"Gingerbread Baby"

There is a delightful Christmas book that we save for the holiday time. "Gingerbread Baby" is a treasured story, and requires that we make the gingerbread babies and gingerbread house. The boys and I made these gems before we left for Iowa.

Take a close look at the pool of frosting dripping off one of the "babies". Moderation is a lost art in frosting application around here.

Cheeser #1

Cheeser #2

Handles

Jonathan has a pair of jeans that I recently got out for him to wear. They have the adjustable waist straps cinched as tightly as they allow. He was thrilled with the new jeans, "Mommy, look these have handles to help me when I want to pull them up." The benefits of adjustable waist straps go beyond the obvious.

There's Some

We have been driving home several times in the dark in the last few weeks, and this means Christmas lights. Jamie loves to hear Caleb say this: "There's some!!" Caleb isn't discriminating in his Christmas light taste. He shrieks, "There's some!" if there is one light or a thousand. This means there is constant shrieking until we arrive home.

Jonathan told me today, "When I grow up I'm going to be a firefighter until I'm thirty-five. Then, I'm going to buy a Johnny Popper and a plow. You and Daddy can plow the outside of the field and I'll plow the middle. Caleb can help me."

Lastly, my parents were here for almost two weeks to help my sister with the new baby (or more to help her with the two year old who is suddenly a big brother). Jonathan got used to seeing them quite often as compared to the normal visits.

Jonathan: "Grammie and Grampie should move to Kansas City."

Me: "Yes, that would be great. Do you want to talk with them about that?"

Jonathan: "I'll ask them and see if they will. But if they say no, I'll understand."

Glad that you are so understanding, kiddo, because I don't think they are moving anywhere.

Attire for the Weather

We have snowpants, boots, hats and all of the winter gear even though we don't usually get much snow. We are northerners at heart, and the minimal snow that we do get requires immediate playtime before it disappears. It takes a long time to bundle a two year old and four year old for play in sub-zero wind chill temperatures. It also makes it quite difficult for the two year old to move...

Maybe if I army crawl I can get somewhere

Down, again!

Trying with great effort to get up

Joshua Arthur

We are quite smitten with our new nephew/cousin, Joshua. He is a seemingly calm, contented baby and is a delight to snuggle with! Jonathan loves holding him, and Carla is quite gracious to allow him to do so.

Joshua, one week old

Four Warriors

Jonathan, age four, son of mine.

Jacob, age two, son of my sister.

Caleb, age two, son of mine.

Joshua, age five days, son of my sister.

For those who know my family, my sister and her husband, Nate, were delighted to have a second son last week. We will be having a wild time around family gatherings (add my friend's (Abby), two boys and there are six) with all of that wonderful boy energy. We saw them several times over the weekend, but I took no photos. I will remedy that and post some soon!

Decoration of a Different Kind

I entered the living room yesterday to find Jonathan carefully placing the last "decoration" on this little tree. "Look, Mommy, I decorated this little tree! Do you like it?" Absolutely, kiddo. It is perfect.

Such fun to be a Birthday Boy!

Caleb had a great day last Wednesday... donut cake, a present from us, and a present from Jonathan. Jonathan was very ready to offer a helping hand with the lego bus and its assembly.

Blow out these candles and dig in!!

A little help is OK.

A present for me, really?

Presents and Play Time

Ready, Set, Eat Cake!!

Mommy and Caleb talking about the cake

Daddy and Caleb ready to blow out candles

Caleb, ready to dive in...

Mmmm... birthday CAKE!

Cake and a Party

We had a small party for Caleb on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate his birthday. There were a few kids there, and thus there was a "kids only" table which was great fun since there were more than just our two children present.

"The gang"

Cheeser and not-so-cheeser

Jonathan and Anna, conversing about their grapes

Our family with the birthday boy and his orange car cake

Lots o' Family

After being hundreds of miles from any family, we enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner for Jamie that included Aunt Mary, Uncle Tom, Bruce, Stacey, Maynard and Judy. What fun!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The biggest boy in our house turned thirty-five over Thanksgiving weekend. Grandpa Maynard and Grandma Judy came to visit in celebration of the big boy and the little boy's birthdays. It was a beautiful weekend and quite full of activities. The old and young all enjoyed playing the in the leaves, and Caleb and Jonathan helped make a special cake for their daddy.

Boy Turns Two

Caleb, my sweet boy,

... is quick with a smile or a hug, and warms quickly to strangers. Your hugs and smiles are priceless!

... still bites when frustrated or tired, but is doing it with less frequency.

... loves all kinds of food and will try most anything. He has little patience to wait for the food to arrive once he has decided he's hungry, and can often be heard loudly protesting the wait.

... loves puzzles and will work with them for a long time.

... enjoys playing by himself but also loves company.

... has a strong affinity for trucks and plays contentedly with them for long periods of time.

... sleeps with Curious George, gorilla, two little blankies, two big blankets, and a multitude of pacifiers.

... has hair that sticks in all directions without the aid of water and a comb.

... dances to music with an interesting jive.

... expresses his emotions loudly and clearly. We have never wondered what he is thinking, and it seems that this isn't quickly going to change.

... has a small window between "not tired" and "overly tired" that we try very hard to hit when putting him to bed.

Watching Caleb's personality develop is a delight. Two is such a fun age, and I love hearing all of the new things Caleb learns to say and express.

Happy Birthday to my little boy! We all love you very much... And I'm so happy I get to be your momma!

Deck the House

We put up our tree and all Christmas decorations on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. It wasn't without challenge as both boys were drastically short on sleep that evening after minimal napping, and things always take longer than we plan.

Like the attitude?

Jonathan was a tremendous help in the assembly of the tree... Caleb was less than helpful.

Exhaustion

The move here went smoothly. It was sunny and beautiful when we loaded everything. It rained as we drove the several hours to our new destination. Then, Saturday morning it cleared off before the movers needed to start unloading and it was another lovely day. Our new house is much better than I hoped for, and I am most grateful for the space and the fact that there are not boxes strewn about. It seems as though the boys are liking the new digs and feel at home in this house. Jonathan was a bit wiped out after all of the excitement, and here is what happened on two of the days in the week following the move:

Asleep on the hardwoods in the closet of his room

During quiet time Jonathan stubbornly stayed awake despite his obvious exhaustion. He emerged from his room after the hour that he stays in there for quiet time, and after playing for a bit I found him asleep. Asleep with his head resting on the wrought iron table!!

One More Zoo Trip

The zoo near our previous home was amazing. We visited there often and knew our way around very well. We wanted one more visit before we left and our good friends, Andrew and Heather, joined us for the day. Jonathan and Andrew are two weeks apart in age, and have a silly, very boyishly fun time together.

The three at the penguin exhibit

Great buds (for a long time, I hope)

Storytime

One of our favorite weekly activities had been story time at the local library. Miss Ike is a magical storyteller and craft designer, and we have delighted to spend one morning a week with her for the past year and a half.

Miss Ike and Jonathan

The kids doing one of the songs with Miss Ike and the beanbags

We are Here

We survived the move, and things went quite smoothly. Our rental house is much nicer than I anticipated, and for that I am most grateful.
Internet that is more than on my phone will be installed next week so I'll post some photos and a few good stories then.
Beginning a new season...

Saying Goodbye

Who likes it? I have yet to find someone who does.

These last two weeks will be weeks of lasts: last breakfast with friends from church, last lunch with Amanda and Rachel, last walk on the trail with friends, last book club, last morning at church, last time walking to our neighbors' houses.

The movers arrive bright and early on Friday and we will be moved into our rental house by this time next Saturday.

We are sad, but we are ready and excited, too. Ready for what God has in store for this next season of life.

Off to Gather Some Treats

Trick or treating and the goodies that filled our treat sacks will likely be motivation enough for costume wearing in years to come.

My boys... off to trick-or-treat

Brothers

Happy Halloween!

Dressing up

This was the first year that Halloween actually involved a costume for anyone in this house. Jonathan didn't want to dress up last year (or the year before), and I didn't fight those battles. Caleb was too small to care last year and was still in utero the year before that. Alas, the first year of costumes:

Jonathan saw this in a magazine and decided this was the costume for him: a road with cars and motorcycles driving.

"The road" without cars and with a dragon hat

The dragon costume from our friends, the Allisons. Caleb was a much more willing participant at almost two than Jonathan was at that age.

By the way: do you notice the boxes and chaos everywhere? Less than two weeks until we move!!

Esther, dear Esther

She is fun. Spunky. Patient. Understands the strong personalities we have around here. We love her and will miss her greatly. I'm already hoping she'll visit once we move!

Leaves

What gorgeous fall weather for walking outside, playing in the leaves, and enjoying the company of friends!!