after school art.

I set up the girls' easels (an awesome gift from Aunt Stephanie) and some paints after school one day and let them postpone their homework and paint instead. They were thrilled. The boys had to join in too and it was a total mess by the time we were done. Which was okay since this is the room meant for messes. And we didn't even have to clean it up in order to have dinner! We are really loving the art room.  

snack time: a retrospective

And this just amused me.

simon sleeps.

I snapped this picture of Simon sleeping when I went in to check on him one night. Amelia has taught him to surround himself with stuffed animals. I liked the penguins surrounding his head.

art room: mini eames

I found these kid size (knock-off) Eames chairs at Hobby Lobby of all places and there was no way I was going to pass them up. Miniature versions of our art room chairs. Too perfect. I still haven't blogged about our dining room to art room conversion. One of these days I'll take some pictures in there with my real camera and give a full tour. I'm still trying to finish some wall decor though.

Dumping everything out is way more fun than coloring.

simon in a suit.

We can't get enough of this kid and his crazy curls (which are actually kind of tame in these photos). He is at such a fun age right now and makes everyone in this house happy.

saturday afternoon crafting

Amelia painted a bird house and Elsa did some printmaking. I love having space for messy projects.

lunch with the girls.

While Oliver was in preschool one day, I took Simon to the girls' school to have lunch with them. It's always fun to hang out with them at school and see their friends. (And also we had completely run out of food that morning so I had nothing to pack in their lunches and had to bring something for them so it was a good excuse to stay and eat with them). Simon was a big hit with all the kids. It's always super crazy and loud in the cafeteria but I'm just glad the girls are still happy to see me when I show up.

annual indoor winter campout

The kids had a day off of school last week so we decided to do our annual indoor winter campout. We started this a few years ago as a way to make January less depressing. Ben took the day off and he and I took turns doing a run at Lake Johnson to enjoy the beautiful weather that day. Then we all headed to Lake Benson and went on a short hike. We came home and had a fire in the backyard (and Ben burned our Christmas tree) and we had tinfoil dinners and s'mores. We set up the tent in the playroom and the kids slept in there (Ben slept in the playroom with them, but opted for the guest bed and Simon and I opted for our own beds). We had a pancake breakfast in the morning. I love this simple tradition and the kids always look forward to it.

Putting on a performance at Lake Benson.

Skipped the marshmallows and went straight for the chocolate.

beach day.

We decided to head to the beach on Martin Luther King Day. We went to Carolina Beach which is just two hours away. We stopped for lunch in Wilmington and then made a stop at Hobby Lobby (where I scored the most adorable kid-size (knock-off) Eames chairs). We had so much fun at the beach, just enjoying family time together, no crowds, and the beautiful sunny day. The water was freezing but the kids still got themselves pretty soaked. Simon loved every minute of it.

Elsa had a little sweater malfunction. It wasn't until she took off her coat that I realized her sweater was all twisted up.