PHOTO*JOURNAL | 2.2.2015

1. Toddler/puppy Mom lesson of the week; separate Willow from the boys when the fingerpaint comes out!

2. The fireplace mantel. I can never quite figure out what to put on it but maybe it's "done" now.

3. Came across some old sketches of mine. The little house was our first real home together when we were stationed in Hawaii.

4. No longer fitting in my favorite {non-maternity} boyfriend-cut jeans. It was bound to happen, but I miss them.

5. Always have to sneak at least one bite of the boys' grilled cheese sandwiches.

6. One of the photos from our last dough making excursion that I showed a little of in last weeks 52 Week Photo Project post. 

7. Got rid of ALL of our mismatching sets of mugs and replaced them with really simple, elegant clear ones. Part of the goal to simplify!

8. Silas likes to mix paint with his hands more than he likes to make any designs on paper.

9. Caught you, Thane!

10. "For no word from God will ever fail". {Luke 1:37} Amen.

11. Chipped nail polish. It never lasts long on me.

12. Asher working on his letters. He's growing up fast!

PHOTO*JOURNAL | 12.15.14

1. I live in wool socks these days.

2. Asher's bedroom art wall.

3. Peek-a-boo + peanut butter & jelly.

4. We've been doing lots and lots of playing in the snow! Asher's getting another year's use out of his Carhartt jacket, then it'll be Silas' turn, {and then the next little boy's turn after that}. Just one of the great things about having three little men!

5. We got the chess board out and Thane and I got to play one round before it was pretty much taken over by the boys. Just as well, I'm no match for Thane.

6. Our tree.

7. Look at Willowby's cute little tongue, she got me!

8. Chalk pastels on the refrigerator. Asher occasionally stumbles across my random art supplies and always wants to try them out.

9. Copycat Zuppa Toscana and toast. Try it out, it's delicious!

10. A recent cutting and gluing activity.

11. Silas in his new bunting, best thing we ever got him for winter in the North Country!

12. Made a fresh batch of flaxseed bread this week. It's such a treat.

WILLOWBY

This is Willowby! It turns out that our adventures in dog ownership didn't end so quickly after all. The day we returned Jasper, we somewhat unexpectedly returned home with this eight week old Aussie Doodle. 

As soon as we got this little guy home, I took him to see the vet and got quite a surprise. Willowby is a GIRL, not a boy! Hahaha. I won't even go into how that happened, but I have to say that something about finding out that we had a little girl in the family melted my heart. And it was timely considering that the very next day we found out we're having a third little boy! I call it God's way of "balancing the powers". We had to adjust her name- originally it was Willoughby Jack, and now it's more like Willowby Jane, or Willow for short. Asher still calls her Jack occasionally, but that's okay.

I have to admit that 1) I'm not a dog person, and 2) when we decided to get a dog, a puppy was not what I had in mind. I definitely did some nervous second guessing, wondering what in the world we got ourselves into and how in the world I was going to house train a dog in the midst of everything else I can barely keep up with. But the Lord is good and lately He's been teaching me to embrace optimism and take some risks. And you know what? His grace always sees us through, even in the simple things like getting a new family pet. There has definitely been some extra work and adjusting involved, but Willowby is so so sweet. Thane and I love her, the boys love her, and she's a wonderful, fun companion to all of us. My only regret is that I didn't know she was a girl in time to buy her a pink collar! Maybe for Christmas...