Winter Days

With the weather being cold and rainy today, and the fact that we finished school early, we needed a project. Gwen asked to play playdough and we had none; so we made our own. Its super easy and fun. What a great activity it took up lots of time and they all got to measure out ingredients, stir and then play.

Here we are measuring out the ingredients.

Choosing the colors, the boys wanted green and the girls wanted yellow. Mixing it all together.
Careful, it's hot!
Time to play.
Or eat burritos.
Or make cookies.
Or sulk because it smells funny.
I thought it smelled perfect; just like childhood.

Days gone by.

New years seems to always make me stop and think about the things that have happened in the last year. Some noticable and some that slip through quietly and you don't even realize they have happened until later. 2008 was a big year for firsts and lasts. Gwen moved into Fiona's room to share bunkbeds, she was pottytrained in January and can count to 12 or so. All very big things for my baby, who really isn't a baby any more but insists that her name is Baby Gwen. Fiona learned her alphabet except for TUV, she still leaves those out. She can sing Away In A Manger and count to 30. But somewhere in all that the baby toys are gone, the potty seats are no longer needed, the changing table became a potting bench, and the crib is sitting in a corner in the basement. Fiona can buckle herself into the carseat, no one needs to be carried in the parking lot and they all help carry in the groceries. Owen and Miles both learned how to read, they can both count to 100, and money makes sense to them. And then the other day I noticed Miles bobby(blanket) sitting in the closet. He no longer needs it to go to sleep and he hasn't had a night time accident in 3 months. The boys also learned to ride their bikes, clean their rooms without help and Miles announced that he is to old for baths. Where did the time go? When did my babies grow up? Somewhere between dishes and laundry, scrapes and bruises, hugs and kisses, tears and laughter, yes; right before my eyes. Thank God for the photographs.

Christmas Day

Here are some photos from Christmas day. We started out by opening our stockings, then a big breakfast of cinnamon rolls, bacon and eggs. Next its photos in front of the tree and advent reading and devotion. Then finally around 11:00 we started opening presents. It makes for such a nice long morning!

The wrong pajamas

So every year we give the children PJ's that they open on Christmas Eve.This year I made a slight error in writing the names on the packages. It was so funny I think I will make it a tradition.

Here they are all dressed up to go to the Christmas Eve service. I think this has to be one of my all time favorite photos from this year!