in action

A picture from William's competition day. He looks awesome, if I do say so myself!

maple sugar snow

After reading Little House in the Big Woods we have been wanting to try this little sweet. We warmed up some maple syrup, poured if over untouched snow and gave it a go. The boys thought it was great. It was kinda like a hard slushy that tasted like maple syrup. Yum!

Sunday Smiles

competition

My sweet William has his first ski competition today. Eric is traveling with him as it is a couple hours away and Landon still has his day with the ski club to go to. I am bummed that I cannot be there. I  pray that he is safe and has a super great time. He was really excited about it all week.  I can't wait to hear all about it when he arrives home tonight.


Update: They made it home safe and sound. William placed 7th out of 12 boys. Not bad for his very first competition. He had a great day of skiing and lots of fun, which is what we want most.

drawing books

We found some neat drawing books at the library the other day. I have always tried to encourage the boys to create in their own way and not have them follow a set example. However, they were really interested in these books so I thought we would give them a try.

Landon is using one that shows how to draw castles and knight. He is making scenes with the the knights battling and guarding the castles.

William has an Ed Emberly drawing book. He worked for a long time on making a haunted house.Although he was following a step by step guide he still added his own details.

They were not only working on their drawing skills, but attention spans as well. Plus Landon was telling a story to go along with his picture, therefore exercising his creative storytelling/writing skills.

I love how I am able to give them the time they needed to work on these projects of theirs. There was no clock telling us it was now time to stop and move onto the next academic subject.  It was a good reminder to me that we learn from everything we do.  Most especially when it interests us.

hearts are everywhere

As I went to put a piece of wood into the fire this knot caught my eye. I looked closer and it totally resembled a heart to me. It made me pause and reflect that if we take the time we can truly find greatness everywhere we look.  To be more appreciative of the world around us and in the little every day tasks, such as burning wood to keep us warm, there is something to smile about.

Hope you find  a smile today!

making snowmen

The weather has warmed up a bit so the snow as started to melt. As a result, the boys discovered it is great packing snow.  They have been working on these snowmen the past two days. It was a cooperative effort as the balls they made were very heavy and needed the three of us to pick them up to so there could be a middle and head. They were very excited when they had finished them.