You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2007.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that you’re all able to enjoy the quiet days after the merrymaking ends. (Thanks for this sweet ornament, Aunt Sandy!) We are, along with enjoying a steady diet of clementine oranges, hot tea, cocoa, and Christmas music (still).
Last night we hopped in the van to run some errands, and Charlotte picked up a Birds-n-Blooms magazine that somehow got left in the van. She started thumbing through it, saying a thoughtful “Hmmmm….” every few seconds. I asked her what she was looking at, and she said “I am going to look for a dot com for myself.” Every few minutes after that she’d exclaim, “Oh! There’s a dot com for me!”
The girls got the cutest aprons from Aunt Gail. They are all ready to make their Christmas cookies!
I made the girls some matching jumpers out of some material I got from Ms. Catherine. They just love to wear dresses, but in the winter it’s hard to keep them warm AND in a dress at the same time. This seems to be a good solution.
Post-christmas always makes me want to re-organize the messy areas of this house. There aren’t THAT many messy areas, but there are things that never quite got situated since we moved into this house. I am thinking some before and after photos might spur me on to get some of these projects done.
A happy New Year to you!
Tonight Charlotte came up quietly behind me while I was doing the dishes and said “Mommy, may I please have a hug of you?” Am I a flavor of hug? That sounds really nice! Sweet girl.
She picked out some orange flowers for me on a shopping trip with Daddy a few nights ago.
Charlotte really loves Asher. I mean, she really loves Asher. When she wakes up in the morning, sometimes I ask her if she had any dreams. Usually she answers, “No. I just dreamed about Mommy and Asher.” Other times I have been singing a song to Charlotte, something like “I love my Charlotte, my only Charlotte…” and she’ll sing along with me, but in place of her name, she’ll sing “Asher”. She is constantly with him when they are playing together, either bringing him toys or “teaching him to share” by taking a toy from him. We haven’t quite figured out if he likes this or not, but regardless, sister Charlotte is here to stay. She is a really wonderful big sister, and I wonder if she will be better pals with Asher, even though she and Ivy are much closer in age. Time will tell.
Here is a picture of our pretty tree.
My parents were here this weekend, and the children had a really good time with Gramma and Grampa. We were sad to see them go home, and the girls kept asking how long their trip was to get home, if they were home yet, and what we were going to do the next time they were here.
Ivy got a dance lesson to some old-timey Christmas music.
Then the dancing really started! Here is fairy-ballerina-Charlotte flitting through the air.
Scott found a little firepit and we tried it out a few nights ago. The girls think it’s the bee’s knees that we can have a fire in our backyard. We’ve used it once, but most of the past few nights it’s either been too windy, too rainy, or too warm to use it. January is coming! (Yes, there is a fire in there. We weren’t all just sitting around, staring at the logs. It does get cold down here. A little. Sometimes.)
Here is a token picture of the author, by request from some of you.
I thought this was excellent. Really good.
We have a quiet week at home for Christmas, with just our little family in our cozy home. Scott has much of the week as vacation, and we plan to make much ado about nothing around here and relax for a week. Opa and Oma and aunts and uncle come at the end of the week, which will be very nice.
A very merry Christmas to all of you! Praise God for His gift of a Savior, who came as a baby to die on the cross so that we can joyfully stand before a holy God.
It’s been really cold here the past few days (upper 40′s is cold to us), and as a treat we sometimes let the kids eat a breakfast of hot chocolate, in their pajamas. These are very key components to a “cozy day”, and I got a few pictures to share.
Some days we watch Mr. Rogers, and the girls are often fascinated with the show. I think it’s pretty neat too, some of the episodes. Like how the Incredible Hulk makes a movie? Fascinating. Today we saw how they make pottys in the factory, and the girls were very curious about that.
We think Asher is starting to say more words. I am pretty sure he said “Ash-er!” yesterday, after prompting. And every time I mention getting something to eat, he says “crack-er”. His favorite thing. That, and bananas, which he calls anything not resembling a crack-er.
Stay warm, everyone…especially our northern friends!
Is a caterpillar ticklish?
Well, it’s always my belief
That he giggles as he wiggles
Across a hairy leaf.
–Monica Shannon
Some time ago we made a list of some of our favorite books on here, and I’d like to do it again. Here we go.
Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems
This is one of my favorite poetry books. I love story collection books…you just never know what you’re going to find in those things. Wonderful!
Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever by Richard Scarry
We LOVE Richard Scarry. I look for his books everywhere. I found this book at a thrift store and it was very interesting to read about his life. We have also started supplying Silas and Caitlyn with Richard Scarry, too. An even better excuse to look for these books everywhere I go!
“There are Rocks in my Socks!” said the Ox to the Fox by Patricia Thomas
I found this book at a thrift store, too, and Scott was thrilled. This is one he had growing up, and the girls love it. Very rhyme-y and fun to read.
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
I love Virginia Lee Burton. Can I say that again? I love Virginia Lee Burton. We also have Mike Mulligan and his Steamshovel and the girls talk about those books often. My favorite book from her is The Little House, and there are many others by her that I’d like to try out. Maybelle the Cable Car? The title alone has me thinking a trip to the library is in the plans.
I am also excited to learn about this author, Elsa Marten Beskow. We ordered one of her books for the children for Christmas and I am really looking forward to looking at her books in person!
Scott happened upon this movie a couple nights ago. I just couldn’t resist…talk about luscious!
That’s the name Ivy picked for our pet snail. Not sure where it came from, but Mr. Pickle Q. Snail is apparently a (very small) part of our family now.
Sweet Charlotte. God has been changing her heart, and we’ve seen evidence of this in the past couple of weeks. She’s been much more thoughtful, affectionate, and compliant. She has often been asking lately, “How can I help you Mommy?” and she is starting to do more big girl things (sorting laundry, putting it away by herself, sweeping). It has been an absolute pleasure to see my girls get older, and see their different personalities take shape. Scott was asking me what was encouraging to me in this season of life, and that is definitely one of them. My sweet girls, learning to serve and love others and be a part of our family.
Last night we were outside, watching the sun go down, and Charlotte brought a large brown leaf to me that she picked up out of the yard.
“Here, Mommy. This is for you!”
“Oh, thank you Charlotte! This is beautiful.”
“Okay. Now I am going to get you another one, so you can get married!”
She wore her new dress today (thanks Gramma! Ivy wore her ballerina dress last week! They love them!) so I snapped a few pictures before they headed off to church with Daddy. Both Asher and I are sniffling today, so we had a quiet Sunday morning at home together. I miss church when I don’t get to go, but it sure was nice to have the house quiet. I have no choice but to blame this crazy weather for our sicknesses the past several weeks. The last week saw a high temperature of 45 degrees, but tomorrow will be a balmy 80 degrees. We are in shorts and t-shirts down here, which doesn’t contribute to the Christmas festivities much but it is fun to play outside in the evenings.
Hope everyone is having a good week. I am working on some matching dresses for the girls as a Christmas gift to them, so when I get done I’ll try to post some pictures.
We have a new pet. No, not a dog. Nor a cat. He (she?) is a very easy pet, very quiet, sleeps most of the time (we think he/she is sleeping, at least) and doesn’t make the house stink. We are pleased to introduce…
Mr. Snail!
We found a beautiful shell in the middle of the road a few days ago during a walk, and lo and behold, that night a snail popped out and started moving around. The whole thing sort of grosses me out, but I just try not to look at the little guy while I’m eating. Ivy keeps saying that he’s lonely and he needs a friend in his jar. I suggested that maybe he likes to talk to us, but she said “No, he needs a friend like a bird or a turtle or something.”
We went to the Apex Christmas Parade for the first time in several years (read: no newborns and I’m not pregnant this year!) and it was really a lot of fun. We watched it with several friends from church.
Baby Olivia is giggling at her Daddy. Isn’t she so precious?
Olivia’s big sister Natalie is givin’ some sugar to Charlotte.
The girls with their friend Anna.
The dancers were our favorites (well, everyone’s favorite except Scott).
We are pretty much ready for Christmas in the decorating department around here, which is kind of a relief. Decorating wasn’t as much fun this year as it has been for me in the past, but we are enjoying how things look so that is nice. The girls have been busily arranging our manger scene this year, and I think it’s one of my favorite decorations here. Aunt Gail (hi Aunt Gail!) got this for us a few years ago, and we are all about the Little People so it fits right in here.
Asher hasn’t been feeling well (again…argh…when will the runny nose end?!?!) and he was kind of groggy this morning when he woke up. (He’s been so affectionate lately, which is unusual for him. We are just eating it up, of course.) I plopped him down with Daddy, who was working on the couch, and he seemed pretty happy about the whole arrangement.
I forgot to get our vacation pictures on CD, so we won’t be seeing any photos from Thanksgiving on here anytime soon. Check over at Chad and Judi’s for pictures, though, and if you’re a grandparent you’ll probably be seeing some in the mail soon. 
