Where is Benjamin?

So after piano lessons (just about 20 minutes ago), I asked Brienna where Benjamin was (after all--it was her day to babysit the 2 youngest).  I knew the 2 boys were outside in the snow working/playing.

Brienna was at the computer.  And Emmalee was in the living room.

So Brienna said:  "I bet he is in my room"  (he loves to climb the bunk beds).  

Checked there & no Benjamin.

So I tried my (closed) door, found it was locked, unlocked it & found:

A sleeping Benjamin.  This is a first!!!  Glad he didn't wander away(door knob covers on outside doors) or get into anything dangerous!

Snow Caves

Zane (& Callum) are working on snow caves in Grandpa's yard.

 Zane has been good to take Emmalee & Benjamin over to let them play too.

 Emmalee thought it was fun to poke her head up.  Zane decided the snow was too thick, and he barely fit in.  So he dug a hole through the top & is putting a board over the hole.

 It's cold!!

 Cheese :D

 Ben & Zane

 Benjamin fit in just fine!

 And he loves to be outside, no matter how cold he gets.  I love the pink gloves he is wearing--we couldn't find his gloves, so we just let him wear Emmalee's.

 Zane made him a spot to sit in the snow--and then gave him snow to throw at me.

 He wanted more snow, but couldn't quite reach it!

So Zane kept supplying him with snow.  and then Zane joined Benjamin & threw lots of snow at me!

As you can see from these photos, we have had lots of cloudy days.  I was so grateful when we had a couple of sunny days (or mostly sunny days!)  It was so sunny one day that I was tempted to wear my sunglasses in the house :)

Baking on Our Wood Stove

For Christmas, we got a fun new "gadget"--a Dutch oven dome.  It is meant to be used camping on a cook stove, but we have been wanting to try to find an oven that goes on top of our wood stove.

 So this is the metal plate.

And here is the dome.

And here is the bread that came off the stove--well, I baked 2 of the loaves on the wood stove.  The other 2 I baked in the oven.  Bet you can't tell the difference!!!

 So I am excited that it worked.  And not only did it work, but it didn't take as long as baking in our oven.

 So Brienna decided to make cupcakes (from scratch) & we baked those on the oven.  Don't they look yummy!!!  The first dozen we baked for 18 minutes, and just as the timer rang, I could smell burnt cupcakes.

But it was only the bottoms.  So for the next 6, we set the timer for 15 minutes, and they were not as done, but still a little too crispy on the bottom.  The last 6, I set the timer for 12 minutes & they were perfect!

So now we need to buy a dutch oven trivet so the metal plate is just a little bit higher off the wood stove.  

And we have baked pizzas & pizza pockets on the wood stove too.  I can't wait to bake some more goodies!  

New Year's "Tea" Party

Brienna had a "Tea" party with Emmalee & Benjamin.

 I'm pretty sure they actually had milk & fish crackers.

 They are using the kid's Tupperware play set that my little sister (Janna Lee) & I played with when we were young.

 My memories of using this set was on Sundays after church, while we were waiting for my mom to cook lunch/dinner.

 I remember having oyster crackers & water (yum, yum).

 Cheers!

 Benjamin thought it was quite funny to "tap" cups & say "Cheers!"

Mmmmm, mmmmmmmmmm--yummy!!!

Benjamin's Lego Building

So after the kids were all in school--Benjamin had a blast playing with the legos & not having to share.

 So he brought his tower over to me & kept pointing to my computer.  I had no idea what he wanted.  I told him there were no more legos over here.  

 Then it fell over.  So I told him to build again.  He did & pointed again.  I finally started pointing to things by my computer & discovered he wanted the camera--He wanted me to take his picture. 

 And then he hid behind the tower.

 Thought it was very funny.

 (Look how smart he is--he picked out all the red blocks & only built with them!)

 After each picture, he wanted to see it on my camera.  

Maybe this is the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

 I kept telling him that I couldn't see his face.

 Then he decided to let go & let his face hold the tower up :D

 There--finally a picture that shows his whole face!

 (Notice his Toy Story shirt--thankfully he has tons of Toy Story clothes, otherwise I fear he would run around in just a diaper.  Wait--he does that too!)

And a final picture of Benjamin & his tower.

Legos

Benjamin (& the kids) have been having fun playing with our legos & mega blocks.  So on Sunday, they decided to see if they could make a tower that touched our ceiling.

 It looks like they did it.   (and they didn't want Benjamin to help them!!)  

Emmalee's goofy face.  She held the bottom of the tower.

 So the next day, Emmalee decided to see if she could build a tower that was taller than her.

 She tried many times, only to have the bottom topple over.

 But she finally did it.  And she had to try  out lots of different faces.

This was her "smile like a beautiful 5-year old" face.

Winter Decorations

 I did get all my Christmas stuff put away, and my winter decorations up.  I should have taken a closer picture of the snowmen family.

 They are wooden & my dad made them for me (& each of my sisters & their families).  They have our names on the bottom.

I hope you notice the picture of Christ.  This was my Christmas present from Santa.  I love this picture!!

I had Brienna put my collection of elephants up for me.  I guess I need to take pictures of them sometime!  I do have plenty of pictures that I still need to blog, though.

And I just got my Blog book in the mail today--I used "Blog2Print" & printed a hard-bound copy of my blog for 2010.  It is a "tidbit" of our family history.  I thought it turned out exceptionally well (better than I had imagined!).  So now I'm going to make one each year.

Scripture Power

A while ago, I said that I worked on a project for the Primary children--an incentive to help them remember to read their scriptures.

So we covered Crystal Light containers (or the off-brand) with card stock & glued "Scripture Power" on the front.  Then we filled them up with bubble gum. 

 At the activity, the kids got to pick their container & put their name on it.  They also decorated the front of a notebook for to use as their church journals.

And here is the poem that went with the bubble gum jars.  (we got this off of Sugardoodle.net)   In case you can't read it, it says:

Scripture reading is lots of fun....

'Specially while chewing bubble gum!

Read the scriptures while you chew,

And when the flavor's gone....

You're Through!!!

We also have a monthly scripture chart the kids can color & bring to church for a small treat.  So I have been studying the scriptures each day--in addition to our family scripture study.  Yes--I mean "study" & not "reading"--we are trying to teach the children to study the scriptures & learn from them.  Not to just "read" them.

Callum took the challenge seriously:  the first day, he put the gum in his mouth & we did family scriptures.  Then after prayer, he opened his scriptures & kept reading.  I asked him what he was doing.  He said his gum still had flavor so he was going to keep reading!  I guess the gum is working!