Dear Husband

Dear Husband,

I know and appreciate that you are 6 foot tall with arms of 5'8" (known as Monkey Arms in our family). It has come in very handy many a-times. But I, on the other hand, am 5'2"... Why do you insist on stacking (term used very loosely) sh*t on the top shelves of all the cabinets and closets so precariously that I feel like I'm playing Jenga with my life??

Love, 

Your concussed wife.

Smiley Siley Turns FOUR (and the Tooth Fairy Rides Again)

I don't ever think I've fully appreciated (or felt enough sympathy for) the situation that my parents and family had to deal with trying to make sure that my Christmas birthday was celebrated.  I get it now and I'm crying "uncle!!". 

My Siley babe turned 4 on the 26th and after a long day on Christmas and a 2nd family party on the 26th - that evening we pulled out the party balloons and birthday cake and celebrated my little guy's birthday. 

A few days ago I made a bit of fun at the fact that Dad had a tea candle for his birthday candle.  Well...guess who couldn't find the birthday candles that she had JUST bought that very morning and had to pull out the tea candles? (me).

 

 We sang, blew up balloons and opened some presents.

I did make a homemade cake - though you can tell it's still on a baking sheet (and it's not very pretty).

 

Of all 3 kids, Si seems to be growing up the fastest.  It really seems that just a year ago, I was holding an infant. It's very hard for me to believe he's 4 already. He constantly makes us laugh with the things he says, and he consistently makes our blood pressure rise...he's definitely more accident prone and hardheaded than Mas and Ella!

 

The tooth fairy made another visit to our house that evening too - Ella lost her 5th tooth.  She's been wiggling and pushing and pulling on it since Thanksgiving, and finally it popped out.  You can see below how holey she is.

Christmas '09

Christmas 2009 has come and gone.  Wow. The last few months have been a complete whirlwind of activity and I wasn't feeling 100% prepared this year, but then again I'm usually not 100% prepared for anything!

Christmas Eve was the usual flurry of appetizers, wine, (having Margie, Tim, Sarah and Brian over to help with some) wrapping, reindeer food, cookies for Santa, more wine...

I love after the mess is cleaned up, kids are long asleep (or faking it well) and I get a few minutes of quiet time before heading to bed for a few short hours of sleep.  The time to reflect, to be excited for my kids, to remember that Christ is the reason for the season and to appreciate the many blessings that we have as a family.

The kids all slept in until almost 8 a.m. They were patient enough to wait for us to make coffee before they started digging into the presents.

 

Silas was excited about his Cars racetrack

 

Ella got earrings from Daddy and loved her Nintendo DS the best.

 

Mason had hoped and hoped that he'd get an iPod Touch,

which he did, but we wrapped it in a Pokemon video case.

We spent the afternoon at Mom and Dad's with all the family - whew, there are a lot of us! At the end of the evening, it's about all we can do to get the kids in pj's, teeth brushed, and keep our eyes open for a book or two.  We tend to perk up long enough for a glass of wine before crawling into bed ourselves.  

(I've been liking quotes a lot lately...)

"Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world."
~ Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)

Presidential message (December 25, 1927).

 

Did You Know?

That when you turn 75 you graduate to one BIG candle in its own crystal holder?

(because otherwise you might set the house on fire

and collapse a lung trying to blow out 75 candles...)

Who's Brown & Loved & Tres Quarters of a Century Old?

If you said my dad, you are correct!  Today is his 75th Birthday!!!

Why "brown"?   - the kids sometimes call him their "brown pap-pa" (yes, I should probably work on their political correctness...) 

What can happen in 75 years????

 Lots.

You can grow up with good friends...

You can find the love that you will spend your life with...

You can start having some babies...

which turn into some beautiful girls...

(said girls go through some somewhat awkward stages along the way...)

 

 You'll have some grandkids.

And more grandkids and great grandkids

 

 

Until you have so many that you can barely keep count!

 

Along the way in that 75 years you'll grow and nurture 

your family; and our families.

You'll find God.

You'll pray for our bumps and bruises, for our souls,

for our broken hearts and sometimes broken bodies. 

You'll love our spouses almost as much as you love us 

- and our kids even more so.

You'll show what all can be done in a life when you've 

been blessed with 75 years.

Happy Birthday Dad* - and Thank You!

We love you!

(* much of this also applies to Mom - even though she's not 75 yet :-)

First Day of Christmas Break

Saturday was the first day of Christmas break and it was a good one.  The kids woke up to some snow on the ground.  Not a ton, but enough to bundle up and spend a few hours outside.  It was great snowball making snow.

Ella and Silas used me for a target - 

luckily I was safely behind the glass door.

 

Ella showing me her littlest snowball. 

We put it in the freezer.

 

Later in the afternoon, we baked and decorated cookies.  I cheated and bought the GFS cookies - they are really yummy.  Nice, thick cookies that aren't too sweet.  I also cheated and bought the icing - 6 pounds of icing.  I still have 5.89 pounds left so let me know if you need some!

Silas had a very difficult time NOT eating the cookies and sprinkles while decorating.

After I moved the decorated cookies, I let him lick the wax paper with all the sprinkles and crumbs.  He was in Heaven with all that SUGAR!

 

They did a great job and had fun. Messy, but fun!

Ella Art

We're going to have to make room for Ella to have her own studio soon - she's taking over the house with her art work.  A couple holiday favorites...