Happy Birthday Jesus!

We have enjoyed celebrating Baby Jesus' Birthday! At every meal the kids requested to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus as our prayer. Sunday night we celebrated with my extended family, and I always enjoy hearing my dad tell the Christmas story, with Bible reading, songs, and the nativity. Monday we celebrated Christmas with my parents and siblings. . .we all got a box to put our loot in. . . GooF's favorite saying at Christmas is "PUT IT ON!" So Jen and Jed thought it fitting to bring him back some put it on presents from their honeymoon in Australia. Some nice boxer shorts that came wrapped up tight and "grew" when he got them wet (I USED to collect penguins :)). Did I mention everyone was smelling them while he wore them?! Along with a college t-shirt to add to his collection :) Thanks Grammy and Grampa for all the gifts and food and for making it a special evening for our family!

Tuesday morning we had a delicious breakfast out with my siblings while Grammy and Grampa watched the kids. . .lots of laughs and better than any present we could've exchanged among us!
We spent that evening taking care of Maddie and Cohen, since we owed their parents a date night. . .love the "mixed up jammies." When I went to check on the boys, they closed the door and told me they were having "boy time."On Christmas Eve each year, our kids each get to open one gift from us (new pajamas), and then one gift that is related to the real meaning of Christmas. . .this year they got a new Bible. We enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with GooF's family. We did NOT have to stop on our way out of town at the dentist, because there is NO way my crown could've come off my tooth while having a tea party with the little girls the night before! Ainsley enjoyed getting to play some games, and of course they all liked opening gifts. . .PUT IT ON!!! Professor attire. . .

Christmas morning the kids were excited to check and see if Santa had eaten his cookies and drank his milk. . .

Can you spy the pic of crying Trey? As the kids would say, "Cheer up dude! It's Christmas!"We wish Uncle Jake and Auntie Julie lived closer. . .thank you so much for taking the time to play with our kids! Julie listened/helped Ainsley read a whole Helly Kitty book. . .

And for GooF's other brothers, the kids call Uncle Mark's house the John Deere house and Uncle Chris's house the kitty house :)

Our Christmas Break has involved moving Ainsley into her own room and moving the boys into a room together. It's involved moving Trey out of his crib and completely weaning him. It's involved staying up late painting pink and pokadots for Ainsley and racecar stripes for the boys (which I LOVE doing). It's involved transitioning the kids from nap time to "rest time." My best present has been that after all this time spent promoting sibling love, Ainsley and Porter have become best buds! Her first night in her "big girl room," was spent missing Porter and going in to sleep by him. The next night he camped out on her trundle bed. Porter wants her to get him dressed and she loves doing it. And, he wants her to read his bedtime stories, which she also loves doing. Thank you God for their friendship!

As for pictures of the new rooms. . .they're still in the works. . .I love how Trey gets into his bed :)What to do with baby items that aren't currently being used?!All in all, we've done a lot of spending time together as a family over this Christmas vacation, and a lot of trading spaces. . .I just love my little penguinos :)

not to mention, my "Lightening THE QUEEN" as the kids say. . .I just love how Trey lays/falls asleep with his hands behing his head :) Oh, and Trey is repeating everything we say. . so cute. Tonight I stopped singing his lullaby and he said, "sing." Also, as I was giving him a plane ride on my legs, he said, "plane," and went and got an airplane. . .even though he sometimes is messy. . .mmm. . .there's nothing like a bowl full of spaghetti followed by a warm "bubbley tubbley" to make a baby sleep through the night :)One of our favorite Christmas movies is the Christmas on Sesame Street one where Oscar flies down the stairs and through a wall in his trashcan :) after being swung around ice skating. We had our own fun ice-skating today!

We also got out bottles filled with food coloring and water to decorate the snow!!

My husband really is the best daddy ever. . .check out that tunnel he built in our huge snow pile! And he's even planning a 2nd sleepover with the kids :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus! Oh how I remember Christmas morning as a child. . .I am not a morning person, except on Christmas morning. I would be the first one up and wake up my sisters, but we were not allowed to come out of the hallway into the living room til everyone was ready! And it took my sisters forever to put in their contacts, etc :) And then there was the Christmas Eve service in which I got my candle too close to the hairspray in my hair :)

2nd Annual Gingerbread House party!

Well, it was "just not the same this year," since Grandma Mary was snowed in at her house. Mary was like my second mom growing up, and as a 1st grade teacher, she has all the supplies for making gingerbread houses! Last year we were invited to Michelle's (her daughter's) house to make gingerbread houses. . .here we are at our 1st annual party. . .

For our 2nd annual party, Mary graciously dropped off all the supplies at Michelle's house this morning, and then went home due to the blizzard conditions! We missed getting to see her light up gingerbread man sweater. . .maybe next year! And maybe next year I'll remember the aprons again :) But here we are, having fun anyway. . .

CANDY AND FROSTING GALORE!!!!!! Porter: "I'm not hiding anything. . ." And the finished products!!Ainsley was planning, before we even got there, how she wanted to put gumdrops on her gingerbread house! All the little girls made their houses similar to each other. Porter, well, he just went all out with the blue frosting and candy :)

Thank you Michelle and Grandma Mary! We were so glad to have somewhere fun to go on this blustery day!!

Michelle and I have known each other since 1st grade, and I'm so glad our men hit it off too! They have many things in common, including being excellent daddies and husbands! They really do work hard. . .and occasionally need some time to rest :) . . .
Before we went to the party this morning, we made gingerbread men. I love shouting, "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man," as I open the oven door. Porter was sure he saw their arms moving in the oven :)5 days til Christmas and my true love gives to me. . .once again. . .a few minutes of peace so I can blog!

Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. . .

and so I have a few minutes to blog.

The kids are all nestled in bed the couch, with visions of sugarplums
Berenstain Bears dancing in their heads.

Ainsley had her preschool Christmas program this morning, and said her line, "Mary brought her son, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Of course she had it memorized long before I did :) As in, on the ride home from preschool the day she got the line. Kids amaze me!

She was excited that Grammy came with Taetum and Bridger to watch her today, and daddy got to come too! She was actually excited to go to preschool today. . .knowing we'd be there soon to watch her!We celebrated by going to the "fishy McDonalds" for lunch. And, apparently, pants are optional at nap today. . .

Last night I got to enjoy some adult conversation at our MOPS Christmas party. Thanks girls!

-12 degrees

I did NOT just give my children a game to play that I had planned on giving them for Christmas! And even if I had, it wouldn't have been because I needed something new to play on this freezing cold day in which we have to stay inside! NOT ME!

I did NOT find my youngest sons shoe in my tampon box. I would never let him play with tampons, and even if he had, he wouldn't have left his shoe in the box. I was not completely and totally overjoyed that I found the shoe, that the real reason I was looking in that box didn't seem so bad. NOT ME!

I did NOT hear a loud thud from the kids room. When I went in there to check, I did not see my middle child ready to jump from the top bunk AGAIN. He then did NOT proceed to show me how he can jump from the top step of the bunkbed ladder to the floor, "JUST LIKE A ROCKETSHIP!" NOT PORTER!

New Computer = Old Pictures

Dude, we got a (new) DELL! It was our Cyber Monday deal!

I now have access to old pictures of the kids, and I thought it would be fun to every once in awhile compare what Ainsley and Porter looked like at around the same age as Trey!

Ainsley Brielle: what a doll!

Porter William: what a smile!

Thank you sweet babes for napping today! And speaking of napping. . .

I present to you Trey Coleman: champion sleeper?!
Was this child rocked to sleep? No
Was this child put on my shoulder? No (I tried :) )
Did this child reach for his crib? Yes
Did this child fuss for about 1 minute and then fall alseep on his own? Yes
Did I used to rock this baby to sleep? Yes
Is this MY CHILD? Yes
Did my sister ask, "Do babies really do that?" Yes, this one does

Would I be surprised if this changes? No

If I have learned one thing in my 5 years as a parent, it is to never judge the way another mom is parenting her child!!! What works for my specific child, and for our family, may not be the same thing that works for someone elses specific child and their family.

When Ainsley was a baby, I thought she should cry for a few minutes and then fall asleep on her own. This was working for some of my other mom friends, which was great for them, but since this is my blog :) let me just say, that after AN. ENTIRE. NIGHT. OF. CRYING. from a baby who hardly ever cried, I didn't want to try this again. Maybe it would've worked, but we did not feel it was right for us at that time. And, she turned out to be a great sleeper! As a 4 yr old she still took 3 hr naps, and as a 5 yr old she always rests and sometimes still falls asleep. And no, I wasn't still helping her fall asleep. . .she eventually learned to fall asleep on her own. Thankfully, I have a VERY helpful husband. We recently had a speaker at MOPS who said, and I quote, "We just try." I loved it. As parents, we just try. We look to God, to other parents, and ultimately, we try what we feel is best for OUR FAMILY. I take delight today, in knowing that I know my children best, and that God designed them (and me) not to be perfect, but to be perfect for each other. Oh, and when I mess up, I'm glad God designed them to forgive easily when I ask for forgiveness! May I always remember to encourage other moms, and not judge them!

11 days 'til Christmas. . .

and my true love gives to me. . .a live nativity. . .and a few minutes of peace so I can blog. . .Sing it again!

Last night we went to a Live Nativity as a family, and just loved it! It was so age appropriate for the kids. . .they got to pet the sheep (so soft, and a little wild), the donkey, and the calf (it licked Porter and got close enough he could kiss it). They were in awe of the angels, wise men, shepards, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus! The church it was at was so welcoming, and we even got to go inside for cookies, cocoa and cider! We loved it! Then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights!

And who says swingsets are only for summertime?! We had great fun on our snowy swingset. . .

Stay tuned for some church Christmas program pics. . .GooF has horrible memories from these programs/practices :)

Here they are:

Take note of the top right photo below. . .where is Porter you may ask? Before he went on stage (and before he goes anywhere without mom) he says, "Give me a kiss right here," and points at his cheek. He must have decided he needed one more snuggle, because he started to get tears in his eyes, came off stage for a quick hug after about the first song, and then went back up.

Ainsley did a great job with all of the actions to the songs! I loved how she smiled and waved when she picked GooF and I out of the crowd :) I am always so proud of you kids, no matter what! Take note of her striped tights. . .we looked all over the mall for ones with red and green stripes :)

Then we went for our weekly Sunday night dinner at my parents. Thanks mom and dad for cooking and playing. Sunday nights at your house are something I'm sure our kids will always remember.
I love traditions, and one thing I always look forward to at my parents for Christmas is our LOOOOOOONG STRETCHHHHHHY stockings! "Santa Claus" fills them with things we need like hair/make up products/socks, etc. I love reaching into them again and again :)

One tradition we just started last year is my parents stay home with the 5 grandkids for a game night, while my sisters and I and our husbands go out sometime over Christmas vacation. We do this instead of exchanging gifts among us girls. . .we still buy for the kids of course :)

Another family tradition is my dad making lefse, and since he sent 3 dozen home with me tonight, I think I better just go have some!