Weekly Wrap- Up: The First Snowstorm of the Winter

We actually had snow a few times this week and while I can not say I am much of a fan of the cold, wet, white stuff, my boys sure are!  They were thrilled each and every time we saw flakes in the sky and they were always anxious to gear up and head out to play in it too.  We made more of an effort to be home this week and so much fun working on Christmas gifts and crafts.  We did take a trip one day to see some butterflies and to check out the holiday decorations at the Yankee Candle flagship store.  How was your week?


Friday the boys and I were out of the house quite early.  We had plans to meet friends at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens and then we were heading down the road to spent the day at the Yankee Candle Village and Flagship store.  I know what you're thinking... why would we plan to spend a day at a store but the village is so much more than that!  With room upon room filled with Christmas decorations, themed trees, hands on activities, and demonstrations we just knew it would take us a day to tour.  We had a fabulous time at both places and I think it might have finally helped put me in the holiday mood.




Evan had such a fun time smelling the different candle scents he convinced me to buy quite a few! 

Alec's favorite--- a "baking" tree

It snows in one of the rooms of the village every 4 minutes

We got learn all about the history of candle making in New England.
We woke to snow.. that just kept coming down all day on Saturday.  Ian headed off to work with his grandfather in the morning while Alec decided to make some sugar cookies-- all by himself!  The younger boys clamored to light our new candle warmer and pick out a winter scent for us all to enjoy from our trip on Friday and then donned their snow gear to head out to play.  Ian and my husband spent most of the late afternoon and even part of the evening our plowing and shoveling while the younger boys and I cozied up by the fire. We ended our night with a few family games of Phase 10 Twist and Exploding Kittens.




Sunday Ian headed out with his father to do some plowing while the younger boys and I geared up to go play in the snow.  We finally had the right kind of snow to make snowballs! After walking around and playing outside for a bit we headed in to warm up by the fire.  We spent much of the day inside. I managed to finish up all my Christmas wrapping... and then ordered a few more online gifts.





We finally made time to put our gingerbread house together on Monday.  After the boys finished up some schoolwork we did some grocery shopping and after everything was put away and we had a late lunch.  Evan, Ian and I went on a walk just around the neighborhood.  Ian worked on building a rock wall in his turtle tank around his filter and Alec spent much of the day in his room coloring and listening to Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.








While Alec was at karate on Tuesday Ian, Evan, and I headed to Target for some shopping. After karate we went to Dunkin Donuts and the library so it was well after lunch time by the time we arrived back home.  Evan had picked up a new Lego set for himself and spent most of the afternoon putting it together.  Ian and I played a few rounds of Yahtzee and Alec read a couple of books.  He finished Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief and asked me to order him the next book on CD to listen to.  He's having such a great time re-listening to one of his favorite series by himself in his room wit his art supplies and markers that we often "lost" him over the course of the last week only to find him snuggled up in his room coloring away.



Reading The Witch Boy during lunch

Evan's new set; all put together.

I asked the boys to help me out on Wednesday with some fun holiday baking once their schoolwork was all done.  Evan wanted to make a double batch of Chex mix so I helped him with that while Alec cooked up some pasta and sauce for lunch.  The older two boys wrapped all the Christmas gifts they're giving out this year and then Alec helped me make some Oreo reindeer and Santa cookies.  I also made some Nutter Butter penguins and all three boys gladly offered to taste them for me.  All three boys played Legos together and we had to breaks now and then to watch beavers frolicking on the ice near our house; we have seen many signs of beavers around but this is the first time we have seen the actual beavers and we were thrilled to realize there were actually two of them!  We also saw a huge bird in the tree nearby and with the help of binoculars we narrowed it down to either be a bald eagle or a hawk; it was hard to tell with the light shining behind it.




The large bird was mostly in shadow since the light was behind it but we could see a lighter head and chest with the binoculars


These are the two beavers

I tried to get a close up picture but they were a good ways away from the house and my camera can only zoom so much. 
Alec had a dentist appointment on Thursday and we woke to more snow; luckily not enough to have to cancel his appointment.   The boys got their schoolwork completed and we started a new craft project; straw weaving!  Alec and Evan each made a bookmark while I made myself a scarf.  Ian spent most of the day in his room creating his own trucks out of Lego pieces.  Once his bookmark was completed Alec decided to settle on the couch listening to music and coloring in his book.  He finished up two more pages.  The beavers came back to visit real close to the house again and with the help of the zoom lens and our binoculars we discovered that they're actually muskrats!  Ian helped Alec learn to play cribbage and I spent the afternoon coaching him.

Evan's completed bookmark 






my scarf
Alec's bookmark; he made sure it had a pattern to it. 



This is the book that Alec got ALL of his coloring from this week:


Color by Number Color Counts: Tropical

Linking Up With:



Home Matters Linky Party - Grab Button




Homeschool Coffee Break

Comments

  1. What a fabulous week! I love all the nowt pictures and the crafts look amaizing. #fabfridaypost

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  2. Beautiful snowy pictures, and so much creativity going on at your house!

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  3. The pictures with the snow look so very beautiful! We still haven't received snow this year yet. I hope we can at least just get a little bit for Christmas. We will see. I bet the Yankee Candle Village smells so good inside! The sugar cookies look yummy! It looks like you have had a busy week! Have a great weekend!

    - Natalie A.

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    Replies
    1. We had another little dusting this morning so it's looking like we might actually have a white Christmas this year. I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well.

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  4. We have had snow almost every day this week. My kids have been waiting "forever" for the snow to come. Your photos are lovely. And your weeks sound plenty busy. I hope you get some great family time continuing through the holidays.
    ~Jess
    #FabFridayPost

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! We got another little dusting last night and temperatures are holding steady right around freezing so not much is melting; I think we just might have a white Christmas this year.

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  5. The snowfall photos are breath-taking!! I would love to visit a butterfly conservatory (there's one in Niagara that I've been "hinting" about for years) and the Yankee Candle place!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Funny enough I think I enjoyed the butterfly conservatory more than the kids and they enjoyed Yankee Candle more than me; I really thought it would be the other way around.

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  6. Sounds like a fantastic week! We've been to the Yankee Candle Village a while back and had a lot of fun. Those snow scenery pictures are beautiful and the holiday treats sure look tasty!

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    Replies
    1. I'm pretty sure Yankee Candle Village might have to become an annual trip now. My boys had such a great time... and we didn't see it all.

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  7. Wow! I love your cosy home. It feels so lovely and warm with lots of things to do. The wintery scenery outside your home is just stunning! Wow! I wish I could live there too. Love that the beavers gave you a visit. The boys did really good job of the cookies decorating, the weaving and the colouring. Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing a piece of your normal lives. It feels so perfect. <3 #FabFridayPost

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! We sure do love our views; this week we saw a fox running across the ice!

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