In April

We bought a climbing dome for the grandkids.  Our children had one and they loved playing on it.  So far our grandchildren and Mark's grandchildren have enjoyed it. 

We celebrated Rachel's birthday.  (That's a pretty typical pose for Jimmy.)  Lilly and Lucy picked out the cake.  It was very good.

We celebrated Jonas's birthday.  It's hard to believe that our little man is 3 years old!  I wish I had a better picture of the cupcakes.  They were "Elmo" cupcakes.  Jennifer's mom made them.  They were not only really cute but really delicious.

 The dogwoods bloomed.  Whenever I see the flowers, I remember Mama telling me how they tell the story of the crucifixion.  The petals represent the cross, the dark spots on the ends of the petals represent the blood of Christ, and the center represents the crown of thorns.  

 Hannah dyed Easter eggs.  I accidentally bought a different type of egg dying kit, but the eggs turned out beautifully and it was much less of a mess.  There were no dye tablets to dissolve in cups of vinegar, just a plastic bag and squeezy color.  It was a great idea.

 We used one of Mama's tablecloths for Easter dinner. 

 Hannah, Lilly, and Lucy wore their Easter dresses.

Lilly and Lucy were the only seekers in our egg hunt this year.  We ended up with just one unaccounted-for egg.  Hannah and Devin finally found it last week.  It was the camo egg, so that's probably why it was hard to find.

 Mama's irises bloomed.  She loved them so much.  I try to take good care of them but I don't have her green thumb.

Jason had a birthday, but this is how I celebrated it.  I had some sort of cold/flu ailment and I felt so bad that I actually postponed his birthday dinner.  As far as I can remember, this is the first time I've ever done that.  We did celebrate his birthday, though, just a week or so late.

 

March

In March, things were a little slow, so .....

 

I made little socks for the dining room chairs.  They were making black marks on the floors.  I had falsely accused Phillip of doing it with his work boots, but he was not the guilty party.  This stylish chair legwear has solved the problem.  I'm thinking of doing a set of seasonal colors for each month.  

 

Jonas played with our Mr. Potato Head sets.  

He got a little grumpy.

 He got so grumpy that he had to go to his special grumpy place in the hall.  You'd never believe that seconds before this picture was taken, this precious child was screaming and kicking the walls.  Posing for pictures distracted him from his misery and helped him find his happy mood, which helped the rest of us find our happy moods.  What would we do without our sweet Jonas!  Even when he's grumpy Jonas, he makes us smile.

February

In February

We visited our daughters in Virginia.  Our grandsons are growing up before our eyes, especially Caleb.  Look how tall he's getting.

 

 We were delighted to meet Roger, Sam's alter ego.  He is quite a character!

 

We got to love on Jaclyn's sweet dog, Isla.  Isla is a beautiful dog, and she is very intelligent. 

We had quite a snow.  Phillip measured 9 inches at our house.  It was beautiful, and our power didn't go out so we stayed warm and cozy.

 

Phillip brought me flowers for Valentine's Day.

 

Lilly, Lucy, and Jonas came for a Valentine's Day sleepover.  Jonas came dressed as a lion, and we all had a roaring good time.

 

Valentine's Day Sleepover

Jonas came to our Valentine's Day sleepover dressed in his lion suit, shades of Where the Wild Things Are.  He did not, however, get sent to bed without eating anything.  He ate quite hardily.  

Lilly and Lucy dressed more in keeping with the holiday, but they had no problem keeping up with their lionish cousin.

 For supper we had macaroni and cheese topped with heart-shaped hotdogs and apples and grapes with peanut butter dip

 and heart-shaped doughnuts for dessert.

 We hunted for hearts filled with goodies, and maybe some of us ate a few of the goodies.

We built towers out of candy hearts.

We camped out in the living room.  Breakfast was leftover doughnuts, bacon, pancakes, and strawberry muffins.  After breakfast we had a treasure hunt, following clues to find boxes of candy.  It was a fun Valentine's Day and I hope everyone felt very loved.

January

In January we welcomed 2014, some of us with great enthusiasm,

 
and some of us with a little less enthusiasm but with a beautiful smile.

We had the plumbing in the house redone, which was noteworthy but not picture worthy.  

I earned enough amazon gift cards to buy a steam mop, also not picture worthy but very noteworthy and one of my new favorite things.  I am mopping the floors regularly now, which is almost a miracle. 

We got the gas fireplace fixed.  Since January was very cold, it was a blessing to have the extra heat.  It looks nice, too.  For some reason, just seeing the fake flames makes me feel warmer.

 

 

November/December

In November

We went camping and Phillip cooked breakfast.

Hannah bought her first car.

 

Jimmy had a birthday.

So did Lilly

and Lucy.

In December

 

Laura had a birthday.

 

The Frankenbergers made a giant snowflake for us.  

 

Emily and Jon came for the Brown family Christmas party.

 

My brothers, Mark and Brett, enjoyed the Christmas party.

 

Jason's family opened gifts a little early since they spent 

Christmas in Roxboro with Jennifer's family this year.

 

Jonas shot his grandpa with cannon from his pirate ship.

 

On Christmas Day, we were introduced to Flutterby Fairies.

We played games.

 

We shared delicious food.

 

We were blessed.