A not so Traditional Christmas

One thing I love about Christmas is the traditions.  Christmas left me a little melancholy though because it was not filled with tradition this year.  We started off the week before Christmas staying at my mom's because we were getting wood floors put in, and we should of know better but the project was delayed and the house was a disaster, something went wrong and we had to clean literally everything in the house from dust.  I want to thank my mom and dad for letting us stay with them and put them out for a week and for helping us clean up our disaster.  I also want to thank Kim and Mark for watching our children all day so we could clean.  We stayed at my parents another night because the house had a very strong smell.  I was taking it all in stride and we all went to bed very tired that Saturday night before Christmas.  We were planing to go to Norman on Sunday to have Christmas with Ashley since she was due any day and wouldn't be coming home for Christmas.  At 1:30 in the morning my mom woke me up to tell me that Ashley's water had broke and they were going to Norman, I decided to go with them.  Josh and the girls were going to meet me there later.  But that didn't happen because Sarah woke up with a fever and cough, which we now think it was the flu.  Ashley had a beautiful baby boy named Joseph and he is 8 lbs 10 oz and has a head full of dark hair. Our family has never seen hair like Joseph's before. My family was disappointed they couldn't see Joseph and Lucas and Samuel.  We did spend Christmas Eve with my parents but we only had Abigail with us at mass and that was so strange.

 

Sarah was so excited that Aunt Melissa got her a kitty.  She loves it. 

Anna got a Minnie Mouse chair from Grandma and Paw Paw and loved it as well.

 

I prayed that night that Sarah would be well enough to enjoy opening the gifts because she had been looking forward to Christmas for so long.  Thankfully she seemed well enough on Christmas morning.

Abigail received an American Girl Doll from Santa and she has been so giddy about it.

Uncle Joey came and spent the morning with us and we enjoyed playing Fibber together.  We also found out that Grandma Denton would not be coming on Christmas as expected because she broke her wrist and it is going to require surgery.  We were all so bummed and disappointed.  As the day went on Sarah started feeling worse again and she was in bed early.  Josh and I started to feel bad as well and everyone was in bed by 8:30.  Josh went to the doctor today and found out that he has the flu.  I am feeling better and Sarah is too. I pray that Abigail and Anna don't get sick and that everyone else recovers quickly so we can have fun together and finish all the work on the house.

 

I am counting my blessings on the health we do have and all the other blessings in our life such as each other and our home.  I just wish all my extended family could all be apart of our Christmas as well.  It feels very strange and lonely not to have everyone around on Christmas.

Grinch Punch

The girls and I have been flying solo lately while Josh finishes up school and catches up on work, so we decided to do some Christmas shopping for Josh and the angel tree.  The girls were great at picking out the gifts.  We then came home and had Grinch juice and the girls thought it was a lot of fun.  They loved putting sugar around the rim of their glasses.

 

Our drinks didn't get very green because we don't live next to a Super Target for some odd reason so they only had rainbow sherbet at the store.  Oh well the sugar turned everything green for us.

I told Sarah she might turn green like the Grinch but she didn't believe me.

Anna wanted to get in on the action so she was a ham for the camera.

 

I love these girls and I am trying so hard to live in the moment and capture these memories.

Christmas is Coming

We decorated for Christmas after Thanksgiving and Abigail and Sarah were so excited.  Sarah couldn't contain her excitement and wanted to decorate before her eyes were open in the morning.  Abigail couldn't stop talking about when our elf Bella was going to come.  The girls loved putting up their ornaments and wanted to know who gave them that ornament.

 

Sarah lined all her ornaments in a row on the bottom branches.

Abigail couldn't wait to find her Rudolph ornament.

Anna found little plastic ornaments that were her "balls" and threw them around the house.

Abigail spent her entire Thanksgiving break reading the American Girl Doll Books that were mine when I was little.  I love that she loves reading and I love how focused she is but it made me a little sad to see how much she is growing up.  She didn't play a whole lot with toys and she didn't ask to watch TV or play the computer very much because she read and read and read.  I love watching her brain grow at the rapid pace that it is.

Josh put up the Christmas lights outside and the girls loved it.  He did a great job.

A Lost Tooth

On Novemeber 17, Abigail lost her first tooth.  Her tooth was loose for over 3 months and her adult tooth came in before the baby tooth came out so there isn't a big hole left in its spot.  She was so excited to lose a tooth and told everyone she knew.  I was gone when she lost her tooth and she called me and talked very fast and was in shock.  I wish I could of been there for that.  I cannot believe my baby has an adult tooth.

Go Pokes

Josh and Abigail went to an OSU game last Saturday and they had so much fun.  Abigail was a trooper they were gone all day and she enjoyed being the only child with Josh, Paw Paw, and Aunt Lindsey.  I feel like time is going so fast it won't be long before Abigail is attending school at OSU.  Sarah, Anna and I had fun with Lucas and Samuel preparing for Noah's baptism.  I told Sarah we could do something fun together and she decided we should buy some new shoes.  She is such a girl.

Sarah's Thoughts

The other day I was getting ready in my bathroom and Sarah started talking to me.  She said "Mommy I have two hands."  I said "Yes, Sarah you do."  She then went on and very casually "My thumb and my little finger are in the wrong spot on this hand."  I just smiled.  Sarah thinks and is very aware of much more than she lets on.  She thinks much differently than Josh and I and I love that about her.

Building and Planking

The nights are getting dark fast and we are now trying to find new ways to have fun indoors.  Tonight we are doing Anna's favorite thing building with blocks.  Abigail and Sarah added their own flair with dressing up while building.  Anna builds with blocks all day, she is pretty good at it too.  She carefully places a block on top of another and then says in a high pitch voice "woow!" "more?."  She sometimes laughs when it falls, but she is always very focused and determined.  I could not get her to look at me for a picture.

We are going to install wood floors soon so the girls decided to try out the samples tonight.

 

Anna has also been planking.  I am not sure why but she thinks it is funny to lay down anywhere say "night, night" and then lays flat down.  She does it in the house, outside, in a store, and at church. 

Halloween 2012

 We had a great Halloween with perfect weather. 

Abigail was a "good"witch.  (Her words not mine.)  I think she was a beautiful witch.  She was very independent and led the pack through the neighborhood.  She also informed me of all the safety precautions and rules of Halloween.

 

 Sarah chose to be Thumbelina.  She has no idea who Thumbelina is but it fits Sarah.  Sarah made it through most of the neighborhood but was the first to decided it was time to go home. 

Anna was Minnie Mouse since she loves Minnie.  She did not love putting her costume on or taking pictures but once she figured out there was candy involved she was all game.  She would knock very loudly on the neighbors door and wait for candy.  She would put the candy in the pumpkin say thank you and then waited looking up at the neighbor for more candy.

 

Here is a picture of the mob that went through the neighborhood.  We have grown so much in many ways and I cherish all the friendships. The first picture is 2012 the second is our first neighborhood Halloween picture from 2008.







Pumpkin Carving

We carved a pumpkin tonight and had a lot of fun.  It was our cleanest pumpkin carving yet.

Sarah colored her pumpkin while Josh and Abigail decided on our pumpkin face.  Sarah was very focused on her art.

Anna enjoyed decorating her pumpkin as well.

Abigail was having a hard time determining what we should carve the pumpkin.  Sarah was being silly.  Anna wanted in on the action but wanted to take charge.  Josh wanted some peace.

Anna didn't want anything to do with carving a pumpkin.  She would panic if the pumpkin slime would touch her.  I think Abigail was our only daughter who always got in the pumpkin and enjoyed it.

The final product.  Of course Abigail picked a pumpkin that was injured.  She is going through a  stage where she wants a cast or glasses or a major injury.

Safari

This weekend we took a drive to the drive through Safari.  The girls were so excited and anticipated this trip for a week now.

 

Abigail was excited right away and spotted an ostrich.  We reinforced that our children are rule followers and did not like the fact that our windows were down when the sign says "keep windows closed."

Sarah quietly watched the animals.

Anna was pointing and yelling at the animals right away.  She seemed to have no fear.

Anna also thought it was fun to drive us through the sarfari.

My girls.

I'm sorry but those ostriches scare me.  I think I would rather meet another animal in the wild.

 I am not sure why but halfway through the safari Sarah decided she had enough maybe her blood sugar was low but this is where she rode the majority of the way back.

 



Sarah letting a cow smell her feather.

 Anna liked petting the cow until one came up to her and rammed her.

 



Of course all my girls enjoyed petting baby lions.

Sarah fell asleep right before we arrived home.  We had a lot of fun and we saw a lot of animals.  I asked each of them what their favorite animal was and Abigail said all of them but she really liked the kangaroos and Sarah said she liked.... wait for it.... a house cat.?.?  I hope this was a weekend the girls will remember for a long time.

Pumpkin Patch Time

Josh took off today and we decided to go to the pumpkin patch.  We were wild and crazy this year and decided to go to a different pumpkin patch. 

 

 Anna looked so kissable in her new jacket.  We tried to get her to say "pumpkin" all morning but our efforts were fruitless. 

Abigail and Sarah driving the bus.  I just saw my life flash before me.  Abigail has matured so much recently.  She tries everyday to be well behaved and she likes to show how responsible she is.  Sarah has figured out how to let others do everything for her and she is struggling with independence right now.  She was able to enjoy herself at the pumpkin patch though.

We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and everyone was excited to go find a pumpkin.

 

Josh and I were just talking about how Anna is no longer a baby.  She is comprehending everything and she is expanding her vocabulary everyday.  She is at a very fun age but she is also very determined which will do her well in the future but can be frustrating right now.

Sisterly love.

 The girls were more impressed with the fact that Uncle Mark found ladybugs.  Ladybugs and pumpkins must live together because there were ladybugs everywhere.  My girls love ladybugs but Abigail really LOVES ladybugs and kept one with her.

 

The pumpkin patch was a real pumpkin patch and the girls had fun finding the right pumpkin off the vine.

Fall Break Posters

 Our Fall Break started yesterday and it has been estrogen city at our house.  Josh has been going into work early in the morning and at school at night the past two days.  We needed a change of pace so this morning I asked the girls what should we do?  Abigail decided it would be best to make a list.  So we came up with ideas and Abigail checked the one we decided.  They decided that we should buy posters and decorate them.  That sounded good to me so we went to Target and bought supplies.  The girls had fun decorating them and were proud of their creations when complete.  Even Anna got into the project and was very excited when I found Minnie Mouse Stickers in the closet.

 

Here are Abigail and Sarah's final product.

 

Here is Anna's. (She wouldn't stand with hers.)

Future Singer and Songwriter

 

Abigail has been creating songs for Josh and I and playing them through Anna's monitor.  They are so sweet and it is fun to listen to them.  I do see music in her future.  I hope she will always sing songs about how much she loves her Mommy and Daddy.  She makes us so proud.

Samuel Turns Two

Samuel turned two and we had such a great time celebrating his birthday.  He is so precious and growing so quickly. Samuel pretends not to like me but I know he really does and I love him so much.  His birthday theme was Pirates and it was a lot of fun.

 

Ashley decorated a cookie cake that her mother-in-law made and did a wonderful job and it was delicious.  Ashley is so talented.

 

 The weather was perfect for family fun.  Abigail and Sarah had fun riding a rope swing that was hanging on a tree.

 

I could really see how much Abigail has grown up recently she was very mature at the party and was such a big help with the little kids.

 

Abigail and Paw Paw eating a yummy birthday lunch.