This and that

 

Jacob loves to use the snow blower and he does a nice job with it.

Their annual tradition of sleeping by the Christmas tree on the Epiphany. They were looking forward to it since the start of Advent. :)

Christmas Day

Jacob and Timmy sit on the steps when we watch "scary" movies (like Anne of Green Gables, which, in Timmy's words, was "the scariest movie I've ever seen!")

We went to Galena on Dec 23rd because it was so warm out. 

Jacob wanted to know why the statue of liberty was holding an ice cream cone.

Mike wanted his picture taken with Grant.

Decorating the tree

Matching boys

Thankful for 2023

 We came across this idea online and decided to try it out for 2023 (though I changed it a bit). 

We started out doing it pretty faithfully every week, but that tapered off and there were times when we went a month or more without adding anything. I asked each of the boys what they were most thankful for. Here are some of my favorites:

Jacob:

-Going to church

-chocolate milk

-my beanbag

-our Dad

-Jesus being born

Timmy:

-God

-Lights when it's dark

-St. Joseph

-All the nice days we have

-My nice cozy bed

-guns for shooting deer

Michael:

-My Godparents

-The cow pen

-racoons

-the Amish silos

-ketchup and BBQ sauce

-our house but not the badger

David:

-My birthday

-outside

-dinosaurs

-the statue of Jesus

-my eyes and my mouth

-bunny rabbits

-babies

Misc

 

The Mines of Spain

We went on a school field trip to an underground railroad. 

The kids got to hold a real musket.

The tunnel from the main house to the cabin.

Painting cabinets

Jacob's favorite class in school is art.

Great Uncle Mike and Mike

We had 3 busy days in a row and Mike fell asleep during supper that 3rd night.

Knights!

Working on their embroidery for school

Michael is 4yrs!

 Mike is 4 years old!
Height: 37.25"     Weight: 28lbs   (2nd percentile)

Michael surprised us all a couple weeks ago. Dad was writing down words for Jacob and Timmy to practice reading and one word had them a little stumped. Mike went over, looked at it for a few seconds, and then said "Skunk! It's skunk." Everyone looked at him. "You can't read!" "Yes I can!" So Dad proceeded to write out about 40 different words, and Mike sounded out each of them and read the words. Crazy! :)

        What is your favorite color: Purple

        What is your favorite toy? cement mixers

        What is your favorite fruit? vegetables  (for the record, he doesn't eat vegetables!)

        What is your favorite book? Here Comes a Fire Engine

        What's your favorite thing to do for fun? watch a movie

        What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? fruit

        What is your favorite candy?  strawberries

        What is your favorite snack? candy

        What is your favorite farm animal?  horses

        What do you want to do when you grow up?  be a fireman

        What kind of job to you want to have when you grow up? put out fires