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!

Christmas Eve

Just a quick post so I dont forget the moment.

We were talking Christmas Eve and Gwen asked me "who is Santa"? I turned around and asked her "Who is Santa"? She replied "he brings us presents". I said, "Really? Who is Santa"? She answered "He's the dress up man and mommy brings the presents"! She was so cute!

My Sweet Girls

Here are some shots I took of the girls before the camera stopped functioning. I don't have many shots of them together as its hard to get Gwen to stay still or even look at the camera. I just keep trying and one day she will sit still and I will miss her squirms. Aren't the outfits cute though?

Not Again!!

Last night it snowed just enough to get the sleds out and have some winter fun. I was all set to get some great shots when the flash stopped working on my camera again! So no snow pictures and now no camera for Christmas. Circuit City is insisting it be sent in to be looked at before they will replace it. Come on this is the FOURTH time it has been sent in, I think by this time it would be cheaper to just give me a new one that actually worked! I was comenting about this to some on-line friends and my friend Diana is sending me her old camera to borrow until it is all resolved. I was almost in tears of happiness, but I am not a cryer so it was almost. hehe I am so thankful to have a working camera for Christmas I just can't imagine missing out on all those important photos. So thank you Diana!

Decorating the tree

Here are a few shots of us decorating the tree. I never manage to take very many pictures as I am always busy making sure the ornaments are not getting destroyed. David does not participate in the tree decorating so I am left to manage it all on my own. We always have such a great time decorating and all the ornaments end up on the bottom and then later I will "redecorate" when the children aren't looking.

This is before I redistributed the ornaments, they are mostly in the front.

Fiona putting one of her ornaments on the tree.

Gwen taking pictures of the tree. She kept saying "nope, not right. Try again" It was so funny, she must hear me say that all the time.

Owen helping

And I didn't get any of Miles, he was so helpful and moved fast! It does look pretty all decorated and is very healthy so hopefully it will do well when planted.