Rub a dub dub

...Four little men in the tub!  Too cold to play outside? Post quiet time crazies? Sometimes I put them in the tub... Good thing we have a large tub!

  Bubble beards!

At least their craziness is confined!

Sweet little J!

C recently started taking baths with the group and LOVES it!  He literally tries to jump out of my arms with his clothes on if I take into the bathroom and the others are already in the tub.

Wonder what he is up to?!

Little J, our lover boy, can't resist giving baby a hug- even in the bath!

They each go into their own world of play...

K likes to swim laps.

sweetie pie!

Sometimes baby gets a little flustered from all the hugs.

"Watch me swim, mom!"

Standing tall

Carter is standing tall and taking a step here and there...

Look Mom, no hands!

Yay, it is usually accompanied by his little clap.

Working on stability...

In the meantime, he can say hi and wave!

And LOVES to play 'so big!'.

Humm, not sure I am supposed to have this?!

Well, it tastes good!

After a long day of practicing walking, he gets some rest.

Advent Tree

This year I signed up for a craft swap with other moms at J's school.  There were 25 of us that signed up and we each agreed to make 25 of the same Christmas ornament and then swap so we created a collection of 25 different crafty ornaments.  These weren't just any ornaments that we were to create... They each were to be about a certain theme based on a book called The Advent Jesse Tree by Dean Meador Lambert.  This book is a set of devotions accompanied by Bible verses to go along, one to be done every day during the Advent season as a preparation to the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas.  There was no way I could create 25 unique ornaments myself, so it was nice to have the swap... I made the wheat sheaf in case you are wondering.  While I pictured all the kids participating, I quickly learned that it was too much for the younger ones.  However, it has been a learning experience for both J and I as we sit down, read the Bible story and hang an ornament that corresponds.  It has reinforced over and over again (through a trip down the Old Testament) the need we had (and have) for a Savior and how it was spoken about many, many years before Jesus was even born.  It is a great refresher for me (and a good connector to how all the stories come together) and I am amazed how much a 5 year old boy can comprehend on such a matter!  It has been a special time for us :). 

Here is the book, the tree and the ornaments...

This is where we were awhile back... it has taken forever to get posts up lately!

This will be a fun tradition to continue each Advent season. 

1st & 2nd snow of the season

1st Snow of the year:
Early this month we got hit with a nice winter storm and for the kids that meant "Snow Day!!!".  Too bad it didn't last long enough to give Josh an actual 'miss school' snow day.  The winter box was taken out of the closet and hats, mittens and scarfs went flying- it became a race as to who could get their gear on the fastest to run and make the first snow angel. 

All bundled up!

Where are my gloves?

Cold smile, time for hot chocolate!

K just sat there and watched?!

Not sure what he was thinking about?

He was figuring something out!

He looks ready for hot chocolate too!

2nd Snow of the season: 

It happened again today!  It snowed all day non-stop... The kind of big flakes that just fall so peacefully.  Mike even stayed home for most of the day- this time it was him announcing "Snow day!!!".  Quiet time wasn't so quiet for the 2 biggest boys of the family (Mike and Josh that is!).  While the other kids were napping, they had their first real snowball fight and I captured it as good as I could, come see!
Boy....

 ...vs. dad, who do you think will win?!

 Before the game began, they collaborated forces to build a snowman- great teamwork for competitors!  Do you notice the gun?  It is totally a boy snowman.

 In an effort to make peace, Dad tried to offer a share in snow and territory...

 ...But boy refused, let the fight begin!

 Here comes that tongue again!

 Looks like a straight shot for dad...

 Until the shot is blocked by Mr. snowman... Boy's strategy is working.

 With a smile like that, his throw must have been successful!

 Now he better make a run for it!

 all in good fun!

 The fight is heating up... closer range and no snowmen to hide behind.

 Round 2 of throwing...

 Boy picks up the pace and throws one ball after another!

 Dad is hit hard.

 And again!

 Humm, who do you think won?

A day with Grand D-D-D-D-D-D-D

The other day as serious as can be, Joshua asked me "How many 'D's are in Grand Dee Dee's name?"... A combination of learning how to sound words out to spell and read and a curiosity to why we call her that was on his mind.  Grand D-D is what great grand children have been calling great grandma's in their family for generations.  So that is how she got her name and I suppose there are technically 3 'D's in her name, but sometimes we call her Grand D-D-D-D-D-D so J will forever be confused...

She came over to spend a day with us and we had a lovely time hearing her stories getting cozy on the couch. 

Can't talk to Grand Dee Dee without a kiss first!

 The Crazy man!

 Oh how the boys enjoyed reading with her.

 It is interesting how kids just know to warm up and be gentle when a grandma is around.

 C got a chance to love on her too.

We love you Grand Dee Dee!

'Play' time

Last September I was so excited to stumble across another fabulous school resource- Pope Joy School time Series... What is it you may ask?  It is a series of professional stage productions, in which the tickets are at a deeply discounted price for school children.  At $2 a ticket I jumped on board and purchased tickets for 4 different shows throughout the school year.  First show on my list, The Nutcracker... We read the book the night before to increase the excitement.  Guess who got the privilege of accompanying these two handsome little boys?  ME (we took grandma to join in the fun too)!

They were all dressed up and excited to go see a show!

 Josh got to sit by some of his friends and is giving me the 'look'.

 It was a great performance, both boys enjoyed it!  This is one of their promo pictures, it gives you a glimpse of what we saw. 

What a way to start off the holiday season!  We are looking forward to the Mariachi Christmas show in a couple of weeks.