Where does he learn this?

I walk into the kitchen to find Vance, sitting on top of the counter with both hands in the hot cocoa mix, eating out the mini marshmallows. I quietly take him off the counter and we wash his hands and mouth. Then I dry him off, kneel down and solemnly take both his hands in mine. 

"Vance," I say, "that was very naughty! Don't do that again. Do you understand?" 

He leans in and gives me a sloppy kiss on the mouth. 

"You're my betht buddy!" He says. 

Oh, he's good. He's really good. 

It's all over. I'm putty. Where does he learn this? 

January....

There hasn't been much going on around here so I thought I'd just post a few cute misc. pictures of the kids. Here is Vance and his newest cousin, Cohen. He just absolutely adores that baby, and every time Co came over he couldn't wait to hold and kiss him and say "Cohen's so cute!". 

We had a get together for my family while Jer and Jess were here and poor Vance was so tired he just fell asleep at the table and almost ended up in his plate. The crazy thing is that there was literally 20 people in the house at the time and the noise level was, well... noisy! And there he was, sound asleep in the midst of it all.....
And Lilah has become quite a little climber! She climbs up on everything.... the basket in the living room, my kitchen stool, Vance's bed and this tray.... and she has a lovely bruise beside her eye to show for it! 

Freeze Dance

The kids are incredibly blessed to have a Grandma who loves them so very much! So much so that she is willing-nay even ENJOYS doing  crazy things for them, like sew them all awesome bathrobes and with them, like play freeze dance.  This was the favorite game on Grandma's last trip up and I was able to catch the excitement on video. Mom would pause the music while they danced and yell "freeze" and then pick the silliest poser. When they first started playing Vance would get so excited that he would scream at the top of his lungs every time the music stopped- but thankfully he quit doing that!

We are very thankful for Gramma's and Papa's who take the time to do crazy things like playing Freeze Tag and Safari Hunt! These are things they will always remember.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I can't believe Christmas and New Years have already come and gone! We had a lovely holiday, but I was not very good at remembering to take pictures. I can't believe Jerry and Jessica are leaving soon, and I've hardly taken any pictures while they've been here!
A few days before Christmas we had Grant and Liz, Darren and Mandy and George over for some fun and snacks. We played pictionary and we girls got beaten. Badly. In one game we didn't even make it off the "START" square. Embarrassing, really. I think the boys were cheating, however. It was a fun night, the kids played so well together and we all had a great time.
Christmas Eve was spent at Shannon and Marcus' house where we had a really nice day with a delicious dinner. Then on Christmas Day mom and Bill came over for Brunch. Coast Toast, as per our tradition. I'll post the recipe some time, it's really delish. Then we just relaxed until late afternoon when Shannon and Marcus came over and we ate leftovers and watched Horton Hears a Who and of course, It's a Wonderful Life to finish off the evening.
By popular request, here are a few of the pictures I have remembered to take.
Just a hint to those with boys-You can't go wrong with Tonka. Ever. 

Lilah eating the presents.....

Have you ever seen a kid so happy about getting a pair of slippers? I am so proud of our kid's attitudes of gratefulness. They are truly "easy to please". Which comes in handy when a majority of their presents come from the Dollar Store!

Jaxson's "big" gift was a pair of inline skates. He's so excited to try them out! (Please ignore the half naked three year old in the photo.....)

And anyone who knows Ellie knows about her love of music and dancing. So her big gift was a Hello Kitty CD player for her room. She no longer has to borrow Jaxson's! Now she can listen to her music and Odyssey stories in her own room! Doesn't she look happy? 

For New Years we decided we were partied OUT. So we refused to have a party. Instead we had a Non-party. Which means that we had people over and we ate food and we had drinks and we played about 3.5 hours of Spoons after which we toasted in the New Year. But it wasn't a party. 

It was actually a really FUN Non-party- you should try it sometime!

Here's hoping you all have a great year! Cheers!

Overheard

Ellie is such a "little Mommy". She's always taking care of the little ones. Yesterday I overheard this conversation and it just made me laugh. So sweet!

Ellie: No, Vance, you can't have grape juice in that cup. It's too stainy juice and you might spill it. I'll help you get a kid cup. 

Vance: Okay. 

(they traverse into the kitchen to retrieve said kid cup)

Vance (in a tone of adoration): Ellie- you're SOO smart! 

Well, I did want a White Christmas but.......

We are officially snowed in. At least until the snow plows come plow our road and I'm thinking that will be a while. We got 22 inches of snow- in ONE day. It's so beautiful! Jerry and Jessica got in last night (Thanks to Tricia and her dad for picking them up in the all wheel drive!) and now the Airport is shut down so they made it just in time. At some point I do need to get to the grocery store today because of course, we are out of milk and water- but once again, we'll have to wait until we're plowed out. 



This is our sliding glass door! Needless to say, we won't be opening it any time soon. 

And this is after opening the garage door. Poor Brady is out attempting to shovel the driveway right now. I am about to go relieve him- he's already been out for about an hour. 

She's.....

.....Sweetly adorable,

she loves to play,
  

 It's amazing how much she has grown!

She can sniff out pie from a mile away, 
      

And look, she can stand on her own!

Sweetie Pies

All about Vance

Cute pictures of my cute boy! 

All about Ellie

I love this picture of Ellie. She's turning into such a beautiful, grown up girlie. 

Bath Time!

I couldn't decide which of these was the cutest....... Is it this one?

Or this one?

Or this one?

Or this one?

---- so I decided to post them all! 

She loves to do this tongue-out-the-side-of-her-mouth look- she's pretty much the most adorable baby girl! What a sweetie.

And So It Begins

The day after Thanksgiving is our official beginning to the Advent Festivities. Because while we don't do an Advent Calendar (not yet, at least) Christmas is to us a month-long celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior! I love Christmas. It is a bitter-sweet holiday for many reasons. I love celebrating with my family and friends,  I love watching our children's excitement and remembering what it was like to be a kid. 

So last Friday we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree. 

One of our traditions is that our Christmas tree ornaments are all homemade, with the exception of a few nice ones given to us. Each year I make a new ornament. I don't put all of them up every year- that would be a little overwhelming! But we choose our favorites. This year I started early and crocheted delicate snowflakes to hang from the branches. They turned out beautifully, and I think I'll have to make more for next year.

Here are some of my favorite ones. 

Here are some of my favorites decorations from years past- all on the tree this year. 

The Ladies Dancing.....

The Lords a-leaping.....

I made these houses years ago, they are probably my all time favorites....

.

And the snowflakes....

My mom and Bill got the kids each a creche carved out of an Olive tree branch when they went to Israel. We didn't really have a nice place to display them so we nestled them in the tree branches. I think it looks beautiful! 

Now, here I sit, enjoying our tree with homemade fudge, a good book (appropriately, Ben-Hur) and a glass of good wine.... if only a contented sigh translated over the internet.....

My Baby's Growing so big....

Time flies. Today our Little Guy turned 3. Wasn't he just born yesterday? Seems like it.

I do remember vividly the day he was born. I was 38 weeks pregnant. I had been in early labor all night and I had spent hours pacing the bathroom floor, trying not to wake Brady up- but too uncomfortable to sleep. Finally the contractions lessoned enough for me to get a couple of hours of sleep. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and was so relieved when Dr. Peters said to meet him at the hospital! The only problem was.... it had snowed about 6 inches the night before and it was still coming down like crazy. We called Jess and Tricia and they raced over to watch Jax and Ellie, then we made our way to the hospital. The normally 10 minute drive probably took 2o or 30 minutes because of the snow- but we finally made it! He was born not many hours later- and what an amazing blessing he has been to us ever since!

He's our sweet little guy, such a ham, a little snuggle bug, so incredibly loving and cute and adorable all wrapped up together. When I asked him tonight if he had a fun birthday he said "it wath awethome! It wath my betht birthday of my whole life!"

Here he is showing you all how old he is!!


And blowing out his candles.... the cake is supposed to be a bulldog.... it looks more like an angry beaver- but Vance liked it!! Rich, Mimi, Alicia and Savannah came over to help us celebrate. 

And after the day was through.... just a little tuckered out.... with his new toys in his hands.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so very much to be thankful for! 

It's amazing how much God has blessed our family. 

He has blessed me with an amazing husband who loves his family more than anything, who always does what's best for us, who works so hard to provide for us so that I can stay home and raise our children, who is a Godly man, a leader and on whom I can always count.

He has blessed us both with four beautiful, amazing, phenomenal children who give us so much joy! It's so great to watch them grow into such wonderful little people and to watch them grow in the Lord. 

I'm also Thankful for:

A cup of hot coffee in the morning

A hot shower

A comfy bed

Mandy and George (thank you so much, guys!)

Good books!!!!!

24 (finished season 6, now what do we do until Jan?)

sloppy kisses from my 2 year old

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's share some pie!

I love this picture of Lilah and the grandparents. We had them over for pie and coffee before they left for California, and Lilah saw the perfect opportunity to beg some crumbs. It was so cute! We miss you already, GG and Papa!