Other photos...and a See ya next year!

Here are some photos from the middle of December, while I went on my unofficial blogging break. And then we leave later this morning for Ohio, so I will be on another blogging break until 2010. So you can look forward to a break from my usual whining and blogging about bodily functions, depression, and other sundries until then ;)

Cookies. Iced. Made while all three children were awake. With their help. With no other adults in the house. If my children ever say I don't love them...

I adore my little tiny bird feeder in the front. And we have a new and very enthusiastic bird watcher in the family now. The first few days he would SQUEAL and bang on the windows. Now he just squeaks a little and points them out. Very cute.

Looking UP in the tree where one flew.

Pointing them out and telling me about it.

Did you hear about the snow in the Mid-Atlantic? Yes? News coverage proclaimed the end of times, and created a panic amongst our family and a rush to the local stores. And then it actually snowed...a lot. What fun! Here's the first day, when it hadn't really accumulated yet.

Sure, sure, they love each other.

Michael doesn't have proper boots...or the desire to keep on mittens...so he and I chilled out inside.

The next day, there was considerably more snow. 12 inches, I think. In Philly there was 23 inches. It took us 2 1/2 hours to shovel our measly driveway and sidewalks. But it was cozy and magical all at the same time. Until the end of the day when we were at 23 hours trapped inside with the children. Not quite as magical ;)

Snow!

My mom and dad actually made it in the day after the snow storm. Here's my dad sleeping with Lily during a nap.

Memere reading with the older two. Separate books. Talented lady.

Michael's new preferred "private elimination" corner. Except this one is in the corner of the eating area in the kitchen. He can roll that cart in front of him though. He just squats there and holds his nose and tells us, "No!" when we look at him. Subtle.

The snow storm postponed Andrew's church Christmas play until Christmas Eve service. It was magical and lovely and the perfect time to watch children bumble through lines and get dressed up. Nothing like the innocence of children to remind us of the true meaning of the season.

Andrew up on the altar to sing with the Kindergartners. You can see that he is one of the wise men. And he had a line. That he had to speak into a microphone in front of the whole church...filled up for Christmas. He did better than some of the junior high kids. He has come a long way, baby. And he is stinkin' cute.

Walking down the aisle to bring baby Jesus his gifts.

After his play was over, he joined us to finish the service. We sang carols and turned off the lights so we could do it all by candlelight. He was mesmerized by the flame and this picture doesn't do justice to how beautiful he was lit up by only candlelight. Thank you to my father for staying home with Lily and Michael while they slept so I could experience this wonderful Christmas Eve with my Andrew.

Michael woke up 2 hours later than the other children, so I helped him open his gifts while Jeff was a bit occupied by others. So no still shots of Mikey opening his gifts. He was bewildered by all the gifts, but quickly got into it and was so much fun to watch. He protested his sister taking his toys, but got back by taking HER toys. He has already eaten 3 of his 4 bags of Gushers (fruit snacks) that were in his stocking. Gushers were the hit of the stockings this year. He also has already eaten his and Lily's chapsticks. Yum!

Mikey and his basketball hoop...his gift from Santa this year. LOVES it. Andrew has already broken it...but hopefully he now knows he's too big to dunk. Michael is the perfect size for dunking.

Look at this poor pathetic mutt in her snuggie. She looks so...ASHAMED in it. As if she is thinking, "Isn't this just a robe? Just a robe on backwards?"

At least she has someone to share her shame with. Except her Snuggie buddy is slightly jealous of her Velcro closures. He's kind of thinking of adding those to his Snuggie.

Off to Ohio! Have a good New Year!

Christmas Highlights

Is there anything better in life than Christmas morning with a 6 year old, a 3 year old, and a 20 month old? I submit that there is NOTHING BETTER.

Andrew and Lily are sharing a room while my parents visit, so they were up by 6 am. We heard them exclaiming in glee at all the presents. They came back upstairs and got us...present opening started about 20 minutes later.

Lily first spied her new rocking chair that my parents gave her. She was so excited that it had her name on it. And it gave us our favorite quote this Christmas. "Daddy! Look! L-I-L-Y spells MINE!"

Andrew "patiently" waiting for the grown-ups to get their coffee and their act together so he can tear into all these gifts.

Shadow actually got a present this year. No, TWO presents. Lucky year number 7 for her, apparently.

Lily's face as she opens the much anticipated Santa gift. He got her a Baw-bee...just like she asked!

Andrew's face as he opens HIS much anticipated Santa gift. A Nintendo DS...just like he ordered.

Jeff's face, as he opens his much anticipated...oh, wait. He had no idea that Andrew would pick out a leopard-print Snuggie for him (with no prompting from me). I was much anticipating taking a picture of the moment, though.

What a stud.

Lily opened her Santa gift and promptly went to sit at the kitchen table to keep it away from Michael. Even though Michael didn't join us until 8 am...and this was at 6:30. But she was happily and quietly playing with her new toy. No desire to come open more gifts.

I'm serious. She was all alone. So the rest of us just kind of opened our gifts and enjoyed the silence.

Turns out she was ALSO licking all the icing off of each pumpkin muffin in the middle of the kitchen table. So much for breakfast side dishes.

Andrew opened all of his gifts in about 8.7 seconds. So to keep him from going into the family room to tear into his stocking, I gave him the camera and asked him to take photos. The rest of the photos are courtesy of our guest photographer...

Pepere got another Dayton shirt. Shocker.

I got a very nice fleece. And a sweater, and a fleece throw, a fleece lined sweatshirt, and a fleece sweatsuit. Apparently I look cold to my family. Or they don't approve of me setting the thermostat to 66 and are trying to give me a hint.

Memere pretending to look like she feels good. Michael head-butted her last night. She doesn't seem swollen or black and blue, but she's had a good old head-ache ever since. Merry Christmas!

Andrew's Christmas pile. He made out quite well this year. Not pictured...the DS...which was already charging.

Lily opening something. Andrew did quite a good job taking pictures, eh?

The gift that Andrew picked out for Lily. Another room for her dollhouse.

Now we await bedtime. The early wake-up and the high quantities of sugar = meltdown city.

I hope your Christmas was enjoyable!

Why I love Kindergarteners...

Andrew: "I am really good friends with Karina. We have a lot in common."
Me: "Really? That's so nice. What do you have in common with her?"
Andrew: "We are both super secret spies. She has secret missions just like me."


Love him. This was all said in the most earnest, serious of tones. Love him.

Just in case you aren't on my list...

I know some of you aren't on my Christmas card list...and it's probably because I don't have your address. Or because you are a crazy stalker-type. Or because I don't know you read this little bloggy thing. Mostly because I don't have your address. Also, I didn't send out my Christmas letter with every photo...I felt it was a bit strange, and as I've mentioned, Jeff pooh-poohed it. But I've gotten some good feedback, and my mom really wants to see it. So I've pasted in the photo from our photo card and the letter is below... Happy Holidays!


Photo:

Letter:

FAQ about the 2009 S. Christmas card:

Q: Why is the adorable 18 month old sporting a shiner?

A: Michael fell off a kitchen chair in the middle of November. We were assured by the doctor that while no permanent damage had been done, there was no hope for a Christmas picture without a black eye in it. We've never had a climber and an adventurer before. Michael is determined to prove to us that there is no such thing as a "veteran" parent...each child has things to teach us. When he isn't diving off chairs and eating chalk/markers/dog food, Michael is the lovebug of our household. He brings out the best in the other kids and is the happiest, most easy-going guy you could ever meet.

Q: Why is the ruggedly handsome 6 year old sporting a perfectly round spot in between his eyes?

A: Not to be outdone by his little brother, Andrew decided to mark up his face just in time for photos. I have been assured that he has learned his lesson and will never put his play football helmet on backwards again. Other than experimenting with football gear, Andrew has also learned to swim, read, and started Kindergarten, soccer, and flag football (not in that order). We continue to be amazed by his maturity and compassion for others,...but he still giggles at a good underpants joke, so we know he's just a normal boy underneath it all.

Q: How did you get so lucky as to have a 3 year old little girl who cooperates so brilliantly for a photo?

A: Rest assured that "Tiger-Lily" was screaming just moments before this shot was taken. I believe we bribed her with candy to get her to sit still. But she had to be in the picture just to prove that at least one of our children is still unscathed. Lily loves to sing and argue and play make-believe and argue and she will tell you the sweetest compliments you've ever heard. And she likes to argue. She has also convinced us that the best antidote to the flu is peanut butter and crackers. It is all she eats and yet she was the only one untouched by the flu this fall. Go figure. She also just potty trained herself last week. That's right...I'm talking about bodily functions in a Christmas letter. Dude...she's over 3...this is NEWS.

Q: Why aren't Jeff and Giselle in the Christmas photo this year?

A: Have you ever tried to take a photo with 3 wiggly kids in it? We needed all the adult hands possible to get a picture of this banged-up crew...maybe next year when we try the "straight-jacket" pose we'll get in it again. In all seriousness, 2009 has been good to our family. Jeff's company was bought out by Dow Chemical, and in August he accepted a new job within the company (Quality Systems Specialist, in case you were curious). He now commutes to work by train and his office literally overlooks the Liberty Bell. He is still fencing and has reached his goal weight...which he is forbidden from telling his wife since she has...ahem...NOT reached her goal weight.

In a funk...

Ugh...I'm just in a funk. It all started with Christmas cards. I got my photos in the mail, and during a quiet moment threw together a Christmas letter. Then I (stupidly) printed it out on my Christmasy paper without having anyone proofread it. Including myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I showed it to Jeff, grumbling about my run-on nonsense sentence right in the middle of Andrew's paragraph. He finished reading, flipped the paper and said, "Am I missing a page? There is nothing about you on here." To which I responded, "What exactly would you write about me? Nothing has changed from last year and I do nothing worth writing about." Jeff says, "Well, that's sad." Which then made me sad.

But enough grumbling. This is why I'm not blogging. Who wants to hear me whine? (I know, I know, why stop now, right?).

Here are some photos...

I swear I can't get a good shot of this girl. What is with the wise-guy smile?

Mikey coloring...he LOVES it. Also, in love with letters all of a sudden. He suddenly sees them everywhere and excitedly points them out. Every letter that has straight lines is an "L" and ever letter with curves is an "O". Give him time...he's only 20 months ;) And he needs to learn to talk first anyway.

Here are a bunch of photos from a trip to the Please Touch Museum last Saturday. My mom went with me (thank God), and convinced me that I cannot take all 3 children by myself anymore.

Getting a little old for Please Touch. He got bored about an hour before we were ready to go.

Lily-isms

Quick...before my monitor blacks out...

Here are a few cute things Lily said yesterday:

I had a few moments with her in the afternoon...after she got up from "quiet time", but before Michael woke up. We were playing...I don't know....some kind of pretend game where we never actually play because she is so busy telling me what we are going to do and what I am supposed to say. To counteract boredom, I do little things to make her laugh, like fill up a container with toys that she is playing with or tickling her or kissing her baby doll. Whatev-

So I knocked her over and started tickling her a bit while she was holding her baby doll. She giggled and then said, "Mom! You hurt my baby's feelings!"


Later that night, my mom and I took the kids to the local farm's fantastic holiday light show to kill the early hours of the evening. Very fun, even though you have to donate a kidney in order to get in. Okay, not really...but it has a ridiculous admission cost. Worth every penny when you hear Michael screeching in the back, and to hear Andrew sing the 12 days of Christmas (they have lights for each day of Christmas in the song during one section), and to hear Lily. Andrew pointed out Cinderella's carriage as we entered the fairy tale section, and Lily said very enthusiastically, "THANK YOU ANDREW. You are a GENIUS!"

She's so stinkin' cute. Oh! And yesterday morning we went to the French bakery and to feed ducks on the river down the street. Lily suddenly had to go potty, and there is NOWHERE nice along that stretch. So I took her in a "pay a quarter" public restroom...and she went. On this huge toilet. A-MAZ-ING. Did I mention that we still have had ZERO accidents? And that she is so good that while at playgroup Thursday, she stopped playing with all the fun toys and kids to come and ask me to go potty. A-MAZ-ING.

In related news: Andrew is jealous of the potty attention.

Baby Jesus

Let the religious education begin!

Lily talked about Advent today at her Presbyterian preschool. She came out of class telling me that it was almost Jesus's birthday! She was very very excited.

Right after school, we went to Andrew's 6 year old well visit. (Andrew is tall and skinny and healthy...and he failed his hearing test again...more fluid in his left ear...bummer). As we were leaving the visit, Lily approached a teeny tiny newborn in an infant seat in the waiting area.

She squatted down a bit and said in a squeaky voice, "Oh! What a cute baby!" Then she stood back up and looked right at the mother and father and asked very earnestly, "Is this Baby Jesus?"

Oh the cuteness. All adults present were turned into putty.

And then we had to hurry away because Michael had started saying, "Bay? Bay? Ti-ckle Ti-ckle?" (Baby? Tickle?)

My wreath

While we were putting up our Christmas decorations, Andrew heard me telling Jeff that our big Christmas wreath finally bit the dust after the last holiday. It was a cheap-o thing from a craft store that I had added bows and berries and such to.

A little while later, Andrew presented me with his own homemade wreath. You can see it below, where we proudly taped it to the stone.

It's so cute up there, I don't think I'll get a new wreath this year.

(btw...if you enlarge the photo, you'll see that Shadow's stocking is held up by a stag. Andrew decided which deer would be for which family member...and we have a mish-mash from different sets. He thought Shadow should get the stag because she is related to a wolf...which would love to catch a stag. For some reason I find this truly hilarious...imagining Shadow, the 12 pound Chihuahua mix...hunting down a deer.)

Help...no monitor...

Our monitor is on the fritz...hence the no posting the last couple of days. It blacks out after about 5 minutes...which has made me do things other than play on the computer (and blog). I wish I could say that the house was cleaner...but...my cross-stitching is coming along great! ;)

I will update sometime soon...Jeff doesn't seem to have any plans to replace the monitor, so who knows.

I will say that Andrew has new motivation to do his computer reading program...thank you Mario Kart for the bribery factor (earns 30 minutes of Wii if he does one chapter of the computer thingy that Grandma got him last spring...)

Lily is on day 7 of underpants and has had ZERO accidents thus far. She even took her rest time yesterday with no diaper on. Just amazing to behold. She is totally milking the bribes, though. A while back I bought Hershey Kisses for her reward...thinking she was only going on the potty every fortnight or so. Now that she is going 8 times a day or so, she is totally sustaining herself on chocolate. She will squeeze out a few drops when she gets hungry. I cannot WAIT for that bag to be empty so we can forget this whole chocolate thing. Yikes...that backfired.

Mikey is talking up a storm. He has not conquered any second syllables, YET, but my MIL swears he was saying "ernie" with 2 and he definitely says "tickle". But he now calls the dog "Shaow" and "Leeze" for please and "Gee" for geese and lots of other things. Definitely progress...just waiting for those 2nd syllables to start showing up.

Monitor blacking out every 30 seconds now...will write more after it has a rest.