When Love Takes You In

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Fresh Footprints ...

 In the Morning Snow ...

All Bundled Up with Places to Go ...

Hoping that It Snows and Snows ...

Building a Snowman with a Carrot Charcoal Nose ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

Merry Christmas from our home to yours.

Glory to the Newborn King!

The Birthday Girl

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Baby Little Girl! You are two already!  Oh, the joy you bring us! 

Here's what you are up to:

You are a big girl ~ while your two year appointment isn't until this next week, at your last appointment you were in the 75th percentile for height and in the 80th percentile for weight. And, you have quite the buddha belly ~ maybe it's from your fondness of "i-cream."

You are starting to talk more and more which can be a challenge in our house with the chatter of the boys.  Perhaps that is why we often hear you speaking in a higher and louder octave and saying things multiple times.  You want to be heard!  Some of your popular phrases right now ~

"Look it, look it"
"I touch it?" (You want to touch everything!  Including the moon - Daddy keeps telling you that in order to touch the moon you need to be an astronaut)
"Come!" (While patting the floor / seat next to you and then waving your pudgy fingers at us)
"Maizey No!"  (Hmmm ... must get that from me)
"Boys!!!" (You will often call Jack and Samuel Boys and then insert one of the above of your favorite phrases)
"Pa-rump-pum-pum" (Little Drummer Boy is your favorite Christmas song right now)
"No Monkeys Bed" (Said while waving your finger no)

You have been learning a few new tricks as well ~ you still use sign language for please and you are proud to march around with two (or a few more) fingers up saying "two." And, one of the most endearing to us is that you cradle your arms and say "baby" and then do sign for Jesus and say "Jesus." Oh, how precious and sweet.

 You LOVE your baby dolls and your new stroller is fabulous! You are also loving your little high chair / seat that you got for your babies.  And, the Christmas tree, oh the Christmas tree.  It is amazing to look at the Christmas tree and decorations through the awe and wonder that you are exhibiting.  Now, if only you would stop taking the ornaments off the tree, little lady!

We are still in awe that God would bless us with you, sweet little one.

You and Samuel celebrating your birthdays last weekend.

 Happy 2nd Birthday, Liddybug!  We love you so very much!

The Golden Boy

Today is Samuel's 7th Birthday, his Golden Birthday.  Last year I described Samuel here.  Well, Samuel is Samuel, the core of his being and his personality have not changed dramatically over the past year.  He continues to bring us joy, to make us laugh and to bring us to tears.  He is persistent, persistent, persistent! 

Here is a small glimpse into our Samuel ... received a call from his teacher yesterday, nothing earth-shattering, just a report that Samuel has been losing focus (he's been a "bit" preoccupied with the excitement of it being birthday month) and that when he was supposed to be narrating a story about an owl, he wrote two words.  We are very close to Samuel's teacher (she was my 1st grade teacher and Jack's teacher) and appreciate these calls of awareness.  Oh, how we adore her.  Anyway, back to the story.  Here's my and Samuel's exchange last night regarding this topic:

Me:  "I heard that you talked about owls today."
Samuel:  "Yep"
Me:  "Did you have to write a story about owls?"
Samuel:  "Yep, but I didn't have time to finish."
Me:  "Really?  No time to finish?"
Samuel (with a twinkle in his eyes):  "Really."
Me:  "I heard you wrote two words, and that was your story."
Samuel:  "BUT, they were two really good, big words."
Me:  "Oh, that's great.  What were they?"
Samuel (with a smirk):  "The tree"
Me (with a chuckle and near eye roll):  "The tree?  Wow" 

So, there we have it ... a glimpse into life with Samuel.

Happy 7th Birthday, Sweet Samuel!  We love you!

It's Beginning to Look ...

I may bite my tongue later, but it would be nice to say that it's beginning to look a lot like a WHITE Christmas.  But, so far only rain.  That, however, did not hinder a weekend of Christmas tradition ...

1.  The annual women's luncheon at church where Nikki and I turned a vision into a stunning table (I know, I'm bias, but the table was beautiful!).  The morning was enjoyed with some of the sweet ladies in my life (for more information and photos, see Nikki's blog here).

2.  Pepper McTwist (aka, our Elf on the Shelf) is back and up to mischief.

3.  A fun night with sweet friends including going to a nearby Living Nativity.  I didn't get any photos of this, because, well, the weather was a bit miserable.  We were all bundled up, sitting on hay bales, under blankets and umbrellas, watching the story of Mary and Joseph unfold before our eyes.  The children did wonderful, not one complaint.  And, we couldn't help but reflect on the fact that although we were sitting in the rain watching, Mary and Joseph had less than ideal circumstances surrounding their His story.  Really?  Baby Jesus?  In a feeding trough.  Amazing ... truly amazing.

4.  To cap things off, the annual Cocoa & Carols service at church.

Ah, a tradition and blessing filled weekend ...

Little Helpers

This is a weekend rich in tradition for us.  Jason heads up north with his dad and brother, and the kiddos and I find ourselves in activity including such things as decorating the house for Christmas, making ornaments for gifts, watching our first official viewing of Elf for the season, and meeting Grandma for lunch. 

Admittedly, decorating the house has historically been, at times, more stressful than joyful for me as the boys have been so anxious to help (um, so I may have mentioned a few times that I am a bit of a control freak and have many "Martha" tendencies).  I would fret over things that didn't matter as the boys insisted on unpacking the bins of decorations in their little boy ways. 

I'm not sure what it was this weekend (well, I'm pretty confident that it could have only been a peace from God), but this year was very different.  My vantage point had totally changed.  I saw the boys as helpful, and I truly appreciated their giddiness as they removed decorations from the bins.  Of course, some innate personality quirks did take over, and I did have to do some directing of where to place things.  However, I did allow the boys a little creative freedom.

Evidence of the creative freedom - you will find these little crayon cars "parked" in various places in the village.  Here they are at the Snow Factory.

A wise friend has told me many times (and far more eloquently than I'm going to write here) that we need to cherish each and every day and not get caught up in the little things.

Now, the test will be this - will I really let anyone help decorate the Christmas tree and will I NOT move ornaments after little ones go to bed?  Hmmm ... that will be a test!

Double Digits

It's been a tradition-filled past few days as we celebrated Jack's birthday ... the boy entered the realm of double digits.  How can it be?  It seems like just yesterday that this guy was known as "Baby Jack" and then "Jackers" to many.  Now, it's just Jack (admittedly, an occassional Jackers does resonate within our walls though).

Jack, you are a fun-loving, enthusiastic boy.  We are so proud of you!  Happy 10th Birthday, Jackers!

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