Safely Gathered

It's another snow day! We got a pretty big snow fall this week and the spruce trees look majestic with their boughs all covered in white. Even though I could drive them to school if I really wanted to, childhood is so short and I'm glad they are at home today to enjoy the snow. The big kids couldn't wait to get outside and play! Sawyer enjoyed watching them from the window. With all of the snow, we were sure grateful for the sunshine!

Snow Day

The big boys came running upstairs this morning to tell me that they were listening to their radio and had heard all of the buses in the school division were cancelled. I didn't believe them until I checked my phone and sure enough there was a message from our bus driver to let us know the bus wouldn't be running. It's a snow day and we aren't even a little bit sad about it! 

After shoveling the heavy, wet snow off the walks, they were quickly covered in a fresh blanket of snow. It hasn't stopped snowing since last night before bed. The roads are awful and we are happy to stay home and play with our neighborhood friends and spend time together. 

Dressed in White

The trees are dressed in white, the snow is softly falling and we are cozy and warm inside on this quiet November morning.

The view from my living room window is exquisite.

The company is pretty good too. 

And we are all enjoying the rest.

Welcome November

Welcome November! As Winter storms blow and snow falls we are ready to snuggle up and wait for Spring. I'll be cherishing nap time with my baby before he turns ONE at the end of the month. The children will go to school each week and be fed nutritious dinners every night. New rhythms will be found and we will be clinging to the light until the days lengthen again.

Happy Halloween

We had a pretty good Halloween! The big kids got their costumes on first thing in the morning and wore them all day at school. Hyrum and Joe made a great duo as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Joe wasn't a fan of the hair dye, so it didn't get quite as orange as it could have been, but it was still awesome! Camilla went as a minion this year and looked so great!

They came home from school loaded up on sugar already. Knowing that they would be eating a lot of junk I tried to compensate by serving veggies, hummus and crackers for dinner. They loaded up on the healthy stuff before we went out trick or treating. Daddy helped me get the little guys ready to go and then we did a mini photo shoot of all of their costumes. 

We froze our butts off walking around town for a little bit. Finley got a freezie at some point and it got punctured by something in his bag and ended up leaking all over his candy. There was a nice trail of syrup wherever he went. Luckily a kind lady offered him an extra bag and saved us enduring a meltdown. We finished off the evening going around the acreages in our neighborhood and the kids got a huge haul. They didn't have many kids out here this year so they got bags of chips, pop, ziplocs full of candy and other fun things. The best part was that we could stay in the warm van while they went to the door! 

When we got home, we sorted candy (and ate a ton of course), and then brushed teeth and tucked into bed! Happy Halloween!

Naptime

Gosh, can this boy be any cuter?!

Candle Light

In the dark of Winter, we cling to the light. 

The big kids caught the last rays of the day as they did chores.

We all gather at days end around a candle to read scriptures before bed.

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we did our annual pumpkin carve! Unfortunately, Daddy had to be in Calgary for work, and he was so missed! As soon as the kids got home from school they went outside to play for a bit in the fresh snow while I got dinner ready.

These boys are so great! I love it when they actually get along...

I had picked up a big pumpkin at the beginning of the month and then had some kids who were excited to carve the tiny pumpkins we grew all on their own!

I was grateful that Grampa came over to help with the carving part because stretching myself between six kids when sharp knives are involved is not an easy task.

Oliver told Grampa exactly how he wanted the mouth, nose, and eyes and together they created a cute little pumpkin.

Camilla and Hyrum were able to do their own this year and they did awesome!

Joe and Fin wanted their pumpkin to have glasses. I fear that my carving skills are quite terrible in comparison with everyone else. Ha!

The Stannix pumpkins of 2019!

Date Night

Tonight Mr. Stannix and I escaped for a date! Downton Abbey finally made it to our small town theater and we were excited to finally see it. Anticipating the theater being quite busy for a new show, Mr. Stannix made sure to pick up tickets in the afternoon. As we were leaving, he peeked at the tickets and realized that the girl had given him the wrong show time. On our way to dinner, we swung by the theater to exchange our tickets for the late showing. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Grillers. We ate slow and talked about life and the kids and future goals.

After dinner we made our way to the theater, a little bit early because it was opening night and we wanted popcorn and snacks. When we showed up there was no one else around. We got our popcorn, waited in the lobby for a bit while the staff cleaned up from the early showing, and then made our way into the theater. Mr. Stannix strategically seated us near the back behind two seats that had an "out of order" sign on them. He knew that if we sat there, we wouldn't have anyone directly in front of us and would have a better view. We waited for more people to show up, but when the lights went out we were still the only two in the entire theater! Mr. Stannix loves the theater and is always extra early to avoid lines and get a good seat. I leaned over to Mr. Stannix at the end of the movie and said, "It's a good thing we sat here so that nobody would sit in front of us!" We had a good laugh. Perks of small town life I guess!

Weekly Rhythm

I have been pondering a lot lately about our home and have had a huge desire to write out a more concrete weekly rhythm. I feel as though I am treading water most days, trying to keep on top of the house work while still finding time to intentionally mother and play with the children. I know that if I instill something a little more concrete, yet flexible, that our home life will run smoother and I will be able to accomplish more as we look forward to the next task of the day. I am still not sure what that looks like for our family, but I love the idea of the Waldorf rhythms and would love to explore it more.

In a sense our home already follows a bit of a rhythm with our morning routine, chore lists, baking, and clean up. In the late afternoon I always seem to find myself in the kitchen finally cleaning up the dishes from the day and putting together an after school snack for the kiddos. This afternoon I tried making pumpkin donuts covered in cinnamon and sugar. They were a huge hit!

 By the time the sun dips down we are finishing up dinner and getting ready to gather the family for our bedtime routine. I am always mesmerized by the colors of the sky. What a beautiful world we live in!