Twenty-Nine

Since Mr. Stannix was away on his birthday, we celebrated tonight when he got home. We started out with a nice roasted chicken dinner and finished up with birthday cake and presents! Each of the kids picked out their own gifts at the dollar store. It was cute seeing how excited they were for Daddy to open them! Sadly Joseph had a fever and ended up going to bed early and missing all of the festivities. We sure love our Daddy though and are excited to have him home!

"I Do It!"

Joseph has officially hit the "I Do It!" stage. 

No matter how frustrated he gets doing something, he has to do it himself. 

He will often say "I do self!"

This phrase applies when he is putting on his socks in the morning.

Or when we want to leave the house in a hurry and he wants to put his own boots on.

Or when we are running late and I have to wait an extra hour for him to click his own seatbelt, usually with unnoticed help from me, but if that help is noticed, we are there for another hour while he tries again from the very beginning!

I also hear "I do self!" when he needs some parmesan cheese sprinkled on his spaghetti.

Or when his face needs washing in the tub.

It's a super fun stage watching them learn to be independent.

Uncle Time

Today I left the kiddos with their Uncle Arland for a few hours while I finished up some Christmas shopping and errands. Joseph finally learned the proper way to ride on uncles leg and it was super cute watching him cling on for dear life while he giggled away with his brother. They sure do love that guy!

Christmas Crafts

Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer....

Annual Family Nativity

 Tonight we had the opportunity to gather with my cousins and grandparents for the annual nativity. I am so grateful for all of the organization that my cousins put into this each year. It is super special to be able to get together with family and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas as Grampa narrates and the little second cousins put their acting skills to work.

 Joseph was a Wiseman

 Camilla saw the cute stuffed sheep and wanted to be a shepard

 My cousin's ladies were angels

 This girl's got a pretty good chance at a future in acting!

 My other cousin and her sweet girl played Joseph and Mary

 It was pretty fun seeing them actually catching on this year and figuring out parts.

The cast of 2014! 

(Hyrum pretty much ripped his costume off the second we were done photos. He just wanted "to be Hyrum" tonight.)

One More Year

Happy birthday to my main man today! Thanks for being so wonderful! I love you and can't wait to celebrate with you next weekend! xo

Snow Day

 Yesterday afternoon the children begged to go outside. It was super cold and I knew they wouldn't last long. Sometimes it seems like we spend more time getting dressed in our snow gear than we actually do playing outside. When I was leaving my midwife appointment the other day a sweet Gramma told me that she hated all of the bundling and belting the kids in the Winter. I completely understood where she was coming from. I have often had numb fingers after zipping three coats and belting three children into the car. But yesterday I had numb fingers because I couldn't stop taking pictures of the sheer joy and excitement that covered their faces as they jumped off the deck into the fresh deep snow, or fell backwards trusting the snow would break their fall. 

They were so excited that the snow was so deep! They spent a good chunk of time making trails and rediscovering the joy of snow.

 I loved watching Hyrum trail through the deep snow with wonder in his eyes. Life is so exciting when you're a kid. It was so great to have a moment where I saw things as he did and felt some of the excitement he must have been feeling.

Camilla was the last one to come in. She made herself a nice cozy hole and pretended to take a nap in it. When they were all cozied up at the table to a cup of hot chocolate I looked around at the snow gear dropped on the floor and the puddles that were forming beneath their boots and for once I wasn't annoyed. I had spent some time capturing their joy and seeing life through their eyes. A new perspective sure is nice sometimes.

Warm and Cozy

Winter has officially arrived! We woke up yesterday to a lot of snow. Before we could go to my Midwife appointment in the morning I had to shovel us out of the house. Though it wasn't fun driving to my appointment, it was nice to arrive to such a cozy office. I loved being able to cozy up with the kids on the couch and chat with my Midwife as the snow gently fell out the big window. Joseph always helps at my appointments and I love how my Midwife encourages it. Since the children were already bundled I made sure to run all of my errands while we were out in the morning. 

When we came home, you could barely tell I had shoveled. The children were begging for some baked goods (namely banana chocolate chip muffins) so I decided to go to work repairing the oven. Mr. Stannix said he would do it for me on the weekend, but with all of the snow we were getting, the prospect of him making it home was looking very slim. I am happy to say that I successfully changed the element in the oven with a lot of awkward bending and squatting to get around my belly. Half an hour later I was pulling warm banana chocolate chip muffins out of the oven. We each had one along with some warm homemade vanilla pudding. While we ate, the snow slowly fell outside. And while we played downstairs, the snow kept falling and falling. After I tucked the littles in and made sure they were asleep, I bundled up to shovel. When I opened the front door, I laughed out loud because the snow had drifted part way up the bottom of the door. It was quite the workout to find those sidewalks again!

We got more snow over night. At least it's the light sparkly stuff. It's a beautiful winter wonderland out there. I just wish the roads were better so that Mr. Stannix could come home for his birthday this weekend! We sure miss him! Joseph keeps counting down the "fweeps" until Daddy is home. We are nearing the end of our milk and eggs and I should probably go grocery shopping, but I'd rather cozy up with the littles and spend the day at home baking and crafting. After I put Joseph down for his nap, I  stopped to admire how cozy and content he looked and suddenly was wishing we could all cozy up in our beds for the afternoon while the snow slowly fell outside. But I guess snuggling up to a movie is a close second!

Sibling Date

 Tonight my little brother treated me to the Symphony. It was really great to get out of the house for the evening and let someone else put the littles to sleep! Downtown was beautiful. I love the way they light up the trees at Christmas time. We sat nice and close to the front and got to admire the way those string players move their fingers. The music was delightful, but I think we both really enjoyed watching the conductor! There were a few times where we were quietly laughing together while she bounced around and shook her hair to the music. It made me ache to play my flute again and be a part of such great music. One day I will find some community band somewhere and join it! It was great to enjoy a night out with my brother taking in something we both love so much. 

In Summary

Whew! It's been a busy day. Mr. H started puking shortly after he woke up. It's always so sad to see them sick! So I canceled all of my plans (believe me, today was busy for a Tuesday), the children stayed in their jammies all day, and Thomas the Train re-runs played all afternoon while Hyrum slept on the couch between puking sessions. Meanwhile, Joseph only pulled the toilet brush out three times, nothing got thrown in the toilet, and my phone only got highjacked by little fingers once. After dinner I threw Joe in the tub to kill time. Minus the buckets of water he dumped on my bathroom floor, I'd say it was a success. I've been having some awesome Braxton Hicks all day long and I'm crossing my fingers this baby stays put for a few more weeks! Camilla was a huge help when she wasn't plugging her ears and closing her eyes to block out Hyrum's puke sounds... And now I've stayed up way too late! Wish me luck tomorrow!

(This cheesy grin keeps me going!)