March has come!

Weve had a bit more sun this past week and have tried to go out and soak it up when it's not too windy.

It's inevitable that the second the girls get outside they run straight for the snow piles, even in church shoes.  I've never been so happy for rainboots, wet socks destroy family outiings.

One of our greatest creations thus far this winter have been the can shoes.  We built these beauties one cold day and the girls were entertained for about 4 hours straight.  Alex has gotten quite good at balancing in them, and the clangy thumping noise has stopped bothering me so much.  As for the neighbors, I don't know.

Quinn loves being outside, but hates mittens.  With cold humidity this is a problem.  She fits into Heidi's 2 year old coat, which we made Heidi give up for her sake since she no longer fits into any of the baby coats.  Heidi got bumped up to Alex's orange coat and Alex graduated to a hand me down purple coat.  Every one is generally happy, although I can see seeds of unrest in Heidi as she is starting to feel the frustration of getting big sister's old things.  This is mixed with her jubilation when she finally gets to wear something she's been lusting after that Alex has finally outgrown.  Heidi is cathing up to her sister for sure, and if Quinn keeps up this rate............

Heidi is full of suprises every day.  She begs to do school and have Mom time, while Alex would rather sit in her room playing dolls and listening to books on tape.  I'm amazed with the things Heidi is picking up in "school" and we have decided to start her in homeschool Kindergarten next year.  She has already begun to read Alex's beginer reader books and LOVES to sound out letters and words and do math.  She is completely self motivated when it comes to academics and it astounds me.  Motivating her to clean up her toys is an entirly different thing.

Saturday we went to the zoo. It had been awhile, and it was a sunny, warmish day so we couldn't miss the opportunity.  We generally only do the zoo on school days, so when we arrived and saw that the rest of Pittsburgh was there, I was a bit taken aback.  One thing I love about homeschool is that our schedule is our own.  We visit all the museums in the afternoon when the little kids are napping and field trips are over and we have the place to ourselves!  I never thought that in a big city like this we could experience such an intimate experience with such amazing places!  I don't know that I will be able to return to Utah, because there are just SO many children that you can NEVER experience anything alone. Anywhere.

We took the crowds as an opportunity to just run and be free.  There were so many people that we couldn't get close to the windows inside, and many of the outdoor animals were inside for the season.

We had a picnic on a bench and the girls took Quinn on some adventures.

The sun and the laughter and the grilled cheese made for a wonderful time.

The crowds didn't really matter in the end as the girls just wanted to play in the snow piles, run down hills and play shadow tag anyway.

A few weeks ago the girls asked how cheese was made.  This took me back to Provo and Aunt Kate's homemade mozerella so we gathered the ingredients and tried it out.  You notic Quinn in the background signing "all done" it's the only sign she will use and she uses it for EVERYTHING.  While she does it she sings ALL DONE in a high pitched baby voice that is beyond adorable.

This is our finished cheese ball.  The girls loved it and would have eaten the whole thing right there if I had let them.  It was fairly easy and something we will probably end up doing every few weeks. 

We don't get to see Tyler very much these days because he has night classes this unit.  But Friday night we revived our old family movie night tradition and started watching Dr. Quinn medicine woman.  We tried the first episode on a whim because we were learning about that time period in school, and the girls got sucked in!  They beg to watch it every night and I love that it's something we can all enjoy. I think we will all remember Dr. Quinn evenings with girl scout cookies for a long time. 

It's beginning to look a lot like...... winter will never end.

There is nothing happening in our lives right now.

Tyler just finished another Unit, only 2 left until rotations which sort of blows my mind and sort of feels like it will never come.  Especially in this weather.  It's been cold and snowy for days.  Just cold enough you don't want to send the kids outside, and just snowy enough you don't want to drive anywhere to escape cabin fever.

 Our lives sort of fit into this box.  I've grown very fond of it, Quinn loves it as a play pen, and the girls use it for hours a day.  It's remarkable to think of all the toys we have, and yet how content this simple box has made us.  I credit it for saving my sanity on these long cold days with Tyler gone and children sick.

Heidi has what we are starting to think may be influenza, 2 Sundays of missing church due to coughs is taking it's tole.  And it turns out Quinn really does have an allergic reaction to eggs!  Alex told me she hates being sick because she can't do her favorite things, "like putting my fingers in Quinn's mouth." The girls have since been banned from Quinn.

 It's not a terrible cage to be in, with the hope of spring on the horizon I try to remind myself the cold can't last forever.  It does feel like a cage though when we are far away from family and new babies!  I became an Aunt again twice in the last week and I want to hold babies and squeeze cheeks.

 The event of the week was when Girl Scout cookies arrived!  Alex and Heidi each purchased their very own boxes and watching them nibble and savor those special and long awaited treats has brought a smile to my face time and time again.

Freezing February

I think those who read this blog, probably are our face book friends, and for those who don't do facebook I've been posting the box pictures to Instagram as well (pretty much for your sole benefit Stephanie, you should feel pretty special! ;)

 So I feel sort of lame updating the blog with the same pictures that have been all over facebook this week, so I decided to post some of the second place pictures and outtakes instead.  Our lives have become this strange mix of homeschool and photo class- trapped indoors by varying circumstances but mostly the weather.

We moved the set up from the living room to the toy room.  The lighting is SO much better, and I have a LOT less set up rip down to do each day.  This way I can still enjoy a clean living room while the kids play box all afternoon.

 The pictures have been fun to do and a challenge for sure.  At first the biggest hurdle was if I was going to be able to come up with more than 5 ideas.  It's been fun brainstorming with the kids each day and we've got a solid month's worth of picture possibilities mapped out already.

 The second challenge was lighting.  I discovered that the toy room provided MUCH better light, but with the clouds- it's still been tricky to get a  consistent results without too much effort (flash).  Third was the format. I decided that I liked the square format that Instagram required and how it sort of unified the 'series'.  Fitting 3 kids and a big box inside a square with all the ideas has been tricky.  The toy room set up isn't huge and so I can only step back so far.  I've had to get creative.  It's been frustrating at times when the best picture won't crop down right, or the lighting isn't right and the kids have had enough.

 Quinn would be the final challenge, well, a nice Quinn and Heidi mix.  It's sort of a where's Waldo to locate the puffs hidden in each shot- the only way Quinn will sit still.  And Heidi is a wild card.  I've had to get creative.  It's been frustrating at times when the best picture won't crop down right, or the lighting isn't right and the kids only let me get off a couple shots. I feel like my photography is improving though, and it's a fun unifying thing we look forward to doing everyday.  The girls love the idea of making a funny picture to send to Daddy at school each day.
 Last week Tyler was cramming for tests, and everyone was sick at some point, so we did our fair share of this.  Fort movies.

 Alex has started to enjoy the staging process of the box shots, and it's fun to see her enthusiasm while we get everything ready.

After the pictures (our photo shoots are pretty short) I'm still in the mood to take pictures, so I've been grabbing toys and practicing.

 Here is our family portrait for the year, or perhaps next year, Quinn isn't quite that big yet and Heidi's hair isn't that long yet.  She has decided to grow it out into what we refer to as "Toby hair".

 I love watching the kids be so creative.  I think my favorite part about homeschool is being able to spend these years with Alex.  She is so creative, sweet, thoughtful and smart!  Here I caught them playing vet.  Something about cavities in eyes and needing shots all over.  We had been talking about molecules, germs and white blood cells the day before and I LOVED hearing Alex explain it all to nurse Heidi while they treated the penguins.

 This week we did have a fun play date!  Our neighbors finally returned from a couple month stay in Utah and so we got together and let the kids go nuts while we enjoyed adult chatter.

 Their little boy is beyond adorable, and we had fun including him in our picture for the day.  There is nothing quite so grand as having great neighbors.  I can't count the times I've called for last minute babysitting, or emergency medicine (last week I was sure Quinn was having an allergic reaction to eggs, turned out to be roseola. She saved me from a emergency trip to the drugstore.  Plus all the times....)

 This was today's picture.  Alex declared she had won a gold in ice dancing.  Heidi said her silver was for bear chasing, and Quinn got the gold for finally crawling on her hands and knees!

Quinn is beyond hilarious.  She loves pulling herself up on the couch or chairs to reach things she shouldn't, but if YOU try to get her to stand, she gets super mad and kicks and forces herself to sit.  She has no desire to learn to walk.

 This is the look she gives me while I'm rattling the tambourine, shouting and pulling silly faces trying to get a smile.

I don't know where this child came from.  Where is my little Alex gone, and who is this grown up child?  She told me today she loves History and Art more than anything, so when I assigned her to paint an American flag, it was a dream come true.

Grandma Jake

Last week Grandma Jake passed away.

Grandma Jake holds a special place in my heart.

look at that Alex chunck!

The first time I met her was at Ben and Kate's wedding.  I didn't know much of the family and I was pretty shy and reserved at that point.  I remember Tyler had to leave at some point and I was left in the hands of Grandma Brady and Grandma Jake.  

It was hilarious! The two Grandma's had known each other since high school, and 4 of their children had gotten married, (2 of the Brady brothers married the 2 Jacobson sisters.)  Suddenly I was in this girls club, laughing and teasing and having a blast.  Grandma adopted me immediately and treated me like we had been friends forever, there was no awkward silences or anything- just instant friends.

 Going to Grandma Jakes house was always a treat.  I'm glad that the girls got to know her so well and spend so much time with their Great Grandmother.

 Even Quinn got to meet this exceptional woman a few times.

 Grandma was very supportive, she came to Alex's dance class to watch, fed the kids swedish fish like they were vitamins and sent them off with bags of quarters every now and then.  She was SO stubborn, and often tried to slip us a $20 to completely overcompensate for some small service.

 She was always happy to see us, and we were always happy to see her.  The summer we spent at the garden was a wonderful adventure, and I'll never forget how she taught Alex to eat tomatoes raw with salt!  She will still grab a raw tomato and chew it up like and apple!

 The girls still talk about the Sylvester and Tweety bird book that they had Grandma read 100 times on each visit.  Poor Grandma was such a sport and would read until her voice gave out!

 In the fall we would go and pick apples and eat until we were sick of them.

We have lots of great memories with Grandma, since that first day on she always treated me like I was an old friend.


 Heidi had Grandma wrapped around her finger and Grandma had Heidi wrapped around hers.  These two were the best of friends.
 I think some of our greatest memories came from riding the bike down to her house a few times a week when the weather was good and having Grandkid Friday.  We would get all the cousins who could come and spent the day dumping out the penny jar, running around the yard, and having a yummy lunch.

 It's been fun to hear all the stories about Grandma from before I came along, she was a hoot and had a strong will and I can't wait to catch up with her when I get to heaven.

The beginnings of the box saga

This summer it seemed like I could post about something everyday.  There was so much going on, so many new things and experiences to share!  Well, January in Pittsburgh is sort of bleak and so ALL of our adventures have been happening within these walls.  Luckily we love our home and with 3 kids and homeschooling life can never get too boring.

Tyler is in this terrible spot in school.  The end (rotations) is so near and yet still so far away.  We are trying to keep our spirits high and cramming in as much vitamin D as we can find in order to fend off the seasonal blues.

Last week we hit a creativity high.  We filled some balloons with water and food coloring and made giant frozen marbles.  These were great outdoor decorations until it warmed up to 45 on Saturday and they melted.  The kids were pretty mad.

Quinn is testing her limits.  She has made it up exactly 1 step, and still prefers eating garbage, hairballs, and old peas to real food.

Tyler has made an effort to be around more this semester.  The girls have enjoyed being able to see and touch Daddy more often.  He has been great to include them in school when he can.

We have found new ways to enjoy the great indoors and are growing pretty attached to our box friend.  We have been able to capture a photo a day this last week of all our box adventures.

I've enjoyed practicing my photography skills and making fun pictures.  While I strive to make the finished pictures polished, here you catch a glimpse of what "the process" looks like in creating a box masterpiece.  I'm fairly proud of my backdrop- rigged from a baby gate, a shower curtain rod, some paper clips, rubber bands, cushions and a bedspread.  It's a lot more difficult than it may seem to get 3 kids sitting still, with proper lighting, in the confines of that bedspread backdrop.

Quinn is the sunshine in our days.  What would we do without her?!

She is easy to please and loves pleasing others.  This picture catches her extra happy because I gave her free reign over a tube of puffs so she would sit still.  She was excitedly shoveling handfuls into her mouth.

Alex and Heidi are my actors.  Very dramatic, excited to dress up and and willing to pose for me.

Quinn Usually photo-bombs me while I set the stage.  Creeping up on the couch while I set the camera up just right.

The girls get into it right away and I love eaves dropping and being a part of their games.  We start out imagining the scene and then they figure out costumes and get going while I set up our backdrop.  I remember not long ago when that dress was too long!

These pictures make me smile so much my face hurts.  I think it's because they help me remember the moments, which are a blast.

This is SO Heidi in character.  She has some serious theater skills.

Perhaps Quinn does as well.

Despite the cold we've been having some fun.  The girls and I made a pie on Friday and forgot to eat a slice before bed.  I really wanted some for a midnight snack but couldn't cut into it without them there.  Tyler came up with a great idea/ some fall guys that made it easier.

The girls are skeptical.  We also put a map under the plastic tablecloth on our table.  Our table is now 100x cooler than it was.

Quinn Photo bombing my set up, again.

I do have to pat myself on the back, sometimes I struggle when it comes to pictures- trying to make things "just so".  So far we have been able to keep the pictures 100% fun (well, 99% sorry Quinn.  This was the last picture) and lighthearted, balancing the pretend game and my desired results while still getting the money shot.

Saturday we went to our Pittsburgh Grandma's house to bake cookies, play games and have a tea party.  Grandma Sue is one of Tyler's teachers who we have bonded with and adopted as our own.  She is wonderful and Grandmotherly and patient with my kids.

She took us to the park and gave us an old cast iron muffin tin that makes sleeping cat muffins.  I imagine myself turning out something like Grandma Sue, I think that's why we get along so well- she's an older version of me.

Sunday Quinn sported her first pigtails (donkey ears) to church.

Monday it snowed and so we put on some makeup and played cats.

Last kitty left.