Owen's First Christmas!

This baby brings so much joy!

Christmas Morning!

The kids were all awake by 6:30 and with great restraint, stood at the top of the stairs while the parents dragged themselves out of bed, armed with cameras and an empty hand awaiting the company of a warm coffee mug handle.

Notice, Logan is still Super WHY.

Awakened early from bed, he quickly resumed his slumber in the swing while the magic of Christmas swirled around.

Christmas Eve

We traveled to Virginia this Christmas to stay at my sister's house and visit with my parents. The 'Brady Bunch' cousins (Allison's 3 girls and our 3 boys) love being reunited; this time, complete with baby Owen. Emma and Molly have doted on Owen and both ask to hold and feed him often.

After church on Christmas Eve, we returned to Allison's house. Each child opened a gift from MiMi and PopPop and loved the present preview.

After dinner the kids put on their pjs, sprinkled reindeer food and carrots in the yard, and gathered by the fire place to listen to Emma read, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.' However, the reading was interrupted by the certain hearing of sleigh bells outside. Within an instant, all the kids squeeled with excitement and ran with such determination and intention to jump into bed as to not prevent Santa from skipping the house!

The Elf On A Shelf! We were given this as a gift and we've had such fun! 'Jet,' our Elf's given name, traveled to VA and the kids are convinced is 'Mart's' (Allison's Elf) cousin.



Do you see the joy radiating from Logan? That's because he has just transformed into his most favorite character, Wyatt, from PBS' Super WHY show. Oh, and yes, he most certainly did wear his costume throughout dinner and to bed.


Hayden delighted with Star Wars Lego book


Julia and Logan sipping sparkling white grape juice. In fact, Logan chugged a second glass at dinner, put in down and while pointing to the empty glass, exclaimed, "Yes, I do like that."


Awaiting...

Reindeer Food....

Alien Invasion

"I can make something out of that."

Hayden's famous words.

Hence, Logan is assigned to take the recycling to the garage because Hayden will stop mid-trip, turn around, and start creating. This is one of my favorite traits, although, there are days that I don't wish to have empty bottles and boxes all around. :)

Most recently he drew a family of aliens. If you wonder what they are 'wearing' on their backs, they are jet backs, naturally.

Jet Packs

Friday Date Night

A couple of weeks ago, Hayden and I had a Friday night date. We went to our friend's church to watch their Christmas music production. He was looking forward to the evening (as was I) and put on his holiday clothes. Seeing his joyful anticipation warmed my heart. I got a flash forward of in 10 years when he's a teenager and perhaps a Friday night date with just mom will not be #1 on his list...though, one can hope.

It was lovely to spend some one-on-one time with him.

Trying!

Wow! This time of year is so hectic! I am dropping Hayden off to preschool four mornings a week and then attacking my to-do list of errands with Logan and Owen in tow. It almost seems never ending and despite trying to simplify and streamline gift giving, it still feels a little out of control sometimes.

In effort to preserve the real meaning of Christmas, I planned some activities with the boys while Owen was napping. The boys and I sat by the Christmas tree with the manger and their children's bible. Hayden was very attentive and could answer many of my questions from some recent preschool lessons. Logan, we lost as soon as I mentioned Jesus' birthday. From that point on, he only wanted to discuss his upcoming 3rd birthday. :)

After reading the story in their Bible, I allowed them to take turns placing Jesus, Mary & Joseph in the manger; hoping with some deeper meaning. Next, they listened to (Veggie Tales) Unto Us A Child Is Born. Lastly, I had a couple of follow-up activities that I found online.

While Hayden colored, cut and created a manger scene of his own with enthusiasm, Logan was most interested in eating his pretzels and drinking lemonade. I figured he had tuned me out long ago, until....

While alone at the table, with a paper book of Jesus' birth in a manger, the shepards and wisemen, upside down infront of him, he pointed to the words and said, "Dear Jesus. Love Logan. Amen."

The words were simple, but SO sweet.

He continued to 'read' those same words over and over.

The power within a child's prayer.

Hayden went over to listen.

The magic of Christmas wrapped up in a moment.

I suppose he did absorb something after all.

Complete

"A child fills a space in your heart you never knew was empty"

Our hearts overfloweth....

Lashes!

 It seems Owen's baby blues are crowned with the same gorgeous, thick lashes as his brothers.  How I wish I could say they got them from me; I'd have no need for mascara. :)

BIG Announcement!

I am nearly a month behind in announcing Logan's exciting news!  On Tuesday, November 15, first thing in the morning, Logan told me he would like to wear underwear!  We had been encouraging, prompting, discussing the potty for a while, but Logan's response was always, 'not yet, mommy.' 
Suddenly, he decided he was ready, and after only two days of changing some wet jeans, he got it!  He is (peepee) accident free and even wakes up dry in the mornings!  Wait to go Logan!!!  We are so proud of him!

Another reason we love this town....

A couple of weekends ago our town had a tree lighting event at the 'downtown' (used loosely, don't blink) Bellbrook. The park consists of a gazebo (where Hayden had art class over the summer), several swings, an old maple house and a meandering brook that the kids love to jump over, throw rocks in or look for bugs during the warmer months.
Anyway, the event was charming! We met some of our friends and the kids enjoyed several crafts (making a bird feeder from a pinecone and creating a marshmellow snowman which very quickly 'vanished'), there was live Christmas music from a local choir, hot chocolate and Santa himself who appeared. We stayed warm by chatting around a fire pit, when dark fell, while Hayden, Logan and friends ran around playing tag.

3 Months!

Owen turned 3 months on Saturday, December 3rd. He is already a 1/4 of a year old!!! We're trying to savor everything baby knowing it's fleeting. Owen is a charm! His smile illuminates the room; with his eyes sparkling and his huge grin punctuated by deep dimples, he draws you over, neglecting any task at hand. The older brothers LOVE when Owen smiles specifically at them. Owen is proving to be quite flexible. Perhaps a survival trait for being the third. He is constantly having a nap or feeding interrupted to drive Hayden to preschool or pick him up etc. We hope next month to report on giggles.

Christmas PJs

Each year we start off the Christmas season by giving the boys matching Christmas pjs on Thanksgiving night. This year, I wasn't able to totally match Owen, but close enough.

Tree Trimming

We visited the same tree farm as last year.  While it wasn't as magical as last year when puffy snowflakes were floating down and the trees limbs were dusted with snow as we meandered through rows of evergreens on a horse-drawn cart, it was still fun!  The boys enjoyed helping pick the 'perfect' tree.

Santa

For the second year in a row, we met my college friend's and their families at a darling book store/coffee shop for a Santa visit.  Between the three of us (college girl friends), there were 4 children last year.  Happy to say, that a year later that number has jumped to 7!!! 

Maddy (4), Ellery (20 mo.), Isabelle & Landon (9 mo.), Logan (2), Owen (2 mo.), Hayden (5).

Thanksgiving!

This little boy is SO sweet!

Thankful Tree

Keeping in the spirit of the season, we started a new tradition this November.  Around November 1st, I read this book at dinner.

Next, we talked about what it means to be thankful.  Earlier, Hayden helped me color a tree and cut leaves out of construction paper.  Not every night, but many, we would talk about 1 thing we are thankful for and Hayden would write this down on a leaf and Logan would help put it on our tree.

This is what is on our tree: Love, Family, Food, Friends, Cousins, God, Home, Baby, Weather, Flowers

Of course, I also got these books at the library.  But, I suppose that is for another blog post.

Everythings Is More Fun With Bugs!

Hayden was practicing writing his numbers neatly and then asked Logan to identify them.

I love to capitalize on teachable moments. It's the teacher in me I guess. The other Saturday I took all three grocery shopping. I usually only take the two little ones while Hayden is at preschool during the week when the store is virtually empty. But, our fridge broke and after losing EVERYTHING, I needed to do a big trip and Saturdays the store is packed. Ryan was working on his thesis.

Hayden decided it would be fun to bring a little notebook and pencil! This turned out to be the best idea. He and Logan sat in the 'car' portion of a shopping cart; seatbelts a MUST! Otherwise, they get in and out. Each time I picked up an item to put in the cart, I told the name of it to Hayden. He then identified the first letter and wrote it in his notebook. If he had already written the letter, he put a check mark next to it. This kept him occupied the whole trip. Bonus, Logan even chimed in with a few of the correct letters!

A neighbor was recently cleaning out her cabinet and gave us Bug Math. Hayden got really involved and enjoying the addition work. To extend the learning, I had him write out the equation on a dry erase board.

Meanwhile, I had Logan working on matching colors and patterns which hasn't clicked yet, but it will.

Teaching the boys really makes my heart leap!