March

Oh Aaron... I'm not sure exactly what was going on here, but he was off with Dad somewhere doing a job and he took his notebook along in the backseat of the car to document his troubles.

You wouldn't imagine the arguments that can happen when a big box makes its way into your house.  The boys each had to have a turn sleeping in this cardboard box for a night

Aaron accompanied Mike on a Saturday morning processing meat from several of Uncle Dave's pigs

From what I can recall, March was snowy and cold.  These were some interesting low-lying frost clouds early one morning over the field

Icicles hanging off the sunroom roof

Ice and sunshine... beautiful

I think we were starting to feel a bit cooped-up at this point in the year, and things started to get a little bit crazy at home

Everybody squeeze into the picture!

Winter threw up in my living room... is it spring yet?  I was so ready to pack away those winter coats, boots, hats, mitts, scarves... but for March, they continued to litter the house

Somebody got a crazy new hairstyle!

All I want for... my birthday... is a new front tooth!  Aaron's grey front tooth finally fell out

Opa VD came over for coffee and dinner, and we were happy to be able to soak in some sunshine together

Burning off some energy in the play place at Aunt Andrea's work

Well, if spring isn't quite here yet, we'll make our own flowers with squirt bottles and food colouring.  They didn't really end up looking like flowers but it was nice to get outside

We took a trip to Hamilton and met this super famous artist, and even got this ultra-cool selfie with him.  Timothy had a few of his paintings featured in a gallery downtown

And then we moved the insanity of Many Small Children at Suppertime to a restaurant to eat.  It worked out fairly well considering we were outnumbered by young kids

Every once in a while, the kids get to take a jacuzzi bubble bath downstairs, and this is a huge highlight!

Our friend Ann came to visit during the March break and we had a wonderful time catching up with her.  The kids swarmed all over her as she read them books, and we played and learned a few new games. 

Again, it was warm enough to spend some time in the sunroom

During the March break, construction on our new chicken coop began!  Dave came and helped Mike with the roof.  Mike was able to salvage enough free barn board (from a to-be-burned barn) to cover the outside, and we were really looking forward to filling it with chickens

I often find Nate cuddled in with Stephen in the mornings

Mom, Sarah, Bethany and I had a freezer-meal preparation day where we spent all day in the kitchen and everyone ended up with 8 meals for the freezer

It has been WAY too long since I've taken a Four Boys on a Couch picture, but here is the most recent one

February

In January, a little cowgirl was added to the VD clan.  Congratulations Dave and Bethany! Don't count the boots too closely though, I think we put an extra pair in there somewhere, whoops

We were impressed by the amount of snow that we got, especially when it piled up in the pool area.  It was level with the sunroom floor!  Anyone want to go for a swim? 

Beautiful drifting with a blue sky

The sunroom was absolutely lovely on a sunny winter afternoon

Appropriately written on a piece of "LOVE" stationary, I found this note on Aaron's bed.... "I feel sick because Peter punched me"

One sweet mess

We were treated to a VIP guest suite at the Ontario Men's Curling Championships.  We were wined and dined and enjoyed some fellowship with friends.  What a treat!

Rub a dub dub, FOUR boys in the tub! 

Oma made the boys some "Stephenie's Ponytail" pancakes

Funny kid!

Storytime with Opa

These boys were ecstatically surprised by their introduction to Valentine's Day at their new school.  This day was not marked at Heritage, so this was totally new for them.

Aaron has come so far in his reading abilities this year in Kindergarten!  So nice to see

One snow day (we had enough of those this winter!), the boys made good use of a large roll of paper from Oma and coloured intricate pictures at the table all morning.

Scribbling himself to sleep.... I also laugh at the Stephen-height hand smudges on the fridge in the background.  Yes, little kids live here!

We enjoyed a visit from the Schotsmans

Dad and I have played many a game of Battleship (usually on graph paper though).  I enjoyed watching Nate and Opa play together

Books never get old!

This would be our best attempt at a home-made family portrait with many young kids

Beautiful designs on the window

One of my projects over the winter was to make a quilt for the downstairs bedroom.  I used a pile of old shirts from Mike and Dad VD, and it slowly came together over a number of weeks.  Once it was all pieced, Mom VD helped me with the backing and did all the quilting for me in one crazy day.  It still needs a label, but other than that it is all done.  I'm happy with how it turned out!

 

 

January

We welcomed a little GIRL into the family!  Dave and Bethany's daughter Leah was born at the end of January

The beauty of the frost patterns on the windows is hard to capture, and I took many photos over the course of the winter season.  The intricate details so easily overlooked point to their awesome Creator

Daddy reading Stephen's current favourite book, "Stephanie's Ponytail".  Daddy's version comes with some interesting sound effects, and Stephen could have that book read to him over and over and over again.

Mmmmm, boys in pyjamas buried in warm laundry straight from the dryer

Some time spent snuggling in the emerge (we do have a parking pass after all!).  After a stressful x-ray, the suspected pneumonia was confirmed.  Poor little sickie! 

Keeping the medications straight - I didn't have a lot of pictures for January but I have a feeling that's because it was a month of sickness in the house.

Nate decided to walk around the house like a "T".  And then hobbled around for a while like an "M".  I guess that's one way to learn your letters!