Last Gracie Post of the Year...

"Mommy, I'm horrified!  Because there aren't any more clean pajamas!"

A Little Getaway

I'm hoping that this post is just a "teaser" for a longer one, coming soon.

We just got back from a short getaway with our family. Jeff found a rustic cabin right on the water of one of our favorite lakes. I didn't know it was possible to find a cabin that was not fancy but that was on the water. Leave it to Jeff! This cabin was part of a camp, and was the perfect place for us to get away from things for a few days. Even though we had done our best to keep the stress out of Christmas, some of the stress still crept in. We had a special time together recovering from Christmas, reading, hiking, drinking hot chocolate, playing games, keeping Benjamin out of the fireplace, reading more, and drinking more hot chocolate.

Two of our three nights away were crowned with amazing sunsets. This was the sunset on the night we arrived. I hope to post more pictures soon...

Two More Family Pics

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Dear family and friends,

We decided to take one year off from sending out Christmas cards. We'll post pictures online for you this year instead. (This one was taken right after Thanksgiving.) We hope that you and yours are experiencing the true joy of Christmas!

Much love,

Jeff, Amy, Jonathan, Grace, and Benjamin

Benjamin's First Birthday (and Party)

I didn't capture pics of everything, or even all the important people who made Benjamin's day special, but here are a few pictures I did get. My apologies to everybody who is not pictured here. We were so glad you could be a part of Benjamin's special day!

Bonding with Daddy first thing in the morning

Looking down at the tree before his party

Cupcakes. My mom was a big help with these and other yummy things.

Doreen couldn't come, but she sent her signature cookies.

Corinne and Charlotte with B and me. They are four months apart but almost the same size. I still wonder if she might walk first!

Sweet gifts!

My sweet baby who is growing up

Opening the first gift

Grace tests the alligator

Jonathan watching him opening the concrete mixer...

That goes with this truck

It's good to be big!

Fire! Benjamin almost grabbed the candle before I blew it out for him.

Tasting the cupcake, and wearing the bib Jonathan wore for his first birthday.

Num num num! He didn't waste a single crumb!

By the way, my scale says he is 25 lbs., 1 oz. He has a checkup this week, so I'll post to let my loyal readers (probably just his grandmas :) ) know how long he is.

And, just for fun...

Click here for Jonathan's first birthday party. At 1 year, he was 21 lbs., 12 oz., 32" long.

Click here for Grace's first birthday party. (There are several party posts for her, so go to March 2010 if you want to see them.) At 1 year, she was 21 lbs., 13 oz., 30" long.

Her party sure had a lot more detail and preparation than Benjamin's. Sorry, sweet boy! I guess that's the difference between a second child born in March and a third child born in December. We may not have done anything fancy, but we certainly treasure every moment with him.

Going to Get Jonathan

It wasn't super cold outside, as you can tell by the lack of mittens. But Grace loves wearing a hat, even if it's a hand-me-down from Jonathan. And it was cold enough to bundle up the younger kiddos. I think they're pretty cute all bundled up, even if they're mismatched!

My mom made these pants from an upcycled sweater. How great is that!

One Year Old

I'll say something about our dear boy later, but thought you might enjoy the picture for now!

PS

I made the invitations to both boys' birthday parties this year. Don't be too impressed yet, though. I used these pictures glued to one side of a card and put the party information (printed out via the computer, very bare-bones, no cutesy stuff) on the back. It was quick. Here's Jonathan's, which I was happy with.

Here's Benjamin's. I couldn't get the lighting quite right for it, but it still worked.

Last year I didn't even send invitations for Grace's birthday - I just emailed family and asked them to come. So, life must be getting a little better this year. :)

Seven

We celebrated Jonathan all weekend. Seven years of parenting, and we can hardly believe it. He is every ounce of wiggly, loud, hard-to-contain, first grade boy. And we also love his tender heart toward his younger siblings. You should see the way he tries to show them something new or explain something to them. And he's still crazy about reading. He gives us lots of gray hairs (OK, from the look of it, most of those are going to me) and brings us tons of joy.

Jonathan had the choice of sharing a family party with Benjamin this year or of having a small friend party. He chose a friend party, but lots of family and friends still made sure that he had special gifts to open yesterday on his real birthday. Every single gift was carefully chosen and right on target. Yesterday we celebrated him in the morning, and then I went to the funeral of a dear friend's father, and then we celebrated some more, and then Jeff and Jonathan and I went to a wedding. It was a very full day.

Today we went to church and then had his friend party in the afternoon while Benjamin and Grace slept. We kept it small and short - just four buddies for two hours - but I think the party was a smashing success and a good time was had by all. It's amazing how far some playtime and some styrofoam airplanes can go! Jonathan wanted cookies instead of cake for his birthday, so we did that, and he was very happy. I don't know all the families of the four buddies well enough to share their names and faces here, so I'll just include a picture of Jonathan during his party. His face says it all: missing teeth, chocolate around his mouth, and lots of laughter.

Happy birthday, Jonathan, we love you so much!

No Crib for a Bed? No Problem!

Grace took Baby Jesus out of the Nativity set downstairs and brought him up to the Little People house upstairs. Obviously, this is a better place for a baby to sleep!

But maybe the laundry room and bathroom are a better place to spend time with his parents, the wise men, and the angel.

The Nativity...with Legos

Jonathan took it upon himself to recreate the scene of Jesus' birth with Legos. And a folding stable.

Here we have Joseph, Mary, and the Baby on the left, and the shepherd with his sheep on the right. (Jonathan didn't want to be in the picture.)

The stable was hinged and could close, so here it is, all closed up. I loved it!

Thank You...

to Amazon, not only for delivering Christmas gifts from faraway relatives, but also for delivering this free toy for my children. First, it inspired lots of running around the house, and then it inspired this series of pretending moments from Grace:

I'm a gorilla!
I'm a fire truck!
I'm a styrofoam airplane!
I'm a seal!
I'm a guinea pig!

And it ended in a fun popping time for Grace, Jonathan, and me. Oh, and I reused the ones I could when I mailed some packages of my own. Simple pleasures, right?

Lips

This is one relaxed baby. Look how relaxed he is while he sleeps, and look at those smooshed lips. The red marks on his face are from sleeping on his hand. He usually sleeps with his head laying on one hand, and I think he must have had his head turned the other way right before I came in and took this picture. I wish I could sleep this peacefully!

Thanksgiving

Well, it's December 4th and I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving.  Sigh...

OK, here goes!  We certainly have had reason to mourn in 2011, but we also have reasons to rejoice and give thanks.  And so, we set our hearts and minds on those things and gave thanks to God for the countless ways he has blessed us both in happy times and in sad times.  Jeff and I are so thankful for our precious kids and the joy they bring to our lives each day.

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving day and the days surrounding it.

John came out for a visit and to meet Benjamin for the first time.  Here he is with Grace...


and Benjamin.


They got along just fine!


Here is my daughter who thinks of doing things that I would never come up with on my own!


Here are the kiddos in their Thanksgiving (cozy) dress-up outfits.


And here is how most of our picture-taking sessions look.


He is just so kissable, we can't help ourselves.


Our almost-one-year-old boy and his daddy.


Thanksgiving table set for 12


Thanksgiving table set for six


The kids watching the Macy's parade.  You can tell that they don't watch much TV.  With all the toy commercials, I thought I'd be hearing all about the toys for the next few weeks, but thank goodness, that hasn't happened.


Mom and me


Jeff and his dad


Jeff working on the gravy and John carving the turkey.  All our guests were kind enough to bring food, so the work of the meal was divided up and all I had to do was to get the house ready and take care of the kids.


I didn't get pictures of most of our guests, but here are a few I did get...these are of my mom entertaining Grace while we waited for everyone else to arrive.



Mom feeding Benjamin for me


Benjamin didn't last long in his sweater and pants and was soon wearing only a onesie.  So, here's Grace in his pants, saying, "I'm wearing a baker's hat!"


And now, "I'm Minnie Mouse!"


Grace, Natalie, and Jonathan do a little coloring after the meal


A spirited Monopoly game the day after Thanksgiving.  Grace played with the houses and hotels while the guys played the game.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanskgiving!