The best laid plans....

A "not what we expected" day. Went to go to a museum to see a special exhibit. Stopped along the way to call in an accident and wait until help arrived for the two cars involved. Got to the museum--CLOSED! All that driving for nothing.

On the way home, decided to do some returns and post-Christmas shopping. When Andrew saw we were going to drive by the Ferris Wheel he's been begging to ride for months, he pleaded his case again. Well, since our plans were a mess, we figured it would be something fun to do. Nathan rode with us and he liked when we came down each time and when we got off. He did not like going up or over the top. His poor little body shook so hard--I held him tight.

Andrew was not deterred by this. He had so much fun the first time that he wanted to go again--solo this time. So we all watched him take another ride on the wheel. Rebekah and I were by the exit while Sean & Nathan went to the upper level to cheer Andrew on. While passing the time, Nathan found a tree camouflage ATV helmet--complete with limbs and leaves. Fun is what you make it--right?!?

Rebekah and Zeus

OK---Zeus is a dog . Rebekah seems to have a strong aversion to dogs. Soooo, having Zeus over during the holidays has been a challenge. She sits in her high chair and yells at him. The yelling brings out his paternal instinct and he races over to check his baby and see why she's yelling. Since he's now even closer than before, the yelling turns to screaming. Oh what fun!

Thankfully, Zeus is an incredibly gentle and patient dog. He sat very still for long periods of time while we worked with Rebekah to get her close to the dog and petting him. After 5 days, Zeus' patience paid off. Rebekah decided he's a fun toy and the licking-kiss is pretty fun.

Poor Zeus, he never whimpered or growled at her when she wanted licking and would pinch his nose. She thought his nose was licking her. What a good dog! (Forgot to mention---Zeus is my sister and brother-in-law's dog.)

Rock Star Nathan--Revisited

Nathan got some new "Rock Star Clothes" for Christmas. Now he's rigged a strap for his guitar. He's been practicing his music. I'm going to try to record a video of his music. He composes his own songs daily. It's just hard to catch him because he clams up if he sees you. Creating music is an art form---not subject to cameras.

We have something like four new Rock Star outfits. Here's one of them. (He was having Sean take pictures with the golf club so he could make a movie.)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Here's a photo from Christmas morning of the boys singing "Happy Birthday, dear Jesus". It's a family tradition to have birthday cinnamon rolls for Jesus. The kids sing and blow out the candle for Him.

Here are a few highlights from our Christmas day.

You'd better watch out---Santa Baby knows if you've been Naughty or Nice.

It's tough to open all those presents and rip all that paper that is lying around. So what's a girl to do?? How about sleeping in the high chair.

Merry Christmas

Here's a little something from our house to yours.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ

Family is Arriving

To all who have called, emailed and generally 'checked in' on us, I'll give you the latest updates on arrival status.

My parents drove up and arrived on Thursday night. They have been getting the condo ready for my sister & brother in law. Mom has been doing a little cooking---she's helping me with some dishes for Christmas dinner.

My sister & BIL decided to stop a few hours away from here and spend the night. Just as well, we heard the interstate was closed for a while due to an accident. Better to stay safe and rest than to be stuck in the middle of the interstate with no options. So they will be here later this morning.

Sean's mom & step-dad arrived last night. They got to our house in time for a late dinner and the kids had fun showing off to them all the 'things' we have and the 'stuff' they can do. Rebekah being who she is, deemed her Grandma a possible babysitter. Babysitter (defined by Rebekah) is a person of suspicious character who should be regarded with disdain if Dad & Mom are around and yelled at if Dad & Mom try to leave the room. Babysitters should be kept under strict scrutiny and if you are left with one--EVEN IF you have fun--you must cry hysterically upon the return of the parents so they know you have never been more miserable and more mistreated than this moment in time.

So, here's pictures of Rebekah sitting in POPPA'S lap. Poor Grandma, we hope Rebekah warms up to her more today!!!!

I will try to blog more photos after Christmas, but don't look for much posting while we have company. I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with everyone.

Prayers for all of you to have a Very Merry Christmas!

Holiday Tour Guide

Well, I got to be a Holiday Tour Guide at school today. There are 5 Kindergarten rooms and what fun we all had today. They split them into five groups and each group spent 30 minutes doing activities. They had a Christmas room, Hanukkah Room, Kwanzaa Room, Snack Room and Music Room. I got to help in the Kwanzaa room. We made corn----a symbol of children and the future.

We took paper to make the ear of corn. Then we used popcorn and glued it onto the ear of corn. Lots of glue, popcorn bits everywhere, huge mess--oh boy, did those kids have a ton of fun!

Here are a couple of pictures of Nathan in the Kwanzaa room.

Mickey Bathroom Update

Sean ended up with more time off than he can carry-over. (Who knew?!?) So, he's become allergic to working on Friday's through the start of the new year. Last week, he surprised me while I was off volunteering at the Scholastic warehouse. He put my Mickey floor in the bathroom for me. Hooray!

Here's a picture of the new floor. I love it! Now we have to finish getting the quarter round back on the baseboards. Only hitch is that in new-fangled houses like ours, they no longer use nails for the quarter-round. We're trying to figure out how to attach it without harming the floor.

Pray for Baby Coy

I have come to know a little friend through the blogging world. In a 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon sort of a way, I have learned all about him. My mother attends church with Kathy. Kathy is mother of Chris and Grandmother to Coy. (Does that make me 4 degrees from Coy?)

Coy is a micro-preemie. Weighing in at 1 pound 4 ounces at birth, I have fallen in love with him through the cyber-world. (This picture is Coy with his mama Ann Marie.)

Coy is a fighter and his parents and grandparents are strong in their faith and belief for Coy's medical healing. I stand firm with them because I know what the scriptures say. I know Jesus bore 39 stripes on his back to take every sickness and disease from us. I know Coy is a miracle who will change the hearts of many in the medical profession and beyond. We've heard so many miraculous things about Coy so far. I know it's because prayer-warriors all over the world are praying and agreeing for his health, growth and long life.

Please check out Coy's blog at http://www.prayforcoy.blogspot.com/ and pray for him when you think of him. I personally am looking forward to the day five years from now when I receive a picture of his first day of Kindergarten. I will cry all over on that day as I rejoice and praise God for all He has done!!!

I'm putting this in my yard, too

Here's a new sign I'll be putting in my yard.

Nathan goes Solo, captured on film

Went to the "Moment with Moms" program that Nathan's teacher does each year. It's an hour to stop in the middle of the rush of the Christmas season and remember how precious our little ones are. We got to help make stockings with them (I think the teachers will fill them on Friday before school is out), frost and decorate--and eat--a sugar cookie. Then the kids sang for us and did a couple poems. Nathan didn't tell me that he had a SOLO during one of the songs. However, being the camera freak that I am, I had it rolling anyway to catch these precious kindergartners singing.

Enjoy these pictures and video. It was an awesome time!

Front Row Seats

Oh yeah!! Got myself the front row seats for the school program. Being at a new school, I suggested the ever popular (and EASY) fundraiser of raffling off parking spots for the Christmas Program. The principal preferred to raffle front row tickets. Five winners each won two tickets with reserved front row seating.



Guess who got two of those seats---don't you know it was me! I'm blessed beyond belief. And better yet---Nathan went to preschool with the girl who lives in the FIRST house across the street from school. She graciously let us park in her driveway so we could park and roll in just minutes before the program.




School lighting isn't what a professional theatre is, so these are still a little dark after I tried touching them up. Nathan is at the far left with the Santa Hat. Andrew is far right in his class. Both are wearing red plaid shirts.

At the end of the program, we had a sing-a-long and got to sing Joy to the World and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. It was fantastic!

Andrew's Piano Recital

Here are the pictures and videos of the recital. (Even if the video shows black on the screen, click play and it should roll.)

The award he is getting in the photo is his medal and certificate for participating in the State Music Festival.

The first video is his piece called, "The Tempest" and the second one is his Christmas piece, "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

Another Cub of the Week

What exciting news in our household!! This afternoon, we found out that another child of ours was named as "Cub of the Week." Congratulations to Mr. Nathan for being chosen from his class.

Each week, two students are chosen from each room to be the Cubs of the Week. The character pillar being focused on is Caring. Caring is symbolized by the color red so Nathan's dog tag is red. He will now be up for Cub of the Month.

We think Nathan was chosen--in part--for helping a friend during the Christmas Program. One of the kindergartners is in the special education classroom. She sang with the kindergarten classes during the program. Nathan was responsible for holding her hand and taking her to her spot to stand. Then he held her hand to keep her where she needed to be and to keep her from getting upset or scared when she saw the crowd. After school, they saw each other and there were big hugs all around.

Rebekah's 18 Month Photos

Here are the 18 month photos we had taken of Rebekah. I know it's a smidge early, but I won't tell if you won't. Rebekah is still a little uncertain of photographers. She did try to leave between every shot and cried between a few. However, I thought we ended up with some cute ones.

The photo below is one I did with each of the boys. Except for them, they were all in white and so was I. Then I would 'fly' them for the photo. Since she's my girl (and looks so much like Nathan that it's scary), I thought we'd do it "the same--only different." I put both of us all in purple and she flew with me. You may think it's too early to tell, but I think she's leaning towards purple and pink being her favorite colors.

Since her 18 month birthday is in the Christmas season, we thought the matching purple ornament was too cute. She thinks it was a ball. Probably a good thing. When we decorated the church, she took a bite out of one of the ornaments there. Oh yeah, I'm not kidding.

Mom's Trees are now Blogged by Cheryl

Cheryl posted my actual Christmas trees today. Of course, we had to send along the picture showing the reason for our sparse trees. (Go see her blog for the Rebekah photo again.)

The purple tree is a waste without the ornaments, but the ornament eater would get into too much trouble.

To see Cheryl's blog, click here.

Nathan's Tree gets International Exposure

Nathan had to create this tree for school. We were to decorate it however we wanted. After he had fun with the foam stick-ons (thank God I got those on clearance last year), he wanted an angel and a star. I found some stickers so he put the angel on the top of the tree, the star next to the top and then he picked Baby Jesus in the manger to complete the tree.

I submitted his tree to my friend (and author) for her blog. Cheryl St. John is running a 'Christmas Tree Tour' on her blog. Nathan's tree was the top of the page for almost the entire day yesterday.

When Nathan heard of Cheryl's "Christmas Tree Tour", he asked, "Do you think Miss Cheryl will like my tree enough to put it on her blog?" He's very 'into' blogging now that mom does this. He was hoping his tree would be 'good enough' to be on her blog, too. (A big thanks to Cheryl for putting his tree top of page over Carla's tree that comes out of House Beautiful!! It made Nathan's day to be so important on another blog.) And since Cheryl's blog is read internationally, Nathan is now known all over the globe for his beautiful tree.

You can see Nathan's Tree on Cheryl's Blog (and others) by clicking: here

Nathan--the twin--gets a photo, too

Nathan wanted to have just one picture of him in his "twin" outfit. (Did you catch that he and Andrew are dressed alike??) We'll take more of him in February for his birthday.

Rebekah's pictures are coming in another week or so. She wasn't feeling cooperative so we took her back on another day for her 18 month pictures.

Andrew's 10 Year Old Pics

I'm a couple months behind taking his 10 year old pictures. So sue me.

Andrew wanted to take Max the Monkey (his Webkinz pet) and his trophy from the State Music Festival.

Hope you enjoy---can't believe how grown up he looks!

These with the number 10 were his own idea. Pretty great idea!