Christmas

We had a very fun Christmas! The air seemed thick with excitement and closeness all day long. We spread the presents out throughout the day (they don't know any better yet), and this worked really well for us. They got to play with their gifts and enjoy them as they unwrapped them. We actually had to rush through some at the end of the day because we still had so many left!
Here is Caleb checking out the remote control train we had set up the night before.
Kellan and Ethan opening a gift together
All four unwrapping the 'big' present.
and Aidan checking out his new Transformer.

Merry Christmas!

This picture just makes me giggle...

Too Cute Times Two

Icicles on our icicles,,,

It is REALLY cold today. The sign at church says -1, but with the wind chill factor it is -25 at least. I have never before experienced cold like that. And I hope never to again! (ha) Seriously, this is some kind of cold for a girl from So Cal. Have I mentioned I am SO SO thankful for my attached garage?


We had an ice storm a couple of days ago, leaving the most beautiful glistening ice everywhere. It looks incredibly spectacular to see ice formed over every branch of a tree like that. Gorgeous. Wish I had a better picture to do it credit. These were taken from inside the house. Brrr...


Oh yeah... a few mishaps in the last 24 hours... Our automatic van door stopped working, making it very difficult to load/buckle kids in, one of our front house windows cracked (because of the cold? That's all we can figure.), one of our bathroom faucets stopped working, and we encountered a bat (yes, eeks, a bat!) in our basement last night. Weston got it out (with a butterfly net), but the emotional damage was done. I'm not sure when I'll be able to go into the basement alone again. And that's where the laundry is. Gulp.

Advent

How can you not love this time of year? (Okay, forget about the "how can I possible get everything done in time" feeling for just a moment.)
We, even Daddy who may occasionally roll his eyes at mommy's 'traditions', love our daily advent activities. Calendars, candles, songs, baking, lights, crafts, festivities, daily advent presents from Granny B and Grandpa Alan, and more. Here are a few pictures just to give you a glimpse.

Kellan
Aidan

Ethan

Caleb




My favorite moment so far? Last Sunday Caleb came to big church with us since we had nursery duty and had to be there for the full 4 hours that morning. When we sang "O Come O Come Emmanuel", Caleb's face lit up and he got so excited because he knew the words (at least the chorus, anyway). It'd been the song we'd been singing as a family the week prior. I LOVED hearing him sing his heart out as he stood next to me in the pew. (yes, you Californians, we have pews)

Just for fun...

Kellan (L) and Ethan are picking up more and more words.
-Lately, they love to call out to Caleb and Aidan, "Guys!" Must have heard mommy say that a lot, I'm afraid.
-In the Drive-Thru at Taco Bell, one of them requested, clear as a bell, "cheesy roll".
-Ethan recently confirmed that he wanted more "applesauce" with a loud clear pronunciation of the word.
-I was reading a chunky board book to Kellan yesterday, all about trucks. I would turn a page, read the technical name of a truck, such as "digger", and Kellan would say "truck". The next page was "Cement Mixer", and Kellan replied, "truck", and so on, all the way through the book. It was pretty cute.

And lastly, to further illustrate Aidan's "I always have to be right, or at least acquiesce on my own terms" personality... He and Caleb were chugging down their milk at dinner the other night (not a contest we encourage, mind you), and upon finishing, Caleb exclaimed, "I beat you!" to Aidan. Aidan, with his gruff little reply, brow furrowed and lower lip stuck out, responded vehemently, "NO, you beat ME!"

First Snow

We've had a few days with a few snowflakes falling here and there, but Sunday morning we woke up to a definite snow cover. And this AM it was even more beautiful. What is even more beautiful? The fact that we have an attached garage. This California girl is SO very thankful for that.

After a very lengthy process of digging out snow boots/clothes and seeing just what sizes I had, Caleb and Aidan were very excited to play outside, and even to shovel the sidewalk with their new snow shovels.


Side note on the snow clothes: I was thrilled to find that I had snow outfits for all the boys in just the right sizes. I'd picked up a pair here and there, at a yard sale, the thrift store, etc (even found brand new Stride Rite matching snow boots for the twins many months ago for a dollar each!), but I hadn't paid too much attention to my assortment of sizes. The only thing I was lacking was boots for Aidan. He should have had Caleb's from last year, but I bought Caleb's big so he could wear them for two years. Guess that's not such a smart strategy when you've got kids so close in age. But, I stopped by the Kids Consignment store today, and found some great ones for Aidan. Ironic too, that when I got home and looked at them more closely, I noticed that the previous owners name was written inside them; Aidan. Crazy, eh? God sure takes care of us, even in the smallest details!