Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was perfect. I love everything about this celebration with my mom's side of the family, especially the church service and seeing row after row of people I love. Here are some of the boys' favorite moments.

Big Boy Cousins!!


Nick's new hunting knife was the Gift of the Year...

but there was plenty of other cool stuff, too...

Of course there were some Wild Times...

and luckily some Quiet Times...

And finally... to all a good night.

Advent

This is my favorite week of the year. There is always beautiful music playing, almost always something delicious in the oven, and the kids are almost almost always happily occupied with something crafty. I don't know who decided we should prepare for the birth of God's Son with baked goods and paint, but I love it!

"What are you doing?" I heard Evan ask Ethan.
"Making presents for Baby Jesus"
"Oh. Can I make sumpfing?"
"Sure!"

The Nativity Scene on their bookshelf is surrounded by paper cut up, colored, and taped back together in every imaginable shape.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father says James 1:17.



I hope you are loving everything about this Advent, too; I hope that the anticipation of the birth of our Saviour fills your heart with joy today and tomorrow and every day of the coming year. In a few short days we will celebrate His birth, and then we can begin preparing for Him to again come to us with His everlasting grace.

Five

So I have a 5 year old. Pretty crazy. He is all boy, no hints of baby anymore. Well, except for when he is playing 'baby' and Evan is the dad who fixes tractors. But that's kind of annoying. He doesn't look like a baby when he's asleep, he sprawls out all long arms and legs. (Long being a relative term, of course, of which I am reminded after spending the weekend with my extremely long-limbed 'little' cousins. Relative to me, he is quite long.) He doesn't look like a baby in jammies, or in the bathtub. He rarely runs naked anymore at all, which is clearly a sign of maturity. Every precious bone in his back is defined and surrounded by sinewy little muscles instead of that squeezable, pat-able baby fat.

He can play quietly by himself with Legos, creating elaborate farm equipment and pirate ships. He consistently beats us at Wii games, and after a brief stint with a 'Good Sport' folder last spring, he is a good, well, sport. He is starting to read and I especially love to listen to him 'read' his favorite books, word for word and page by page. He takes care of the dogs and cats and chickens. He hauls wood and steers the truck and brings Matt tools before I can say 'what does that one look like again?'.

He is affectionate, compassionate, enthusiastic. Smart, smart-alecky. Kind, generous, brave, responsible.

I really like this kid.

What are you doing? he asked.

Writing about your birthday.

Do you have a 9?
Yeah.
Well press it!

9 Why?

Because! Today is December NINTH!

I think he is constantly annoyed by my denseness.

Right on schedule.

And now he is Three...

My Baby is three.A three year old boy, to be more specific. He runs and climbs and insists on steering the truck when we drive to the ranch. He makes chainsaw and motor vehicle noises. He tackles people (and the dog) and head- butts to demonstrate affection. He still snuggles and kisses and would rather sleep in my bed than anywhere else. He likes to play "gohn-ups" with Ethan; they talk in deep, grown-up voices about their work and their tractors. He loves to draw and cut and glue. "What does dis say," he asks about the scribbles he has made across the page. "Does dis say Evan?" Almost, baby. He loves to be read to, and I hope he never outgrows that. His favorite book is still Big Red Barn. He loves Sunday School and reading the Bible in the evenings. He loves baking and stirring and spilling. He loves vegetables and meat more than any other foods. (?) He loves putting on his boots and helping his Dad. Ethan is his best friend, and watching them play and learn and work together brings more joy to my heart than I ever could have imagined. His other best friend is Eve.

He loves spending time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. And why wouldn't he, as surrounded with love as he is?
The highlight of the birthday party on Sunday was a little guitar. "I'm so gad I have mine own contar!" he exclaimed jubilantly. He noticed something was missing, though, and opened up Gramma's case to point it out. "I need dis... sumpsing," he said, pointing to the strap. I pulled one off a duffel bag and Tessa MacGuyvered it into a functional guitar strap. It worked great when he slung it over his head to sing "Dis Widdle Wight of Mine" with Gramma, and it was even more useful when he moved on to play with something (or sumpsing) else.

Happy birthday, Baby. I love you with every beat of my heart. I am so proud of all that you are learning and the sweet person you are becoming.

Neither Art nor Craft

We've been doing a lot of gluing lately. By 'we' of course I mean those two nimble blondes who can scramble onto the counter and into the art supply cupboard before I can say "Don't climb with scissors."





At first I couldn't stifle the inner preschool-teacher-assistant in my head. "Too much! Too much! What are you going to actually going to put on the glue?"



Then I remembered that in August glue was on sale, like 6 for a dollar, and I stocked up. And I thought, what do I care if they don't use the glue to affix something to something else. Everyone is so happy right now, no one has noticed that I am eating chocolate chips out of the jar.

Plus, look at how it teaches them to deal with adversity. "No mo' goo is comin' out!"

And the satisfaction of squeezing mo' goo out all by yourself.

And the utter joy of creating something uniquely yours, even if no one knows what it is and you have glue on your eyelashes.

Not to mention the utter joy of the mama not sharing chocolate chips.

Med School

We couldn't resist this set of little scrubs when looking at Halloween costumes. The boys love their doctor set, and this was just the addition to the dress-up box that we have been needing.

Trick or Treat

We were all waiting in suspense to find out what the boys were going to dress as- Ethan had considered pirate, batman, cop, and ghost. Evan was too distracted by the prospect of "knockin' on dohs an' gettin' CANDY" to think about costumes. "Is today the pahrty where we knock on people's dohs?" he asked every morning. Finally, it was... and the streets were a little safer with this policeman and firefighter on duty.