never a dull moment...

in this house!

Our Christmas tree was thirsty and had no water in its bowl, so Ivy (being my GREAT helper as always) and I decided to give the tree a drink....problem is, we watered the tree when Owen was up and observing. He now knows that there is water under the Christmas tree, and he doesn't quite understand yet that the water is there for the tree only and NOT for his enjoyment! :-)

The other day, he decided that Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the donkey, and two of the three wise men, needed to go for a swim. Where did he choose to put them? In the Christmas tree water!

Another day, he decided that about 10 of the little plastic farm animals, the farmer, and a couple other people from the Little People toys needed to get a bath. Where did he choose to put them? In the Christmas tree water!

He is soooo sneaky! :-)

With our Christmas tree being up and decorated, it is a fascination to everyone in the house but ESPECIALLY to Owen! It's so hard to tell what and how many things we will find hidden in the Christmas tree. So far, we have found MANY matchbox cars, balls, members (wise men, baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, cow, donkey) from the nativity set, and a little bit bigger cars and trucks.

This time, we caught him red-handed!





A couple of days ago, as I was unloading the dishwasher and thinking that the bathroom door was shut so that Owen could not go in to play in the toilet water (as he has figured out how to lift the toilet seat and lid up now), I turn around to see a toilet paper trail running from the bathroom out to the stove. Apparently, he thought we needed a "white carpet" to walk on to get to the bathroom! :-)

future doctor?

Ever since our kids were born, I have always wondered what plans the Lord has for them and what profession they will be directed to. What do you think? Future doctor????

Daddy was in the parade!

This afternoon, the kids and I were able to watch the Christmas parade in town and the "official" lighting of the town's Christmas tree. Now, Nathan and I always say that the town of Conway is like a city compared to where we came from (which it totally IS!), but I must say that our little hometowns of New Bethlehem/Hawthorn in western Pennsylvania far outdo the parades around here (and that's not saying much!). Officially, I have now attended the second shortest parade in my entire life! (The absolute shortest parade also took place in Conway!) Please don't take my poking fun as ungratefulness or snootiness because all in all, it was so nice for the kids and I to get out and enjoy being with one another, making memories, and being outside, especially during the first snowfall of the season. (YEAH! I'm so glad the snow has FINALLY arrived!) After the parade was over, we walked down to the park. On our way, we heard a new siren and then saw the blue lights coming our way. When the cruiser got to us, we discovered that it was Daddy! As soon as Nathan made his way past us, Ivy remarked, "Daddy was in the parade!" (Little did she know that he wasn't actually an "official" part of the parade but on his way to an emergency call! As a side note, I don't think I will EVER get used to hearing sirens wailing knowing Nate is at work and wondering if they are his, what kind of emergency he has been called to, or what kind of a person he has to deal with OR, worse yet, actually seeing Nathan speed by with lights shining and sirens blaring. When I do hear or see them, I always take the time to pray for the situation and for the people involved, whether it includes Nathan or not. I am thankful though knowing that God is in control of ALL things and that He will protect Nathan; however, if God chooses to take Nate to be with Him, I will one day see him again in Heaven and that God will take care of us and ALL of our needs here! Okay, enough of my rabbit trail!) When we finally got to the park, we watched the tree lighting, saw Santa, and enjoyed some FREE cookies. Yummy!

After the festivities, I asked Ivy what her favorite part of the parade was, to which she replied that seeing the horses and Santa Claus were the best. Then after a bit of further thought, she also remarked that she liked getting ALL of the candy (a few pieces, but it doesn't take much to please Ivy!) and getting to see Daddy "because Daddy was in the parade!" I think Owen's favorite part of the parade was watching all of the fire engines with sirens blasting and lights flashing. Owen loved waving to the firemen as they drove by (what a cutie pie), and he just couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the trucks.

The Christmas season is upon us!

decorating for Christmas

I have learned over the years that it is best to leave some decisions up to your husband.

In this house, picking out the Christmas tree is one of those decisions.

If anyone has EVER gone shopping with my husband (for shoes, clothes, or whatever), they TOTALLY know what I am talking about. Deciding that I have more patience this year, the kids and I went along, and we made it a family event!



Now, I never have understood WHY Nathan always tries to include me in a certain decision when ultimately, he has a strong opinion about it and doesn't want to hear any other answer but his and then we do what he thinks anyways. This is Nate asking what I think (like it matters)...



This is Nate comtemplating about the tree...

This is Ivy adding her opinion in the matter..."What about this tree, Daddy?"

This is Owen adding his "two cents" in the matter...."uh...uh...uh, Dada?"

This is Nate STILL contemplating...

This is Ivy adding yet more complication to the matter..."What about this one?"

This is Nate...DECISION IS MADE!!!!

NOW, for the interesting part...getting it home and decorating it!

To bring this tree home, we had it tied to the roof of our van. On our way home, the tree decided to go for a ride off the side of the van! After finally getting it home and rearranging the living room for our tree, we got it inside and set in place for decorating.

Here is Nate doing a great job stringing the lights around the tree - the job he thoroughly enjoys...in fact, he declared this year as he was putting the lights on the tree that he is going to let someone else enjoy next year! :-) He does do a wonderful job with it though.

Ivy and me putting the ornaments on the tree. (The timing just so happened that Owen was napping while we were decorating the tree.)

Ivy's way of hanging the ornaments...find one branch and put ALL of the ornaments on that branch! :-)

After discovering Ivy's way of putting ornaments on the tree, we showed her the step stool so that she could spread out the ornaments and put some a little higher. She loved the step stool!


Ivy loved decorating the windows for our long winter to come...






It's beginning to look like Christmas in our home!

sparkles

While we were away on our trip to Pennsylvania, the house always settles down, including the dust. When we were unpacking the van, I noticed that we were stirring up all of the dust into the air that had settled while we were away. Ivy and Owen were even trying to catch the dust in the air! I LOVE how Ivy describes those dust particles you see in the air when the sun shines through - she calls them SPARKLES!!! :-)

Doesn't that sound so much better? Doesn't it want you to keep as many SPARKLES around as you can? :-)