on the move

Owen is on the move!  He started crawling a month ago already.... Some friends and I did the "day after Thanksgiving" shop.  I took him out of the carseat when we got home and watched him begin crawling in front of my eyes.  (he might not be a shopper?!!)  He started pulling himself up on things two weeks ago.  When he gets into the standing position, it's not long before he's screaming.  It begins as a happy-look-at-me-scream and builds into a yikes-now-what-do-I-do-scream!  I can't even tell you what all went through my mind as I saw him pull himself up onto the dishwasher the first time.  It feels like yesterday that I was watching Thomas do this!  The aerobics involved in very quickly unloading the dishwasher before the baby crawls over to help should count as exercise shouldn't they?  

sweet traditions

Cutting our own tree, baking cookies, hiding the pickle, eating crab, ear candles, acting out the Christmas story, advent angel visits, and Christmas card prayers...these are a few of our Christmas traditions.  What are some of yours?

young lady

The girls had their music concert tonight.  We went to Wendy's to have a frosty on the way home to celebrate.  After paying, the man enthusiastically said, "Thank you young lady!"  Ella laughed and said, "Young lady?  You have 4 kids!"  Apparently, this many children makes me OLD.  

synonym

Claire pondering the moose we saw while grooming the XC ski trail on the lake... "How old were you when you were on your own, mom?"  19.  "Oh, well that moose must have been 19 and I hope it's mom was 36!"

Ella at the dinner table this week..."Fart is a synonym for toot!"  Correct, but really now?

Thomas began eating a  peanut butter cracker and apparently it didn't taste good so he promptly spit it into my hand.  Claire then commented, "EeeOoo...we'll have to do that when we're moms!" To which Ella chimes in, "I'll make my kid spit in the garbage."  If it were only that easy, girl...

blessed.

The past several weeks have been all about friends at this house...The Spakousky's moved to Washington and the Poorbaughs to Anchorage.  It's been fun to pack in lots of fun with friends, both in anticipation of the big moves as well as good times with those we treasure nearby.  How grateful we are for the friends God has blessed us with!  

performer

Here is our little turkey in her recent class play, "A Boastful Roastful."  She did a super job!
Claire was also one of two chosen in her class to perform at an evening of Elocution at school.  If you're not sure what this is, it's simply the memorization and recitation of poetry.  She did a fantastic job with this as well!    

T is two

Thomas turned two on November 24th...  We celebrated a day early by sleeping in and lingering over fun new presents!  I loved how greed was missing from his celebration.  He opened a gift and was plum happy to play and play and play with it.  This was so painful for his sisters as they wanted him to rip into everything.  (It took him 3 whole days to open all his gifts:) In the evening, we went to our church's annual "Family Fun Fest" and had great fun there.  What a party!  There are tons of inflatables for the kids to play on as well as good eats, carnival games and prizes.  On his actual birthday, we had Young Life, so we enjoyed cupcakes with the crew.  The following day, we went to Rascals, a new jumping place in town, to jump with two of his buddies who also turned two that week...Remi & Noah.  Happy Birthday Thomas, you are a treasure!

thankful

Every teacher on the planet asks h/her students to write about what h/she is thankful for this time of year.  As a teacher, I loved reading what the kids came up with.  As a mom, I look forward to and treasure these writings as well.  Every year at our Thanksgiving breakfast, I record what we are thankful for in a fun little journal.  Sweet tradition, but I can't find the journal this year!!! We'll do it anyway in hopes that mom will eventually uncover it.  Until then...here are the girls "thankful assignments" from school.  One warms my heart, the other cracks me up!  

On Thanksgiving my family has frends over and we eat good food and play.

We play games and have candy!

I am thankful for my family because thay are fun.

I Love my family!

The best thanksgiving would be thaving my gramda and grampa over. (Ella, 8 yrs.)

I am thankful for my dog kus he dus not get muth utenshin frum us.

So he is sad ulot.  (Claire, 6 yrs.)

Hope you find time to love and laugh a lot today...Happy Thanksgiving!

words

A growing vocabulary...Thomas has it!   Each day seems to bring a new word.  I love this stage:) Here is a sample of a few of his words...

ma=more

ain=train

goo=good

key coo=thank you

key coo (while shaking head back and forth)=no thank you!

buh=bug

me =milk or moon

papee =pacifier

mi mee =mitten

chaulk ee =chocolate

bee =spit up

boo boo=booger

yah (with a long Norwegian draw) =yes

and my favorite so far....hi bubee = hi brother

friends

Our dear friends, the Spakouskys, will be moving to Washington in just a few weeks.  We will miss them so!  Until then, we are trying to soak up every opportunity for fun together!

mighty hunters

Tom went deer hunting this weekend.  Dead animals aren't typically something I post on my page, but it is a big part of his world.  The guys had a great hunt and came home with 5 deer. I'm delighted to have him home!

blog books no more?

This week, I decided to begin the process of putting the past year into a blog book as a family Cmas gift.  Thought this would be a neat way to remember each year's milestones and events, especially since I've abandoned the scrapbooking concept.  Well, I'm bummed.  Went onto the blurb.com website last night that I'd heard was the ticket to turn your blog into a book and ....NO MORE!  They no longer support blogger!  They only support "live journal" and "typepad" blogs.  Rrr... I read many very upset comments from others like me wondering why and if they'll support blogger again sometime, but the responses were basically "not in the foreseeable future."  Bummer.  Anyone know of any other options?  I wonder if I should switch to live journal or typepad just so I can get a book each year?  Anyone have any experience with either of these?  Let me know if you do, please!

a girl after my own heart

Date night.  Claire and I!  Claire told me the other day, "Mom, you and I have never had a date."  I thought a bit and realized in her eyes, she was right.  We've been plenty of places together, alone, but nothing officially called a "date." ( I do grocery dates with the girls, but maybe those don't count?)  I think she had so much fun on her "Daddy date" this summer, that she wanted to do it again!  

Here's how it came to be...Tom asked both girls if they wanted to go shooting this morning. Ella gladly wanted to join him, Claire said, "no thanks." So...Claire and I spent a chunk of time together as we waited for Tom and Ella to get home.  We read and read and read books together in the recliner and began a craft together.  She carefully picked out the dress she would wear and I did her hair, just as she requested. (a braid on each side & pulled together in back)  We talked about what she wanted to do together and she carefully made this list...

1.  cuvr (the main event was to be shopping for a cover for her new bible)

2.  kraberee cadij (I suggested browsing Cranberry Cottage as she'd never been there and I      knew she'd love it)

3.  frostee (from Wendy's)

4.  turgit (Target, just because)

5.  aowt to eat (out to eat)

I cracked up when we were leaving Shalom that she pulled out her "list" of things to do and reprimanded me for forgetting the frosty at Wendy's!  "See mom, you're forgetting number 3!" We didn't ever get to #3, but we did enjoy dinner and dessert together at Evangelos.  She had requested pizza and as we were leaving Target, I asked her if she wanted pizza hut or pizza from somewhere fancier.  And how did I think she would answer?  Fancy, of course!  As we were eating, I described my favorite dessert to her there and asked her if she wanted to try it or go get a frosty.  Being the chocolate lover she is, she picked wisely and chose to have dessert with class.  I ordered the chocolate silk cake with extra whipped cream for us and this is when the fun really began....we fought over the whipped cream!!!!  She'd never eaten with a long dessert spoon before and we had great fun with them.  She told me she liked our date because it was nice and quiet, we didn't have to rush, and it was all for her.  Sweet.

happy halloween!!!

We had a fun evening trick or treating with the DuHadways.  It was a frigid 7 degrees so the boys and I stayed home and welcomed chilly friends into the shop for hot chocolate and brownies.John & Stacey Depriest hosted an fun Halloween party tonight.  I have NEVER seen a home so decked out for the day before!!!  Stacey paid attention to every detail with amazing food & treats to boot.  Thanks for including us John & Stacey!

surgery

Today was surgery day.  Thomas was a trooper and we have great news to report!  The dye showed the surgeon that Thomas' parts looked completely normal and healthy.  He doesn't feel we need to be referred to a specialist...YAHOO!  I prayed a lot today, walked a lot (did what felt like MILES in the stroller with Owen...he was not a bit impressed with the hospital or waking at 5am)  and thought a lot.  I've held Claire after two surgeries as she's come out of anesthesia and now Thomas twice....nothing can prepare a momma's heart to hear those cries from her babies.  I'm praising God for another surgery BEHIND me and praying there will be few, if any, AHEAD of me.  To those of you who prayed...thank you.

pumpkins!

Well, the annual pumpkin carving took place tonight at our house.  

I grew up carving the basic 3 triangles and a crooked mouth.... Ella took the plunge tonight and attempted to carve using one of those stencils.  She did the top part and I did the word/letters on the bottom...I think she did a better job!  Any guesses what my word is supposed to say?


Thomas looked at the whole process but didn't want to dig in and help.  He wandered the shop as we carved.  It wasn't long before he figured out how to open up the door to the Expedition...climbed inside, opened the garage door (I removed the opener) and got the keys in the ignition (I then quickly removed the keys too!)

A couple quotes from recent weeks....

Claire had the stomach flu not long ago.  At one point, she said, "Mom, my tummy is getting madder and madder!"

As I was cooking venison for supper, Ella came over and said, "Mm.. are we having cantelope again for supper?" (referring to the antelope in the freezer)

A neighbor girl was over playing with the girls and came up to me while holding Owen, "He looks just like Trig, Sarah Palin's son!  Does he have Down Syndrome too?"

water boy

Ever since Thomas broke his leg and I spent hours doing water play with him, he LOVES to dump, pour, spill, drink, stir,  & splash in the water.  He has another abscess on his bottom, so we are to bathe him 2-3 times every day.  This is no problem for Thomas as he loves the water!  Seriously, we meet with the surgeon again on Thursday and will decide what to do next for Thomas.  Surgery is likely on Friday, but not certain.  Please pray for Thomas, that he would be healed and that we would get to the root of the problem and understand why his body is making these.

big!

I had a mommy moment at supper...Owen joined us at the table tonight for the first time in his highchair.  With each spot around the table full, it felt so complete, so good. THIS is our family.  I also remembered the debate I had in my head years ago as we tried to decide if we should have three children or not....one of my thoughts was that there were only 4 chairs at our table.  Well, we fixed that problem, didn't we?  

4 and a photo

4 kids in one photo....I've begun to wonder how likely it is that I'll ever have all 4 looking at me at once.  It may be a few years, I think!  And a family portrait...that makes my head spin!  Is it possible?  The ONLY complete family photo we have is hours after I gave birth to Owen.  Maybe, just maybe we can pull this off for a Christmas card.  It's October, I better start now....

first snow

We got our first big dump of snow today.  Mom made the executive call of "no homework tonight...we're going outside to play!"  Life is just too short.  The kids had a grand time and I know very well, it will all melt away oh so soon.