Dancing

Happy Birthday to Me

-Wednesday: The kids serenaded me all day with many renditions of Happy Birthday ("you live in a zoo," etc.) Erik took all of us out for a quick supper so I wouldn't have to cook.
-Thursday: Erik took just me out to dinner for a more romantical celebration. (Annie: thanks for the flowers and for watching the kids!)
-Friday: I took the kids to Target to buy my presents. It's not as self-serving as it sounds. We really went so Meg could by a toy she had saved up for but they insisted on taking their money to buy my gifts then rather than waiting for Erik to take them the next day. We had a pretty good system whereby they could select things from the dollar spot and pay for them without me completely seeing the items. Meg sweetly offered to pay for Kate's things since Kate has no money (allowance begins at 4 around here).
-Saturday: While I was out with a friend who treated me to a make up session at Bare Escentuals and lunch at the Buckhead Diner (thanks Cortney!!) Erik supervised the kids who wrapped gifts and decorated a cake. I got a big yellow "permanent" flower and a small pot with forget-me-not seeds (Meg), two varieties of kitchen sponges (Nate), and a pink tiara and mini box of chocolates (Kate), plus other thoughtful gifts from family and friends. Thanks everyone!

On a cleaner, drier note

A few days ago I told the kids to get their shoes on so we could go to Target. Kate came downstairs quite pleased with herself for "tying" her own shoes. I've never thought about teaching her to tie since she has no shoes with laces. Or so I thought. She deemed these too-small hiking boots just the right look for her outfit and dug them out of the bottom of her shoe bin. To her credit the laces stayed put through our whole shopping trip (however she did have to ride in the cart because her feet hurt. Wrong size + wrong feet = bad fit.)

Only Kate...

Let's see. How do you begin a story about your three-year-old sticking her head in the toilet at church? Alright, not really head, just hair. I should have known better than to let her and Julia, her partner in crime, play unsupervised in the bathroom for thirty minutes but, hey--we were busy serving dinner to a roomful of international students at our church's ESL class. I figured the worst that could happen was her usual sink full of water and soap bubbles. Cleaning that up would be a small price to pay for all the work I was getting done and all the fun I figured she was having. So you can imagine my shock (and disgust!) when I checked in on the girls to find water, wet clothes, and socks on the floor and underwear (?!) in the sink. (In Julia's defense, only the socks belonged to her.) Then I noticed half of Kate's hair was wet. That's fine. Then I noticed the water drops on the potty seat. Julia pleaded ignorant, but Kate cheerfully, proudly confessed. I don't know which I'd rather have: a picture of the whole soggy scene or a recording of the hilarious explanation accompanied by Kate's shrieks of laughter (and my stifled giggles). Just as I would compose myself to disapprovingly pronounce how gross and unsanitary it was to wet your hair in the potty a new fit of laughter would overtake me, which Kate saw as confirmation that the whole thing was just as funny as she had thought causing her to crack up all over again. So, we mopped things up pretty easily, but how to get a girl with wet hair home on a cold night when most of her clothes were sopping wet. A few aprons from the church kitchen did the trick--one tied on the front, another covering the back. I snapped this shot when we got home (before scrubbing her down in a hot bath). It hardly represents the episode, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Just a little nerf gun fun.

Name that Tune

Caleb has progressed to medleys. His repertoire now consists of Jesus Loves Me and Amazing Grace woven together with his favorite line from Joy to the World. (Oh, and he also spent the entire Christmas season singing "Angles We Have Heard on High.")

Big Day

Yesterday morning was Nate's first basketball game.



Last night was the father-daughter dance at Meg's school.

See?

Florida

Getting there is half the fun.

We weren't the only ones with the idea of going south for the winter. Due to heavy traffic, the normally-nine-hour drive took 12 hours, putting us in around 1 am. Thank goodness for the iPhone.

The "little beach" (right outside the condo, along the intracoastal) is
almost as fun as the "big beach" and we had it mostly to ourselves.

We visited a natural scrub habitat just down the street from the condo. I must admit some parts looked barren and ugly, but at the same time the place had an interesting wild/natural beauty of its own. You can climb the observation tower (pictured above) to survey the landscape and then come down and follow paths through the vegetation and sand to explore up close. It was definitely a fun place for the kids to roam around. We saw some cactus, wild flowers, butterflies, raccoon tracks, and of course curly-tail lizards. On a hot day it would have been miserable, but the cool weather made it quite pleasant; a good nature walk.

Philip and I used to bike on this path around Lake Osborne.
(re: the jackets--a mix of chilly and warm weather, but overall perfect!)

As a Christmas gift, Erik reserved two nights at the bed and breakfast where we stayed for part of our honeymoon. My parents kept the kids while he and I went out to eat, saw a movie, did some shopping, had uninterrupted conversation, and slept in two mornings in a row! This is the lush view from our balcony.

Lots of pool time.

We only made it to the "big beach" once, late in the afternoon, but it was great. These pictures don't show it, but we caught that perfect time just as the sun sets when everything is starting to dim but the light hits the breakers and the foam glows golden white.
Ah, Florida.

Holiday Highlights

The Christmas season already seems like a distant memory, but here is a sample of some family activities. Not pictured: family advent wreath celebrations, the party we hosted for Erik's co-workers, the Christmas carol/hymn sing at our house with new and old friends from church (which might have been my favorite event of the season), and Erik's first sermon (so good!) preached at Westminster on December 27.


Pre-trimming trimming. They are meticulously cutting the net off the tree. No one was interested in my advice to cut in a single line straight up from the bottom. I am still finding mesh fragments in the family room.

Post-trimming eggnog.

I have soaked up as much of chubby little Caleb as possible this December--our last Christmas with a baby in the house. Did I ever say I can't wait until they're old enough to leave the ornaments alone?! Yes, I did. And it will be nice. But bittersweet, you know.



Pretend this is what they looked like headed to church for the candlelighting service. The sad truth is I have actually come to allow jeans and ratty tennis shoes on the holiest of nights--sort of come as you are. And it's not to make a theological point, either (Just As I Am, anyone?). Dressing up four young children on Christmas Eve would be that proverbial straw. So we don't. Maybe someday.

Would you entrust your sheep to these little rascals?

Gingerbread Construction. Sorry about the pink throw-up tubs. We had a little bug going around and everyone got pretty attached to these. Even now if somebody coughs more than three times in a row a good Samaritan runs to get a bin just in case.

Thanks Maria!! The houses were fun and yummy as usual.

Christmas Day

It seems I can either enjoy an occasion or have good pictures of it. Lots of happy unwrapping, but not much photographic evidence this year. Thanks to all our generous family and friends for the gifts you gave us. (Your notes are in the mail.)

The three big kids all got Webkinz (a first for Nate and Kate). If you don't know what they are, don't ask. I don't want to admit that I foster my kids' participation in online virtual "reality." But don't they look pleased.

So far, we own, or have owned, 10 kid's bikes. This is only the second one we have ever bought new. See, fourth children don't always get the cast-offs. It is true, however, that every stitch he's wearing in the picture is a hand-me-down.

Christmas Ballet Recital