DPP2016 Day 4 - Gonna Try A Little Help From My Friends

What a difference a day makes!  We had a wonderful day today.  The kids were able to have friends over and play in the snow.  Some of us *cough me cough* didn't get out of their PJs until after 5pm.  It was one of those days where everyone could do what they wanted to do.  It is nice to have a day with enough space to allow everyone to just be.

I had a hard time picking a top picture for today.  I actually didn't get my camera out much today because I was being intentionally relaxed (read: lazy).  I had big plans to bake cookies and frost them to get a jump on things but a nap won out.  That's right, a NAP!  Sleeping on the couch with a certain gimpy armed girl and administering Tylenol when needed didn't make for a great night's sleep.  So when K went down for a nap, so did I.  And so did Rich! What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  :)  But I did take a few this morning when everyone was excited to get out and play in the snow.  It was hard to pick which one to post but I had to go with this one.  It makes my heart soar.

What you can't see in this picture but you will see below is that he had two friends that had slept over.  They were out there scooping and playing as well.  But he took time for his little sister, letting her follow him around, helping her to learn to scoop, encouraging her, and cheering for her.  He is busy, active, impulsive, and, at times, difficult, but his heart is so huge.  He dreams big, thinks deep, and loves fiercely.  You can get lost in the crazy that he can bring to a day but when you slow down and really watch him, you see his heart.

I love this one too.  Because it looks like our little director is letting Ben know he missed a spot.  She is small, people, but she is mighty.   Age is of no consequence, she will tell you where to go and what to do.  (Naturally, she gets that kind of bossiness from her father ;) )

Here are the three boys working on the driveway.  How often do you have kids over for a sleepover and they wake up offering to help scoop the driveway?   What?!?!   B has some pretty great kids as friends.

Lil B was out there too.  You can't see his shovel in this pic because his body is blocking it but he was out there working hard.

Later in the morning he built a little snowman - thinking he was in our yard.  But when I stuck my head out to check on him, you could tell that was the first he realized he was in the wrong yard.  I hope our neighbors liked their snowman (Did ya Debbie and Taylor? or did he knock it down?)! Kinda wish I would have gotten a pic of that!

Here is the real Hoffman snow removal crew but I think he enjoyed his help today.  Snow was so slushy, he opted for a broom.  Either that or the kids stole all the shovels!

This picture was the other contender for today's post to the photo project.  I love the candidness of this one.  Everyone digging in to their well deserved meal.  It is all our outdoor workers eating their lunch, complete with Chili's chips and salsa.  Rich is obsessed with a hand full of things at any given time.  They change over the years but you can count on there always being something.  Right now, it is Chick Fil A diet lemonade, which he buys by the gallon, and Chili's chips and salsa.  I suppose you can lump HuHot in there too.  You may notice a food theme.  This should not surprise anyone.  Rich LOVES salsa.  Rich is also charming.  So he always manages to come home with a 32 ounce styrofoam soda cup full of salsa, the normal two 12 ounce cups of salsa, and two bags of chips.  He still runs out of salsa.  Sometimes I wonder if a straw would make more sense than chips.  As the kids get older and their friends visit, the number he shares with continues to grow.  How long before the order gets doubled!?!?!  This is one of the many things I love about Rich.  These little obsessions are such a part of who he is.  Anyone who knows him well can probably name one obsession from some time in his life.  What I love about it is that it highlights his happy go lucky attitude.  It only takes these little things that make his day.  He garners joy out of the smallest things in this world and it radiates to those around him.  Love that about him.

One of the Hoffman kiddos was not out in the snow.  Today was a big rest day for her.  She still has quite a bit of pain and is currently trying to sleep on the couch while I am clicking away on this blog.  I suspect she is giving me a similar annoyed look right now.  She wasn't feeling the photo taking today and I think it was shortly after this shot that I put the camera down for the day.  But isn't there something about this picture that just screams tween to you?  The phone in hand, the sassy look, starting to look so grown up but still having her giant stuffed dog close by.  That awkward phase of life where the little kid still exists but the teen is beginning to emerge.  I like this phase or at least, I like E's version of it.  She has her moments like any kid but mostly she is finding her way with humor, kindness, and class.
Before you feel too badly for her being stuck in the house and on the couch today, she got to watch endless Netflix and she got to have one of her besties over.  So her day shaped up just as lovely as the rest.

Tonight's final picture is of K putting her baby to bed.  Here she is patting her baby and singing her lullabies.  I had to make sure a picture of her with a baby doll made it onto the blog.  She is obsessed with babies, dolls and real ones.  She is such a little mama.  Taking great care when getting them dressed, changing their diapers, singing them lullabies, and tucking them in.  She takes them for rides in strollers, buckles them up in the car, and reads books to them.  She is the perfect little mama.  Bossy and nurturing.  :)