The start of 2017

In an attempt to do a better job of posting our pictures on the blog, here are the few pictures I've taken over the past two weeks.

It is true what they say that "more is caught than taught," and our THREE kiddos are well on their way to becoming avid readers.  I came home from a solo walk the other day, and when I walked in this was my sight -- daddy reading a book to the big ones, and little Naamen flipping thru his own book.

We love having Emma all to ourselves during the holidays, and one of the fun things for everyone is of course the way her and her little partner in crime play together.  One day they decided to build a train in our TV room, and they must have played a total of five hours on that make-believe world of theirs.  

On that same day they decided to have a little parade outside, with a stick as a mic and an old box and maraca as a drum.  I'm not sure why we bother ever giving our kids toys for Christmas... they always just go back to the basics -- sticks and boxes.

And then another day they discovered some sand behind Memma and Poppa's house and decided that they would build "ant houses."  How kind of them...

In an attempt to live a little more frugally and below are means, I've been trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our diet.  With avocados being 50 cents at Aldi, this beans and rice dish is hardly a sacrifice to consume.

We've been taking a lot of walks lately up our 3/4 mile driveway, and on this slightly cold day, this handsome little "bear" was so cute I couldn't resist not taking a pictures of him.

One of my latest projects has been figuring out a family sourdough bread recipe.  This was my second attempt at it, and compared to my very first attempt (a complete failure), I'd say this one went much better.  I still need to work out some details, but I'd say all in all we are well on our way to making this a family favorite.

Family fires have been a favorite thing of ours to indulge in.  On a cold Sunday night, after the kids are in bed, you may find Byron and I having a little picnic date together near it, sipping hot chocolate after dinner is cleaned up.

And back to our kiddos playing together.  Here you have "Miss Morris" teaching Byron his lesson for the day.

This picture is sideways, but if you are able to read it you'll see that Emma is quite the perfectionist... just like her daddy.  We love having our Emma Girl with us during the holidays, but we also love watching her thrive in school both socially and academically.