Project Life 2012: Weeks 51 & 52 {Christmas}

December 16 - 22

This week was crazier than expected when Valerie ended up having tonsil/adenoid surgery.  We were also busy finishing up last minute things on our Christmas to do list like mailing out Christmas cards & baby announcements and packing for a week in Michigan visiting Ted's family.  I blogged more about the surgery here.

***

December 23 - 30

Saturday morning, we packed up the van and began the long drive to Michigan.  With three kids, including a newborn, we knew we'd be stopping at least for lunch and dinner, so we braced ourselves for an entire day of driving.  We brought along my laptop with DVDs and plenty of toys to keep the kids entertained.  We stopped for lunch at Sarah & Dan's new house and enjoyed a break from traveling to visit with Sarah and little Danny. The rest of the drive went well, but we arrived at Ted's parents house just before midnight, exhausted and tired from a long day of travel.

Ted's older sisters, Sarah and Lisa, and his brother, David, were not able to travel home for Christmas this year, so it was a much quieter Christmas.  We enjoyed visiting with Ted's parents and attending the Hanes family gathering after church on Sunday.  The kids had a blast playing with (uncle) Joey and (uncle) Robbie.  Almanzo and Robbie are so funny together, giggling over the silliest things and chasing each other all over the house.  Almanzo says, "My like Robbie.  He's fun." 

Laura & Eric and Justin came over the weekend to visit as well.  Along with Mackenzie and Vickie, we all enjoyed staying up at night to watch some Hallmark Christmas movies Ted's mom had recorded on the TV.  There's something about a quiet night in the country in a home heated by a wood stove that just says Christmas to me.  It was so relaxing and the smaller gathering this year allowed us to spend some more one on one time with family members we don't get to see often enough.  


Christmas morning, the kids woke us up bright and early at 6.  We opened the gifts from our stockings and gave the kids their gifts from us before gathering with the rest of the family for breakfast.  After breakfast, Ted's dad read the nativity story straight from the bible and we all exchanged gifts.  We then enjoyed a Christmas lunch along with birthday cake for Jesus and a quiet afternoon nap before going to visit Ted's grandparents.  Mackenzie joined our little family and Ted's grandparents were so happy to see us all.  Having lost my own grandparents so recently, I know how precious time is so I cherished that time spent with Ted's grandparents. 

On Thursday morning, we packed up the van again and drove back home.  The drive home always seems longer, especially when we ended up driving through Chicago during rush hour.  At one point, in the middle of Chicago traffic that was almost at a stand still, all three kids were crying and I wanted to cry right along with them.  Somehow I managed to calm Ollie back to sleep and then put a movie on for Valerie and Almanzo that was just long enough to last until we stopped for dinner.  After dinner, the kids all fell asleep and we carried them into bed when we finally arrived home late that night. 

Friday morning, we packed the van yet again and drove to my parents' house.  We enjoyed Christmas with my family that night and then a Christmas gathering with my mom's family on Saturday.  It's a tradition every year for the cousins to perform a nativity play.  It was bittersweet to celebrate Christmas in my grandparents' home without them, but traditions like this keep their memory alive.  This year, my mom asked me to direct the play and my cousins came up with the most hilarious addition to our yearly tradition - the narrators read their lines southern preacher style and the actors sang their lines.  We were all laughing so hard by the end and the memories we made will last a lifetime. 

Project Life 2012: Weeks 48 - 50

November 25 - December 1



This was an emotionally draining week.  On Monday, I attended the funeral of a friend's newborn son, born the day after Oliver and on Friday, at MOPS, the pastor from Community Church spoke about hope in the midst of grieving as we all tried to process our friend's loss.  My kids, unfortunately, have experienced too many losses in their short life already and understand far more than we give them credit for.  During their play time, I often hear them talking about how great mommy got sick and died and one night, after talking about my friend's sick baby who died, Valerie was in tears.  She had the start of a cold and, as she coughed, she sobbed for daddy and gasped in between sobs, "I not want to die!"  We are grateful for the hope of heaven we are able to talk to our children about, but, still, the hard moments of life are so very hard to grasp, even as adults.  I took few photos this week, but instead stored up memories in my mind of precious moments spent simply living life with our little ones.  So, instead of a photo, I'm sharing a fun little video of our kids, because these are the moments that make the hard ones bearable. 

***

December 2 - 8

This weekend, uncle Eric, aunt Laura, aunt Sarah, and cousin Danny came to visit and meet our Ollie.  Valerie and Almanzo had so much fun playing with cousin Danny, who quickly made himself right at home playing with their toys.  They made it just in time for lunch and then stayed for a couple hours to visit.  Oliver got plenty of cuddles with his aunt Sarah and aunt Laura and Almanzo had fun climbing all over uncle Eric.  We just wish they all lived closer so our visits weren't so few and far between!

The kids and I took a mini vacation this week to visit my sister, Kelly, and help her with Karli while she finished up her last semester of college classes.  The kids were so excited to have a sleep over with aunt Kelly and we loved having the extra time to spend with cousin Karli.  One of the nights we made a quick Target run with all four kids and then drove by the big lit up Christmas tree in the middle of downtown.  The kids were in awe of it.  On the way home from our visit, my mom met us to drop off some St. Nick's Day goodies for the kids.  I love that they still spoil us with little gifts like that. 

***

December 9 - 15

 

We finally put up the Christmas tree this weekend and the kids just love staring at the lights.  We don't really do Santa in our house, because we want to focus on the One who came as a baby lying in a manger.  We decided last year to give our kids three gifts each, just like the three gifts the wise men gave Jesus.  We have a Fisher Price nativity set my parents bought the kids a few years ago and it's so sweet listening to them talk about the baby Jesus.  When we sit down for a family meal, we light our advent wreath and talk about the nativity story.  I just love watching them soak up these truths and hear their hearts for the Lord already.

We spent the rest of the week wrapping gifts, packing for our trip to Michigan for Christmas, and making these fun ornaments.  The kids had so much fun painting the ornaments to give to their aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  It's a good thing I had washable paint, old t-shirts for paint smocks, and disposable table cloths, because they made quite a big mess!

Our week ended with a college graduation party for my sister, Kelly.  I'm so proud of how hard she worked to gracefully balance being both a mommy and student.  She is totally a rock star in my book!  My parents held an open house at their home after the graduation ceremony and we celebrated with a house full of family and friends.

Project Life 2012: Week 45 - 46

November 4 - 10

We visited my mom this week and it's always a good day when we see Gramma.  The kids made handprint turkeys and got spoiled as usual by Gramma.  We stayed for dinner and the kids were so excited when Pappi got home from work.  Oliver was getting a bit of a cold, so he was fussier than usual and I was glad to have my mom's help for the day.

We got out to vote this week for the presidential election.  We know it is a privilege to have our voice heard and spent time explaining why we vote to our kids, but it was funny listening to them process it.  Valerie said, "Mommy, Ollie almost pick up his head...so he can vote!"  Then, later, as we waited for the election results, I asked them who they thought would win the election.  Without skipping a beat, Valerie declared, "Daddy!"  My uncle John's response when I shared it on facebook was, "Romney and Obama wll both be giving their concession speeches in a few minutes. All hail President Ted!" Ha!  

I've been teaching the kids to use a scissors by giving them scraps of paper to cut and showing them how to hold it safely in their hands.  They could sit for hours cutting tiny pieces of paper into confetti.  Of course, I always supervise this activity and try to hide the scissors where they can't find it when they are done cutting.  But it was bound to happen sooner or later - Valerie got ahold of a scissors when I wasn't looking and cut her hair.  Thankfully it was only a little bit in the front and I was able to give her a cute shorter haircut to fix it.  She looks so grown up now!

Valerie and Almanzo absolutely adore their baby brother.  They love to watch him learn new things, yelling for me to hurry over anytime he even makes half a smile.  "Mommy, Ollie smile at me!"  He is the first one they kiss good night at bed time and he gets spoiled all day long with loads of hugs and kisses.  They beg to hold him and he just soaks up the attention.  He will lay on a blanket on the floor curiously watching them all day long and is trying so hard to move so he can play with them someday soon.  One day this week, Valerie declared to me, "Mommy, I not want Ollie grow up.  I want him stay our baby forever!"  And then my heart melted...

***

November 11 - 17

Photo by Julia Jean Photography

This weekend, a sweet girl from our church, Christine, did our yearly family photo shoot for Christmas cards.  She found the perfect indoor location at a local florist shop filled with Christmas poinsettias.  The kids know her well from Awana and babysitting, so she was able to capture the perfect photos of our sometimes shy kids.  I absolutely love the photo she captured of the three kids in their owl hats.  I still can hardly believe we have three kids - what a blessing!

My sister came for a visit with my niece this weekend too and the kids were so excited to see cousin Karli and aunt Kelly.  We had fun watching the two babies kick around and melt us with their smiles.  It has been so much fun sharing this part of my mothering journey with my sister and especially exciting to watch our kids grow up together.  Valerie could hardly wait to hold Karli and would have held her all day long if we let her.

This week, for Awana, everyone was supposed to dress up as an American hero.  I had no idea what to do until the day of and somehow managed to pull together the perfect costumes: Betsy Ross, Paul Bunyan, and Johnny Appleseed.  The funny thing is that Ted could almost pass as a lumberjack without trying, because he has several flannel shirts in his wardrobe that he wears often and it's not uncommon to see him wearing his socks hiked up over his pants.  Ha! 

I finally pulled out my old stash of Barbies I had saved for Valerie and she was completely in heaven.  We spent all afternoon setting up Barbie land in the basement and she just couldn't stop smiling about it.  I found a great deal on a mermaid Barbie from Target's online daily deals and somehow she figured it out before I had a chance to wrap it for Christmas.  "Mommy, when it's Christmas, I get a Barbie!"  When I asked her how she knew, she grinned and said, very slyly, "I see it in your closet..."