The boys

With the girls gone in the morning, I get some great shots of the boys together.  And if I'm not careful, I get some interesting shots that our little man takes.

 He tries so hard to play with him, but sometimes he gets too excited.

 Why so serious?

He is still not a fan of baths

But tummy time is going well!

Now these are pictures from a 3yr old's perspective.

His thumb

His favorite subject; himself

This is the picture he took. 

With some simple editing and cropping

We have now possibly my favorite picture of him:

Look at those big eyes and eye lashes.

His direct look at you.

oh my heart melts!

And this is where we found Emma today:

She was naughty and tied all our shoes together!

Preparing

First off, this is where we found Emma Elf this morning:

Reading books...I sure hope she puts away all those books!

We not only got the tree up, but each child took a turn putting the star on top.

Lights are up outside as well. We don't have to watch the weather to see when we should do those things or try and get it on the nicest day.  Inside, I think it's just the tree this year. We'll do some fun crafts, but I'm not pulling out everything else.  The one item we do need to put out yet is our Nativity scene, and this year we have 2 for the kids to re act out the Christmas story.

Hello and see ya later

Hellos are wonderful. Even strangers out on walk enjoy the polite hello as you pass by. The other dreaded side of hello is good bye, or as we try to say; see ya later or until next time, is not so fun.  Today we did both.  Talk about a roller coaster!

We'll start with the farewell. My mom was able and decided to stay after my c section. First off, she just loves to hold and rock babies. Not to be left out, she also enjoys her other grandchildren just as much.  Currently, all of her grandchildren live in the same town, actually the same house and that happens to be my house! It works out well for all!

Our little baby is one month old now, and since Grandma was still here, I was able to take him to his check up and only have CJ along, so I could drop her off at gymnastics after the appointment. Grandma stayed home with the middle two and they did a Christmas craft.  It was one of my last opportunities to have that kind of support in regular every day life, so I took it!  I am, we all are, very grateful for her extended stay!

Both catching a snooze!

The quick stats on his 1 month check up, he is doing fine, gained over a pound since his last visit and now weighs 8lbs 10oz! He has also grown a full inch in the first month.  I don't know who gave him permission to grow so quickly, but I have my suspicions it was Grandma!

As many of you may remember, my favorite season is Advent! We have lots of Advent traditions. One is unwrapping winter and Christmas books all Advent long. Tonight, I will pull out those books and we will get to visit our old friends.  This morning, we began a new tradition.  You may have heard of the phenomemon, The Elf on the Shelf.  In case you haven't, here is a quick run down. The elf is sent from Santa. Each night the elf reports back to Santa about your daily behaviors. The next morning the children have to find the elf, in a new location, and sometimes, the elf gets back early from the North Pole and does some trickery while we sleep. The children are not allowed to touch or play with the elf, however talking to the elf is encouraged.

 She showed up today and brought us a North Pole breakfast. It's a great way to start! The kids had to name her and now she is known as Emma. Emma the elf.

The kids are already enjoying her presence.  I have struggled with the Santa Claus idea through the years, not so much for the Santa, but wanting to make sure our family doesn't fall into the trap of materialism. We have established that Santa, while fun, is also pretty practical and our focus is on Jesus and the Christmas story. Life is about balance. The wonder and innocence of children, make Emma the elf on the shelf at our home, magical even for us parents.

Christams Vodka Cake

Once again this year, I’ve had requests for my Vodka Christmas Cake recipe so here goes. Please keep in your files as I am beginning to get tired of typing this up every year! (Made mine this morning!!!!)

Christmas Vodka Cake

1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder,

1 cup water, 1 tsp. salt ,

1 cup brown sugar, Lemon juice,

4 large eggs, Nuts,

1 bottle Vodka,

2 cups dried fruit.

Sample a cup of Vodka to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Vodka again to be sure it is of the highest quality then Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point, it is best to make sure the Vodka is still OK. Try another cup just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. 

Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the fruit up off the floor, wash it and put it in the bowl a piece at a time trying to count it. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver Sample the Vodka to test for tonsisticity. Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something. Check the Vodka. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the Vodka and wipe the counter with the cat.

Quick post

November is always a time people pause to remember all they are grateful for.  We have much we are grateful for and can never actually count ALL of our blessings.  I am also grateful to you, my readers. all 5 of you!

 He has NOT enjoyed his sponge baths. Yesterday his cord fell off, so we'll see how reg. baths go.

 He DOES like his swing, most often falling asleep, but watching all going on around him while he does stay awake.

 Sometimes he likes it when his siblings hold him.

 While he still likes to be bundled, he also likes to wiggle an arm out and let us know he is "sure".

 Fun times with glow in the dark masks that Aunt Jenny sent us!

 Getting a certificate for being student of the week during first quarter.

He has become more and more alert.

For all these and more, we are blessed and very grateful.

Home

We got home and everyone, including our newest member, seemed to be happy that we're a unit again. The first 24hrs home were filled with lots!

 cuddles, from everyone!

 Cuddles before going to school, in costume.

 Cuddles with Grandma

Trick or treating for the big kids

 Even Mom and Dad got cuddles with the boys.

Life is busy, but we are enjoying it. 

Hospital Fun

Did you know the hospital can be fun?  Or maybe it's not the hospital that is fun, but the company you keep while in the hospital.

As we tried to get a nice announcement photo of our bundle of joy, we got some pretty funny ones!

 Good, but not quite right

 Ooops! The hat is too big!

 Wait, what are you doing? He looks like he is an owl!

This picture had Eric and Grandma in stitches all thru lunch. It hurt too much to laugh or I might have laughed as well.

 Sleepy baby.

 That's a big yawn!

 Still not right.

I think this is the one we sent out.

The next day our little owlet got put under the light for his jaundice, and that was just as funny to Eric and Grandma.

 Especially with the superhero mask he had to wear.

 Precious feet

 Oh what ya' doin'?

Oh, nothing, just catching some rays

 It's disco party time!

 Sleep well my little owlet superhero!

I thought it was fun to see my husband stuff envelopes for the announcements.

And here Eric is taking a picture of Grandma taking a picture -fun times I tell ya!

 But the most fun, really is going home!

 And watching your husband work the car seat

And just how tiny he looks as we ride home to everyone!