Thanksgiving Antics

We spent Thanksgiving at Todd and Corinne's this year.  What a nice, relaxing, happy afternoon and evening.  I got a few snapshots of our kids with Charlotte at the dining table.  I think all the little people had a good time, and we big people really enjoyed watching them!

A Little Getaway

A couple of years ago, Jeff discovered a great little cabin for a getaway.  (He's good at discovering things like that!)  It's rustic and remote, and we fell in love with it.  You can see pictures of our first time to the cabin here and here.  (I must have been busy because I barely blogged about it at all!)  This year, we had the chance to return to the little old place, which is right on the water…and so we did.  We stayed there the night of the 26th and 27th.  It was so great to unplug and unwind.  (If you're local and want to know where it is, let me know!)

Now, in order to be truthful, I need to reveal that the first 24 hours were a little bumpy.  Jeff and I were tired and not relaxed, and the kids were pretty cranky and demanding…probably at least partly due to the month of birthdays and Christmas and presents, presents, presents.  After that, though, we all did much better.  We decided that three nights away would have been even better than two, but as our resources are not unlimited, we're thankful for the two!  And, here are some pictures from our time there.  Jeff took this first one.

Thank goodness we didn't go up for the snow, because there was hardly any.  However, the sloping lane to our cabin was icy…and perfect for trying out the new Christmas sled.  It worked!

Gracie and I didn't get too far.

 You didn't see Jonathan in the sledding pictures above because he balked at the idea of sledding down that tiny hill.  He was a real stinker.  (But, of course, that was during the aforementioned first 24 hours.)  When we drove to a big hill with snow on it - a little, anyway - he tried a teeny bit of sledding and loved it, even though the snow conditions were horrible.

One thing you won't see in these pictures is Jeff's attempt at sledding.  He went to the top of the hill, which was actually covered in ice, not snow, and decided to try it.  (The kids and I stayed at the bottom.  Wisely.)  Anyway, he tried to sled down, and managed to hurt his tail bone and draw blood on both of his hands.  Then he remembered that he's 39, not 19!  And I should mention that someone told us that the sledding hill is nicknamed "Hospital Hill."  At least he didn't land in the hospital!

The dry air up there was serious business!

Here we are on the last morning.  Jeff had packed the car with the help of these two wagons, and pulled  the kids up the icy hill, too.  This was our sledding hill.

We asked another couple to take our picture on our way to the car.  We didn't take other family pictures over the weekend for some reason.

I saved my favorite picture for last.  The second night there was gorgeous.  After not seeing the sun at all during the day, it peeked through just enough for a glorious sunset.  We took a bunch of pictures from our deck right over the water, and this was my favorite.

Christmasy Things

As I mentioned, Jeff gave me a new camera for my birthday.  I still find it a bit intimidating.  It was supposed to be a gift for Christmas, but my birthday gift didn't come in time, and he had the camera on hand, so he gave me my Christmas gift for my birthday.  (This is one rarely mentioned benefit of having a December birthday!)  I'm so glad it happened that way so that we could take pictures of our Christmas celebrations with the new camera. And someday I'll post pictures of Thanksgiving and birthdays, but for now, enjoy Christmas!

As has become our Christmas Eve tradition, we opened our family gift of "new" pajamas on Christmas Eve night after we had read the story of Jesus' arrival in the Jesus Storybook Bible.   Then we drove around and looked at the Christmas lights in our new town.  Here are some family self-portraits before our drive.  (I loved hearing Benjamin telling us which houses were "very beautiful!")

Attractive, right?

Here's our tree...

overflowing with gifts from faraway family…and us, of course!

Grace asked to help fill Jonathan's stocking this year, so I let her.  Also, when we were out looking at Christmas lights, she told us we should go home because she thought Santa Claus was at our house right NOW.  Funny girl!

Here's the groggy-eyed crew on Christmas morning.  They didn't get us out of bed.  It's our tradition to get up a little late, open stockings, and then have breakfast before we open our gifts.  The kids requested the overnight French toast like I made last year, and since I pretty much never get breakfast requests from them, that may become our traditional Christmas breakfast.  It's yummy.

Stockings!

Here are my favorite people reading the book that my mom and Don gave us for Christmas.  Great story, love the message, and if the kids all sat down to hear it, you can be sure that they love it, too.

And here are just a few pics from Christmas Day.

We gave each of the kids a boxed set of books.  Here are Jonathan's.  He's read a few of them already…and so have I!

"My first Lego Friends set!" says Grace.

A good gift for the boy who is out to disassemble the world.

Truth.  Me in a ponytail and no shower.  I think I miss my shower before the kids are up about twice a year.  It's worth in on Christmas!  Jeff and the kids gave me three charms for my bracelet, which will now be recognized as a charm bracelet because it will have charms on it.  :)  I love the ones they chose.

Working on new Legos.

Benjamin and his beloved scooter.  He got it for his birthday from Doreen, but we saved the riding of it for Christmas because we knew that Grace would be getting a scooter at Christmas.

Our "big" gift to the younger kids was a set of paints to go with the easel.  Here they are, out on the patio, trying them out.

I took this one from inside the window.  They were a hit.

And here are the "youngers" trying out their new scooters while Jonathan zoomed around, going too fast for me to catch him in the picture.

Christmas Pics for Friends and Family

As you may have noticed, I've been neglecting the blog and living life with our little family.  We made it through the December birthdays with lots of special memories and treasured gifts, thanks to the care of lots of people!  And I don't know how soon I'll catch up on sharing birthday pictures, so I at least thought I'd share some Christmas ones.  We took these last night before a Christmas party.  I got a new camera for my birthday, and even though I'm a little scared of it, I'm enjoying using it.

Taking pictures of the kids in front of the tree did not go so well.

Putting the kids on the stairs and having them take turns being in the middle of the sandwich worked a lot better.  Out of 16 pictures, I got two that I really liked.

The sister sandwich, and...

the big brother sandwich.

We took two family pictures with the timer on the new camera.  I really like this one - we're all snuggled together and the lighting is good.  However, Jeff's chin is missing, and it might look a bit like he is biting Benjamin's head.

 This one is better.  Worse lighting, but we can see all of Jeff.  :)

I am so thankful this year to spend Christmas with the people I treasure most in the world.  I am so thankful for them.  I hope and pray that you have a wonderful Christmas with the ones you love, and that you experience Jesus' love for you as we celebrate his birth.

Interview with the Three-Year-Old

Our baby is a baby no more…He's three!  We had a little family gathering for him on Saturday, or, as he called it, a Train Party.  I have a lot of pictures to share from this party, too…soon!  Lots of people who love Benjamin have been making his birthday special, and we'll continue celebrating.  Our animated, talkative little boy can tell you all about it.  We love you so much, Benjamin!

Here are some glimpses into Benjamin's world, and his first interview:

Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Cuties and candy canes
Favorite book: Corduroy's Christmas
Favorite movie: Christmas Boz
Favorite song: Jesus Loves Me, the verse that begins, "Jesus loves me still today..."
Favorite thing to play: Duplo (but he answered that question before he got his new take-apart airplane)
When he grows up, he wants to be: A lightbulb fixer.  (Truly, at least a couple of times a day, he asks me, "When I grow up, can I be a yightbulb fixer?)  Burnt-out bulbs really attract his attention.)
His perfect day would be: Play-Doh