Christmas

And...one month later...

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent lots of time baking, singing, wrapping, and just loving seeing the season through the eyes of our children.





Caroline loved everything about the season. She loved the tree, Santa, each and every decoration, all the stockings, wrapping gifts, the food, just everything. She also enjoyed spending a lot of time with family and friends and staying up wwwaaayyy past her bedtime several nights! Landon really liked looking at the lights on the tree and loved watching everything his big sister did. He however, did not enjoy the change in his routine so much, but we made it through.


(opening a gift with Ms Deborah)




(Yes, GrandKev is a KISS fan, and no we will not be encouraging Caroline to be one.)



We had a Pop-Up Eric Carle "Christmas Countdown" advent calendar this year that Caroline really liked. This was the first time in my life I've had a Christmas countdown. We didn't do this tradition in my family while I was growing up, but Aaron has fond memories of his, and I got the calendar for free so we decided to do it. Caroline had a good time with it each night and Aaron was diligent about counting each day with her. She was just up to counting to 20, but now she can go to 25. :)





Christmas morning was fun. Caroline had a good time opening her gifts and looking in her stocking. Landon was pretty indifferent, but also had a good morning.





This light-up Santa is from my childhood. Mom and Dad had him out at their house and just like last year, he was a favorite of Caroline's.



We had a wonderful time with Aaron's extended family....we even had a white Christmas!











A truly wonderful holiday was had by our family!

Birthdays

We've had 2 birthdays around here in the past few months. Caroline turned 3 and Aaron turned the big 3-0! We had parties for both. Caroline's was ladybug themed. Aaron's had no theme.







I did not make those adorable cookies, which I gave out instead of goody bags. I did make the cupcakes and they took a lot longer than I was expecting! A definite labor of love, and she loved them, so I loved making them!





I think these pictures say it all. Birthday parties are fun and exciting, but are also tiring and overwhelming. Happy 3rd birthday to my sweet girl!

I plotted and planed Aaron's birthday party for months beforehand. I wanted it to be a surprise and I wanted it on his actual birthday, which is really close to Christmas. I knew some of our friends would be out of town, but I also knew that some wouldn't be, so I planned it for his actual big day.

For the 30 days leading up to his birthday, his sister planned a huge and touching gift for him. She contacted family and friends and asked them to send in pictures, stories, objects...anything that they had that meant something to Aaron. She got so much great stuff! Each day for 30 days he had an envelope to open for that day. Each day was from someone, and held the picture, story, or object from his thirty years. It was so wonderful to read about his life and see it through the eyes of people who have known and loved him. Fun times. I used presentation boards to display each day at the party. (and had Science fair flashbacks while putting it all together!)



He did sniff out the actual party, but he was surprised that his family came. His parents, sister and brother-in-law all came for the surprise, which he absolutely wasn't expecting. So I halfway got him.





Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!

Little Eyes

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.


When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.



When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.



When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing; I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.



When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.



When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything I could be.



When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking."



Little eyes see a lot.

Written by: Unknown Former Child

My New Year's Resolution? That the little eyes in our home will see a mother who is dedicated to her Lord, her husband, and her children.

Happy New Year!

Life, Life, Life!

Life is...wonderful, exhausting, fantastic, difficult, and ever changing. Caroline isn't that much older than Landon, but I definitely forgot that once a routine is established and things get going good...BOOM! Something else changes and everything is haphazard again. I love my husband and the life we've built together. I love our children. In our wedding vows we promised to love one another, in fortune and trial, and to always walk a Godly path. I just recently watched our video and was reminded of what we vowed in front of our Lord. I cried and was awestruck at how this life is trying and tiring, but we are keeping those promises daily, even when times are tough. Seasons of life can be hard and we're in a hard season right now. Rewarding, but hard.



We've been busy, as always, but enjoying life as much as we can. Our sweet baby boy is a crier. Bless his heart, sometimes I have done everything in my power to help him and he still cries. For a long time, most days felt like bad days, but things are looking up. I am prayerful that he will continue to cry less and smile more. He won't be a baby forever, and I try and remind myself that I will miss the baby stage.



Caroline is growing and changing everyday. She's become a huge help around the house. She loves "5 minute pickup." I play the song of her choice and we spend 5 minutes picking up toys, plates, trash...anything in our main living area that doesn't belong. She will sing and work. It's enjoyable and then I have a clean space during nap time, which I appreciate so much!



We went up to Aunt KK and Uncle Judd's house 2 months ago (which is where all the pics are coming from...sorry they're so old!) and met up with Opa, Oma, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Stephanie, and Annalise at a pumpkin patch. The girls had a blast.











I have no pictures from Thanksgiving, other that one Aaron's cousin took. It's a good one though...if I do say so myself!



Have a great weekend!

The Zoo

While we were in St. Louis, we also made a trip to the zoo. Caroline had never been before and I knew she would love it because she really likes to look at animals. She's not much of an animal lover...she's still afraid of dogs and cats, but she enjoys looking at them. So, the zoo was perfect for her!



Uncle Micah and Isaiah riding the carousel...Uncle Micah rode an animal, but I think technically he wasn't supposed to. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.



I stood beside Caroline, and she loved it. She is really into riding Carousels...we cannot go to the mall without riding. I guess I could say no, but we're rarely there so I always let her.



Can't remember the exact name of this "monkey" but she adored standing there looking at him. He was right there too, had it not been for the glass she could have plopped on his lap.



If I'm remembering correctly, they weren't actually looking at an animal, but I love this shot. I think it's adorable.



According to Caroline, this is Aubie.



Caroline thought the Ostrich was absolutely hilarious. She just giggled and laughed at it. She said we were "so silly" because we told her it was a bird. We stood here for a long time too, while a bathroom break was going on. Aaron stated he was pretty sure the Ostrich could jump that fence if he got a running start. I moved Caroline at that point.



Another one of my favorites.





Aren't they precious?

The Magic House

We visited my brother and his family a few weeks ago in St. Louis. It was a long drive with two young children, but overall, everything went fine. We had a few mishaps here and an accident there, but we had a good time. I enjoy riding in the car with my family, assuming no one is screaming, because we talk and sing and it's just a good time to be together without a lot of other distractions. We did take a dvd player for Caroline, but I made a point not to have it on all the time. When it was on though, Aaron and I were able to talk to each other, laugh together, and think about things going on in our life. Our entire relationship we've talked out problems and made plans while riding in the car. I remember driving home from Birmingham 2 weeks before our wedding and we talked and talked about the day we would marry and all that lay in store over the next fortnight. We worked out some issues surrounding the day and our excitement grew. I remember similar conversations when I was pregnant with each of our children. The car is a haven of communication for us.

I will no inundate you with pictures from the trip!



We went to a children's museum called The Magic House. Caroline loved it and could have stayed and played all day. They had this vine that went downstairs and the children could climb it instead of walking down the stairs. Caroline enjoyed it at first, but began to freak out when she realized we wanted her to go all the way down. She came out and walked down with Aaron. :)



Uncle Micah spent a lot of time with Caroline...I'm not sure what they're doing here...I was off sitting down at the restaurant feeding Landon.



I was still gone at this point, but I think you put the balls in this and they are blown out and it makes wind. Maybe? Either way, I remember them saying Caroline loved it!









Aaron and Caroline enjoyed the "Oval Office". It was a room, shaped like an oval, that had replicas of the President's desk and podium. When you were at the podium, you were also on camera, and could see yourself on a TV as if you were giving the State of the Union. Caroline sat and talked on the phone for a long time. Along the walls were pictures of all the Presidents and questions about them. It was a neat room.





You could catch a fish and then let it go and watch it swim back to the pond. Caroline really enjoyed this. You can see her green fish swimming back.





This exhibit was scooping out ice cream. Caroline and Isaiah played here for a long time.



They also had a hospital nursery with real looking dolls that weighed about 8lbs. You could give the baby a bath, rock, feed...it was neat. Caroline had great time with this!

It was such a fun day! I didn't get a shot of all of us together, (our camera battery was dying...) but we really enjoyed the Magic House!