Fine Feathered Friends

One of the best features of our home is the large and established yard and outside area. We love watching the plant and animal life that is literally out our back door. Lately most of the wildlife has consisted of birds. We have blue jays, wrens, and many days we get to see the flash of scarlet that is the cardinal. The other day I looked out and saw over a dozen cardinals, both male and female in our crab apple tree. While my camera skills don't so the scene justice, here is a glimpse at some of our fine feathered friends.

Snow Day Fun

This past Tuesday we were blessed with a snow day. It really was good timing for my sake. A day at home without any running around was just what I needed.

I had stocked up on some Valentine's day crafty things from the Target dollar spot, so I gave them to the girls right away in the morning. Peachy wasted no time and got right to creating.

Since it hadn't started to snow yet, we made a quick grocery store run for some essentials like milk, peanut butter, and donuts! I let the kids keep their jamas on, which they thought was pretty cool.

We all enjoyed having Peachy home for the day. An extra lap to sit on or someone to read books is always appreciated.

It did eventually start to snow and while Shortcake slept I sent the girls out to play before the wind picked up.

And while it doesn't seem possible, having all three home all day and not having to go anywhere actually let me be more productive. I had a good sewing day and was also able to keep up on the housework. I think it was a needed break from routine for all of us!

Our Arizona Trip

Yay for Grandma Girl! I don't know how moms fly on their own!

Waaaay back in the end of October my mom and I took the kids to Arizona. We were able to visit my one sister and her husband and my other sister flew in from California!! We had a blast! It was so good to all be together. (It has been three years since I saw one sister as she has been living overseas.)

Waiting for the rental car. You would think we had been there for hours!

My mother met us at the airport that just happens to be in the middle of our two homes. We had a straight flight, which was awesome with kids. The flight went well and then we rented a van at the airport where we met up with my sister when she landed.

Yay for Aunties!!

We filled our time with trips to the zoo, science museum, and even drove up into the mountains. Since we flew out on Halloween we brought the kids costumes and attended a story time at the library my sister works at. (She even was the librarian running the story time!)

Helping us navigate at the zoo. He loved the monkeys!

Our return flight was smooth as well. We landed on time, but it was after 10 pm and we still had to drive home. All three kids fell asleep and slept the entire hour and a half home! The next day I was totally wiped out, but it was a Sunday, so we all just chilled at home.

Walking in the snow in Arizona!

One of the best parts of the trip was my sister announcing that they are expecting their first baby in May!!! I also got to share the news of our baby with my sisters.

My three gnomes all dressed up to go to Halloween story time.

Our Family Is Growing!

My highly photoshopped attempt at an announcement with the three kiddos.

As I mentioned in my last post, there were some pretty wonderful things that happened that when I wasn't blogging. The most extraordinary being, we are expecting baby #4 at the end of May. It is so, so exciting to think of a new little one joining our family!! Being that we have seen the babe on the ultrasound screen and I can now feel the movements, it is starting to feel more and more real. We told the kids by giving them a baby book and asking if they would like it if we had another. Peachy and Cream are pretty excited. Shortcake is living in sweet denial. :o) 

Our announcement in Facebook.

So far everything has been going well. (Which we are so thankful for.) I am so much more tired this time around. I think we can blame keeping up with the other three and my "advanced maternal age." Ha! We are at a new clinic and hospital because of our move, so I am learning the ropes there. I have decided to see the midwives at our clinic. I am enjoying the midwife experience so far, although I have only been to them two times now.

Shortcake looking at the baby book we used to tell the kids about their new sibling.

We really are amazed at God's goodness in allowing us to experience the joy of adding one more child to our family!

And just for fun, here are the other three's ultrasound pictures.

Peachy

Cream

Shortcake

Blogging Again?

Trying on winter gear to make sure we were ready for the cold and snow.

Wow, I didn't really intend to take a blogging break, but apparently I did. After a while, I didn't really know if I would come back or not. However, I am constantly writing posts in my head and I miss keeping track of what is going on in our lives. I often look back at old posts for reference or simple nostalgia, so I decided to give it a whirl again.

Playing dress up. She said that she was getting ready to play football.

I may not post much other than our daily lives. If I do find the time to complete a project, I don't always get around to taking pictures. And while I do cook for my family everyday, we usually consume the food before I capture it on "film."

Selfies!

There has been lots of everyday things going on around these parts with a few extraordinary events sprinkled in. I will try to catch up over the next few posts and see where it goes from there. :)

Peek-a-boo!! Snacking in the van while his sisters play after school.

Sunflower Fields Forever

If you know me well, you know that I have a love for all things cheery.

Give me rainbows, daisies, and sunflowers all day! When I heard of a sunflower field near our house, I knew I had to go and check it out with the kiddos.

We probably should have gone a week earlier, since the flowers were a bit heavy and droopy, but we had fun none the less.

Going and seeing these flowers made me want to fill our entire backyard with these giant, happy beauties. (Kidding, not kidding.)

May your days be filled with sunshine and rainbows, dear friend!

Chalkboard Calendar

Mr. Cherry and I make use of our phones and Google calendar to keep up with our daily appointments, meetings, and tasks. We love that they sink to each other and that we can access them on our phones, tablets, or computers. However, there is something about a physical calendar. I do make use of a planner, but the girls are getting to the point that they like to know what our days hold. I decided it was time to make a family calendar that everyone in the family could see and anticipate what is coming up in our month. 

We have had a framed chalkboard in our house for several years now that I use to write seasonal messages on. I decided that it would make an excellent family calendar. After a thorough cleaning, I used a ruler and white paint marker to make the boxes and write the days of the week at the top. I then used chalk markers to write in the month, numbers, and also the events for our month.

I hung the chalkboard in the dining room and am loving it. The girls often look at it while we eat and talk about upcoming and passed events. It works well to look ahead at how long it is until a certain special day. The only drawback is that I no longer have my chalkboard to decorate. (I am working on a solution for that, though.)