Christmas Gifts

After weeks of discussion, list making, and fighting the crowds at the mall for the "perfect" gifts for each child, THIS is what made our little ones happiest on Christmas morn...

Yep, Slim Jims and bandaids... go figure. (Jason is happy, he's just busy chewing!) I'm really not surprised that these gifts were such a hit!

And I think a big cardboard box would have rounded out their gift list nicely. ;)

Note to self: Santa should have saved some of those big boxes that the toys came in.

We had a great Christmas with five very happy kids! We were also happy to have both sets of grandparents visit us on Christmas Day. Sarah was in her element, especially since she loves teasing and playing with her Grandpas.

Taking turns with the dinosaur blanket and playing "scary dinosaur" with Grandad. I should have gotten video of this, they were having such a fun time!

A quiet moment at the end of a great Christmas day!

Christmas Eve

Some "reindeer cousins" visited us on Christmas Eve!

Let the sugar rush begin! (uh, on second thought, I think the sugar rush began several weeks ago!) I cheated this year and bought sugar cookies, ready to frost. It was a good thing. (Not to be confused with a Martha Stewart "good thing." :)

OK, so I'm not trying to plug products on my blog, but seriously... this frosting in a can stuff was awesome.

Some of the finished products!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Kids say the darndest things...

(Photo caption: Jason recently found his brother's "thing" hands that I conveniently misplaced several months ago. )

I am convinced that every parent could write a book about the funny things their kids say (especially from the ages of two to six years). Here are just a few "funnies":

Last week I took Jason and Sarah to the pediatrician for check ups and they were both due for some shots. It wasn't a happy experience for any of us (obviously) but they were both pretty brave.
When Daddy got home later that evening, Jason said, "Daddy! The doctor put spikes in my legs!" Well, no wonder it was a bad experience! :)

I was opening some crackers for Sarah and said, "Here you go, Bud." We usually call the boys "Bud"-- I didn't even realize I had called Sarah the boys' nickname. She gave me an indignant look and said, "I not Bud! I a girl!" (You go, girl!)

During a game of Candyland this afternoon, Jason pointed to one of the shortcuts and said, "Look, Mom, there's the haircut!"

What's wrong with this picture?

Halloween costumes are the perfect attire for trimming the Christmas tree...or for pretty much any occasion! Sarah loves to dress up, and her very favorite outfit is her Halloween costume...
My suggestion to take off the costume temporarily while we decorated the tree (and took photos) met with firm opposition. ;)

Here she is, on another day... I have the hardest time getting photos of our little firecracker-- she moves so fast I get lots of blurry shots, so Daddy is "baby wrangling" for this photo.
Ah, G*mboree... dangerous territory (read: "budget buster") for a mama who is relatively new to the world of cute girl clothes... there are just so many accessories (tights, shoes, hair bows, etc.) to consider and coordinate. A whole new world... in so many ways. :)

Birthday season!

The fall and winter are known as "birthday season" around our house. We have birthdays in October, November and December, plus Sarah's Gotcha Day, plus a few holidays as well! It's interesting that we have so many fall/winter birthdays since I had always "planned" on having spring and summer babies. The best laid plans... (really, babies are a blessing whenever they arrive!)

So Jason is the birthday boy this month and just turned FOUR! When I went to my first doctor's appointment during his pregnancy, my doctor just chuckled and said, "Guess when your due date is?

I already had a pretty good idea, and sure enough, I was due on Christmas Day!

But Jason decided to come three weeks early, and weighed in at a healthy 8lbs, 4 oz!! So I'm relieved that he decided to give us an early Christmas present! I can't imagine how big he would have been if he had been "full term!"

Jason is my cuddly, snuggly boy. He loves to read books on my lap and play games. He is also very interested in letters and numbers and points them out wherever we go. Jason has had big changes in his little life this past year, and I can honestly say that now he enjoys being a big brother most of the time!

Jason loves the old Tom and Jerry cartoons, so this is the cake he chose.

We went to a Chuck E. Cheese type restaurant to celebrate!

A blast from the past! Jason's older brothers thought it was hilarious to give him licorice mustaches and take pictures! (I have many of these licorice photos, some with red and some with chocolate. Never a dull moment at our house!)

Sarah's ABC's

Yes, we finally have some video to post of Miss Sarah in all her glory... belting out her ABC's. :)

Big brother Jason makes a guest appearance, too. But Sarah quickly decided she didn't want to share the spotlight.

My "interview" with Sarah gets cut off at the end...(long story, basically the DVD converter we were using didn't download the entire chapter) but I'm sure you'll get the gist!

Bandaid Bandit strikes again!

The aftermath! Excellent fine motor skills for a two year old, right?

Don't let this sweet, innocent face fool you... she can go through a box of bandaids in minutes!

Note to self: Consider adding bandaids, masking tape and q-tips (all in BULK!) to the top of Sarah's Christmas list!

First snow

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million." Walt Streightiff

Happy Birthday!

My first born (aka "the man child") is now 15. Fifteen! When I downloaded his birthday photos, my first thought was, "Look how grown up he looks." Ah, where does the time go?

Justin is very excited about being 15, mostly because he can now apply for a learner's permit. Like most moms, I have mixed feeling about him driving... in some ways, I'd love to have another driver in the house so he can help run errands and get to his practices and activities on his own.

In other ways, I worry about keeping him safe. And I think I lack the nerves of steel to be a patient driving instructor! I think Dad may be the better driving coach... we'll see.
Justin is a confident, intelligent, responsible young man. He is a good example to others and we are so proud of the righteous choices he is making in his life!

Happy birthday, Justin! We love you! You'll always be our little red-headed boy!

Halloween fun!

Sarah had her first "trick or treating" experience this past Halloween. It didn't take her long to figure out how it all worked. :) She also enjoyed handing out candy to the trick or treaters who came to our door. In fact, I think she was more excited about passing out then candy than getting it (better to give than receive, right?)

Cutest little witch in the west

Jason's cute dinosaur costume. He prefers to call it his "Godzilla" costume.

The whole crew. The older boys didn't actually go trick or treating, but dressed up for a costume party instead. Notice that Jason (Spiderman) and Sarah (ladybug) have different costumes on... decisions, decisions... :)

Celebrating a year with Sarah!

One year ago today, we held our daughter in our arms for the first time. I've been working on this slideshow for a while, and hope you enjoy it!

You can slow down (or speed up) the slides by using the pause and arrow keys at the bottom of each screen. There is music, so if you want to hear it, make sure your speakers are on. You can also make the slideshow full screen.

And yes, I tear up every time I watch it! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Family pictures (finally!)

So a month ago we decided it was high time we got some new family pictures. I think our last professional family picture was taken at least two kids ago! :) My friend Beth (local blog buddies-- email me if you want more photographer info!) took these beautiful shots!

Sweet Sarah

Sarah always has lots of ideas for cute poses!

Happy little man!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Jason.

Friendly, easy going Logan

Sensitive, kind hearted Evan

Witty, confident Justin

The older I get, the faster time flies. Sometimes the day to day stuff gets in the way of the big picture. Today I am especially grateful for each of my beautiful children. We have our share of struggles and challenges, but the rewards are so. worth. it. Reminding myself to count our blessings today and always!

This time last year...

This time last year, we visited our favorite pumpkin patch with our boys.

This time last year, we were making our lists and checking them twice, preparing for our trip to China to bring Sarah home! (We flew to Beijing on Halloween!)

This time last year, we were experiencing a huge range of emotions about the trip and about meeting our daughter for the first time.

This time last year, I was praying that I would be able to cope with seven flights (I'm not particularly fond of airplanes).

This time last year, we were overwhelmed and grateful for all of the love, support, and prayers said on our behalf... and for Sarah.

This time last year, my heart ached to hold our little girl.

And now, this year...here we are, on our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, with Sarah skipping through the corn maze with her brothers.

What an amazing year this has been. It has not always been easy. There were days, especially early on when I worried if we were "enough" for our little one. Was she bonding appropriately with us? Was she happy? Were we "getting it right?"

We still wrestle with these (and many other) questions from time to time, in regards to all of our children.

But we try to learn from our mistakes, seek out advice from other parents, share experiences, press forward in faith and pray always!

And, especially today, we smile as we watch our children scatter in a field of orange, choosing perfect pumpkins.

Recuperating and Running!

Haven't posted for a couple of weeks... the strep bug visited our family early this year... with a vengeance! Five of us were on antibiotics at the same time. This sets a new record, which we do NOT want to repeat!
Between trips to the doctor and resting up, life went on (full throttle) as usual!

Justin decided to run cross country on his junior high team. When he told me he was going to run, I had flashbacks of my days on the high school cross country team. I realize that some people actually enjoy running, but for me, it has always been grueling, hard work. My freshman year, I wanted to run as fast as the "gazelle-legged" tall girls, so I worked really hard. But even with this determination, I wasn't exactly leading the pack! So the next fall I played volleyball instead and found my niche.
So when Justin decided to run, I though for sure I must have passed down a "glutton for punishment" gene!
This is a picture of him right after one of his meets. He placed eighth overall (in a field of about 40) and had the second best time for his school! Awesome!

Home for (over) ten months!

Some of Sarah's favorite things...

Glasses... anyone's glasses-- these happen to be big brother's. These sunglasses are HUGE (even on an adult)!

Small spaces. She thinks the laundry hamper is hilarious.... and also (ahem) the dryer. She'll climb up into the dryer and yell, "Shut da door! Shut da door!" Jason would happily oblige her request (if I let him), so I have to be on my toes if either of them are in the laundry room!

Bandaids and tape. She can spend a long time opening bandaids, removing the unsticky parts, and putting them on her legs. She does the same thing with pieces of tape.

Sarah loves spaghetti!

This one's for Grandma P.-- the weather finally cooled down a little so Sarah wore the dress you got her to church last week. Dave calls it her "business suit" dress! It is very cute!! All she needs now is a little briefcase! haha

Backyard Smores!

We bought a fire pit awhile ago and finally got around to making smores!