Christmas 2015!

Christmas Eve

Jake's parents were able to join us for the evening. It was so nice to have them. The kids were super excited to have Grandma and Grandpa there! We had a yummy dinner and a nice Christmas program.  

The "star" in the night sky on Christ's birth. 

Christmas morning

Traditional Christmas breakfast- monkey bread, fruit, orange juice.

The kids slept in...we had to wake them up! J was still pretty sleepy...

She perked right up when she saw Santa had not eaten the last cookie we left out for him. She had no interest in seeing the gifts, just eating the cookie.

M didn't really ask for much for Christmas, but the one specific thing he asked for was the play ice cream set he saw at the store.

Christmas afternoon

My parents came to visit us Christmas afternoon. Here are the kids opening their gifts from them.

We had a wonderful Christmas. All four of us were pretty sick during the month of December. One of us would get it, pass it along, get better, then get sick again. We felt kind of bad because we had to miss out on some Christmas festivities, but it turned out okay. Where we were home so much, I feel like it allowed us to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas, and not so much the other stuff. 

Merry Christmas...in March!

sisters

The other morning my sisters showed up at my door. I had no clue they were coming. They came with cleaning supplies in hand. And flowers...two beautiful flowers. We talked, they helped me clean, and then we took the kids (my nephew had come with them) to the park.

I love my sisters. So much. We don't live terribly far from family, but we also aren't very close to just "run over" for a visit. I miss having them closer, and really savor the time we have when we are together. Their willingness to come and surprise me really brightened up my week.

After visiting with them, and being with them, I realized I was in a "funk." You know the kind...one of those mom funks. Throughout the day, as I looked at the flowers they brought me, my heart was filled with such gratitude and happiness. What a blessing my two sisters are to me. Unbeknownst to them, their visit has helped me to snap out of that funk over the last few days.

I love my sisters. Thank you for your visit!

for you, M--so we can laugh about it when you are older

Life is in the little moments. I wanted to write down this moment we had last night so we can all laugh about it with M when he gets older. 

Last night I was getting ready to bathe little J. I opened the shower door, only to find there was something all over the floor in there. After a few moments, I realized it was dried up pee. "M!" I thought to myself. I was not happy!

Calming myself down, I called him into the bathroom, and it didn't take long for him admit that, yes, he had peed in the shower. When asked why he did it, he responded, "So I wouldn't have to wash my hands." I can only imagine what was going through his mind when he did it, "If I don't touch the toilet, then I won't have to wash my hands... I'll go in the shower."

I thought, "You made the mess, and you're going to clean it."

Needless to say, we both spent the next while in the bathroom while I instructed M how to clean the floor of the shower.

Without him seeing me do it, I snapped a picture of him cleaning. I couldn't resist; he kept saying about my playtex cleaning gloves, "Oh wow, these 'nayclex' gloves really work well!"

"Yes, they do work well," I replied. I couldn't help but laugh in my head.

Here he is inspecting his work.

After it was clean, Jake and I had a little talk with him. Hopefully this is the first, and the last, time he does that!

(And, on a side note, he did a pretty good job. From now on, I think he will be my partner when I clean the shower!)

family reunion 2015, part 1: zip line, games for kids, making flashlights and rockets, birthday party

Jake comes from a wonderful, big family--eight brothers and four sisters. Everyone is spread out in different states so we aren't able to get together much, but when we do, it makes for a fabulously fun time! Every other summer we get together for a family reunion, the last one taking place in Idaho during the month of August. 

We had SO MUCH FUN!!! It was so nice to see everyone and catch up with how everyone is doing. So now, without further adieu, I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. (Warning, it's a long post...)

Getting strapped up to do the zip line. 

M and cousin Will 

Jake and M ready to head up to do the zip line. 

Jake doing the zip line. M got up to the platform you see in this picture to do the zip line, but got pretty scared when he saw how high up the zip line was. So he didn't end up going. Maybe next time!

Fun science project/art with Aunt Angie.

Baby J and cousin Reed playing in the bubbles.

Making scotcheroos!

Making homemade flashlights. And more importantly, Eric eating a chili dog and M eating a pudding...

Finished flashlight and a partially eaten chili dog.

More flashlight making...

Air hockey with Grandpa B and M.

Rocket launching! Along with making flashlights, we could also make rockets. So that evening, those who made rockets got to launch them with an air compressor. Coolest.thing.EVER. This was really fun to see how far the rockets went, and they went FAR.

Jake helping M throw together a rocket. M wasn't too interested in making one earlier in the day. Once he saw the rockets launch, though, he was all on board.

Harry, one of the sweetest and funniest kids you'll ever meet, was able to come up for the reunion. He is Eric's son. We love you, Harry!!!

During the week, there were three brothers that had birthdays: Ryan, Jake, and Chris. So we had a little celebration.

Baby J loved that chocolate cake!

Cousins!

feeding the cow

I'm not sure if I have mentioned on here or not, but we live in a basement apartment of a house. The owners live upstairs, and we love them. They are so nice and such wonderful people. A couple of months ago, they were out of town for a few days. They asked M if he would feed their little cow when they were gone, which he excitedly agreed to do. He and baby J had so much fun feeding, that when our neighbors got back, we asked if they would want any help feeding the cow during the week. They gladly obliged! So five mornings a week the kids and I get bundled up to go feed the cow in the morning.

It has been fun for the kids...mostly! There are mornings where M does not want to go feed, but has to anyway. We are thankful for this opportunity, and are hoping it teaches him about work and responsibility.

I get the hay and put it on M's shovel. M drags it over to the cow. We then push the hay into the cow. Miss J watches with excitement. She likes to get right up close to the cow and stare/smile at him. 

Brother Fart

With the new year, Mr. M got to move up to the next class in primary. Exciting thing! After church we asked him how it went. He said fine; he liked it. He said he couldn't remember his teacher's name, so we reminded him. And that was that.

Well tonight while cleaning the kitchen, this happened:

M: "Hey mom, want to hear something funny that happened at church today?" 

Me: "Sure."

M: "So in class, I couldn't remember my teacher's name," he says casually, "so I called him Bro. Fart." 

Me: Muffled snorting as I try to contain myself from laughing out loud hysterically. (Something on his face told me he knew his teacher's name wasn't "Bro. Fart" when he called him that...) "Hmm, I see." More muffled noises as I try to regain my composure, "I'm glad you remember now. We probably don't want to call him that anymore. He probably doesn't like being called that, ya think?" 

M says with a smile on his face, "Yeah, probably not. I remember his name now." After a few seconds, "Everybody laughed."

Me, smiling: "Oh, well let's remember to call him by his real name." 


Bro. Farley, my apologies. Hopefully he does remember your name from now on!