Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

We could only build a tiny snowman

Daddy & Connor looking for the snowman's arms

Weston was so happy to see snow

Weston "Judo-chopping" a block of ice

He said "Hi-ya" as he chopped it in half

Connor's turn

Connor followed with another "Hi-ya"

That makes two great Judo-choppers

Will experimenting with trick photography to make "Olaf" look bigger

Look at the joy in Weston's face

Connor-bug & Mommy

Celebrating James' First Snow

James grabbing onto Olaf's arms

Posing with his first snowman

Hi, my name is Olaf, and I like warm hugs.

 

We had a fun "snow day", if you want to call it that.  We got an inch or less of snow last night.  To prepare for this snow-pocalypse, we started the night before.  The boys wanted to watch music and video clips from the movie Frozen.  We sang "Let It Go" while dancing around in the kitchen as I baked Friendship Bread.  We drove to a neighbor's house in our pajamas, hats, and gloves to deliver a fresh loaf.  Then, we came back home, where Weston and Connor set up their tents to camp out in the playroom.  They woke to white snow on the ground, and they were so excited.  We had eggs & friendship bread for breakfast, before dressing in our snow clothes.  The boys were most excited about building a snowman, so we did just that.  We named him Olaf, just like the snowman in the movie Frozen.  He was less than a foot tall.  Then Will grabbed sheets of ice off the hot tub cover and had the boys take turns "Judo-chopping" the ice.  Weston & Connor thought that was a lot of fun.  We all took pictures with Olaf.  James took Olaf's arms away when he sat next to him.  We all came inside for hot chocolate.  Then, for lunch, the boys had snow-man shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  We watched Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns after lunch.  How did we end this fun winter day?  We went for ice cream!!  

Getting So Big

Mommy & James (2 1/2 months old)

James on Daddy's shoulder

Daddy feeding James baby food at 4 months old

Tasting squash

Not sure about those carrots

My little Jamesy, you are getting so big.  At your 4 month check-up, you were in the 93rd percentile for height.  You're steadily outgrowing clothes and sleepers.  Although you are almost 5 months old now, you are wearing some 9 months clothes for length.  At 4 months, you started eating solid foods.  You tried squash and carrots, but you were not a big fan of either.  It even sounded like you said "uh-uh" the other day when I tried the carrots again.  You tolerate the taste of sweet potatoes, but you will eat all the fruit and cereal we send your way.  You even kick your legs in excitement when you see the fruits coming.  You are already a big talker.  You seem to imitate Mommy & Daddy's speech very well.  We have heard you coo words that sound like hey, hi, hello, yeah, and I love you.  We just love to hear you talk, and we laugh when your cooing sounds so much like actual words.  Oh, how we love you so much!  Today, Connor and I rocked you while singing Sweet Baby James before we put you down for a nap.  Tonight, Connor wanted me to sing "deep blues and greens are the colors I choose" to you again.  He thinks that is the name of your song.  You are so lucky to have two big brothers who would do anything for you.   

First Christmas as a Family of Five

Our stockings hung for James' First Christmas

Evie & Connor watching movies in bed

Noah and Weston hanging out in the playroom

Connor & Mommy at his class Christmas party

Weston at his class party

Connor showing off his treats

Weston & Daddy opening presents

Granddaddy & Nana with all their grand kids

Will, Me, and our three boys (5, 3, and 3 months)

The boys with their cousins, Kayla & Emily

Grandparents with kids in their Christmas pj's

Passing out gifts on Christmas Eve

Boys checking out their new movies Turbo & Planes

Connor with his remote control monster truck

James holding one of his gifts

James & James

Mimi and Weston

Weston so happy to finally have a complete MSU football uniform

James & Mommy

He wore this uniform (minus the helmet) for 36 straight hours

James all bathed and ready for bed

Going to bed in his Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve

Blueberry Cinnamon French Toast for Breakfast

Family presents under the tree in the living room on Christmas morning

Santa, I mean Will, ready to start the day

Santa came and dropped off some presents

Waking the boys up

Playing with their new HotWheels track

James at the table with us for breakfast

Reading the Nativity story

Going through the stockings

Connor trying to count his candy

December was packed full of fun.  First, we hosted the Carnathan family for 5 days.  The kids had so much fun playing together for an extended visit.  Noah and Weston camped in the playroom one night.  The following night, Evie and Connor camped out.  Connor and Evie were always sneaking away to watch movies together on the kindle.  Weston and Noah were a good match for each other at air hockey.  As always, I loved getting to spend some quality time with my best friend Abby.  We had fun doing pedicures one afternoon while the kids napped.

A few days later, Will’s family came to visit and celebrate Christmas.  The boys had fun playing with their cousins.  Then, two more Christmas dinners and celebrations followed.  We went to our Christmas Eve service and then came back home to exchange gifts with Mimi and Grandy.  On Christmas morning, Will and I woke the boys up, and they ran into the playroom where Santa left their presents.  Weston and Connor played with their toys, while Will and I put blueberry French toast on plates for everyone.  After breakfast, we went into the living room to read the Nativity story from the Bible.  We also put the last name of Jesus on our “Jesus Tree”.

There are several things we will remember about this Christmas.  This was our first Christmas with our sweet baby James.  We also started the tradition of the “Jesus Tree” in our home.  We read daily scriptures about some of the names of Jesus.  The boys would take turns putting an ornament with a name for Jesus on the tree each night before bed.  Sometimes we sang songs that related to the name, but most nights we walked downstairs to bed while singing “Go Now in Peace”.  On the night that we read our first name of Jesus, the boys noticed what looked like a star on our ceiling.  It was a really cool reflection of light in the shape of a star.  Our “star” made our devotional time extra special.  During the week of Christmas, we also delivered for meals on wheels two days as a family while Will was off from work.