Rub a dub dub...

...4 kids in a tub. Haven't done this in a while. Once I did I realized why. Let's just say I'm surprised the basement didn't get water in it again through the ceiling.

Make new friends, but keep the old

Who knew changing the holiday decorations could be so traumatic? It seems like the kids love to see the new decorations come out for the seasonal changes, but they are so sad to see the other items put away. As Jackson would phrase it, "Oh, man! What happened to my stuff?" No matter how you try to explain it, I think they would love a collection of all the holiday items year round. Hmmm...I wouldn't have to put anything away...or get anything out again...so very tempting, but somehow I don't think Matt would be on board. So for now we pack up the old and put out the new.

This toddler-sized scarecrow was outside on our front porch for the fall season. When I brought it inside to store until next year, Mia (who was previously scared of it) decided to make a new friend. In the process of putting it away, (do people actually put things away right after they take them down?) I find Mia in her bedroom like this:

She drug that scarecrow in her room all by herself. I thought this was so cute and funny. I mean, she has 3 brothers to play with and, no offense, the scarecrow certainly isn't your average doll. I suppose he doesn't bite, take toys away, talk back, tattle, or argue over what to play with. Needless to say, she was sad to see him go. Luckily, I have a replacement friend who is equally quiet, submissive, and easy to get along with.

Hello Santa! See you next year scarecrow!

Double Trouble

Christmas Crafts/True Christmas Meaning

Here are some fun crafts the kids and I have done this past week. We had tons of dum dum suckers left from Halloween and I thought the sucker tree would be fun to do. I had to cut the sticks down so they wouldn't poke out of the other side and I think putting a bit of glue on the end might have made it more sturdy. Jackson enjoyed putting the suckers in the tree, but Mia only wanted to eat the suckers. We also made paper chains out of the candy dots and taped them together as an advent chain. We are going to cut one ring off each day until Christmas. Jackson helped me with a red pipe cleaner chain for our big Christmas tree as well since we are going to go sans ornaments this year (hum, I wonder why?)

Mia is really into the nativity sets and loves looking at the baby Jesus. We got a Little People nativity set that they can play with to help introduce them to the story of Jesus' birth. Such a big story to tell you know? Although the true meaning of Christmas may not come across to them this year, I hope that we are able to explain it to them as best we can.

There is a Christmas song that I really love sung by David Phelps and I think the words speak to the true meaning of Christmas and Jesus' birth. Because his voice is so amazing and this song is a duet with another amazing singer, I'm not sure if just the words will come across the way I hear it. Here they are anyway...

"He could have chosen to break through the sky, with anthem and angel wings. But He knew we would understand a baby's cry and the love from a servant King. He came with starlight and love in His eyes. No regal welcome for His infant cries. There have been many babies to become a king, but only one King became a baby."

Fun with Mr. Potato Head

Our kids have always loved "trying on" the Mr. Potato head items. This probably explains why our Spud friend needs to see his optometrist soon to fix his severely stretched out glasses...

A Playdate

A couple of weeks ago we were able to visit my good friend Amber and her two cute kids Clark and Cora. It is nice to be able to get out of the house and relax in a friend's house that is baby proofed, let our kids play, and chat about motherhood. Friends that are also mothers are essential, in my opinion, for sanity. Above are some pictures from their fun!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was enjoyable, but also very LOUD. Turns out that the twins had bilateral ear infections (although we didn't know it at the time), Mia had possible strep throat, and Jackson was just being Jackson. Needless to say there was a lot of whining and crying during our Thanksgiving celebrations. It was stressful for Matt and I, but everyone got to see the kids whether they were smiling or not. Three of the 4 kids are on antibiotics now and are starting to feel better. We had a delicious meal at the Warren Thanksgiving with several delicious recipes from the Pioneer Woman (green bean bundles and whiskey glazed carrots) and finished the dinner off with my Aunt Pam's delicious chocolate pecan pie. Friday we spent the day with Matt's family and had another loud, but enjoyable time. The kids all napped so we were able to actually watch a movie (Hancock) which was fun. Matt's mom also made a yummy new recipe this year for stuffing which included dried cranberries and sausage. Matt's dad made their famous whiskey sours which were also tasty and needed due to the loudness. It went by fast as always. Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving! Hopefully Christmas will be quieter for our families sake:).