Randomness

 I've been mulling over post ideas all day, but here we are at the end of the day and I decided to go with random. :)  Mainly because all the other things I want to post about require more brain power as well as more time!  So here are some pictures from the past few weeks, and a few links at the end.

Jim and I sneaked off for a half hour for a quick snowshoe in the woods one Saturday.  We need to do this more often!  He snapped a few pics on his phone.

 (I wish I'd put on a little makeup that day, I look sooo tired!)

 Ari needed something to do one day while the big kids were doing something together and didn't want company. ;)  So I put her to work "helping" with dishes.  I think we'll do this more often...she had fun and so did I (even though I ended up washing several things over and over, since she kept pulling stuff out of the drainer to play with!).  I can't get over how long her hair is getting and what a big girl she looks like in this pic!

 It's great when the kids pull out toys they haven't played with in a while and get creative.  Sam had fun with the Geo-mags!  First he made a hat...

 Julia wanted to try it too, and discovered it wasn't too comfortable. :D

After that, he continued building and ended up with a soccer ball!

Then there's Josiah...also creative, although he usually prefers paper crafts.  Like this. ;) 

 Jim came home with flowers for me one day, out of the blue.  I was so surprised!  Aren't they pretty?  A bright spot in these gray winter days, for sure!

 The local rink has been offering a homeschool skate time on Mondays.  We've gone twice, and the kids love it!  Since most of the local ponds aren't too great for skating this winter, I'm glad we still have an opportunity to skate, even though it costs a little bit.  I love love love this pic of the kids and a couple of their friends from last week!

And now for some linky fun:  

• Food love: I am working on getting back to menu planning, after the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  (I'm not doing well at it consistently, but I'm getting there.  I was in a good groove through the fall, but having trouble finding that groove again right now!)  Anyway, I am mostly all about simple meals right now and this Baked Gnocchi and Sausage hits the spot every time.  Yum!  Tonight I served it with homemade foccacia bread.
• Book love: The kids and I have been reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (we're studying China as part of our Sonlight curric. right now).  This is a perfect read-aloud in my opinion, because most of the chapters are super short.  Of course, the kids always beg for "one more chapter" because they're so riveted, but we're taking our time working through it.  It's a lovely story and incorporates many Chinese folk tales along the way, which is so much fun.  Love it!
• Pinterest love: this Valentine banner...I want to make one!  And I've also been looking at ideas for shared girls' rooms, dreaming about decorating our future addition.  There are so many cute and creative ideas out there!  I love this bookshelf and window seat.  I also think this room is lovely (apparently I have expensive tastes :D).  
• Movie love: We enjoy watching movies on Amazon Prime, and this week we did a 1-week free trial to the Starz channel on Amazon (so we could watch the new Star Wars movie).  We also found a few other movies to try... I really enjoyed Pixar's Inside Out (made me laugh and cry, which is pretty much how ALL Pixar movies are for me!), and then last night we watched Risen.  Totally different genre, but it's based on Jesus' death and resurrection, as seen through the eyes of a Roman soldier.  Some violence, so I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids, but it was (in my opinion) excellent and really brought the Bible to life.  

And that's all for today...hope everyone is having a great week so far!