End of winter

 The skating rink ice wasn't really smooth or perfect, but useable anyways.

 Icicles! (tastes a bit like shingles!)

 skateboards on ice...interesting

 Checking on Mom

 We had some company during spring break and enjoyed the sliding hills together.

 At this point our chickens still  looked good (now they have bald patches and are ugly)

 Excuse me, can I have some privacy when I'm laying?

 Our "apartment" got taken over by go cart pieces. At one point it smelled like gas all through the house. Feels like home, I guess.

 Playing with melting snow, the sliding saucer and containers from the recycling

 Matthew heading to the coop with scraps to keep the chickens happy

 A bleary day calls for a board game.

We moved the water into the coop after having some traumatizing trouble with predators (presumably rats who disappeared later--eaten by mink?). The rooster, we're sure, is less than intelligent, as the weather is cold...why get your toes wet when it's freezing? Besides, that's not nice to drink after.

 Evelyn loves books!

 The fort survived the winter...the tarpaulin roof had to be rolled up as it liked to get loose on the corners and flap wildly in the wind.

Matthew 11

 Long ago Matthew had a birthday, which we celebrated by going to the tank museum off somewhere distant. The weather was snowy and people were warned to stay off the roads. A church event was cancelled. But we had winter tires and no traffic to deal with...so we went anyways! (The roads weren't bad, it's mostly just hype...and traffic)

 The tanks are not small! There was a guy in the museum (who were working on a display) that came by a few times and gave us interest bits of information. When he wasn't around we reverted to asking Nathan questions. He had lots of interesting info too!

 A large number of these tanks get ridden in the summer, once they are restored. Too bad we're too cheap to pay for a ride. ;)

 We also tried on the clothes they had in a trunk.

 Oh, and the guns!

 Matthew got to pick out a model tank too, which had a motor that worked (for two days I think).

 It was fun putting together -- his first model!

 Someone made a joke, and Matthew's typical response is "that face" which is like a scrunched up grin. ;)

 He spent some quiet time in the piano room playing songs from the book of praise.

 Sounded very nice!

 Waiting for coffee...and then time to open presents! :)

 Melanie made a wallet for Matthew. An old purse of mine, repurposed!

We are very thankful for the years we have been blessed with Matthew in our family! He has matured a lot in the last while, and is turning into a responsible hard working young man. His is our faithful chicken keeper, and really does a great job looking after the birds! He has a great sense of humour and remains, over all, a very easy going guy.

winter

 Philip has been making storage shelves for Lego, so that the Lego can be neat and tidy and off of the floors all the time

 Under the snow was a super icy stretch on a steep hill.

 Kinda fun to try some "snowboarding" and other tricks.

 Hard to stop at the bottom though!

 Girls in books.

 Happy homeschooling mother. I'm told I look this grumpy all the time. :p

 More snow for sliding!

 Daniel the king, who's also a soldier?

 Working hard on copying a painting.

 Time to start some plants...trying to use equipment we already have on hand. Way too much spritzing required to keep the seedlings moist -- don't miss a day!

 Matthew made a fancy set up that makes the balls all fall and roll systematically.

 Five crowns. Lotsa fun!

 We had a few chickens attacked by an unknown predator. Maybe a mink? Maybe a rat? While two chickens were inside being monitored, Matthew took them outside to get fresh air...they seemed perky and bored, after all, despite the trauma their bodies had.

 Nice deep snow to play in!

Early February

 Toothless girl

 We had some warm weather, can't skate, but you can go boating!

 (well, float your boat, at least)

 Evelyn has become an avid UNO player. She played for several months with anyone who would join her.

 And Calvin and Hobbes became very popular, still haven't been able to get them to stay in the library.

 More UNO. And handsome Nathan.

 That's better.

 Matthew made a paper airplane launcher.

 It worked very well, but not when posing for the camera.

Working hard on school...

 After the thaw came a freeze. Complete with freezing rain. Skating was great fun -- who needs a rink now?

 It was kinda fun to zip around the patio!

 The kids even went on the trail around the property.

 Daniel made a blanket, pillow and bed for his teddy. Melanie helped him when he was stuck. I didn't even know he was using my sewing machine. MY machine!

 More skating.