winter: indoors

When it's cold outside, we do what we can to enjoy our time indoors.  So here's a peek into just some of the normal everyday happenings.

Each day is always full of the same three things:

1.

2.

3.

And I love it.  It's from those three that all other activities come to be.

We play games, whether they're store-bought...

...or Drake-inspired games.

In this game, you had to find the objects that were taped around the room.

Pajama shirt anyone?

Here's a taste via video.

Getting dressed, or undressed, is sometimes a "game".

Drake can make anything "silly".  

The boys play with trains.

Here, Drake is with Saige, a neighbor friend who comes over on a regular basis.

Drake and Graham will sometimes just do nothing in particular, and love it.

Sleep is always good.

One of Drake's favorite pasttimes is creating stuff from trash.  This is a car he made.

He later made a garage for it.

This is a "candy slider".  You put candy in it, and slide it across the table (or floor).

Give him some scissors and tape and he's a happy boy.

Avery likes to put things in her mouth.  Anything.

I like to take pictures...

...a lot.

Both boys like to play pretend with stuffed animals.  Graham is making sure his dog eats breakfast too.

Lincoln logs are often scattered in the front room.

This is our sweet Avery, who is one of the happiest kids on the planet.

I think a lot of that is because she LOVES her thumb.  Really.  She's addicted.

Blocks are often out and about.

Drake had a little help from his dad for this one.

Cleaning is definitely a daily happening, although if you were to walk into my house at any given moment, you'd probably wonder if we ever cleaned.

Home improvements and fixing-up are indeed a daily happening.   This is a pocket door (that separates the laundry room from the kitchen) that was no fun to open and close.  Shad fixed it.

Eating is standard.  Having fun with food is somewhat standard.

The two boys, but mostly Graham, love drinks.

Every time we have pancakes for breakfast, Drake requests a shape.  This is a car, in case you couldn't tell. 

This is our cheeseless "flag" pizza made for some patriotic holiday.  Don't worry, we did add cheese, once I realized it was missing.

Drake, the pancake-shape requester, likes to build, organize, or make designs with his snacks.

And Graham likes to do whatever Drake is doing.

When we do make some type of dessert, our family loves "the lickies" (the batter-covered beaters).

And finally, eating apples is one of my boys' favorite pasttimes, winter or not.

I always make sure we have plenty of apples in stock.

Getting them to actually finish an entire apple, before starting a new one, is another story.

winter: outdoors

The more winter continues, the more anxious I am for warm weather.

Yet, I still like the winter beauty, and will tromp outside to take pictures, even if it's freezing cold, because I like to take pictures.  This particular morning, besides being really cold, it was gray and foggy.  Although the sky was dreary, the bushes and trees looked very cool.

Each branch had it's own coating of ice crystals.

On another day, the same thing happened, but instead of gray skies, they were a bright blue,

which makes for much better pictures.

I love it when the trees are all white.

I'm glad I live where we have winter, and snow.

And I'm glad my kids love it, too.

It makes life more fun.

And what could be better than playing outside in the freezing cold?

Um, maybe sitting inside, in the nice, warm house, just watching.

We do get a nice, "warm" winter day once in a while,

when the kids can go play outside,

and take a break from being indoors.

But unfortunately, it doesn't last long.