Snowy Monday Activities

B/c we woke up to fun snow fall this morning, I did an early morning grocery run instead of going running.  (I was happy to get out of running & happy to get groceries alone.)  We honestly are just lazy around here (or too busy trying to keep up with laundry and clean dishes) and have decorated only a little for Christmas and haven't gotten a tree.  But the snowfall this morning got me more in the mood.  So I picked up some decorations and treats at WalMart.  I've seen garland over other doors in our neighborhood & thought it was pretty... so I added balls and lights to this garland... and the pretty twirly thingys to this wreath... its festive and pretty.  I only wish I could see it from the inside, not just when I go and come!

Then I had Peter unwrap a bunch of kisses to add to these pretzels.  He was totally into it.  We will definitely be making these again soon.  Good for his hands too.  :)

 Then he got to eat *one* after lunch- I am a stingy mama.

He told me that the treat was too-licious!

As I put him down for his nap, I said "Peter, that was so fun to make treats with you!"  He said "Actually, it was YUMMY!"  My funny boy!

an early Christmas weekend

We had the treat of having Will and Emily in state for a long weekend.  I went down early with the kids last Thursday then headed back on Friday eve for Mike's work Christmas party.

This pic was taken after standing and mingling for 4+ hours.

Thanks for babysitting, Kathy and Ski!

It was fun to get dressed up and have yummy drinks and hors d'oeuvres! 

 Then we all headed back to my parents for the NC Christmas party that Mom hosted this year.

Later in the eve, we exchanged sibling presents.

Peter's gift  from Emily and Will was the hit of the night- Automoblox- he played with them for the rest of the evening!  They come all apart and the parts can intermingle- perfect fine motor skill toy!

 Lily got this hat from Aunt Emily... does her expression say enough?!  ;)

 J&J got some baby carrying gear!

 and baby clothes :)

 Everyone joined in the Automoblox fun!  

She learned this "driving stance" from her brother!

(see... this is how he drives cars too!)

 Lily got this car at the NC gift exchange- she was CRAZY about it!!!

Seriously, she cracked me up b/c she didn't get off it it the rest of the day.

Uncle John took her for fast rides and "donut" turns- she squealed with excitement.

 Her eyes are red in both but I had to add anyway to capture her happiness!

It pays some loud music...

 Does this thing have an ON-OFF switch?!?!?

Nope.

Off they go!

We had a great time everyone!

Thanks for a fun party, Mom!

Mike and I have been going to a Wed night class on marriage at our church.  We've watched the video series... What did you expect?!  Redeeming the Realities of Marriage.  We've only gone half of the time but its been good.  Its mostly been good for my relationship with Peter (and Mike too).  Tonight he talked about Worshiping God as Creator (He created the people in my family as they are, it's not my job to re-create them) , Worshiping God as Sovereign (He put me together with the people in my family for my good and His Glory), and Worshiping God as Savior (He gives grace to me and the people in my family, even as we don't deserve it).  Thinking on these 3 characteristics was really freeing and helpful to me as I thought about each person in my family (me included).  

A little update on Peter...

We have been so blessed this year by his time at preschool.  He has an amazing teacher who has been so kind about picking up on things with him.  One thing we are discovering is that he may have low muscle tone (which has contributed to his speech delay and now some fine motor delays).  So we are working on getting him some help in the areas he needs it.  Thinking about these 3 characteristics of God (and reasons I can worship Him!) was really helpful to me in processing the way God has made Peter's physical body, and in thinking of how I want to teach Peter to think about it.

Before Thanksgiving, his teacher wrote "I am so thankful for Peter's enthusiasm and joy."  We are also very thankful for that.  I get frequent reports about his concern for others and his manners at saying thank you.  (None of this to my credit for sure!, but thanks be to God.)  

We found out this eve that Lily will have a 

GIRL

cousin!!!

Let the twirling begin!!!  :)

We are so excited and praising God for the sweet & healthy girl growing inside of Aunt Jessica!!

Thanksgiving 2010

 Our Thanksgiving was similar to ones past.  But we missed Mike's brother's family this year!!  Its so nice to be close enough to see both of our families over the long weekend.  

We had Brunch at Kathy's on Thursday morning and enjoyed time with Mike's parents and the Murphys.  The new cute kids table was a hit!

 We did some relaxing

 and playing

Thurs eve, we go to Mike's aunt's house for a turkey dinner with the Kain side...

(i love my husband, isn't he handsome!)

Mike's cousin has a beautiful new baby who we enjoyed seeing.

 Lily also enjoyed this baby doll

and tried to steal the football from cousin Charlie ;)

 Peter and Liam had a blast playing together

 and eating cake together

and seeing Great Grandma (it was her bday last week!) and Great Granddad

Friday morning, our little family of 4 relaxed around here, which I loved.  We had pumpkin pancakes then Peter and Lily chased each other around the house squealing.  :)

 We headed to L'ville mid-day on Friday.  I didn't take many pics there but I did find this one with my two favorite girls on my camera.  We also got to see Glenda and J&J.

Saturday afternoon, we headed back to Richmond for some more time with the P's.

Peter is quite taken with Liam...

 They had TV ("JB") time with their dogs, Jip and Spicey, as they caught up on Clifford!

 One last pretty pic of the girl.

We loved seeing each person on both sides.  Thanks to our moms for feeding us yummy food throughout the weekend w/o any contribution on our part.  We are blessed and thankful for our sweet families.

I am excited that its the season of Advent.  I've not always been a big Christmas person, I don't love the hype, shopping/gift buying, and I don't love cold weather, snowflakes, Santa, etc.  But as I've been thinking about Advent and the anticipation of celebrating Christ coming and looking forward to/ waiting for his Second Coming, I feel joy in that!  As much as I am thankful for the good life we have and ALL there is to be thankful for, I also often struggle with feeling the weight of living in a world where things aren't right (people die, my soul isn't fully satisfied, there's cancer, poverty, etc), how exciting is it that Jesus came to save us!!  I am looking forward to a month of really thinking about that.  Right now we get a taste of what's its like that He is making things right/ redeeming (we are assured through Jesus' blood that our loved ones are in heaven, we see His work in us, around us) but one day, oh, one day things will be fully right.  So we will anticipate, wait and celebrate this Advent season! 

Melt My Heart

My children are both good sleepers (PTL!) but so different in their ways.  Peter often falls asleep in the car (near naptime) and always transfers well to bed.  Lily is my amazing nighttime sleeper but she doesn't fall asleep as easily in the car and usually rouses when I bring her in, then goes back to sleep.  Today was a different story. They both fell asleep on the way home from the store and Lily stayed asleep in my arms- oh, my heart!... a sleeping love in my arms!  (and don't even get me going on the site of her legs in tights.)

And the boy, he is so big and heavy that I can hardly hold him for long but some of my sweetest memories are of just sitting on the living room couch and holding him while he slept after coming in from the car (when he was a smaller boy, before Lily was our girl), then taking him up to bed.

FYI: 

I purposefully didn't crop to be realistic about the mess that is often my house.

Celebrating Maw

I took the kids and we drove down to Paw & Maw's house for the day last Wed b/c it was Maw's Birthday.  It was perfect b/c others were already gathering there in anticipation of Thanksgiving.

Peter enjoyed a ride on the tractor with Uncle Henry.

 After lunch, a ride on the lawn mover with Paw was much more enticing than a nap.  This is what eventually happened... :)

 Maw got some birthday snuggles from the girl.

 Maw had yummy brownie-peanut butter birthday cookies.  They were too-licious!

It was a fun start to Thanksgiving weekend!!

A Very Yellow Day

It was a beautiful WARM day today- made me happy!  We all took our long sleeves off as we got out of the car to go to the grocery store this morning so we could soak up some sunshine and warmth.  Then I noticed that Peter and Lily were both wearing yellow, so I thought everyone in the store must think its a little wierd that I put both of them in YELLOW, of all colors (tho I do love it!)  As we were checking out, I looked down and noticed that I too was wearing yellow!

I raked, raked, raked while they were sleeping and then we jumped in the yellow leaves!  How fun!

I did want to get a pic of the 3 of us in yellow shirts and yellow leaves but seeing as how the pics went with just 2 of them, I couldn't pull it off...

Lily now points out the buses to Peter ;)

It was a sweet day and much needed time outside in warmer temps.  Thank you Lord!