Simple Pleasures

This past week Conner made me smile by reminding me of the simple pleasures in life. When I think about updating our blog, I often want to post the latest adventure we've had or something new and exciting in our family. Even though this week has been quite busy with several different activities, it is this smile that I remember most. Conner was making his lunch one night and opened up the jar of peanut butter. He made a sound of excitement, and I looked over to see what he was so happy about. He was simply happy to find out that the jar of peanut butter was brand new. He quickly drew a smile in the peanut butter and then took a picture of it. I feel like sometimes I'm so busy going on to the next thing that I frequently miss these little reminders that there is so much in this world to smile about.......Thanks for reminding me, Conner!

First Basketball Game

Today was Kelsey's first basketball game - she had a great time and did very well. A few minutes into the game I thought I should take a little video of her first basketball experience. I turned on the camera right as Kelsey got the rebound. She then dribbled down the court, and scored - pretty good timing on the video. Two of her close friends are on the team, so she is having lots of fun. There are 4 coaches for 10 kids, so she'll be getting lots of training!

Going Green

We now have solar panels on top of our house for our hot water. A huge crane lowered the panels onto the house - the contractor took a picture for us since we weren't here to see it. We are becoming quite "green," thanks to Peter! We now have a heat pump, solar panels, garden, and a compost container that we use regularly. I wonder what will be next??

Fun with Friends

Since we had a day off from school and work, we decided to go bowling with friends from our Bible study group. The kids all bowled, and the moms got to sit and talk. It was fun seeing the kids have a great time with each other and cheering each other on.

Home improvements are beginning!

We are very excited to be in the process of doing a few home upgrades! Yesterday Sam replaced a door jam/door for us. He is truly amazing and makes everything look so easy!! Peter was very grateful for his help, as he picked up the door from Home Depot, brought over all of his tools, cut out the old door, and installed the new one. This week we are getting solar panels installed on the roof (a crane will be lifting them onto our house!), and we recently installed a heat pump. I am hoping to order new flooring this week, too. As soon as it is installed, we will be hiring a painter to paint our entry and upstairs hallway. We'll keep you posted with the pictures!

Texting....

The kids are quite excited because we just got unlimited texting. Conner and McKenzie had to sign an official contract, which listed several conditions on the texting (such as no texting at mealtimes or during homework, and they have chores that they have to do every day). Yes, they are 11 and 12 and we are just now being consistent in having them do chores! I wish we would have started MUCH younger doing chores, but I guess it's better late than never! We had one trial week to see if they could set the table every day, do the dishes after dinner, and clean their rooms every day. They did great, so we made an agreement to get texting. It's funny how just having them do 2 chores each day has made such a difference in the amount of work that Peter and I feel like we have to do :) So I'm learning how to text on my iPhone - I do have to say it is pretty fun.

Happy New Year!

We had fun celebrating the New Year at our friends' houses. The adults played "Phase 10," a very fun card game and the kids played "Apples to Apples." Then we went over to the Parkers' house for TONS of food, drinks, and hanging out time. The kids especially loved going in the hot tub! Peter spent some time downhill skiing, and we all celebrated at midnight with noisemakers, hats, champagne, and lots and lots of silly string sprayed outside and on each other.....