...That's a good one!!...

I have to put these stories of the kids down before I forget them. They are almost always full of humor---though they are unaware of all of it right now. :)

On Christmas morning, Jo, Mandy's mom, opened a gift that looked like an antique phone, but was really a fun little light. M-G, after watching "Nene" ooh and aah and giggle and play with the phone/light, said in her sweet little voice, "Oh!!! It's like one of those old things from the bad days!!!"

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E is our biggest talker. He will just keep going and going and going, not even aware that the person he is talking to now has a dazed look and is not listening at all. I think one of his favorite places to talk and make racket (like yelling and growling and laughing...) is in the bathroom. The echo in our bathrooms is phenomenal!!! Gi-Gi was helping E dry off after his bath, and the echo in combination to his voice was so loud, she asked him to count to one hundred in his head before he said anything else. He stood there for a few seconds, moving his eyes from side to side, first looking to the right and then the left, bobbing his head for a few beats, then, "So, the man went into..."

"Wait a minute, E. I thought you were going to count to 100."

"I did," E replied. "I was counting by tens!"

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Last night during supper, D-D, E and Dana were all sitting on the bench, Dana sitting in the middle. D-D began saying, "I'm saw-wee Daddy!...Saw-wee daddy!! I said, SAW-we. Sah-ah-ah-aw--WE, DadDY!!!"

"Dana, D-D is telling you she's sorry about something," said Dana's mom. Dana had been talking with his dad and was oblivious to the antics of his youngest daughter at this moment.

"Excuse me, D-D," he said. "You are forgiven, but what are you sorry for?"

"I poked you wif my fwork."

"I didn't even feel it," he laughed. "Did you do it on purpose?"

"Yeth. I did it on poypus."

"Do you know what 'on purpose' means?"

"Yeth. It means spankin'."

"That's right D-D," said Gi-Gi, hard-pressed to contain her laughter. "When you do something on purpose like that, to you it means you get a spanking."

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I do not have any funny stories about Z right now---he just likes to gurgle and laugh and giggle and try to roll from his back to his tummy (he is almost there!)...and fill his diaper. ugh!

Oh, wait!!! While at Nene's and Poppa's house, Mandy was feeding Z his supper. Since he usually sits in one of those reclining bouncy-vibrating seats to eat and we did not bring it with us, Mandy had Z laying on her legs and her feet on the trunk in front of her so that the baby would be in a semi-upright position while eating. He was doing a pretty good job eating, not too much on his face, a little on his bib, when he decided that he was D---O---N---E, done!!! He kicked with his feet and swung his arms, one of those limbs hitting the bowl of carrots and cereal that Mandy was holding. It flew up in the air and landed right on Mandy's shoulder...upside down...and in her hair.

Classic!!

No one would have known about this fiasco---all of the family being at Wed. night church services (Z was extremely fussy that night)---but his cousin had fallen asleep during Bible class and Scott had just brought him home. So there was a witness to this juggling act.

Though Mandy's hair is not red right now, she can still be called "Carrot-top."

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Silver and Gold

Christmas Day is over...our children are playing with new toys, we parents are trying to decide which old toys need to be moved out of the house to make way for the new toys, picking up, putting away, learning to share all over again, still finding wrapping paper behind chairs and under sofas, and listening to the sound that is sweeter than Santa's sleigh bells---the laughter of our children.

Aaaaah....the holidays...these blessed holy days of celebration: of our faith; the wee Babe who grew to save us all; the blessing of family that God has given us; the thankfulness for our country, family, friends, and fulfillment of our needs; a wonderful old year and the expectation of the new year, our memories of these days like strands of silver and gold...these happy holidays!!!

Merry Christmas!!!! Happy New Year!!!!!

What a joyous season this has been for us. We were able to do some traveling---and the children all did fantastic with so many long hours in the van. Our first stop was back "home" with our dear friends for a few nights. We gathered together, feasted on many yummy treats, wishing the time could go more slowly so we could taste longer the time we had together of visiting, laughing, sharing, and even singing with all of our children.

Next we traveled to see Mandy's family for Christmas. The kids got to see their cousins and had a great time playing with them. Each time we are all together, the time is wonderful, and it keeps getting better and better.

Now we are having Christmas Day again with Dana's parents. The kids are outside right now playing on the big gift from Poppa Claus and Gi-Gi: a trampoline. What a blast they are having!!!!

Dana and Mandy even showed the kids a few tricks.

oooooh!!! Our aching muscles!








This was D-D's favorite seat...how we wished to share it with you!!! May the rest of this holiday season bring you sweet moments to treasure and opportunities to share His abounding love and joy!

Wishing

December is one of those fun months full of rushing around, nice secrets, whispers, giggles, twinkling lights, crinkly papers and bows, old and new memories shared and lots of pictures. Usually at the end of this month, we look into our photo file on our computer and discover hundreds, if not over a thousand, pictures!!! Not to worry, though...we will not subject you to our family vacation slide shows or anything (though, if you really really REALLY want to see them, we can accommodate---ha, ha)--but, we will share just a few of the pictures.


Do you ever wonder how D-D gets her hair in those sweet little ringlets?

She often goes into our bathroom, pulls out these rollers and puts them in her hair by herself. She left them in for quite a while the other day. I also recorded her singing one of her made up "nonsense" songs. I think that she is wishing to become an additional member of the Beatles (or is it the Monkees?)---if they were still together, that is.




Speaking of wishes...what is on your wish lists? M-G is probably wishing for her front teeth (REALLY!!!)---she lost her fourth front tooth this past Monday (Dec 3). E did not knock this one out.

Z is wishing for his pacifiers (I took them away a few weeks ago---and he is now sleeping through the night ---halleluia!!)and for us to wipe ALL of his food off of his face.

E and Dana are probably wishing for one of those really neat RC helicopters---or since those are really too expensive (and sold out of all stores)---a fun RC car. I went to YouTube and looked for the helicopter, just to see what it is like. Here is the website to see it....it is very cool (you may have to copy and paste this address):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT9dM5AF2Hc&feature=related

Baby Blues and Giggles

I love these pictures of Z's blue-blue-BLUE eyes (you will have to click on the pictures to really see those Baby Blues)...as well as the ones where his smile nearly reaches to the back of his head. He is such a happy little guy. During his bath last night in the BIG tub he discovered he could kick his legs and hear a neat sound---Splash!!! Once he figured out he was the maker of that interesting sound, he had a good time trying to figure out the best way to kick for the loudest splash.

This is a fun time: watching Z discover and try new things, seeing him realize his world and that he can grasp at it himself. Just last weekend he was under his baby gym moving his arms all around and looking at the different animals hanging over his head. After his arm kept hitting the little bird, Z realized he could control his arm movement and would then grasp the bird, pull on it, and push it so it would swing back and forth. Milepost markers for Z: splashing and grasping!!!! Priceless!

















E loves to play with z. He and Z will be good buddies. The picture with the orange hat (thank you Miss Suzy and Miss Leigh) was taken after our walk last night. Z and I had to come home earlier than the rest of the family----brrrrrrrrr!!!!

Step By Step

Here are the kids singing some songs. D-D's, of course, is one she made up herself!! :)

And, if you are able to download these videos, you will hear the kids "change" some of the words to the songs. Though they are not all the CORRECT words we sing, they are the words the kids THINK we sing. :)

Oh, Christmas Tree

The kids helped decorate the Christmas tree yesterday. They each have a box that holds their ornaments. All of the kids had so much fun pulling out and remembering their ornaments---I had fun watching them. M-G, of course, has a few more than the other children---but she has been alive a bit longer. We will have to find an ornament for Z this year---he does not have one yet.

The kids had a blast and, amazingly, only one ornament broke---fortunately it was one of mine and not one that any of the kids treasure. We decided after the breaking of that ornament that there would be no more glass balls or other fragile ornaments to go on the tree---this means that many of my ornaments are staying packed away. Maybe next year we will put the tree in the office area where there is carpet and it will not matter if an ornament tumbles off of the tree or not.

Hope you are all having a wonderful time getting ready for the Christmas holiday!

Beautiful Autumn

We are having a beautiful autumn, riot with colors and crisp mornings and evenings. With the little amount of rain we had, I was afraid we would just see brown leaves only. However, our neighborhood is a blessing to our senses!!! The colors, the peacefulness I feel upon entering the neighborhood, the piles of leaves on the sides of our yards, the vibrant colors all around us, the smell of fall, the sounds of children playing, the sounds of the red or yellow or orange or purple (and some brown, too) leaves crunching beneath our feet, the feel of the air...glorious!!!!

The kids played outside most of Saturday afternoon. While we were out, we discovered one of our trees all yellow---a most bright yellow!!! WOW!!! Here are some photos of the children as they played in the trees and in its leaves on the ground.

D-D believes that the leaves from this tree are golden butterfly wings and wants to collect some every day.

Laughing

Here are some videos of the kids laughing. If you have a slow connection, you may want to wait until you can get somewhere that you can use a faster connection...esp. for the second clip. The second clip is much longer. Our fun new toy allows us to record WITH SOUND!!!! A very exciting "plus."

New Toy

We got a new toy this weekend...a brand new digital camera!!!! We have enjoyed taking pictures of everyone and everything. The quality of the pictures are much better and we are excited about them. Here are some pictures of this weekend.

Z rolling over

Trying to get D-D to smile---
we obviously made her cry at first!

November 10th, huh?

This past Saturday, Dana looked at the calendar. After looking at it and seeing what the date was, he turned to E and said, "Do you know what today is?"

"What?!!?!!?!!" E asked all excited.

"Today is November the 10th, the day little boys learn to ride their bicycles without training wheels!!!!!!"

E swallowed and said, "November 10th, huh?"

"Yes," Dana replied. "Let's go!!!"

Though E was a little scared at first and cried when they first started around the block, he did really well. Within 10 minutes he was riding his bike and has not wanted to stop for food or drink or bathroom or sleep.

He still cannot start on his own and when he wants to stop, he rides up into our driveway and then into the grass and falls to the ground. A good, soft, and well planned crash.

Here he comes...there he goes....and he's gone!!!