And he thinks he is sneaky...

Whenever Weston is out of town, I try to buy a few special snacks, easy dinners, etc., to make things easier on me and a little more fun for the boys who are missing their daddy.

So, we had these donuts one morning when Weston was away at Snowblast. There were 3 left, so they were just sitting on the counter, most likely waiting to be eaten by me later :). I walked through the kitchen that evening, and, look what I found?



I thought it was pretty funny, how just a little had been taken from each, and then they'd been placed carefully back. Like maybe I wouldn't notice.

The food snatcher had even thought to wipe his mouth off (and I was so sure the white powder around the mouth would be a dead give-away). Luckily, when I gathered the boys to confront them with the evidence, the culprit was quick to sheepishly confess. It was not who I would have guessed to be stealthily sneaking goodies. However,when I talked to Weston later, he guessed right away who it was because of how carefully this child put the donuts back.

Snow Very Fun

Merry Christmas!

Caleb's Baptism

There is nothing quite like watching your child be baptized, especially when it's his daddy that has the privlege of baptizing him.




Not sure what y'all feel about when a child is sincerely old enough to make a real decision to accept what Jesus has done for him...
Weston and I have always prayed that God would lead each of our boys to a saving faith at an early age.

For more on that read this.


Caleb has always seemed to have an especially sensitive heart for the gospel. Though he's still very much a 6 year old, there are moments when the theological concepts he sometimes grapples with could put many adults to shame. He has always been full of great questions, and his childlike understanding of some deeper things always inspire us.

We cannot even offer up an exact date, or time, of his 'transformation'. Sure he raised his hand in Sunday School, and probably at VBS a few times, but with him it seemed more of a process. Around the age of 5, we became fully convinced that he 'got it' and truly had accepted what Jesus did on the cross for him as his only means to salvation. We rejoiced that God allowed us to be part of this process.









Since then Caleb had been begging to get baptized. At Bethel, kids are asked to go through a membership/baptism class first, to make sure they are ready. So we waited a bit, and had him attend when we thought he was old enough. Then we made sure to ask his teachers for feedback to make sure they thought he fully understood everything. That the heart problem, the spiritual problem, that he has, that we all have, is made right not by "trying harder" or "being better" but by fully embracing that Christ sacrificed Himself, doing for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. And that baptism in no way played a part in this, but was merely a public declaration of what had happened in his heart. And they were confident that he did. So we shared with him that we would be getting baptized in December.

Caleb was SO excited. It was on his mind almost constantly since we told him about it. He was beaming all weekend leading up to it, and boy did his sweet little face reflect the joy of the Lord when he entered the baptismal, as much as the coming up out of the water reflects Christ's resurrection for us.
What a moment.

The next day (Monday) I was walking down the hallway of his school, and a 2nd grade teacher with whom I am briefly acquainted stopped me and congratulated me on Caleb's baptism. I guess he had been joyfully sharing about it all morning at school. :


If you want to read a great post on child baptism, try this.

Favorite December Moments 2010

My awesome Care Circle for Mom 2 Mom took our preschoolers to a local nursing home to sing some Christmas Carols. They had their little bells and shook them as they sang their heart out to Jingle Bells. Well, maybe it was the mommas who sang their hearts out trying to get these small children to perform on command. Anyway, it was pretty cute. But the absolute best part? A memory I will treasure forever? I told my boys that it would be very nice to go up the the 10 or so seniors in the audience (most in wheelchairs), and wish them a merry Christmas. K and E wanted nothing to do with it. But Aidan? Not only did he go to each and every senior with a sweet smile and a cheerful holiday wish, but he also hugged each and every one of them. On his own accord, just loving on some grammas and grampas. Oh, sweet child of mine.










One evening, while snuggling with me on the couch, Ethan lovingly looks up at me in the magical light of the Christmas Tree, and he whispers to me, "Mommy, you look like Mary."




















Caleb brought home a book about Christmas that he made at school. And it did this momma's heart good to read all his responses to the prompts about Christmas. There was nothing in there about receiving presents, but all about giving, and most importantly all about celebrating the birth of our Savior. Not bad for a 6 year old.








And Kellan... sweet, stubborn, shy Kellan. I loved how exuberantly yet seriously he sang with all his heart each night during our Advent family time as we practiced "Away in the Manger" for their preschool performance. And he did so great that night! A few months prior, I would've never imagined he would even go up on stage with the ornery streak that had been plaguing him.



















And Quinn. Just kissing his sweet chubby cheeks every day was delicious.

One of my favorite...

Christmas pictures! :)

Quinn is One!

Hard to believe our Quinn (also affectionately known around here as Quinny, or Quinn-Bear) has been in our arms for 12 whole months. Happy Birthday sweet boy! You bring us, and everyone around you, such joy!





We had our small group over for a little celebration.




And of course, Quinn loved his cupcake!!!

Ear Tubes for Quinn

Numerous annoying ear infections in his first year led us to the decision to try tubes. It's a pretty common procedure, but still a little scary since he had to be put under.

He did great though. He loved playing around in the wagon while we were waiting. And then he was literally away from me for about 8 minutes. I think the procedure took about 5. He was awake and alert and hungry when I got him back. Then he was pretty happy the rest of the day.

Christmas Tree

It was a pretty cold day, but it was really the only chance we had to go get our tree. So we bundled up, and off we went. I made it far enough to snap this picture:









And then Quinn and I headed back to wait in the warm van. I had to keep the little guy warm, right?











Daddy was a trooper with the others. They found a great tree, chopped it down, and then rode the tractor back.






We got it home and decorated it. It was Kellan's year to place the star on top. :)

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, celebrating with some friends of ours; the Gasaways. The boys were very excited to have their friends here for this special meal. Maybe someday my family will actually enjoy the food that Thanksgiving is all about. This year even Aidan was picky. More for me, I guess.






































This year was extra special because on Friday, we got to celebrate again with family. Dad, Bon, Will, Robin, and Megan were able to come spend time with us. We even celebrated Quinn's birthday a bit early with them.

Aboard the Mayflower

Caleb's class did a little play about the First Thanksgiving. It was simple, yet very cute. Weston, Aidan, and I got to go watch, and Caleb was so excited. After the skit, his teacher had each student say one thing they were thankful for, and he said, "I'm thankful for this play."

4 Knights and a Dragon

Aren't they the cutest?









And I was even a good sport, and dressed up too.

Fall is the perfect time for geocaching...

We spent many fun times this fall out "treasure hunting" as the boys still call it. They are getting better and better with experience, and it is getting even more enjoyable now that they can handle a little more of a 'hike'.



We even got to take Caleb's best bud Blayne with us on one day's adventure. Aren't they adorable together?

Love this pic

of the twins watching the Halloween parade at Caleb's school. They are just so... alike. :)

Pickin' Pumpkins

Gotta love fall...










Kellan

Quinn Clips

Mainly to brighten Grandma's Day... :)


Quinn 1

Quinn 2

Quinn and his buddy

In our small group there are a lot of children. Seriously. At this point, Quinn and Isaac are two of the youngest, just a few months apart. We parked them in their strollers at our cookout get-together, and they just had to be social like the rest of us.

Pretty cute, eh?

Racing through milestones...

Guess who is pulling up to standing?

He did it once for me on the bathtub last Thursday night. Then while I was away at the woman's retreat, daddy reported several more successes in that arena. Two nights ago he figured out he could do it in his crib. And yesterday morning I was outside with the older brothers waiting for the bus, when I turned around and saw this. He is getting proficient quickly, and has even starting cruising along furniture.























What a charming smile he has! He just turned 9 months old. Just ignore the horribly dirty glass door, because I do have 5 little boys, ya know. :)