Catching snowflakes

Every Thursday I teach an art class to my children and another little 8 year old boy. We do all kinds of fun projects.  Here was today's:

Cute, huh?  I found the idea on Pinterest.  Since it is supposed to snow again this weekend, it was timely!

Like a true Larchar

Kate has about 4 words in her vocabulary: Dada, Mama, chicken and Jesus.  (I am not kidding, this is her vocabulary. She doesn't 't say chicken and Jesus perfectly, but she is definitely saying them.) Well, today she added a fifth: cheese.  I think she's got it all covered.  What else do you really need?

Goodbye, Old Girl!

Our '96 Honda Accord

We sold a little piece of our lives today.  We sold our little Honda Accord we've had for the last 11 years.  I bought the car 11 years ago- right after I met Kenneth.  We have driven it ever since.  It is the car we drove away in after we were married.  Our first child came home from the hospital in that car.  Our third child came home from the hospital in that car.  It has been with us in New York, North Carolina, Maryland, California and Kansas.  It has been an amazing car.  But, it was time to let it go.  We listed it this morning and by the afternoon we had had over 30 people call or email about it.  The very first person I talked to and made the appointment with purchased it.

 My amazing boss at the time that I bought the car (who happened to also be my sister-in-law's Grandmother) was so nice to buy the car for me and let me pay her back- interest-free.  Here is the record I kept.  I paid it back far sooner than was the goal.  It felt so good to own it outright.  Of course, I couldn't have done it without Margie!

Here is the record of the loan

There we are getting into that good-looking car right after we were married.

 It was a great blessing in our life to have no car payment for so many years.  It allowed me to stay home after Emma was born and Kenneth was still in school.  We had no income and I could still stay home with my baby.  

Kate and Kenneth with the car a couple of weeks ago.

Goodbye, Old Girl!  We'll miss you!

In case you're wondering, we replaced it with another 1996 vehicle!  (Who does that?!?!?)  It even has more miles.  We got a great deal on a Camry from our neighbor.  He had taken impeccable care of the vehicle and we decided to 'upgrade' to a rust-free car with a CD player!!!!!  Yahoo!!!!!  (It's the little things, you know.)

Little seamstresses

The girls have been begging me to teach them to sew.  (Not that I really have any clue). I had them help me repair a sweater and a stuffed animal a few days ago, but that didn't satiate their need to sew.  They finally just asked me to get out my scrap bag and some needles and thread and they have been busy bees ever since.  I think it mostly has to do with the influence from the Little House on the Prairie series.  Here are Arianna's creations so far.  Sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, beds, blankets for small toys:

Here's what my dining room table's looked like the last week:

Even Grant has gotten into it- even though the girls tried to tell him boys don 't sew.

Happy 1st Birthday, Kate, Part 2

We had a great Birthday with little Kate today.  We had our regularly scheduled breakfast (eggs and toast) and leftovers for lunch and dinner.  I made some applesauce carrot muffins with whipped cream on top for the 'cake'.  It was a hit!  Kate (and everyone else) loved them.  I will share more pictures of the day, but
first, here is our little lady throughout her first year:

A thumb-sucker from the start

Sweet sleeper

She's a thinker!

Look at that dark hair!

Growing so big!

Blessing Day

Deer in headlights

Happy, patriotic baby

With cousin Caleb during our visit to NY

Peek-a-boo

Standing more and more

She's getting a little too big for that, Arianna!

Super Kate!

Smiley, drooly baby

You are such a snuggly bear

Merry Christmas, Kate!

Who says laundry day can't be fun!

Happy First Birthday, Kate!

 Kate's Birthday Celebrations:

Kate was Daddy's little girl this morning.  Excited to see him and didn't want to leave his side before he left for work.

At first she was unsure of the whipped cream

Once, she ate all the whipped cream, she slowly picked at the muffin

Once she was 3/4 of the way through she decided to pick the whole thing up. . .

and start stuffing it in.

And feeding her sisters.

Walking with her birthday balloon

Playing with her gifts.  We wrapped up toys we already had that she hadn't seen yet =)

She loved them!  The girls decided to be cowgirls for the gift opening.

Here's a video of Bitty walking this morning:

 

Happy 1st Birthday, Kate!!

I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by.  Kate is such a joy to have in our family; such a sweet, sweet baby.   This morning I thought I'd share a quick video of her going down the stairs, because it is so cute.  She sure is getting fast!  She's walking, too.  I'll try to video that today.

I'll post more tonight after our celebrations!