Happy Birthday Jesus Party

For the 3rd year in a row we've gotten together with our friends the Furnish's and Chatterton's for a Happy Bday Jesus party. We always have so much fun together celebrating Jesus's bday together. We are so thankful to be included in this special tradition.

The boys decorating their cake. Each year there is a lot more effort put into decorating. I think though that we by far still had the most toppings. Thanks to Tanyon's help. :)

Tanyon enjoying the benefits of his hard labor.

The gang all together working on their cake

For some reason I'm having great difficulty getting my video to load so I'll have to skip that. It's too bad because it's really cute! Oh well, I just don't have the time right now.

Future Hunter

The other weekend Bryson went on his first official deer hunt with Daddy on Adam's parent's property. It was awefully cold, but Bryson was a trooper! He lasted for about a hour and half, which really impressed me! Daddy said Bryson did pretty good sitting still. They unforunately didn't see any deer though.



This was Bryson when he first came in. I asked him are you done? His response- "I just couldn't take it anymore!" :)

Preparing for Christmas

So I am yet once again behind on the news in our family so I'm going to make a holiday prep entry. Last Sunday after church the kids and I were invited to go caroling with the teens. The boys and I helped make chains to hand out to the residence. The boys aren't always real keen on crafty things, so this was a little stressful at times. It did provide a nice opportunity to talk with Bryson that this was a way that God intended for him to use his hands- to help others and not hit his brother! (Something that is becoming a more frequent problem some days) The boys weren't really into the caroling so much, but thought they were hot stuff hanging out with the big kids.


Singing, not so impressive; dancing Santa- VERY impressive!

A close eye had to be kept on these 2 because the interest kept taking them to rooms where the door was cracked just slightly- like it was an invitation to them to come on in.

Usually we get our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but since we had family still visiting that didn't occur. As I looked at the calendar I realized that our weekends were quickly filling up so we squeezed picking out a tree last Sunday afternoon in the last 1/2 hour of day light. It was SO cold that it really wasn't a problem to pick a tree. We usually travel to a very large tree farm, but since we wanted a larger tree this year (it would of cost way too much money) and lack of time we went to a little farm right down the road from us. Our process for picking a tree went even faster because there really weren't too many larger trees to pick from. I'll admit that our tree didn't look that big in the field, but it's quite tall in the house now.


Daddy carrying Addie to try and hurry up our walk to the trees.

Our tree that we picked.

Addie didn't seem to enjoy the experience a lot.

The boys were much more interested in the animals that they had.

Checking out the bird house. They thought this was cool!

Bryson and Addie resorted to the truck while we waited for the tree to be cut down. Tanyon of course was not cold (he's the one who runs around the house in his underwear all day long) and had to check out the small creek that ran through their yard.

I know it's not a great picture, but we had to document Adam's first true use of his saw.

Decorating the tree was not a fun process. It occurred over the course of 2 days, because we had so many difficulties. From now on we will decorate the tree the same day that we buy the tree. Adam had a lab to prepare for for school Sunday night so we didn't start the decorating until Monday. Then Monday night, the kids got a hold of some of the good ornaments and Bryson broke one of the special balls that my grandmother gave me as a child- right after we had just told them to put it down. So away went the decorations for the first night. The next day I tried with the kids to decorate while Adam was at school, bad idea! Away went the decorations until later. Adam and I finished decorating that evening.

The boys wanted to decorate by themselves. They told me they were done, but I couldn't find any bulbs. I then found them in the back of the tree in the bare spot. Not quite where I was hoping they would put them. :)

Bryson really was the only one into decorating the tree.

Addie just wanted to put everything in her mouth.

This is a forced picture of Tanyon because he really didn't have any interest in decorating.

The new problems that I have now that the tree is up- 1. Kids trying to hide in the tree (there is a rather large bare spot in the back of the tree so it's rather easy to do.

Problem #2- kids trying to climb on the window sill and around the tree. Problem #3, ornaments being taken off the tree- all three are guilty at times of this!

The part they were all waiting for- setting the train up under the tree!

All 3 kids love the train.

Lost Bet!

The high school where Adam teaches was doing a local canned food drive. Apparently Adam's homeroom students aren't too interested in school spirit or being willing to help other's out. The drive had been going on for a couple of days and no one had brought in any cans. The student counsel students stopped in the one afternoon to collect cans and of course Adam's room didn't have any. The student counsel reps asked Adam if he would be willing to take a pie in the face if the homeroom brought in 50 cans and he agreed. Several more days later when the reps stopped by, his homeroom still had no cans. He mocked the kids for not caring and was so confident that they would never bring in 50 cans that he said he would take the pie in the face while wearing a cheerleading outfit and shave his head. Well . . . Adam had to eat his words. Once student, who he has joked is on his hate list, brought in 50 cans of soup herself! The pie in the face was totally at a random time so he got out of the cheerleading suit (from the video I saw, the student really smashed the pie in his face!), but had to get a haircut! He really has been a good sport about all of this, but the scary thing is that he says he likes his hair this way?!


Getting ready to start the cut. You can tell by his face that he really wasn't so happy about this.


The first swipe- at this point I'm saying to myself "oh my!"


Half way through the one side of his head he decided that I needed to cut him a mohawk! He insisted that this was the only opportunity he would ever have to have one. He really isn't mad in this picture. I guess you have to look tough if your trying to sport a mohawk.

The final result- not so bad . . . it will grow back right?!

Addie

Addie, Addie, Addie. This girl is one of a kind! She keeps us on our toes, but is always putting a smile on our faces! This picture is how she came out of her bedroom the other night. She loves her hot pink purse. For some reason, Addie is into doing a squat when you try to take her picture her of late.

Now onto a more serious note . . .

We had Addie dedicated last Sunday. When Addie was born, we were in the process of starting CrossWalk so we never had the opportunity to do a baby dedication. The timing of it was nice since my grandparents were in from Wisconsin. It was also neat to go before the church as a family, boys included, and say that we choose to try to raise Addison in a way that she may choose the Lord as her Savior. (Bryson and I had a really neat conversation on why he was going up with us. I think that he will take his role of big brother very seriously through out the years!)

Addie has brought such a special aspect to our family and we are so thankful for her. I just can't believe how quickly she's growing! This little girl has so much determination. She lets nothing stop her and she believes what not that she will do what her brothers are doing. I'm a little concerned of the battles we may have in the near future because she wants things her way and on her conditions. One of my prayers for her is that she will use this strong determination to take a stand and be a leader and help others to make the right choices. My hope for her more than anything else is that she will grow into a lady who loves the Lord with all her heart and will choose to serve Him in all that she does.


Addie in her new dress. Even though Addie always trys to keep up with her brothers, she seems to like to get dressed up too. This was her outfit for the dedication. After getting dressed, Addie likes to go show the "boys" how pretty she looks. This is partly my secret motive to train the boys into noticing when a girl (maybe a future wife someday) is dressed up and then paying her a compliment. Something their daddy doesn't always pick up on :)

We love you Addie and thank the Lord for your addition into our lives. I'm so glad the Lord knew what was best for our family!

Thankful

So my friend Judy had a great idea on her blog to do a Thankful Thursday. Which I totally wanted to do, but it never got done. During this past month though I really have thought a lot about all of the things that I'm thankful for. I am so thankful how God has provided for us in the last year with our house. I think that has been one of the things that has really hit home with me this month of November. When Adam and I started this process over a year ago, we made a list of what we wanted and desired in our future house. This house met every one of our criteria! This month has been so impactful of this realization because during the fall we had 2 different harvest parties for church, the youth played flag football here and we were able to have thanksgiving dinner and have room for people to stay with us. We could have never done any of this at our old house! This all makes my heart so joyful because one of the greatest desires I have for our kids is that our house could be a place that they would want to hang out at with their friends. I know that my kids are not that old yet, but when you see the youth here it's really cool. God is so good!

It was so fun to cook hot dogs and marshmallows around a fire!

The teens participating in one of Adam's goofy games.

Seeing my kids having fun with all of the people at our house was so special.

Scenes from the early elementary harvest party.

It's awesome to have room for the kids to be able to play. For perspective, at our old house, our entire downstairs (living room, bathroom and office) was about the same dimensions as this sunroom!

Happy Bday Daddy

So I've been so consumed with preparation with Thanksgiving that I never had a chance to record Adam's birthday. Adam and I were able to spend the weekend of his birthday together without kids! Adam's parents took the kids for the weekend so we could get some work done around the house, but we were still able to go out to dinner a night for his birthday. It also ended up being really nice to be able to work around the house without the responsibilities that the kids bring, which I think that even was a nice little present for Adam. We finished the weekend up at Adam's parents house for dinner and some cake.

Now for Adam's present. Since moving into this house, he has started talk of needing a chain saw. He's talked, schemed, shopped, waited, tried to convince and talked some more about getting a chain saw. Urgency has picked up on this some since we've decided to use the wood stove this winter. You know this toy has to be needed to get fire wood. I often joke with Adam that it's not fair that his "toys" are justifiable and needed, but I can't say that about the "toys" I would like. :) All this to say, Adam waited until his birthday to get his saw. He went to the hardware store and picked out the saw and paid for it and then the kids and I went and picked it up for Daddy's birthday. The boys were very excited that they got to do this!! There is funny side note to this shopping trip. I have been know in the past to buy some of the boys Christmas presents when they are with me (if there's a good sale) and then tell them that the present is for their cousin Caleb. Well after picking up the saw, I reminded the boys that they couldn't tell Daddy we got his saw. Bryson response- "Mommy we'll tell Daddy that we went to buy a saw for Caleb!". :)

Daddy pretending that he doesn't know what his present is. The boys made him close his eyes!

Adam playing with his saw. Right after this picture went outside to get it running. Boy the male testosterone was flying. I could hear Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunting. :)

Aunt Shannon and Bryson waiting for some cake.

Thanksgiving

Wow, I can't believe how quickly our week has gone! I have spent the past 2 weeks basically every free moment cleaning for the arrival of family for Thanksgiving. It was difficult to balance all that needed done, but so helpful to get some projects done around the house. I can officially say that all boxes from our move are unpacked and everything has a home!

On Wednesday my family started arriving. My grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, Cousin and his daughter arrived. Matt's daughter, Bella, is 2 months older than Addie. It was so much fun to watch the girls together. Thursday, another cousin, Nathan, his wife and their daughter arrived. The cousins all stayed with us. It was a lot of fun to play games and spend time with my cousins at night once the kids were in bed. I think I have possibly spent more time with my cousins in my adult life than childhood since Nathan grew up in California and Matt in Illinois.

It was so great to have a house big enough that we could entertain this year! We had 20 people for dinner on Thanksgiving. It was so special for me to look around and see all of the family that I have in my life! I am so blessed! The only thing that didn't get accomplished that I wanted to start a tradition with was a game of flag football. Last year when we were looking at this house, it was one of the first things that I said to Adam about doing. We ate later in the day so it was too dark to get our game in. We can always try next year!

A picture of my Mom's family!

The great grand kids with Tic Toc Oma and Opa!

Oma and Opa (German for grandma and grandpa)

Sabrina (9mos), Addie (20 mos) and Bella (22 mos)

We got to do a little early Christmas. The boys are in love with their new camera! Bryson informed me that he was going to take pictures for the blog (unfortunately the resolution isn't good enough).

Addie with her new baby doll. It doesn't leave her side for very long. When she goes to bed, she has to have baby, bottle, and blanket!

It is so special to me that my kids get to have memories with their great grandparents. Growing up I only knew one set of great grandparents. My kids still have both sets of my grandparents and one of Adam's grandmothers. Addie got lots of kiss and made everyone smile!