Basketball Baby!

This is the first year for Avarie in basketball.  She was SUPER excited to be able to play this year and that her best friend is on the team helps!  She had a great first game.  At one point she stole the ball dribbled it down the court and scored a basket!  Way to go A!

 Getting ready for practice

 TJ has been practicing since right after Thanksgiving and his team had a nail biter of a game and came out on top! 

 Hudson is playing in the same league, so it was fun to get a picture of the 3 of them together. 

My duck hunters

Tim has started taking TJ duck hunting every weekend, they are up before dawn and head out to the wilderness to bring home our dinner. TJ is LOVING LOVING LOVING it!  

Ice Skating

A neighborhood plaza put in an ice skating rink, I took the kids one morning and invited Bob and Velma to come and watch, which was a blessing.  TJ and Lylah put up with it, but were more interested in taking off the skates and heading to Starbucks.  Avarie however could have stayed out there ALL DAY LONG.  She LOVED it!  Too bad her birthday is in August, because it would be a great birthday party idea. 

 Yep, even mama got out there.  Another perk of having the kids home, the place was DEAD. 

Surprise...Winter!

Tim's annual Christmas dinner was the middle of December, we had a great time and got back to the Phillips to pick up our kiddos and we had SO MUCH SNOW!  

One of the beauties of homeschooling is our schedule.  We rule it, no one else, and so we spent LATE into the evening sledding and playing in the snow.  The memories our family are creating....priceless. 

I love this man.

Christmas Eve Day

Tim had the day off Christmas Eve so we spent it doing what we love most, spending it together.  

We did some sledding and then warmed up and headed to church. 

Christmas Eve

Avarie read the Bible story this year, it is such a sweet blessing to hear our children reading God's Word! 

This year our kids had some VERY SPECIFIC requests.  Avarie has been watching and reading and begging for an American Girl doll.  The funny thing is that Avarie is not a "doll" girl.  She LOVES animals, and has, as the first girl in our little family TONS of dolls that never get touched.  I asked her why she wanted an American Girl when she doesn't like baby dolls, to which she informed me, "mom, it's not a baby, it's a girl".  With that kind of logic, we decided to get her this beautiful look alike doll, and Avarie does everything with her.  A fantastic gift! 

 TJ of course wanted nothing but Lego and Football cards.  He got both and he sits and organizes and reads all of his cards regularly.  

 Lylah Rose is the opposite of her big sister when it comes to "babies" real or imagined she is drawn to them.  God has placed a tenderness in her heart toward them.  So Lylah got all things baby.  So much so, as you can see she even got a package of diapers, which was a highlight of the night.  

My cup overflows!

Stockings Christmas Morning

We always open our stockings in the morning on Christmas day.  

Christmas at the Fries'

We spent Christmas Day at Nanny and Papa's with Uncle and Nanu.  We did the usual, drove the kids crazy with a multitude of pictures before they could open presents, and then of course, ate.  And then opened presents then, ate.  All joking aside, it was a GREAT day and we enjoyed spending time celebrating our Savior as a family. 

 This family picture would have been a good Christmas card picture. 

Either way, I believe it will end up on my wall. 

 For whatever reason if we let them take a goofy picture, we can end up with a good one as well.  

Children are a heritage of the Lord...a blessing.  So very thankful!