Chess Pie

It's not too pretty, but it's homemade.  I am not much a pie person- I don't like to eat it and making pie crust from scratch has always intimidated me.  When I've made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving I've used pre-made crust.  This recipe called for a rich pastry shell though, which seemed a little different, so I decided the challenge myself.  It turned out pretty ugly, but it did taste good.  As for the pie filling, I was aiming to make one of Chris's favorite pies that his dad used to make, but this recipe turned out differently than what Chris had growing up.  Sean ate 2 slices, though, so it couldn't have been bad. :)

Magic: The Gathering

Sean and Jack have been playing Magic: The Gathering- a cool card game.  They convinced Chris to buy his own deck and join them.  Here they play by candlelight on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Max and Gracie

Max has been more interested in Gracie lately.  He gets up on her bed and snuggles against her.  She seems more comfortable with him than she used to be, but still isn't totally relaxed.  Max thinks she's pretty neat, though, and Gracie loves attention, so hopefully they'll become good friends. 

Family Meals

We've been having regular family dinners since mid-November, when I read the book "Family Dinner".  It convinced me to give them a try again- after a break of a few years.  I'm so glad I did!  It has been one of the highlights of my days and the only time of the day that all 5 of us are together.  On Sundays we have a brunch instead of a dinner and here is the pre-meal scene from this week's brunch:  homemade scones with homemade strawberry preserves, scrambled eggs and ripe honeydew melon. I've been surprised how much I've enjoyed planning and preparing the meals.  And I am so thankful for my guys to eat and appreciate the food.  I'm pretty sure, when the boys are grown, I'll miss these days- when a dozen muffins doesn't last more than a day.  It gives me lots opportunities to try new recipes.

Max plays with his shadow

I was washing dishes at the sink and noticed Max moving his head and hands and looking at the sunny spot on the cabinets.  It was very neat to watch him play with his shadows!

Bread-making Mondays

I've been making bread on most Mondays, since I'm home for most of the day.  It makes the house smell great and it's nice to have fresh bread to eat throughout the week.  Here are my latest loaves of honey oatmeal bread.

Biggest and Littlest

Sean and Max have been spending a little bit more time together. Here Sean helps Max look at the kitty in the window.

Max and his hats

Max likes to go the winter accessory basket and find hats to put on his head (and sometimes other people's heads).  We thought he looked particularly cute in this one. :)

The "Gone" Series

Our niece, Rachel, and Chris's sister, Shelly, told the boys about these books at Thanksgiving. Since then Sean has read the 4 that are in print and Jack and I have read the first 2.  We've talked so much about them that Chris just started to read the first one.  Sci-fi fun for the whole family (almost- Max isn't quite ready for them!). 

Snowy Day

Chris and Max enjoyed one of our recent snows.  They went outside to catch snowflakes and then watched it through the window.  Max seems to sense that snow is something special, even though we haven't had  enough for him to play in yet.  He gets big smiles when he notices the flakes falling.

Tangled

Max has started entertaining himself for longer periods of time.  One morning, he played fairly quietly on one side of the room while I was on the computer on the other side.  This is what he was doing- climbing into baskets and wrapping yarn around himself.  Lots of exploring and problem solving going on here!