Christmas highlights

Merry Christmas! We had a very relaxed day with present opening, food eating, and toy playing (in that order!). It was really great watching the kids open their gifts and thoroughly enjoy them today. Tomorrow, before the break of dawn, we are traveling to Ohio for a visit with our families. So, in a way, the holidays will continue for the kids for almost another week. Hmmm, I think we needed this day of quiet, reflective family time!

One of E.'s favorite gifts was skateboarding gear.
All of the kids breaking in one of P.'s gifts.
One of my favorite photos from the day!
We bought Chester a new chew toy, which kept him busy all morning. And his teeth are cleaner, too. Mission: Accomplished!
S. loves everything pink. So did she like her new pink Pony? I think so. =)
Poor thing. Opening gifts is tough work!
This is the game we spent over an hour putting together today. It was worth it though ... a fun marble race, and it stands almost as tall as E!
S. loves wearing my shoes, sneaking into my makeup, and putting on Tyler's deodorant (his must smell better than mine!). So we got her a little clothes chest with outfits for three princesses. She is absolutely adorable all dolled up!

The biggest hit with P. today is what Tyler began calling, "The Freaky Horse." This present was a dumpster dive. I normally abhor pulling things from the trash, but I am so glad that I "saved" this little guy. P. enjoys it so so much.

Say cheese! Ok, STOP saying cheese!

When mom and dad were in town, we ventured out to try and capture some good pics of the kids. I think we succeeded! Surprisingly, my most photogenic child—S.—ended up fizzling out first and refused to smile anymore. We told E. to just keep saying cheese so that he wouldn't stop "smiling," but the photographer got sick of hearing it and actually told him to stop!

We ended up getting a good pic of each of them individually and a good group shot, so I was glad we went. If these copies look a little distorted, I think they are; the online quality isn't the greatest. Enjoy!

Our little pumpkin has turned 1

With all three of our children having their birthdays right on top of a holiday, P.'s is definitely going to be the most challenging to truly celebrate. Born on Thanksgiving Day, I had a lot to be thankful for this year ... including not being in labor! (Sorry for the joyful exaltation to all of my soon-to-deliver friends, but when Macy's parade started I was absolutely giddy that I didn't have Pitocin running through my veins at that moment and didn't have to demand that the TV be shut off because the Sesame Street float was grating my nerves.) We stayed in town for Thanksgiving so we were able to have a little party for her and my parents came in for the weekend. Here are some photo highlights and a video to enjoy. The video is of a birthday card being opened for the first time and her reaction to it (thanks, Aunt Jayme ... the girls are still playing with it!).

My favorite thing to do with P. is just watch her from across the room. When she catches me watching her, her entire face lights up and she gets a huge smile on her face knowing that she wasn't overlooked or forgotten. I hope she grows up to know that she is worthy of such secret admiration! She is such a sweet, sweet girl. I hope this next year only brings out more sweetness in her little personality. Happy birthday, Sweet P. We love you!

Birthday dinner—pizza, pizza, pizza!

Opening her first gift.

S.'s reaction when she was told none of the presents were for her. =)

"I like your car."

"I like yours, too."
"Is it a Jeep?"
"A Subaru."

I love this sport utility vehicle Veggie Tales silly song! The girl in it reminds me of an old friend from Kentucky.

For E.'s birthday this year, grandma and grandpa bought him his own Jeep. (Why wait until you are 16?!?) The kids love driving it around and P. even got a ride. Here they are breaking it in ...

More baby steps

You may recall that some weeks ago I mentioned that our little P. took her first steps. Since then she went a little stagnant, not venturing off more than one step and choosing to crawl around instead ... until this week! She is now letting go of the furniture and our fingers more quickly and letting her two little legs take her where they can. It is fun to celebrate with her as a family as she discovers a new "talent." Enjoy the video!



Unseasonably warm
Like most of the nation, it has been really warm for November. We have been trying to take advantage of the nice weather and have been going on some hikes. I think walking trails may be my favorite outdoor activity. The kids can have the freedom to run and explore without getting into too much trouble and it is quiet. I especially like that it is quiet. I suspect that I am going to be one of those crotchety old ladies who turns her hearing aid off to block everyone out. =)

What are we coming to?

The kids and I went to McDonalds for lunch the other day. We were sitting by a tech-savvy family that was discussing grandpa’s new iPhone and Kindle. About halfway through our meal, I heard, "Do you have Wi-Fi?" I looked over and saw the grandfather on his iPhone, holding up his McDonalds receipt. Did he really just call this McDonalds, sitting only feet from the front counter?!? It was confirmed when his grandson declared, "Hey! There's the lady you are talking to!"

While I will admit that he was quite resourceful, I was in shock that he didn't just ask one of the many employees standing behind the counter. I then wondered how increased technology will ultimately impact us, picturing the people riding floating chairs on the spaceship in the movie Wall-E. I really hope a tight, red jumpsuit is not in my future.

Me and my big foot

Yes, I posted a picture of my foot and I know what you must be thinking, "Get a pedicure already." Don't I know it—leftover nail polish from this past summer and all! But look closely at my middle toe. Nice bruising, eh? About a week ago I think I broke my toe. But before you send me flowers and feel too badly for me, it really doesn't hurt that much. In fact, with the right shoes on, I barely notice a tinge of pain at all. If it is indeed broken, this is the first bone on my body to break. And I wish there was a glorious story to tell, besides accidentally kicking the bunk bed when getting P. out of her crib in the middle of the night.

Random things you might find in our garage
When we moved into our new house, many outdoor-related items were placed in our garage that we needed to sort through post-move. Tyler has been working on getting our garage in order and we pretty much finished cleaning it out this morning. And you wouldn't believe some of the things we found out there! The most notable item was ultrasound pictures of P. Other items of note: leftover guitar strings, Tyler's wallet-sized diploma from university, and Christmas stockings. All very odd. During the cleaning, S. put on her bike helmet and practiced riding a tricycle. We then got E.'s old bike down and started working with her on that. She was so cute in her little helmet trying to peddle. I was thinking to myself that putting her on a bike all of the time might be a good way to break her of her finger-sucking habit (since she has to hang on to the handlebars). However, at the end of our "training" session, she just leaned forward on the handlebars and put two fingers in her mouth and one up her nose (totally S. style).