This Week

Jillian was as tired as me and fell asleep on the floor.

We went to see Santa, and Nathan had a nice long conversation with Mrs. Claus.

I made peanut butter kiss cookies and Jillian was my lovely assistant.  She took her job seriously and didn't even eat any!

We had a leak under our sink, and Nathan delighted in being Papa's assistant. 

Calvin and Nana played a little Scrabble and Jillian watched.  Helping them think of words when she could of course.

Daddy had knee surgery last week and it's been a long week.  We all needed to get out of the house, so we went to Papa and Nana's.  Daddy and Papa hung out on the couches while the rest of us decorated cutouts till our hearts content!

My boys had a rare cuddling moment and Nathan actually fell asleep. 

Be still my heart.





Christmas Flashback

Just for fun here are two videos of Calvin that just melt me.  They are from Christmas time when he was 2. 

Enjoy.

Christmas Program

This past Sunday was the kids Christmas program at church.  I'm not afraid to tell you, it was adorable.  This is not some fancy setting on my camera.  I just left it out in the car where it got cold, so when I brought it in we had a foggy effect until it warmed up.  Nice.

Here is Nathan with his friends singing Come On Ring Those Bells.  He was so excited for this.  When we told him he was going to sing up front in church he said, "Up on the stage?"  When we said yes, he said, "Oh ya, I think I'm playing the cuntar."  We had to break it to him that he would not be playing the guitar, just singing.  Then the day before church he said, "Mom, do you have a tie for me to wear for church?"  I said that I had a very nice shirt for him to wear, but not a tie.  He said very seriously, "Well, if I'm going to be the pastor tomorrow I need a tie."  This news was even harder to break to him.  I'm telling you if we had told him he could stay up front and preach.....he would have jumped at the chance.  As it turned out, he was just a singer....but he did a fabulous job!

When the younger kids were done and the older kids walked in I couldn't find Calvin.  They had all met down at the classroom and knew their songs, but didn't really have specific parts.  I thought he had somehow not come in, and as a mother, I was worried.  It took several minutes before I spotted him, but when I did my heart melted.  Do you see him?

He was the cutest little shepherd I've ever seen.  Cuter than Linus, and that's saying something.  He also did an awesome job singing.  Such a heartwarming program.

 When we got home I took a couple of quick pictures.  What's a mommy to do?  They were wearing their Christmas clothes and it was about 35 degrees in the middle of December.  Heaven.  How cute are these little Christmas kids of mine? 

I am so blessed.

A Christmas Lesson

Especially if you are very short, do NOT pull a stocking down from the mantel.  Here is Jillian several days later, checking out the item that clunked her in the head.  It was not pretty.  I saw her tugging at the stocking and I saw the holder start to go and I just couldn't get there fast enough.  Poor baby.

See this tiny little dot on her head?  It's basically a hole in her head where the corner hit.  It bled so much I thought there was going to be a 4 inch gash.  Not so much.  Heads bleed A LOT.

When the holder was done with her head, it quickly smacked into her eye.  This picture was taken several days later, but she had a doozy of a black eye.

I've since heard many tips on how to hang stockings without the element of danger (mostly from my mom), but I really don't think those will be necessary.  Jilly will NOT be pulling on any more stockings. 

 Let this be a lesson to you all.

Wordless Wednesday

We're in Trouble

So...a couple of weeks ago I did an art project with the kids.  It was leftover from when I taught at church.  We had  Hannah with her little baby Samuel.  First I told the kids the story.  I'm never sure how much they are paying attention, but I told it anyway.  I made sure to really stress how much Hannah prayed for a baby.  Even when she was sad and down she was still faithful to God.  She trusted him completely and always had faith. 

Then the kids cut out their Hannahs.  Now...the 4 kids I have here during the day have many different ability levels.  Nathan used to really struggle with cutting, so I was incredibly impressed when he cut this out ALL on his own.



Very age appropriate when you consider his OT was working on cutting straight lines just a couple months ago.

 

Jillian hasn't done a lot of cutting.  She loved it though.  When she finished her project she wanted to cut more.  I gave her one of the left over pages as scrap paper to cut.

She cut like crazy and at one point she cut the head off of the miniature Hannah on the page.  I jokingly said, "Oh no....you cut her head off!  What are we going to do?"  I knew she had listened to the story when she said very calmly without even looking up, "It okay, she will just pray to God for a new head."   Don't tell me this girl doesn't know her stuff.

  A few days after this project, Nathan and I were sitting on the couch.  He asked if we could have another baby.  I said probably not.  I think we've had all of our babies.  Nathan responded with, "I am going to pray for God to put another baby in your tummy."  He then proceeded to put both hands on my stomach and said, "Heavenly Father, please put a baby in my mommy's tummy.  We would like another baby in our house.  In Jesus name we pray...Amen."

I told you.

We're in trouble.

The Night We Light

One of our favorite things about Thanksgiving is the Night We Light Parade!  It's an awesome parade, and after it's over they light all the lights in down town.  So pretty.  This year was great because it wasn't freezing cold.  It's a rare year that we can enjoy the parade without freezing.  Jilly didn't remember this night from other years so she was just in awe.  Calvin was such a sweet big brother.  He kept her right next to him and when candy was thrown he would help her get some.  He is so loving with her.  She thought the whole thing was fantastic.  Nathan was watching from the van with Marc.  He tried to stand with us, but the noise from sirens and honking just really stresses him out.  He loves it from the van.  Marc's sister and brother-in-law and their boys were at our house for the weekend and my parents were with us too, so we had a great time!

Nothing says festive like a septic truck covered in lights!

 Jillian just loved her auntie Leslie this weekend.  She couldn't get enough of her.  Once at our house Jillian was watching Leslie walk away and said, "Mom, she's so pretty!"



The end of the parade is Santa on the firetruck.  So exciting!



The rest of the weekend was fun too.  Leslie and I did some Black Friday shopping.  It's become a tradition for us and we love it.  I stood in line for two hours for a new TV, but it was a great deal and what else was I going to do from 10-midnight?!  We shopped until almost 3:00 and then joined our families in bed.  Such fun!  After the parade and Black Friday, I am officially in the mood for Christmas!

I'm Sorry, But How Cute is This?

This is Nathan with Uncle John (my youngest brother) who he LOVES, and who my mom and I think Nathan looks JUST like.  John's wife Alicia thinks this is what her children will look like......I certainly hope so, but then again I'm a little biased.

A Night of Princesses

Jillian LOVES princesses.  Loves them.  Grandma and Grandpa got her this castle in Disney World and she told me the other day she thinks it's the best toy "in the world".  She plays with it all the time.  

The other day she was playing with it, and I asked her if I could take some pictures of her.  She said, "Oh sure!  Do you want me to line everybody up?"  How could I say no to that?

Therefore, it was very good timing that the Disney Live Three Classic Fairy Tales came to town.  Jillian and I were extremely excited to have a girls night out!  She put on her Belle dress and we fixed up her hair and put in her new tiara.  She was beautiful and couldn't wait!  Can you tell?

I like this one too. 

She was so sweet at the show.  I couldn't stop watching her.  Her eyes just sparkled as she watched those princesses.  Here she is waiting for it to start.

She either stood at this railing or sat on my lap the whole show.  She never took her eyes off.  She was especially excited to see Beauty and the Beast, so she enjoyed Snow White and Cinderella, but when Belle took the stage she just lit up.  When Belle said, "My father is not crazy, he's a genius!"  she giggled and buried her face in my chest.  Strangely enough, this is one of her favorite lines.  She was super excited to see Belle and the Beast, but she wasn't sure she wanted Gaston to be there.  When he came out she said, "Gaston is a stinker!"  I agree.   We had the best time together.  I feel so blessed to have this sweet, fun little girl to hang out with.  I can't wait for more!

Go Beavers!

Today we got to go to Choice Therapy and meet a pretty big star....BUCKY BEAVER.  Everyone...especially Nathan...was pretty pumped.

He hugged Bucky about four times!

Sadly, Calvin was looking at another camera....

Jilly wanted NOTHING to do with Bucky, however, she really enjoyed the green cupcakes they served.

This is a group picture of many of the people there.

When we got home I thought maybe....since everyone was wearing their Beaver gear....I should try to take a picture for Christmas.  This just proves why Christmas card pictures are so stressful.  Clearly....these will not work.

I like the direction Jillian was going with this one.

My favorite.

Jilly and I are off to a princess show tonight!  Stay tuned!

You've Got a Friend In Me

As I mentioned before, Nathan was not a fan of the characters at Disney.  He did what he could to avoid them, but he always kind of felt bad about it.  He would say, "Next time I will get my picture taken with them okay Mom?"  I told him he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do.  But I did ask him if there was anyone he was really excited to see.  He answered without hesitation, "Buzz and Woody!" 

So, on the day we visited Hollywood Studios we were thrilled to visit here...

 

The boys and I waited in line for about 30 minutes.  The entire time Nathan was SO excited.  When it was finally our turn we rounded the corner and Nathan immediately walked to the wall opposite of Buzz and Woody and said, "I will just watch."  He refused to go near them.  I really felt that he would regret this later, so I made the executive decision (as mothers, we get to make these) to pick him up and force him over there.  He fought me a little at first, but as soon as we were next to Woody he stroked his face like he was a long lost friend.  It was the most adorable thing.  In the end, they just about had to throw us out of there....my boy had finally found his buddies.