Christmas

so I'm finally just sitting here, feet up, BCS championship on, fire going, snowed in.

and though I should have known having the hubs home on a snow day would mean much less laying around and much more purge the basement/guest closet/ALL our clothes (even though we had a morning in the ER yesterday, and a dislocated shoulder corrected, and we should have been resting....eh hmm), it means we're home. for a good long while.

home, recovering, from a wonderfully celebratory Christmas season that inevitably results in everyone with cruddy coughs and poor sleep. but in our own beds.
we, well especially me (and apparently my oldest), kind of like being home.

and this year was quite the year. of party. of travel. of adventure?

it went something like:

early decemeber :: laundry/pack/shop/decorate for Christmas/wrap presents/run errands like a mad woman.
oh, and watch Jonah's Christmas program at church. and it went...better than I expected? I mean, he didn't come running off the stage (what I expected) but instead stood up there--in the center no less--and didn't move a muscle. no actions. no singing. a real show stealer.

december 18thish :: head down to party for Jess and Joe's wedding. super fun. went smoothly (well, mostly. thatcher had the expected melt down mid-aisle walk...but it kind of broke the emotional tension, and made a memory?). And I took a couple iphone pics. that's all. so I'll just go ahead and send y'all a link to the professional photographers blog, sound good? okay. but seriously, the bride and groom seemed to be pretty doggone happy and it 'twas quite a lovely party.

december 21:: come home in the afternoon just ahead of an ice storm. plan: do laundry, repack, run some errands, pull it together for a couple days before Christmas and a week in Iowa, and have our own little family Christmas. actually: lose power at 4am (which would end up being out for 6 days), consoled freaked out kids, listen to branches and trees crashing to the ground, grab a couple hours of sleep around the house hoping no limbs would crush our garage, start a fire, put a movie on the laptop for the kids, and throw everything in the car: stockings, presents in garbage bags, dirty laundry, etc...oh, and cut the tree off the fence in the backyard, throw as many perishables as possible in a cooler, turn off our water... and leave for ten days.

december 22:: arrive at Grandma's house/Grandpa's farm looking a touch... frazzled? but really only forgetting shirts for me. I mean, I had a couple, but I'm kind of over them by now.

decemeber 23-24:: happy cuthbert Christmas! (with slightly altered traditions and a little bit of fun time with the newlyweds).

december 25-january 2:: on to iowa. clemens' family Christmas. just one big party (oh, and a couple nights up with sick boys, a middle of the night carbon monoxide scare, and a fabulous overnight for our 7th anniversary!) but mostly sweet times with a lot of people we don't get to see very often.

also, warning: excessive photos of kids in candy cane pajamas.

the Christmas tree

as per tradition, we bundled our little selves up and headed to cut down our tree. and drug uncle dan along for the chaos adventure.

and for my farmer, the bundling included digging through the basement and front closet for his pioneer seed corn hat, carhart jacket, military boots and wrangler jeans. because we would hate for someone to mistake us for a "city slicker" now, wouldn't we?

the boys--were mostly troopers (apart from cooperating for a family picture, because why would we start doing that now?). it was chillllly. and they walked their snowboot clad puffy selves all over. and then they chilled by the fire--albeit a bit on the tired side.

and since everyone was being pretty true to character, I picked the first fraiser fir I saw and said cut it down. because I've been known to be pretty impulsive decisive a time or two in my life.

some birthdays and a family arrrgh pirates

before I jump right into the thick of holiday posts, I  thought I better finish up our fall. (awfully wistful thinking for me, perhaps, using the plural of 'post' referring to what I plan to do on here over the next few weeks--but we'll just go with it and hope for the best).

because, well, we turned 2, 4, and...30. And so we celebrated. along with double grandpas and grandmas and an uncle and aunt from boston. (all poorly documented, but at least you get an idea...)

and somewhere in that mix, we all dressed up as pirates and went trick or treating. and i mean we ALL dressed up--because when the main man decides he's going to participate in something, he is going to participate 115%.

the three amigos

these two are getting a brother...and we are sincerely thanking the Lord that he looks like a very healthy baby brother. jonah's heart was sort of hoping for a girl, but thankfully, when you're 4, a balloon usually curbs any sort of disappointment. and he's throwing out names like Snapper and Pirate...so I think we're already moving in the right direction.

the cider mill

it was awhile ago, but worth remembering for the sake of the donuts and cider.

uncle john's on dad's day off.

two and four

and just like that. two and four.

so we tried to snap some photos.

and even though thatcher announced to everyone in family dollar post pictures that "we did it!" his performance was suspect (mostly crying, running away, laying on the ground, etc...). jonah? jonah is at a beautiful age (or just a personality?) where bribery works for almost everything (hence, the post picture family dollar run).

and with 339 pictures in ten minutes you would have thought the "good" percentage might have been a little higher (you're looking at the good ones in their entirety) but in the end, I'm just glad we got a couple.

and all thanks to these boys' dad who did who knows what behind me to get these laughs.

Four. It's a good age. And my four year old learner is picking up all sorts of things along the way. He's begging me to learn to read (is there an app for that? I'm not sure I know how to teach anyone to read), willing to spend hours perfecting (he's a first born in every way) his coloring, and would curl up and watch movies all day if I'd let him. 

He's loving being an awana cubbie and is pretty excited about any opportunity to be social and hang out with friends. He loves his brother--and although one wouldn't always guess this, he's been known to want to wake him up early from nap to play. He's also 100% sure he's getting a sister next May, because he already has a brother. obviously... "and when I talk about the baby I'm just going to say 'she' because the baby is going to be a girl."

His days are spent filling my quote book and he is really just a joy.

This one's a lover. And a cuddler. And he is getting pretty funny.

And if you'll read to him or play ball, he.is.your.best.friend.

We're kind of having a hard time kicking the paci habit (because he's also a bit on the strong-willed side) but we'll get there.

Recently, he's sharing a room with his brother and couldn't be more excited about it (Jonah is his favorite). His brother isn't loving his snoring habit (pretty sure we've got a trip to the ent in our future) but their pillow talk has been pretty amazing to listen to on the monitor.

There's so much more to say, stories to tell, quotes to quote (and hopefully I'm getting them down somewhere) but really? we just feel blessed.