

Papa J's bday is the 24th....

...& this is what we got for him!  The how to play manual is like 30 pages long.....

Flash made an awesome dinner for us one night - marinated steak wraps!!  Love the garnish & home grown sprouts, too.  Notice the homemade plate?  Honey Bunches made that for me when she was 4 :0)

Crazy JG came for a visit....had a super hard time getting here & back home & was sick most of the time...but I hope he had a good time hanging out w/ us anyway!  Always great to see one of my 'lost boys'!

What HB has been doing for 2 weeks....the sickness just kept getting passed around...

Lovin' this awesome man!

Train play & coloring

Yippee!  Finally sunshine & warmer weather!!

Making bark boats to float in the mud puddles

4-wheeling with Papa J

How Flash prefers to read

These boys :0)

And, a snuggle with Grandma L

Making our own candles from old beeswax

Overlooking the creek from the hill behind the house - gorgeous

They even brought their lunch!

The homemade gingerbread candle!

Flash showing Charlie & the littles his huge o Marvel comics book/poster that JG gave him!

So now we are just waiting on Baby J #5....he was due 5 days ago....but they come when they come I guess!  Happy New Year everyone!!!

Food

Lunch with Flash at Greek to Me - yum!!

Sugar on snow, more yum!

Homemade lentil soup, perfect for our cold winter nights....

Flash cooks for Chef Michael

The banana soup, with sausage waiting to be added

Lil' sister helping w/ the empanadas

And it's all right here....in this top secret recipe book made by HB!

I think the Mitchel family enjoyed their meal, at the very least they didn't have to cook ;0)

Rose Hips

Papa J & Tweeters checking out the deer stand

 This is a great time of year for collecting rose hips!  They are sweet & perfect for making a deep, rich tea :0)  We have tons of wild roses on our land, so now we collect them instead of buy them.

A bit too slippery & covered w/ ice to go all the way up

Cooking

I was busy doing something last week & the littles got hungry....they got out their own tea set & found some food & did a great job helping themselves!

mmm-mmm roasted root vegetables!  Thank you Tami for blessing us with this awesome recipe ;0)

Ok, this looks nasty - but it's the beginning of some amazing homemade Larabars!!  Flash is getting pretty good at pairing various spices together & these are oh so yummy....a labor of love!

Here they are all laid out & ready to EAT!

Ok, not food for us, but we made these at Countryside Playschool on our last day & the birds gobbled it up...they are pine cones smeared with peanut butter & rolled in birdseed.

Snow ice cream - so easy but ya gotta go easy - it'll give you a brain freeze if you eat it too fast!