Lent Starts in Eight Days...

As usual, Sister Mary Martha hits the nail right on the head:

But... I don't believe in giving up something for Lent that you need to do anyhow. Want to quit smoking and go on a diet? Do it on your own time. This season is about you and God, not about you and your waist size. At the end of Lent, you should be saying, "Wow, I have a much closer relationship with God now!" Not, "Wow, look how great I look in these jeans! Thank you, God!

Read her annual Lenten reminder here.

Who Let in the Red Panda?

House Tour: School Room

When we found out we were going to be moving late last fall, other than losing our fantastic backyard, I was most sad about leaving our school room. I worked pretty hard to make it exactly what I wanted, and despaired at finding something that would work as well.

Well...believe it or not, I think this is even better!

Traveling counterclockwise around the room...

Our Style: Toys as Decor!

We recently moved into a new house, and I've had to do some rethinking about layout, toy usage and storage, and decor.

Our Ostheimer figures were sitting in baskets when not in use and not adding as much beauty to our lives as they could, so last weekend I decided to put them to work instead!

The shelves on one side of the fireplace...


The top shelf is scenery and the tiniest figures that could pose a choking hazard to the baby. The next shelf is a woodland scene, the third is wild animals (not geographically accurate!), and the bottom is our barn and farm figures.

The boys can't reach these, so they function as a visible "toy library" and help us rotate our toys.

A seasonal display on the piano...

These are our Arctic/Antarctic figures and our festivity stand. The boys have it decked out with nearly every ornament we own, so it's currently a four-season stand, but we'll be changing it up for Lent soon!

I'm thinking of moving the figures from the playroom shelves to have knickknack spaces in the living room, but we'll see!

Full house tour coming soon!

Maestro...

Happy Valentine's Day

Did you have a nice one? We had story hour, read a little about St. Valentine, decorated cookies to try out our new cookie decorating set, but truthfully, more frosting was consumed than made it on the boys' cookies. (I did slightly better!) Oh, well. At least it was all organic, right?

A Photo Review...

Not sure we have a box big enough to pack the cabinet children...

Pretty sure this isn't what a colonial silversmith had in mind for this candle-snuffer...

New shirts and books from a dear friend (so grown up!)...

Lots of cooking baking (and licking the beater) will get us through this winter!

This little guy is shattering the Amazing Baby records in our house left and right! Intentional smiles at three weeks, rolling at 2.5 months...just stay little!

The Big Snow Lapbook

In the Hands of a Child is offering a free lapbook to go along with The Big Snow, a Caldecott winner. Check it out! We're going to be working on ours this week!