Playing catch up today...

Yes, I've not been a very good blogger lately...between Isaac's broken arm, bad weather, problems with my asthma, power outages, and other various and sundry difficulties, the blogging has had to take a back seat. But, I am back now with a vengeance and can't wait to catch you up on the shinanigans. I wanted to share some recent photos of me and the kids spending a day at home about two Saturdays ago doing arts-n-crafts together. I love to have a Saturday with no particular expectations other than spending family time together and enjoying each other's creativity. It gives me the opportunity to spend hours doing my favorite hobby - scrapbooking - as well as giving the kids free-reign of the craft supplies. We painted, colored, glued, cut, made, tore - the live-long day. And it was a blast!

Jonah painted 5 sun-catchers in 5 minutes - he rushes through everything just to get it done! He thinks everything in life is a race - and he's determined to win!

Isaac worked for over an hour on 2 sun-catchers. He is meticulous and detailed...two very different personalities in these precious boys!

Abby painted EVERY page in her princess painting book - at least one swipe on each princess.

Daddy is a great facilitator - he keeps everybody on tasks - a great referee of sorts!

Me...in all my ponytail glory...working on a scrapbook page.

Last Saturday, Mike's family came over to visit with Isaac and check on him. He has been doing much better this week and is managing very well with his fractured arm. He doesn't even need to use his sling any longer because he is now strong enough to carry the cast on his own without hurting his shoulder. He and Jonah have been wanting their Uncle Steven to come and play Nintendo Wii with them since Christmas and they were able to come and bring extra controllers - the boys were ecstatic! It is amazing that a little boy with a cast on says he can't write now, but can manage to drive to play MarioKart very well!

And, finally, on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., the lights went out after the ice storm...and took with it the heat, the fridge/freezer and anything that required electricity! We were out of power until late Thursday evening. We braved one night at home with the generator and floor heaters, but Michael and I didn't sleep a wink because we stayed up to make sure nothing caught fire and that everything was safe. Then, after the second day with no power, we went to a local hotel for a night - we needed sleep. Thanks to the hard working electric company employees, we were back on Thursday night...however, many in our area are still without power and may not be back on for days.

We burned alot of candles to see by.

The kids slept in our bed with double layers of clothes on and tons of blankets...they kept really warm!

Now, we are back home, the kids are relaxing, playing and watching cartoons. Michael is in his favorite chair reading and studying. I am relaxing after eating breakfast,...not sure what we will do today...no specific plans in mind.
We are all...
home, healthy, and happy.
I love it.