Hannibal (not Lecter)

On our way to Nashville, we stayed at an eclectic little bed and breakfast in Hannibal, Missouri. I wish we could have spent a little more time in Hannibal in daylight exploring. I'm not sure how much of a town it would be without Mark Twain though. EVERYTHING seemed to relate to Mark Twain.

We stayed at the Garden House Bed and Breakfast was decorated, ummm, let's say "uniquely".

Transoms and light switch covers

This piece is movie-poster size!

Contrast

Knick Knacks

Cool old penny bank

The iris room

The couple who ran Garden House were really nice and made us all feel welcome and comfortable. However, I was a little uncomfortable during the night. The B&B is reportedly haunted. We stayed in the room with the rose transoms, and let me tell you, those roses look really freaky at 3 o'clock in the morning. I didn't sleep much thanks to Titus' head stuck in my back and Hannah's frequent waking, so I spent my waking moments wondering if each creak was the ghost coming to visit.

We did walk through downtown Hannibal in the rain looking for a place to eat supper. I'm sure people thought we were crazy, but it was wonderful for the kids to run around after a day spent in the swagger wagon. I found an unexpected welcome there as well!

Oh, and all pictures on this trip were taken on our iPhones. Sadly, I did not have the time or motivation to pull out my nice camera. I will just blame it on trying to keep track of the three peas.

If you ever travel through Hannibal, I recommend staying at a bed and breakfast. It will be an experience not to be forgotten!

Where I've been

Whew! I am not going to update everything we've done in the past month and a half, but I will give a brief synopsis. :) We planned a road trip to Nashville for the beginning of March. In preparation, I spent a couple of weeks before making quiet books for Selah and Titus. This meant a lot of hours during naps and after the kids went to bed spent at the crafting table! It was so fun and therapeutic though.

The pages, minus the accessories.

Completed Books!

Hannah even enjoyed them.

I was so happy that the kids loved playing with them in the car! They definitely served their purpose, and the sleep deprivation was worth it.

Centennial Park with Uncle

Titus wanted to pose, and Selah joined in

If he was a girl, I would call him a diva...what is this? Ha!

It took only 16 hours in Nashville until Titus fell in here

At the top of the Adventure Science Center (not sure who had more fun there, Caleb and Kelli or the kids)

Santa Fe Cornmeal Pancakes at Pancake Pantry are worth the drive to Nashville

Kelli's iPhone is boring :)

Visiting Caleb and Kelli in Nashville is one of my favorite things to do! I am so thankful that I can truly call each of my brothers my friend.

Selah-isms

Some days I think that we will never survive until bedtime. Today has been one of those days, and so I will just share a couple of the things that made me laugh today.

• Selah was playing "The Monster at the End of This Book" app on my phone this evening, and after Grover yelled, "You turned another page! Stop turning pages!", Selah said "You told me to!" Hmmm...could be a problem with Grover directing children to turn the pages if they wait too long.
• While eating an orange conversation heart Selah said, "Mommy this tastes like possum!" What?! "You know like Strawberry Shortcake's friend?" Oh, yeah...Selah calls Orange Blossom by the name Orange Possum!

Valentine's Day

It's almost here! While I am not a huge Valentine's Day fan, I enjoyed making valentines with Selah to give to her preschool class. It is our first official school Valentine's Day! I decided to forgo the candy and go with glo-sticks instead. Selah thought that was great! Unfortunately, I miscalculated and didn't have one left for her. Ooops!

She even wrote her name on each of the sixteen valentines! She wrote a few of her classmates names, but she opted to have me write most of them.

We had some fun with early valentines this afternoon. 

 Happy Valentine's Day!

On the Farm Friday

After many weeks of unusually warm temperatures, we finally have snow around here! I have been thankful for it and for the colder weather. Now I feel as though I will be ready for spring when it gets here. Today, Selah and I were excited to notice some bright feathers against the white snow. Although our land had been part of Pheasants Forever not too long ago, I had yet to see an actual pheasant on our property!

This guy visited us for at least a half an hour.

Yeah, it's the simple things. It may not be a huge amount of excitement, but views like this are one of my favorite parts of living on the farm!

Plus it gave me the opportunity to use my telephoto lens!

Last night...

• For the first time in three weeks, I did not have to dose up a child, or children, or myself, with fever reducer, cough supressant or cold medicine.
• For the first time in as many months, I got six and half hours of sleep in a row, preceded by two hours!
• I went to bed feeling healthy.

Today:

• I feel rested!
• I finally feel like maybe God really didn't give me more than I could handle.
• My kitchen counters are clean, the floors are vacuumed, and my children are all napping at the same time!!!!!

It has been a long few weeks here in our pod, but I am hopeful that God has some more encouraging days in store for us. I am so thankful for our health! 

If you have a moment, please visit this blog and say a prayer for this mom. 

Princess Peas

My favorite picture of my brother and I when we were kids is one where we are both wearing dresses and pretty necklaces. I'm not sure if he always went along with such things, but this one instance was documented. So when Selah managed to convince Titus to join in her princess fun, I knew I had to grab the camera.

After this series of photos, Titus shed the princess dresses and we dug out the pirate costume. Much more manly!