Almost Every Day We Get Some of This...

Isn't it pretty? (Oh and just ignore my stupid date stamp, it's from today)

Our neighbors made this, pretty cool, huh?

And while I had the camera out I thought I'd take a little photo of our lovely front door that somebody ruined.

Here's a closer look, the paint is totally chipped and there are major dents. Sad, very sad.

In Good Company

I love being a mom and am so grateful I get to stay home with my kids; however, I will admit there are times I find it extremely hard and overwhelming. Right now, we happen to be in a really good phase. I miss the girls when they're at school and we all look forward to the energy and excitement that follows them through our door around 3:45 each day, but I have really been enjoying the company of the two little guys pictured above.

The last few days Nate has literally played for HOURS with his play dough at the kitchen table. He likes to be near where I am, but is content to entertain himself and patiently endures Benny's comings and goings. I love watching and listening to his imagination at work. He's been so happy and helpful and fun lately.

Benjamin does a lot of coming and going. He'll sit and play play dough for a little bit, enthusiastically mimicking Nate and chatting all the while. He'll explore for a little while and then come find me to check in which means me picking him up and hugging him so he can stroke my hair for a minute. His favorite thing to do is to pose for photos saying "CHEESE" and then the minute the picture is taken he yells, "SEE" until I show him the newest photo.

One of my favorite things to do is to watch him reason things out. The other day he came to me and insisted on a drink. I gave him a cup with a little bit of water and watched as he walked over to a new toy of Nate's that has a little container for water which a car jumps into. He carefully poured the water I gave him into the right place and proceeded to play. It was so interesting to me that instead of bringing the toy to me, he just figured out his own way to get what he needed.

I feel truly blessed to be able to enjoy the company of Brennan and each of our kids. Though we have our struggles, I can honestly say I wouldn't trade my life for anything!

Birthday Party Ideas

Help! Abby's 7th birthday is coming up fast and it's her year to have a friend birthday. What are some of the parties any of you have done that were a success?

Abbyisms

This child of ours keeps us laughing. I wanted to write down a couple of her most recent sayings while I still remember. The other day I came home from shopping and showed Abby a new package of underwear I had gotten for her. She was happy with her brand new underwear. Then I showed Anna a new dress I found on clearance for her. Anna immediately showed Abby in the other room which is where I heard Abby's voice saying, "You get a dress and I get underwear!" I guess I hadn't realized the disparity there. We all burst out laughing, including Abby, which is one of the reasons I love her.

The next day she came home very upset because Anna had told her friend in our carpool the above story and Connor, another child in our carpool, overheard. Connor is one of the boys Abby has a crush on so she was very embarrassed. I tried to downplay it and told her I was sure that Connor too had underwear and would totally understand. That didn't console her and she restated how upset she was because, "Connor is one of my favorite boys!"

This morning I pulled Abby's lunch bag out to find yesterday's garbage in it. "Abby, why didn't you throw this away at school?" "I don't know what happened, but there weren't any garbages, Mom." Anna piped up and said, "Maybe Ferrin was emptying all of them." Abby asked, "Who's Ferrin?" "The janitor." I answered. "Oh yeah," she said, and then in a perfect mimic of the school secretary's voice said, "Ferrin, please contact the office."

Maybe you had to be there, but all of them cracked us up. She's getting so funny and a lot of it is now intentional. We love Abby.

My Special Visitor

I went to bed last night feeling a little bit like my kids on Christmas Eve awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. With the excitement of Christmas, we missed our customary appointment with a special visitor and for a whole week I anxiously waited his arrival this week so we could share some of our leftover Christmas cheer. We were literally overflowing in anticipation.

Last night we excitedly busied ourselves with preparations for his arrival this morning. I expected to hear him come an hour or so before I got up. I awoke disappointed when I discovered he still had not arrived. All day long I kept peeking out the window in hopes of seeing him turn down our street. I began to worry that something had happened, that for some reason we had mistaken his planned arrival or that he came and something wasn't right so he left prematurely. I felt distracted all day long and hampered in my ability to go about my routine.

Finally this afternoon as I left the house to pick up kids from school I saw that my dream had at last been realized! I felt a huge weight lifted off me and couldn't wait to come back home and get busy throwing things away. Thank you for coming, Mr. Waste Disposal Man!!!!!

Update

What is it about bathrooms that inspire music? How many people do you know that wouldn't be caught dead singing anywhere, but in the shower they can't help but wax operatic? Lately, Nate has caught the bathroom bug. The other day the girls overheard him singing an original number with lyrics going something like this: "All the good people, give me your powers!" Just today I caught him singing a little Broadway number from "Wicked". At the top of his voice he sang "...Although it's the toughest case I've yet to face, don't worry, I'm determined to succeed." It cracks me up.

Abby is dying to show her new room off and was asking me if she could invite a friend over who hadn't seen it yet. I suggested her current best friend. Abby said, "Well, she's kind of a handful, I'm hoping to invited someone over who isn't such a handful." Also, the other day we picked up the kids from my Mom's where they had gotten to decorate sugar cookies. They each had a plate full of their creations and as Abby buckled Nate's seatbelt, she apparently broke a piece of one of Nate's cookies. He scolded, "Abby! You broke the leg off my cookie!" Her motherly response was, "Nate, would you rather have a broken cookie or DIE!"

Anna has been keeping Abby and Nate and sometimes Ben busy with "School". She has had them practicing all kinds of academic things and assigns homework and everything. My favorite aspect of this school is that when any one of her pupils gets a little too wild they are sent to the "thinking chair" where they have to reflect on their bad behavior. The funniest part is that when sentenced to the "thinking chair" they go. I wish I had that power over them.

Anna has a friend over and when Ben saw her, he greeted her with his enthusiastic, "HI!." Then he said, "Watts (watch)" and ran and threw himself onto the couch. Nate's friend came earlier and Benjamin didn't feel the need to perform for him, but a pretty girl walks in and he's pulling every trick he can think of out of his hat. Crazy.

Festivities

We've had a wonderful Christmas season. Before Christmas we hustled and bustled with the girls' rooms and parties and shopping. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents at their house for a beautiful dinner. Dad read from Luke 2 and the kids opened their new pajamas and their gifts from each other. We went home and tucked the kids into bed (about 4 times, they were a little bit excited) and worked late into the night on the finishing touches of the girls' rooms and last minute wrapping, etc.

After the excitement of Christmas morning we relaxed for little bit. I took the most fabulous 2 hour nap. Davis came over and took the big kids to my parents and when I woke up Brennan, Ben and I joined them. Ryan and Macy, and Josh and Eliza, and Davis's girlfriend, Melissa were there and we had nice mellow afternoon playing games. Later that night, my Dad's Mom and his 6 siblings who live in town and their families came over. It was wonderful.

The day after Christmas we did a delightful NOTHING. The next day, Brennan and Davis took the kids sledding and had so much fun. We then went bowling with my Dad and Davis and then reconvened at Mom and Dad's for dinner and a very loud game of Bingo.

Friday night at around 10:00pm all of us (except Brennan who was here with sleeping kids) gathered at my parents' for more games and schmoozing until about 2:30am. Fun times.

Sunday we went back for dinner together marking the end of Davis' visit. We love having him.

Early evening we had a party with our kids, playing games and eating their chosen dinner of a potato bar. It's so much fun that they are getting old enough to play. We played "Old Maid", "Go Fish" and "Uno" while Benny crawled all over the table and stole our cards. They all seemed so grown up, it was really fun.

Later that evening we put the kids to bed and hosted a few of my cousins and their spouses and Josh and Eliza for a really fun New Year's Eve party. We played games and laughed hard. They are all some of my very favorite people.

Today is fairly low-key. Brennan and I have basically alternated taking naps all day. The 3 big kids each have a friend over and Benny is still in his jammies. I feel like part of the fun of the holidays and all the festivities is the contrasting fun of just staying home. We are so blessed that we have so many friends and family. We're anticipating Brennan's parents coming to stay as soon as the snow storms stop. Good times!