Christmas Day

Our Christmas Day was wonderful! The night before, I had told the two older boys that they could come down NO EARLIER than 6:30 in the morning, but that 7 would be better.......Well, Luke and I woke up at 6:28 to "Mom, Dad, wake up, wake up!
I should have known.

So, even though it was still very dark out and very cold, we headed out to the living room to check out our stockings. Braden wasn't up yet, but the other two jumped right into theirs and B came out shortly after.
I wish we had video of him as he started looking through his stocking because we think he was still half asleep and delirious. He was really hilarious!


In Luke's stocking was a book that Jacob had made (he really got into the making gifts thing we did this year). It was full of pictures that he had drawn of him and Dad doing things together. It was very thoughtful and sweet!




Each year, we let someone different play Santa and pass out gifts from under the tree. Jacob is so proud to be able to read the names of everyone in our family that he just had to be Santa this year, and he did great.



Another one of Jacob's gifts. He made a scene in a shoe box (can't remember the real name for them) for Samuel and Braden to share. It was them in a house with a Christmas tree. Very cute.

NASCAR of course. After Samuel opened this gift, we took a break. He and Luke sat at the table and put the car together while I got the breakfast ready....banana muffins and baked apples. It's just not Christmas morning without baked apples!

Nana made Braden his very own quiet time book. I'm sure he'll get plenty of use out of it although I don't know that he will ever figure out the quiet part.

Posing with the scarves that I made for them. The whole idea came from the fact that Samuel (aka Calvin) kept saying that his tiger Hobbes needed a scarf for sledding. So, I made a small scarf that would fit his stuffed tiger and decided to make them each their own. Already they have gotten plenty of use....a good part of our day (or at least their day) is spent out in the cold and snow.

Isn't Braden adorable?! He pulled this hat out of the box and jumped up shouting "hooray!" A new and very warm winter hat from Grandma and Grandpa. It's perfect for his little personality!


And yes, we are only encouraging Samuels Calvin and Hobbes obsession, but it just fits him so well. With this book and a few others that he got, he spends every free indoors minute on his bed reading.

I actually think this one was taken at night....yes, they are still in their same pajamas from the morning! It was a very relaxing Christmas. At least we brushed our teeth!
By the time we finished slowly working our way through gifts it was lunch time! We snacked a little and spent the afternoon playing new games, playing with new toys, building, sledding and reading. A simple soup for dinner and some cranberry cobbler to end our day.
We enjoyed each other so much (as we usually do) and it was definitely beautiful to have a white Christmas this year.

We were also overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and gifts from people in the church. Two that really struck us...a gift certificate for $75 from the entire church, to the ONLY good natural foods store around here. It is where I get most of the flours and baking items I need....I've spent it already! The other was from an older couple. She handed me the gift at the Christmas eve service and said it was just a little something for our family. There was a beautiful framed, tea stained embroidered quote, and in the card, 5 $100 bills! YIKES. Luke and I weren't sure if that was right....we just looked at each other in shock. As I thanked them this past Sunday they both said to me "We have been very blessed and are so glad to have the means to do so. You all have been through a lot the past few months and hopefully that will help out a little."
More that they know!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing day like we did.

Rudolph

One of the things we did on our long drive home from Medford last week, was sing Christmas Carols. The boys favorite right now is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer....I think that is because we had so much fun doing the "fill in's" You know, the "like a light bulb" parts. We would take turns being the filler-inner, while everyone else sang the verses. Some of the things that came out were very funny.

For some reason though, Luke and I were very amused by Braden doing the fill ins. He is the singer of our three boys....he wanders the house singing and will burst out in song for no reason. So, we thought we would share a little of Braden's Christmas cheer with you. Again, not the best video (it's something we want to invest in....our digital just doesn't do good videos...it's getting old), but you can at least hear him....and you can even hear Samuel and Jacob singing a little.

Kindergarten Christmas

The week before Christmas break, Jacob's kindergarten class combined with the p.m. class and the two pre school classes to do a little Christmas program. It was all singing...mostly simple Christmas carols. But, for each song they had a little "scene" in the background, and each child got to be in a scene. It was very cute.
For those of you who heard about Jacob's program last year (where he stood front and center and didn't even flinch...much less sing, the entire time), you may be shocked by these pictures. He sang his little heart out, had the motions down pat, and even smiled! He was very excited to do this and proud of his effort.



Wrapping themselves up as a gift for Mom and Dad....I hadn't heard this song before

This song was "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" The scene in the background was two kids fighting over a toy and the mom and dad standing over them shaking their fingers while singing "You better watch out....." Jacob got to be the dad. He was in a very large man's suit coat and top hat with a tie......SO CUTE!


Oh, Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree......

A short (and not very good quality) video, just for fun

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful day here! It was relaxing, fun and peaceful (as peaceful as it can be with 3 boys!). We spent the morning, slowly working our way through gifts, stopping to eat and play a game, then enjoyed the rest of the day just being a family...sledding, playing more games, building with new toys, listening to music.....
I have lots of pictures and several posts to catch up on....Jacob's school Christmas program, a song from Braden, and of course today's events.

Although it was a relaxing day, we are exhausted now that the boys are in bed. So, I plan to sit down with a cup of tea in one of my cool new loose tea brewing mugs (thanks Mom and Dad!) and enjoy a movie.
All the pics are uploaded from the camera, so I'll post tomorrow!

We were so happy to talk with some of you today and hope that everyone had a joyous holiday as you remembered Christs birth and the love he brought to us.

Love to all of you!

Finally, Our First Snow!

We have been anticipating this for over a month! Everyone here has said that there is usually snow by Thanksgiving....but we hadn't seen even one flake....until yesterday!
The moment there was the thinnest layer of snow on the yard, the boys were outside trying to make snowballs. They ended up mostly packing mud together, but had fun anyway.

We had a nice steady snow all afternoon yesterday. Not big flakes, but it didn't stop at all until late in the night.
This morning, I am guessing we had a couple of inches. Enough to cover the ground and play in, but not the best for sledding because the grass came through as the boys went down the hill.

These pictures are from about 8am this morning...I could hardly get them to eat 3 bites of breakfast before they were pulling on their pants and boots. It started to snow pretty good again around 10:30 am and hasn't stopped...so we will have quite a bit more by the end of the day I hope and more on the way tomorrow.

I think Zoe likes the snow as much as the boys...she was a little bit phsyco out there!

The sleds still worked (mostly) even though we needed just a little more cover on the ground

Playing train was the most fun. Braden in the back with Samuel holding on to the rope and Jacob "steering"

The crashed quite a few times but I didn't get any shots of that.


More snow on the way!


Looking out the kitchen window. I love icicles, they are so wintery


We walked over to the football field to run around too. I don't know that the boys will get tired of it EVER! I might....if we are pulling snow pants and boots on and off until March I might scream. But for now, it's fun.

I am laughing at Luke right now, because in the middle of this...he is down at the store with his kettlecorn stuff set up. I'm sure he is quite a sight out in that parking lot! He was supposed to be out at the Christmas Tree Farm again today, but he headed out there and only made it half way up the driveway (it's pretty long and steep) in the van (pulling the trailer). Then he started sliding and the brakes locked up. He said he almost went off the side, which is a cliff that leads down to the river! YIKES.
I guess I would rather he be at the store than out there today....I don't want him in the river!

So, we are discovering that our van might not be the best vehicle for the snow here. If we stay on the main roads it is fine, but to head up river for anything, we will be in trouble. Dave has been looking for a good 4 wheel drive for us. Someone donated some Ford Explorer studded tires and told him to give them to someone who needed them....SO, he's been looking for an Explorer to put them on! He called Luke today, after the van incident and said he had found one for VERY cheap! We'll check it out on our way down to Southern Oregon next week.

Tree Decorating

Luke is popping Kettlecorn out at a U-cut Christmas tree farm during the weekends of December. The people who own the farm had some very large trees to get rid of and donated one of them to the church. It proved to be too big even for our sanctuary, so the men cut a big piece off the bottom.
That piece "somehow" founds it's way into our back yard......

It made for a perfect (but cold and breezy) house.

Last Saturday Samuel, Braden and I drove up to the tree farm in the afternoon to meet Luke and Jacob (who went to help with the kettlecorn) and pick a tree.
Last night we got everything out and set to decorating.

It was Braden's turn to put the star on top. Jacob made that one in preschool last year. The one that Samuel made while in preschool is now the "star of Bethlehem" over our nativity scene. (don't mind Luke's belly shirt)

The boys did a great job with the tree this year, only asking Luke to help them get something up higher. We did have a few branches that had 5 or 6 ornaments clumped together , we are guessing Braden had something to do with that.




The tree is done, time for pictures of the boys in front of it. This one was "do something crazy"


This one was make a funny face. Jacob looks more like he got his ear slapped....can't figure out how that was a funny face....he's 5.

This one was "be serious". Apparently Braden got this one and the previous picture mixed up.

We are winding down at school, only 1 week left. We will be leaving on Tuesday for Southern Oregon. Samuel has his next REACH appointment and we will spend some time visiting my parents (seeing the new house that is almost done!) and meeting our new nephew...Hooray for Jim, Jamie, Jada and baby Cameron!
Then we will be home just in time for a white Christmas at our place.....we are looking forward to a fun and memorable couple of weeks.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a fun time visiting with Tami over Thankgiving weekend, we were all so glad that she could come up and stay for a while.
I was not very good about taking the camera on our outings...we went to Chelan, Leavenworth (The Hat Shop!) and several times went down to throw rocks out on the frozen river. I think Tami got some pictures of those things....maybe I can get them from her and share with everyone here.

Luke did remember to at least take some pictures of Thanksgiving dinner...the boys anyway. It was a delicious dinner, considering the fact that it was our first GF/CF holiday. We still had all the usual sides, I just substituted ingredients where we needed too. The homemade cranberry sauce was delicious and GONE, the conrbread stuffing was amazing, and the pumpkin pie even turned out pretty well. Luke and I really missed one item though....the creamcheese stuffed olives. There is just no worthy substitute for creamcheese, so we did without.

All in all I would say it was a success.

Braden just sitting still and waiting. Belive me, this is a HARD thing for him to do!

Samuel waiting too...isn't he growing up so much!?

And Jacob....not waiting anymore. He actually didn't eat this leg. He wanted to but I think realized that his eyes were bigger than his stomach so he put it back before even taking a bite.


Time for pie! The pumpkin was pretty good (it was the one I was the most worried about because substituting the condensed milk was proving to be harder than I thought it would). The apple didn't turn out as well....funny because I wasn't worried about that one at all, they've always turned out in the past.

Jacob's 5 year old trip part 2

Jacob playing with his cousin Eli at my brother's house.

Jacob playing with his cousin Zane at the sand pit at the football field, during football practice. I was able to lead a devotion time for some of the players after practice.

Visiting the La Brea tar pits. We watched a video, and looked at everything inside, then ventured outside, before buying some souvenirs at the gift shop.

Jacob being grabbed by a giant sloth, or at least a statue of one.


Jacob looking into an open excavation site. This site has been open since the 60's and they continue to pull bones out. There were some bones sticking out of the tar, I don't know if you can see them in this picture though.

We had a great trip, and I really enjoy the time I get to spend with each of their boys. In case you are wondering the plan is that Heidi will take the each of the boys on a trip when they turn 15.

Jacob's 5 year old trip part 1

Guest Post: i (Luke) am filling in for Heidi to post some pictures of the trip Jacob and I recently took to visit my brother and his family in La Verne, California. When each of our boys turn 5, at some point during the year I try to take them on a trip. So far those two trips have been to visit my brother and his family, and to watch what ever football team he happens to be coaching play. Of course we were able to add some other items to our itinerary. Here are the pictures.


Jacob riding the carousel at Santa Monica Pier. I was too heavy to ride, but was able to stand near him.

Jacob swinging on the beach at Santa Monica. After leaving the beach we went and had dinner with my friend Lane, who I played basketball with at Asbury.

Jacob and his cousin Zane, watching the football game. The La Verne Leopards put up a good fight against Chapman University, but they ended up losing the game. We didn't arrive at the game until the start of the second quarter because some roads were closed because of the fires.

Jacob and Zane playing at the beach on Sunday.

Jacob and Zane at the beach!

Still Here

I have been wanting to post Jacob's pictures from his California trip for about 3 weeks now....yikes, has it been that long?!
Well between 4 of us being sick for 2 weeks, school, church, and Thanksgiving I just haven't taken the time to sit down and do it.

With everyone starting to feel better now, I planned to get them up the last couple of days....until Jacob woke us up early on Monday morning saying his stomach hurt.
He ended up staying home from school on Monday and Tuesday because of a hurting belly. He never actually got sick, he just laid on the couch moaning and holding his stomach from time to time. It would hurt him for an hour and then he would feel better for a few hours...and that cycle continued for two days! It was weird.
Today he is better, no complaints and he went to school.

Luke and I think we have figured it out. It could have been a weak stomach bug that just didn't get bad enough to warrant hanging over the toilet.
But we think it was something else.

On Sunday night we decorated the church for Christmas and had a pot luck dinner. Jacob ate some Taco soup that someone else brought (the other boys didn't eat it). I looked at it and thought it would be fine (gluten and casein free), not thinking about the taco seasoning that could have been in it.

Often times the packaged seasonings like that will have some sort of gluten product in them. If someone has a sensitivity to gluten (or dairy), when you body is clean of it and then you ingest some , it can make you sick and miserable for up to a week! We really think this is what happened to Jacob. He had no other symptoms of being sick....just a crampy, aching stomach.
I have had some people say to me "a little bit won't hurt once in a while will it?"

YES IT WILL!

Just ask Jacob.

We will be even more careful from now on.

California pictures will be posted tonight. I promise!

He's Still My Baby

Often times I forget that Jacob is only 5 years old. He is a big boy for 5 (OK....a really big boy) and he is very mature, sensitive, coordinated and has a large vocabulary for a 5 year old. He has grown out of needing my help for so many things....he brushes his teeth on his own (by the way, his top two are loose already!), he showers on his own, he can make his own PB&J (something he is VERY proud of), he can tie his own shoes...and the list goes on.
However, lately I have realized that there is one thing he hasn't grown out of yet....something that he has done since he first began to speak.

He still calls me Mama.

My heart bursts every time I hear him call me this, it is so sweet and innocent!
He NEVER calls me Mommy, and only uses Mom when he is coming to tell on his brothers for something. So when I hear "Mom!" coming from down the hall.....I know what will follow "Samuel/Braden did........"
But when he is just talking to me about his day, or his thoughts or with questions, it's Mama.

I LOVE IT and a big part of me hopes he doesn't grow out of it (although he might be embarrassed by it in a few years)

"While You Were Out"

When Luke and I were still in youth ministry, my favorite event was Youthworkers Training Conference. It was always held in November in Bend....beautiful! We had a blast getting together with friends from all over the NW, playing games, discussing, learning and worshiping together.

One thing I always remember from those trips was watching the TLC channel late into the night (because we always seemed to have a small baby with us who would be up eating or crying). I would lie in bed and watch several episodes in a row of While You Were Out.
It was a home makeover show (don't know if it is still on) where one person would arrange for the other friend/family member to go away on a trip of some sort and the while they were gone a team of "experts" would come in and completely make over one room in the house.....SO FUN!
So, while Luke and Jacob were gone this weekend in California, I did my own version of the show! I made over our sad little bathroom......


BEFORE
Not a very good before picture because it really only shows the ugly blue shower curtain with the pink curtain rod. And of course the old sliding door frame. I took this when we first moved into the house, not thinking I would use it for this purpose.....no shots of the walls.


AFTER


Even if I had only replaced the curtain and rod it would have made a HUGE difference. But I also painted the walls (top is chocolate almond and the bottom is plain old white), repainted the cabinets and put new pulls on them.


The lights don't do the color justice, it is a very pretty color. I still want to replace the towel bars (on the opposite wall from the mirror), get a couple of pictures to hang above them, and add a few "accessories" of some sort to add accent color....I'm thinking powder blue, close to that of the tissue box.
It was a fun project, although I think it took all of my energy and has drawn my illness out longer. Luke really likes it too! Next we will tackle the living room and it's horrid brown panelling.

Pictures from Jacob's trip coming soon. They are all uploaded but I thought it would be fun to have him with me when I post them and let him tell the "story" of each picture.

Long Weekend

Luke and Jacob get home tomorrow night and I couldn't be happier about it! I am so glad to hear that they are having a great time, but I look forward to having them here again.
Our time here hasn't been horrible...well....close.

The three of us got along very well all weekend ( excluding the dog who drove us crazy all day, every day). This is probably because we have all been too sick to argue over who gets what toy or what to eat for lunch. My cold, or what ever this thing is has gotten progressively worse rather than better as the days pass and Samuel seems to be feeling the same. Last night Braden woke up with a fever and a croupy sounding cough......poor guy.

I will admit that my main reason for wanting Luke and Jacob home right now is so that I can get some sleep! Two of the three nights they have been gone, I have gotten about 3 hours of sleep....different boys with different illnesses....I'M TIRED!

Ok, enough complaining. This will pass.

So tonight when I sat down at the dinner table, I said "Boy am I exhausted, how about you guys." Braden quickly replied with "Nope, because we are kids. You are exhausted because you are a Mom."
If only he knew how true that statement was!

One thing that I actually did do while Luke was gone (I had a long list, but didn't get to much of it), was paint the bathroom! Luke doesn't know that I did it....I was just feeling like working on a project and that is what I settled on. I really dislike the brown paneling, especially in the living room, but I didn't feel brave enough to tackle that big of a room on my own in just a few nights.
Funny thing is....as much as I hate the brown paneling.....I ended up painting the bathroom brown!
The top is a chocolate almond and the white on the bottom really takes away from the darkness of the brown. I love it!

I'll put some before and after pictures up when Luke gets home with the camera, along with some pictures from their trip.

5 Year Trip

When Samuel was a baby (or maybe a toddler), Luke decided that he wanted to take each of our kids on a trip...just the two of them, when they turned 5 years old. So, when Samuel was 5, they flew to Texas to watch one of Uncle Andy's football games and do some sightseeing there.

Right now it is Jacob's turn. We were pushing it because he will be 6 in just 2 months but he was ok with waiting because technically he IS still 5. He had talked about going to New York for his trip for almost two years, but financially that just wasn't going to happen. So he decided that a trip to stay at cousin Zane's house (the two are like inseparable twins when together) and the chance to root for Uncle Andy's "new" team, was a good substitute.

He and Luke left this morning to drive to Seattle and catch their plane to SoCal. They should be landing anytime and I expect a phone call from Jacob telling me how much fun the airplane was and how excited he is to get to Zane's house while she is sleeping so that he can surprise her in the morning.

Samuel, Braden and I had a wonderful day today even though we are feeling a bit sick. Samuel has been home from school all week with a cold. Although it doesn't matter much because all week the kids are on an early release schedule for conferences....he would have been there for lunch and recess with a little bit of math in between...not missing much.
So we drove into Wenatchee to rent a couple of movies, stopped at Starbucks and got two vanilla soy steamers w/o whip, and 1 americano. Took the dog to get her nails trimmed and headed back home.
It was a quiet and fun afternoon with my oldest and my baby.

I know Luke and Jacob will have an amazing trip and it is such a special thing for them to share....I won't lie and say that I am not a tiny bit jealous, but we are already making plans.....I get to take them on a trip when they each turn 15...................if they still talk to me at that point!
I'll post pictures sometime after they get back (Monday night)

Caution: Flying Kernels

Well, after practicing with the kettle and changing up the recipe...after taking kettlecorn to many potluck dinners, delivering it to homes of new friends and taking it to teachers and kids at the school....Luke finally had his first event!



The Chamber of Commerce has been hosting a holiday bazaar in the school gym for the past 19 years. It is a big even for this little town. There were over 50 vendors, Luke being one of them. He set up right in front of the school and was visible from the only road that leads to the school which definitely helped sales.

The boys and I took sample cups inside and walked through the gym several times to let people know we were out there and get them wanting more....it worked!
We had a very successful day! We were open from 9am to 4pm and made enough to pay for Luke and Jacob to fly to California (Jacob's 5 year old trip, to see one of Uncle Andy's games) and still have plenty left over to go back into the account!



The next set up will be out at a Christmas tree farm. Luke will also start setting up in front of our only grocery store once a week and see how that goes.