Friday Favorite Things {6}

Counting my blessings one by one.

The hard days and mundane moments suddenly become beautiful.

I am in awe of the gifts God gives me in the midst of the simplest things.

For Advent, we sang "O Come, O Come Emanuel" each night at supper while lighting the candles.

The kids were sad that this tradition was over and asked if we could continue it.

They chose "10,000 Reasons" as the song we would sing.

Piper was so excited - she asked if I could write some of the song on the whiteboard so she could make song sheets for everyone.

She wrote one for each person and drew a picture of who each sheet belonged to.

I keep finding stuffed animals propped up on books and buckets enjoying a candlit dinner.

This is something I know I will miss seeing someday....

Sometimes Canadian winters can seem so long and so cold and so not worth it.

Until a day arrives like this one and you see the pure joy of flying down a hill on your kids' faces.

Winter has redeemed itself once again.

See the giddy smile on this girl's face?

Absolutely priceless.

She has started some special school work just for her and she is so, so pleased!

That happy little grin melted me a few dozen times this week.

Baby's first sleigh ride this week!

This resulted in a walk full of giggles from both the little passenger and the sisters that got to pull her.

I just sat and watched her concentration and those little hands working so hard to pull elastics and form a shape.

There is something so beautiful about a kid being caught up in a project or new idea or freshly learned skill.

Piper has been drawing pictures of our family quite consistently lately.

I love all the various renditions but especially this one with little Ren in my arms.

I'm glad family is so important to her.

Crazy face every single time she slid down the hill.

Sheer terror to complete joy.

I couldn't stop laughing.

This babe spent forever turning the beads on her sisters' crown.

Sometimes we think we need to supply our children with a million learning opportunities but more and more I'm learning they are really good at finding interesting things on their own.