Saturday, January 05, 2013

Last Few Days of 2012

The last few days of 2012 were full of fun games and adventure, and instead of posting each activity or day, I thought I would pile them all together in one gigantic lump :)
On Mom and Dad's day we had a delightful evening playing scrabble of sorts.  We were divided into teams of two and each team was given a set of letters out of which they were to make a verse, or phrase of a song, or group of ideas!

Friday was set aside for Charity, and in the afternoon we all grouped into the kitchen to make chicken garlands. :) 

We strung grapes, radishes, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, and boiled eggs, and then hung them out in the 
chicken coop!

It was the last of the "special" days before our celebrations when we headed out to Whole Foods.  Many things were looked at, some sampled, and some sniffed, and more than expected bought! :)

Finally New Years Eve came and after spending the first part of the afternoon figuring out and preparing the menu, I headed outback to collect decorations for the table.

Soon the table was set, the candles lit and the food served up.  It was a delightful meal, and the only complaint was that there was too much food!!

New Years morning found us tramping at the Sanctuary with Mr. Reiche.  But the above image is the only picture I have from the walk thanks to dying camera batteries :P

Upon arriving home we set out the games and once Josh and Theresa arrived had a fun-filled morning/afternoon with games, laughs and....

FOOD!!
It was truly a delightful two days, not only filled with the above, but also with some wonderful family devotions, discussions, remembrances, and thanksgiving!

"O sweet Lord Jesus, You are the present portion of Your people, favor us this year with such a sense of Your preciousness that, from its first to its last day, we may be glad and rejoice in You."
~C.H. Spurgeon

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Josiah's Hike: Second Day

Every year, when it comes to Josiah's day, we always go out on a hike.  This time we headed out to an area we had never been before.

Since it was hunting season, Sadie sported a fashionable orange bandanna!
All ready to hit the trail!
Precious little treasures in the snow.
Rows of pines hemmed us in on our first part of the journey, but it soon opened up into lighter woods, and....
hills!!  You would make it heaving and whooshing to the top of one hill, only to look down a steep chute on the other side and once you tiptoed down the dangerous ravine, you would find yourself once again trudging upwards!  Mumsie and Dad trudged along with the "youngins" quite well!
So many unexpected beauties found in this "dead" season.  It is just as much a stunning declaration of God's beauty and majesty as the other more colorful seasons; you just have to look harder, which makes it all the more special and wonderful!

One of the most drastic hills we surmounted!  Mom took one look at this and nearly turned right around! :)
Even Sadie Rose was properly worn out by so much trekking.
Sledding anyone?  We passed this hill on our path, and immediately claimed it for further adventures, with our sleds.
Delicate beauty
Majestic Beauty
{This is Mount Holly, far away in the distance!}
Simple Beauty
Alright now I must disclose a secret not well known....  We talk to Rocks...
...And trees!  No just kidding. Really, Faith was looking at some exquisite moss on the rock, and Josiah and Sadie were seeing if anyone was living in the hollow tree.  :P 

"A shadowy figure dodged among the trees..."  Josiah forsook the main trail on our way back and decided to jog through the austere stand of pines.
Baby Pine Cones
The only difference between Faith sitting in a tree and Josiah sitting in the tree...
..is the height!
And so the adventure ended back were it began, and the intrepid travelers (in many versions of footwear) piled into their trusty vehicle and made their way homewards!

~Chs

Friday, December 28, 2012

Unique and Unusual

Most all of our snowflakes hanging in our house, are cut out from patterns, but just recently we discovered a whole new world to snowflakes.

A couple days ago Faith stumbled upon this gallery of snowflakes. Take a look at them; they are incredibly stunning!!  Anyways, we were inspired, and while at first we stuck to trying to use her ideas while drawing them ourselves, soon Faith was branching out into her own ideas and creations.
This beautiful butterfly one came first.
Next Hummingbirds flew in.

Then Faith delved into something more dramatic and very detailed.  A garden snowflake, complete with gloves, sun hats, seed packets, shovels, hoes, and more!
Spring bulbs bloomed in the next snowflake.
I tried my hand at a design of my own, with horses and horse shoes!
And finally to go with the season, Faith created this winter snowflake.
Josiah wasn't so sure about these beyond snowflake designs, and so he stuck to real life snowflakes.
A couple he actually did from pictures of really true snowflakes.
So go ahead and be creative, all you need is a properly folded piece of paper, an imagination, a sharp pencil and a pair of scissors.  Draw your design on your folded paper, then cut out the extra parts.  Unfold, iron and voila, a customized snowflake.  

~Chs

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

All Natural Snowman

The other morning, when we had a half inch of snow that only lasted till noon, Josiah bared the deck of all it's snow in order to make a first rate snowman!
But this snowman wasn't your usual carrot-nosed snowman.  No, Josiah would never be satisfied with such expected and normal decorations.  Instead he wandered around back looking for creative and natural appendages for his snowman. 
A catail formed his foreboding mouth, and a Sumac was made to act as an elongated snout for the man.  His eyebrows were ferocious pine needles, but the most shocking part of all was....
HIS HAIR!!!  Yes this snowman had hair, and quite a bit of it.  Apparently he doesn't own a comb, either that or his hair is of the type that will not lay flat no matter what you do to it! ;)
The small eyed - big nosed- green haired- large mouthed snowman, and his creator.  
The fierce and bold snowman, only lasted till that evening, when, while still glowering at all the world, he toppled forward, doing a perfect nose dive onto the wet deck. :(

(By the way, can anyone guess what his eyes were made of?)

~Chs

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Traditional Snowflakes: The Beginning

We Sauve's enjoy snow, so much so that snowflakes have become a beginning point and major part of our end of the year traditions.    On or around the first day of winter we set aside an evening to turn our living room (and other sundry parts of the house) into a winter wonderland.  This tradition has become the launching pad for our "Special Days".  And just as last year, Faith took the snowy evening for her activity.


Paper was cut, snowflakes emerged, they were then ironed flat, and strung ready to ascend to the ceiling.
Tasty little snackables were partaken of between snowflakes, while the audio drama of the classic story "Christmas Carol" set the tone.


As always the men of the family were in charge of sticking the paper crystals up where they belonged, and the now nearly 6'7" Josiah, managed easily standing firmly on the ground.
As Ebenezer Scrooge went on his ghostly adventures, snowflakes danced down the hallway, and swirled about the living room.




So now Winter has officially begun, inside and out!  Do enjoy!!

~Chs