A Picture a Day in 2011: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

January 31...31/365

Our first fire in this house (we've been here almost four years!) The previous owners didn't leave ANYTHING for a fire, and I put some candles in there when we moved in and just never did anything else with it. Today, though, we are breaking it in...we are burning a chimney sweeping log, and hoping the ice storm doesn't actually necessitate building a fire for warmth.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

January 30...30/365

When we moved into our house, we "inherited" some ugly brown cabinets in the basement that we've used for storage...some decorative items, cleaning supplies, and the extra food that needs stored after a trip to Sam's Club. After the flood and re-do of the basement, we talked about a better shelving system. Well, this weekend it happened!! We still have some work to do before it works how we intended, but I'm very happy with the results. The kids will be able to find anything I send them down to get for me!
Someday I'll try my hand at an "artsier" picture. For now, I am capturing moments of life as I live it.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

January 29...29/365

Today was "Kaya Day" at one of our museums here in Indy. The girls have been to this event in past years, but wanted to go again. Clara gets especially excited since her first American Girl doll was Kaya (a girl representing the Nez Perce Native Americans). She has often complained at the lack of accessories and press that Kaya gets, but at the museum of Native American and Western Art, Kaya is completely in her element! We had a fun afternoon...the girls are making "parfleches" here...wallet-type folders for carrying medicine, etc.

Friday, January 28, 2011

January 28...28/365

Today was Zane's "Invention Convention" at school. Each student (or group) had to research and learn about an inventor and then they had to come up with their own invention. Zane learned about the Wright Brothers and made a model of a Hover Shoe, whose purpose is to "travel short distances without polluting."

Thursday, January 27, 2011

January 27...27/365

Two weeks ago our pastor encouraged us to write down 50 things we're thankful for. I meant to do it last week. Over and over I thought, "I really need to sit down and write those." So last night I got fed up with my own procrastinating and decided to write a few on the white board in our kitchen. I got to 50 fairly quickly. ***disclaimer...if you care enough to try to read any of these, please note that they are NOT listed in order of importance.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

January 26...26/365

Our neighbor has taken quite a liking to Clara. Before Christmas, he wanted Clara to teach him to knit. He got this loom for Christmas and wanted Clara to help him finish it off. I love the way they are looking at each other in this picture.

January 25...25/365

Millie's birthday party at Monkey Joe's

Monday, January 24, 2011

January 24...24/365

Does this happen to anyone else? No matter how clean my table is at 3pm, this is what happens when the kids all get home from school.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

January 23...23/365

Millie turns seven today!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

January 22...22/365

January 21...21/365

Thursday, January 20, 2011

January 20...20/365

Just a typical library return day for us. There are at least this many still on the shelf that we are reading...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

January 19...19/365

The kids had already gone to bed and I was running out of subjects for today's picture! I don't have as many puppy pictures of Tonks as I did of Coda by this time (I guess it's kind of like when you don't take as many pictures of kid #2 as you did of the firstborn). Most of the time I can't tell any difference in Tonks' eyes, but here I can. She was attacked as a baby and almost lost an eye. It was saved, but she only has sight in her right eye. Most of the time, you'd never know--she is pretty great at chasing a ball in the yard.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

January 18...18/365

Millie and her friend, Addy, presenting at the PFO meeting tonight. Their class has been working on a project on stores (project work is BIG at our school). They have studied and learned about stores and have opened their own store! Every Friday morning the "Box Top Store" is open for students to buy small donated trinkets or school supplies in exchange for Box Tops. They even filmed a commercial for their store that aired on school-wide TV. These girls did a fabulous job tonight!

Monday, January 17, 2011

January 17...17/365

Sledding...or flying?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

January 16...16/365

Every Sunday, Matt and I have the privilege of working with the 5th and 6th graders in our church (known as EPIC). Today we had 35 kids and an EPIC game of "shuffle your buns!"

Saturday, January 15, 2011

January 15...15/365

We drove up to Kokomo to have dinner with Matt's parents tonight. At some point in the evening we were discussing how the word "chillax" had been added to the dictionary as a real work. Here, I think I've captured Zane's favorite method of chillaxin'!