Merry Christmas!

The girls have had a great time lately putting music on, tutu’s on, and dancing their little legs away. They put a CD in the DVD player today, tried to turn the TV on, and the universal remote wouldn’t work. Several tries to reprogram it later, Liberty asked if maybe the TV was tired from being on yesterday. That must be it. We got it to work.

Grandma left today. Man, was it nice to have her here. An extra pair of arms that Charlotte loves made church so much easier. Blaine’s an elder in our church and often called away from us for various reasons – no help with the kids is often the norm for me. Charlotte won’t go to strangers willingly (or quietly) and neither will Pierce. Cooking, cleaning… help was awesome! We had so much fun together. At least I had fun!

Favorite gifts in our house:

Ruby loves her bubble gum and tulle skirt.

Sterling loves the remote control helicopter best.

Eden loves the embroidery paraphernalia (and promise of lessons).

Liberty loved her nail kit (clippers, fingernail file, etc.) best.

Play Doh and a zoo pass were also big hits. It’s amazing to me how the simplest gifts are their favorites – except for the helicopter. Sterling is convinced he’ll be a helicopter pilot when he grows up and Grandpa had fun encouraging the dream.  

Jotham’s Journey, Tabitha’s Travels, and Bartholomew’s Passage are our favorite advent books. Highly recommended!

Merry Christmas!

My week in review.

The other day, I sighed at finding yet another mess made by the very mobile Charlotte. Liberty and Eden both stopped and stared at me.

“That’s the noise you made when you were having Pierce,” Liberty said.

“That’s what I was thinking!” Eden agreed.

Perfect. Just what I wanted them to remember. I really would love to have grandkids someday!

I teach manners class for the 2, 3, and 4 year olds at our homeschool co-op. When I was going through the lesson on please and thank you, the lesson referred to them as magic words. I asked the 4 year old class if they knew any magic words, and I got more than I bargained for. One little boy, in a conspiratorial tone, whispered, “Disappear.”

Yes, I guess that would be magic!

We went ice skating with Blaine’s department at work for his Christmas party. The kids had never been. Liberty was all over the ice, Eden fell in the first few minutes and gave herself a black eye and broke her glasses, (Yes, we bought the insurance on them!) then recovered and had a blast. Sterling held my or Blaine’s hand with a death grip but loved it, and Ruby was Ruby. She tore up that skating rink with the best of them. No fear, lots of tumbles, but she informed me it didn’t matter. Since the back of her jeans were slightly frayed at the bottom, she told me they are working jeans and she didn’t care if they got dirty and wet on the ice. Charlotte wanted desperately to have her chance on the ice… but I thought walking would be a good accomplishment to master before we stuck metal blades on her pudgy feet. Having spent many, many hours on the frozen slough at my grandparents’ as a kid, it was a lot of fun to skate again! Turns out, it is rather like riding a bike. You don’t forget. But you may pay for it, as your muscles do forget…

We started Christmas vacation from school this week. Ah, the reprieve is wonderful. Last night I was up until midnight working on my sewing machine, making gifts. Fun stuff. Ruby and Charlotte will have doll slings matching the one I use for Pierce, and Charlotte has a doll blanket and a flannel pillow with her name embroidered on it. Still brainstorming what else I can make.

Baby baby!

Each of our kids, around 6 weeks old or so, have a photo shoot with Daddy. This time, there were two babies. So sweet.

Pierce: 9 6/7 weeks

Tiny little man

(with more than one chin)

tolerated his very first haircut today.

And then

he took a nap.

Baby hairs…

Frizzy baby hair, complete with bald spots, drives me crazy. Four girls later, I’ve smoothed and sprayed and tolerated – and gone with a hat.

Sterling got a buzz cut when he was 2 weeks old. I finally did not have to leave it alone, let it grow, wait for it to fill in.

Pierce is 9 weeks old. Still, he has his fly-aways. He has a bald spot. The back curls over his collar.

Why can’t I bring myself to cut it?

Next post: Pierce’s haircut. Just as soon as I get the nerve.

Deep thoughts. Confused, but deep.

Ruby asked this morning if the thief on the cross next to Jesus that loved Him went to South Dakota.

Grandpa and Grandma’s ranks right up there with Heaven in Ruby’s world, I guess.

One big day.

This little man

had a big day.

Baptism!

This little girl

decided she needed a bit limelight on herself

and took some very calculated first steps today.

Fun day!