Holidaze

Christmas is over, and though we made wonderful memories celebrating Christ's birth, I'm not too sorry to see it go this year!
Here's a recap with some random notes thrown in:
- There's a lot of pressure on moms during the holidays! It feels like the sole responsibility of the mother to ensure the children have all the special Christmasy experiences that they're "supposed to", like baking cookies and making hand print reindeer and keeping up with every cherished tradition...it's too much! I reminded myself that having a not-psycho mom is definitely more beneficial for my kids than trying to do too much.
- Along those lines, I don't remember Christmas being so insane when I was a kid! When did Christmas explode??? ?It must have been between my childhood and having kids of my own- Elf on a Shelf?? Seriously??? As if moms don't have enough to do! I always thought I would love having tons of Christmas traditions with my kids, but we're intentionally limiting ours so that we don't feel enslaved to them! What works one year may not the next. Maybe next year we'll have matching jammies, maybe we'll cut down our own tree, maybe load up the kids and drive around and look at lights after bedtime, but I don't want to feel like I've failed my family if we don't. Two things are for sure, though: We'll do advent in December and bring out our growing collection of Christ-centered Christmas books and there will NEVER be an elf on any shelf in our house. Highlights from this year included cheeseburgers at a favorite restaurant with Blake's parents, an evening spent looking at the awesome lights in Williams, a game night with friends, the firefighters coming by in the truck bringing candy canes, making birthday cards for Jesus, having a Christmas carnival/scavenger hunt Christmas afternoon with some friends, special Christmas breakfast, making some homemade gifts (remind me not to do this next year!), loving the kids' enthusiasm for advent each night, and spending lots of low key time just our own little family.

Our backyard is lovely in the snow!

Boots!

Doing advent!

Fun new trampoline!

Her papa paints fingernails :)

Waiting for Papa to get up on Christmas morning!

Sunshine Baby's first Christmas!

The gift I made Blake, which cemented how much I dislike making things.

It was so exciting when the fire truck came by!!

The gift the kids made for Blake

Pin the star over the stable at our carnival

A "sinata", representing Jesus being born to destroy our sins, so good stuff will come out of us instead!

Sick and Stuff

Once again our family has been sick, for a week now- one of those colds that completely takes you out. So, it's been way too many movies, an overwhelmingly dirty house, and homemade chicken broth that I'm so glad I stuck in the freezer a couple months ago.
We're on the mend now and I'm hoping we'll stay healthy for a while! Lots to do for holiday preparationsand catching up on housework and laundry (not to mention Blake's final exams).

Here are some funny Rory sayings from late:
We were talking about Heaven and Rory asked if Adam and Eve were going to be there. I said that I supposed so, and she excitedly asked if they'd be holding fruit! At first I was confused, then realized that probably in every picture she's seen of them they have fruit in their hands, haha.

Rory and Bash scattered a gazillion clear plastic ponytail holders all over the bathroom while I drank my coffee and hoped that the quiet was not a bad thing. When I went to check on them Rory first looked very guilty, then got a calculating look on her face. I asked what they were doing and she replied, "Well, Mama, we were having fun until YOU came in!"  Sorry, baby girl- I am NOT the bad guy here!

She also told me" "I love you, Mama, but really I just want something."

The End of Autumn

I know fall isn't technically over. But Thanksgiving is, and Christmas is only a few weeks away- yikes!!

Sweater vest!

We call Raddie a stereotypical baby, 'cause he does baby things like playing with his feet. Our other kiddos never did that!

Sweet Rory girl was SOOOO excited to get to help Rad eat his first solid food! Her joy is written all over her face :)

Such a sweet big sissie!

Firetruck jammies, good books, and a comfy chair!

Sunshine Baby :)

Trucks and tractors, such a boy

Bearizona Christmas party- the bears got fruit by the foots and bagels.

Classic: Bashy is horrified, Rory is nervously wondering if she'll get the chance to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas (band-aids, incidentally), and Rad is gazing at the lights.

Preparing for the holiday lights parade in Williams.

Doin' the small town thing.

Much of the parade consisted of EMS vehicles, much to Bashy's delight.

Our precious girl is getting so grown up!

Quotes

Rory is an endless fountain of awesome quotes, but we haven't really gotten any from Bash yet. That may be starting to change, though! This isn't exceptionally eloquent but it is completely sweet:

Bash, pointing to a wedding picture on the wall:
"Mama. Princess."

Awwwww! My heart melted :)

And here's one from Rory from a couple weeks ago, because why not?
Talking about Martin Luther and the Reformation, Brittany asked Rory what Luther nailed to the door:

Rory: "Feces!"

That sure would have gotten their attention...

Update

Well, we've been busy, busy. Some of that busy consisted of being sick (24 hour stomach bug that hit each of us, fun times), and being out of town (a speedy trip to the CA desert to see my Granddad and meet up with my brother and sister in law who were there visiting from Juneau). We're settling in Williams nicely. I like that I get smiles and comments like, "Wow, you must have your hands full" said in an amused/affectionate tone instead of scowls and confused looks like I'd get in Flagstaff at the grocery store. Hooray for conservative small towns where the general population doesn't hate kids!
Here are a few random notes:
- Blake is amazing.
- Bash is talking more all the time and still sounds like a robot.
- Rory seems to be outgrowing her awful freakout and emotional stage (Lord willing!)
- Blake graduates in less than six months!
- It's almost CHRISTMAS!
- We seriously should not watch shows on netflix with a plot. Too many nights we've been up until midnight- yikes!
- Rad is the happiest baby EVER!!!! It's sooo sweet to watch the three kiddos interact :)
- Car rides with littles are exhausting. Ours were troopers, but it still made for a couple long days.

Waiting for Papa to get home.

This arrangement did not last long..

Visiting Granddad!

Bashy's Birthday and Mom's Visit

We were blessed to have my mom here for a week over Bash's second birthday! We had a great time showing her our new little town, and exploring it more ourselves. A highlight from the last week or so was a fun BBQ at the home of some of our friends; we met them years ago in Flag and they moved to Williams a couple years ago. We already know a few other families as well; It's nice already having some community here and we're looking forward to making new friends! Of course, Blake's still in school so we're limiting our commitments like we've been over the last several years. However, graduation's on the horizon and we're excited to hang out with people again!

Bud-o's second birthday was a success! Rather than putting together a party like I do for Rory (who loves to play with her friends), I realized that Bashy doesn't really have little friends and could care less about an event like that. Instead, we had a family day on his birthday itself that included playtime on his own while Rory slept (a rare luxury!), a delicious dinner, time with his Gramma and Nana and Baba, and a few fun presents. Rory did chores to earn money to buy him a gift and we gave her her first budgeting lesson: one quarter in her giving box, one quarter in her savings box, and two quarters in her discretionary spending box! It was so sweet watching her labor over the decison about what to get him at the store! We finished birthday celebrations by going to a (sort of) local fall festival and pumpkin patch. They had hayrides, a carousel, train rides, tractors to sit on, a petting zoo, and other fun things. Bashy had the greatest time! We all thought it was a lot of fun!

He had a stuffy nose and had to miss Sunday school, but he got to play with his tractor at church and didn't mind.

Allowance boxes!

It happened that we were all in Flag on his birthday (the kids, myself, and Mom for MOPS, Blake for work) so we met up with Blake's parents and had a special b-day lunch.

Bash really enjoys having some alone time. He got some on his birthday when Rory took a long nap!

He also got to watch Mighty Machines with Gramma!

I had the brilliant idea of making him an indoor sandbox. Yes, those two words should not go together. But he LOVES it and so far it hasn't been too messy :)

He constantly begs to play with his sandbox (which he doesn't have free access to).

Oh, Rad. Such a sweetie!!

Tractor-pumpkin cupcakes for our trip to the pumpkin patch!

Pants are optional. Trucks are not.

So grown up!

Corn maze!

First carousel ride! Her look of wonder was so neat :)