And they came from afar

I am so glad I saw this while Eli was playing. I think my little man understands just how important Baby Jesus was. I hope we can all keep this in our hearts at Christmas time and not let the commercialism and busyness of the season distract us from where our focus should be, on our Savior Jesus Christ.

Snow Day-- Dec. 1st

Let it be known that we really are wimps down here when it comes to snow days. Although this was the FIRST snow fall of the season and there was some freezing rain before the snow started but many of our Alaska friends reminded us that several FEET of snow doesn’t close the schools there. This was about 4-5 inches. When the kids woke up and saw all the snow they were so eager to get outside and get there hands in it. I am sure Abigail didn’t remember it from last year and Eli has been waiting for the snow to fall since the leaves fell off the trees in late September. Marley was quite entertaining to watch too. I would throw snow balls at him to “fetch” and he was so confused when they would crash to the ground and he couldn’t find it at all. He also liked it when I would throw them straight up in the air and they would come down on his nose.

 

Here is a flashback to REAL snowfalls in Monticello. Luke took a couple hours digging the van out of this one.

A healthy snack

Micali is my little health conscious girl. She always asks for something healthy to eat. I will suggest several fruits or vegetables and she always double checks with asking well which one is healthy. I am so glad that something I have been trying to teach her was taught in her Kindergarten class by Mrs. Hall. They sent home the new portions plate---that used to be the food pyramid. There were several worksheets that she did with circling the healthy choices. Candy, chips, and doughnuts were ones she Xed out and fruits and vegetables were ones she circled. So now if she has the choice between a cookie and grapefruit it is most likely going to be the grapefruit.

Little Buddies

When school started for Micali this year Eli and Abigail just kind of looked at each other like “our leader is missing what should we do now?” For awhile they just kind of did their own thing but now Abigail is talking more and will repeat anything Eli asks her to say so they are having tons of fun and playing more together now.

It has been fun to watch the transformation.

It is kind of sad when Micali comes home that she now has to figure out where to fit back in but most of the time they manage just fine and allow Micali back into the lead role and play along nice together. It is such a joy to spend time with these two smiling faces ALL day long!

My favorite spot in the house

I love our little breakfast bar for the kids. This is my favorite spot in the whole house---maybe I have already posted a picture and said nearly the exact same thing because it seems like I have but---it really is. I love having them all up there together either eating or just watching me make dinner or clean up. Micali will come up here to do her homework while I am finishing up dinner. It is great having them right there with me!

Fun with Grandpa

Grandpa came over to mulch our leaves (a month ago). When he was done he took Eli and Abigail for a ride. They sure had fun riding along. Micali hates missing out on all the fun when she is in school.

Marley the GREAT protector ran down the road and back to make sure his kids were going to be okay. He loves that tractor and racing it around.

Family Fun Friday Nights

Friday nights in Monticello usually consisted of pizza and a family movie night. Since we moved into our new house and don’t have a TV our FUN on Friday’s changed a little. The kids sure enjoy it and are always asking when it will be Friday again.

Here is what it looks like:

The kids (and parents) choose a stuffed animal they think will stay on the ceiling fan the longest time. When Daddy turns on the fan everyone laughs hysterically until all the animals have fallen off. This is repeated several times until we determine a champion.  Eli happened to be the winner this night.

I just love playing with my kids and making memories like this. They are such a blessing and bring so much joy into my life.

So Fierce

Eli is totally in to “guys”, dinosaurs, cars---anything that he can set up in rows and have battles with. I love catching these little critters ready to take on anything.

My sweet kiddos

Abigail is quite the little attention getter. Something about the red in her hair just draws people to come talk to her. Especially the old men in the grocery store. She is like a magnet. She of course loves the attention and if they don’t happen to notice her she will let out a big “HI”, give a cute little wave and, then smile as big as can be when someone says HI back. She loves helping out and is the best little cleaner-upper. She either sings the clean-up song or follows in Eli’s “What’s gonna work?” with her saying -TEAMWORK. She still likes me to sing her to sleep. She is fine and content laying in her crib as long as I am in the room singing until she falls asleep. I am okay spoiling her that way because Micali really enjoys it too.

Elijah-is all boy. He loves

my kitchen-aid attachments to be his hook and sword. They could do some damage if he ever hit somebody with them but so far he has been very careful with them. Until I get him a substitute this works for him. He was so funny when people asked him what he was going to be for Halloween this year. His answer was always something different: Bob the builder, firefighter, spiderman(he knows nothing about spiderman besides what he looks like at the store) Buzz Lightyear, Pirate. It was hard for him to choose one. I finally picked up the firefighter costume and he loved it but asked well what about all the other guys too. He loves playing with “guys” no matter what kind of guys they are—he found daddy’s old Heman guys when we were at grandma and grandpa’s house and carried those around most of the time we were there. Now that he has his toys pretty much anything can entertain him for long periods of times. He sets things up in lines and finds joy in knocking them over. It is fun to see his personality shine through during the day while Micali is at school and he has to come up with his own things to do.

Micali- is growing up

way to fast. Now that she is in school she is so much more independent. She had a day called Hat’s for Haley where they could wear a hat if they paid a dollar. They collected money for a girl at Luke’s school who has cancer. She loved wearing a hat and thought it was nice she could help out this girl a little bit.

The morning of her costume parade at school she was up before 6 waiting to put on her Dalmatian costume. She was so happy. We surprised her at school and went to watch her parade. She was just glowing!

This morning as I was talking to her about the papers in her bag I told her she did a good job on her “N’s” She said, “Well I just did the little ones. My Friend helped me write the big ones.” Did your friend help you write all of the capital Ns? Yes, I just don’t know how and my friend does so she did it for me. We had a little talk about a friend HELPING and a friend just DOING it for you. I think we will practice writing capital Ns tonight!

My poor baby

Abigail was on Amoxicillin for 9 days because she had an ear infection and strep throat. At the end of it she broke out with hives probably in reaction to this medication. I felt so bad for her. Every time I would look at her she would have new ones.

She is finally looking better. Her skin still seems sensitive and will get welts easily but the hives are gone. Such a sweet girl through it all, smiley and slept good (with occasional help of Benadryl).

Just Enjoying a Sunday Afternoon

A Figherfighter, His Dalmatian, and the Baby and Dad they Rescued

The kids really enjoyed dressing up this year. Micali also got to be a puppy at school and was so excited to be in her costume parade there. It was fun to go see Grandma and Grandpa and trick-or-treat a little in their neighborhood. It was our first Halloween that was not FREEZING outside. Eli has picked out all the toys, chips, and juice out of his candy bag and doesn’t really care about the rest. Micali took a bite of a snickers bar and threw it in the trash. She had some skittles and thought those were pretty good. Abigail ate a tootsie roll wrapper and all!! I am totally okay with my kids not LOVING candy. I’ll give it a few more days and give the rest to Luke to take to school or throw it away which ever comes first!

Dress-up Dance Party

The kids were without a lot of their toys and things for several months while we were in transition. When we busted open the dress-up clothes it became an instant dance party. A video camera would have captured the moment better. I first put Micali in the pink dress, and of course Eli needed the blue dress because, boy and blue go together in his cute little head. I came out and was dancing with them and in comes Abigail with her dress and shoes. She wasn’t going to be left out. I didn’t even know she knew what was going on. She did-- and she had some pretty cute dance moves.