January 2010

Happy New Year! Still catching up...but now I'm only a month down.

Nana & Bop came down & we celebrated Christmas & presents with them.

After Lily brushed her teeth with potty water (can I just say ewwww again?), she slowed down on her crazy stunts but her vocabulary grows every day. She loves to see airplanes in the sky, sunrises and sunsets, birds, flags...all are amazing to a toddler's brain, but nothing gets her to squeal (scream is a more accurate description) in delight than to see Christmas lights. Oh, how she LOVES them!! Lots of "oohhs" and "ahhs" and "OHs"!! I'm not too sure, but if I remember right her first sentence will go down in the books as "NO Jack!" Poor guy can't get a break...
January also brought the end to Macy being the only one in her class to have not lost a tooth. We had to take her to the dentist & have 2 of them pulled because the permanent ones were in behind the baby teeth. As of today, she has another wiggly one...and we will NOT be paying $200 to have this one pulled!!! Still think the Tooth Fairy shouldn't have to come when the dentist pulls them...

The girl loves to read & we couldn't be happier...she reads before bed, she reads to the other kids, she reads in the car and at school and any time she has time (& isn't writing a story). Her fluency is great and her comprehension is even better...I'm so happy for her!

Christmas recapped

Christmas came and went and there are hundreds of pictures of wrapping paper flying & happy kids & grownups watching it all with a smile on our faces.

This was our first time EVER in our marriage to be at our home for Christmas...that's 14 Christmases that we've gone to our hometown to be with our family. This was also my first Christmas ever to not be with my mom & dad. I liked being at our house, especially not having to pack and to get to see the kids on Christmas morning but I like being in our hometown, seeing family, sleeping wherever we fit, and going from house to house...it's what the holidays are all about. And, I like being the kid again because you are home.

It was a little bit crazy around here...with lots of silliness sprinkled in. What else would you expect with 4 kids?

The only hiccup in the celebration was Macy getting sick Christmas eve & then not feeling good for several days after...she spent most of her time sleeping in front of the fire, poor girl. It was quite a while before she felt like playing with any of her toys.

My in-laws spent Christmas eve with us, going to the (PACKED) Christmas eve mass, helping with the Santa duties late into the evening, and then sharing in the joy Christmas day. It was extra special to have them here with us.
Did you know toes taste really good when you get out of the bath? Just thought I'd throw that in here...couldn't pass up a picture with those chubby rolls!

Plus, this is about as exciting as Ava's presents were...we were (mean according to Nana) practical & asked for family to give her diapers for Christmas! It's a gift that's she's still enjoying!

A little worried?

This picture just makes me chuckle! Especially really big on my computer...she looks a little worried but I know she was really happy. I love the little bit of cereal on her nose, her chubby, chubby cheeks, those clear blue eyes...but such a funny face!

Future Olympian?

We've been watching some of the Olympics in the evenings-we love watching Apolo Ohno race and then the other sports are exciting as well, skiing, luge, figure skating. Our silly Lily was watching speed skating alongside us the other evening, very entertained, & before long she runs off with her hands clasped behind her back, giggling & circling the couch-it was a perfect reenactment of the race! It turns out she's also very good at figure skating...Matt caught her watching it on TV before bed last night, all alone in the living room with her hands over her head twirling around in circles & thinking she was just like them. She was so proud of herself!

I think...

I first fell in love with his eyes...

Happy Valentine's Day to my true love...

Thanksgiving

Too many pictures so I made a photo story...a l-o-n-g photo story.

The Outfit

This post is for my sweet friend Tracy.

Because, she has a sweet little girl that at one time was this size, who had strawberry blonde hair not much different than this little girl, who loved this outfit.
And I have saved it all this time, waiting for this little girl to get to wear it...because it makes me think of that sweet little girl that stole my (& my hubby's) heart a long time ago. Grace was a practice baby for us-we got to take care of her & her big brother, loving it and knowing that this was what life was all about & wanting to have our own kiddos.
And because we don't get to see this sweet family much anymore...but we still love them!!
And, Tracy...remember the chocolate milk stains? They came out...

Halloween Costumes

Macy was a pirate, Jack was a Transformer, Lily & Ava were ladybugs. Getting 4 kids to sit together, not fight or hit each other, be still (knowing that there is candy just waiting for them beyond the door), and smile while looking at the camera is pretty close to impossible. So, we have individual pictures, and not very good ones at that.

Lily knew right what to do with that candy! She just plopped down & started chowing! Wrappers? Not a problem!

Pirates of the Canyon

One of the perks to living right next to "central park" is that we have a lot of cool things that happen practically in our front yard, like the city's firework display...and hot air balloon lifts (once we even got to ride in one that was taking off from the park!). We woke up Halloween morning to discover a small balloon festival taking place, so we bundled up in our blankets & pjs & took some coffee to the end of the street & watched over 25 balloons fill the sky with beautiful colors as the sun rose. It was so pretty (I can't imagine the BIG festival!) and so peaceful. The balloons would slowly fill with life and rise from the ground, the only sounds being the whoosh of the fires filling the bellies of the big balloons. Lily was pretty enthralled with it all, never taking her eyes off the action & pointing to them with wonder all over her face.

As for the name...it's the group that organizes this every year, with it growing each year. Apparently they started this tradition in the canyon but have since moved it to our park...and we thank them!

Guttin' Punkins

I am so far behind I thought about just skipping ahead, but the whole reason I started this blog, other than being an easy way to share pictures with the grandparents, was to record our days as they happen...so I will slowly catch up.

On Halloween day (nothing like the last minute, eh?) we carved our pumpkins...something that Macy looks forward to as much as the candy of the night. Not one of Jack's favorite things though...he has to have lots of wet paper towels handy. And Lily...well, let's just let the pictures tell the story for her. Haven't had a kid enjoy carving pumpkins quite the same way before...

Ah, yes...there's little Miss Sunshine having an afternoon snack...of raw pumpkin guts. Feed them well around here, I'm telling you!

You know you need a break...

When you find yourself coming up with cute one-liners throughout the day to summarize your life. I cut FaceBook out of my life 2 weeks ago...and honestly I haven't missed it. My reason is simple-it's a time-waster. God was whispering to me every time I would check in on my "friends" that I always had a great excuse to never check in on Him.

Our goal has been to simplify life, cut out the unnecessary, get back to what's important. As I mentioned, I have abandoned some of the internet distractions, I have deleted all non-utilitarian apps on the iPhone, and we even decided to go to *dramatic gasp* basic cable! Before you start thinking how boring life is around here, to spice things up a bit we traded in both vehicles for a new one that fits everybody & then some extras. OK, now you can say it-we've gone off the deep end. What was to be a temporary situation, it has been interesting & has posed a few challenges here & there but now we're both curious to see how long we can go! I really like dropping everyone off in their respective places in the mornings & then most everyone gets rides home. Its fun to have found a little bit more family time...

Now...on to finding other distractions to cut out!

"To God alone be the glory, to God alone be the praise!"