Libby

Libby's birthday is coming up shortly and I've been wanting to write a post all about her. Oh, Libby. Libby, Libby, Libby. Thinking of Libby conjures up so many different emotions. She's darling, hilarious, mischievous, lovely, difficult, curious, and precious all in one tiny, yet very tough, package.

Life is very exciting with Libby around.

She's the one that we constantly worry about wherever we go. She's seemingly fearless. She wants to be independent.

The moments she is still are precious to me, and they are rare. I often take pictures in the quiet moments, like in this moment:
She is so busy, always on the go, often pretending:
And even more often, dancing:

She's our passionate one, with her very frequent ups and downs:

And you never know what she's going to do next.

Dancing again.

Now she's a photographer.

Now she's the queen, complete with bowing subject.

She loves to wear beautiful dresses. They make her feel like a "plincess" (princess).

Libby's the one we have to do everything different with: It's very difficult to get her to clean up her toys. She's always "too tired". So one day we threatened to take her toys away if she wasn't going to take care of them. "I don't like them anyway," she replied.

She's not afraid to do what she has to for attention: a couple weeks ago Ethan and I were watching a movie in our room after we'd put the kids to bed. Libby apparently wanted our attention because she kept yelling for us. Knowing she didn't need anything we ignored her hoping she would go to sleep.

Soon we heard her yell, "Dad, I be bad. You need to spank my bum." Ethan and I just looked at each other and laughed and kept on with our movie. Next we heard, "Dad, Hussie (that's Hudson) be bad. You need to spank his bum." Well, Ethan did check on that and, as expected, Hudson hadn't done anything. We went back to our movie. Soon we heard more yelling, but from Hudson (who shares a room with Libby) this time. "Libby's naked!" Well, we promptly fixed that situation and went back to our movie.

We tried to ignore all other noise from this point on but when I went to check on the sleeping kids after our movie I realized the carpet in Libby and Hudson's room was very wet. Hudson, who is our night owl and still awake, told me it was because Libby was taking sips of water from her sippy cup then spitting it out onto the floor. Side note: we've noticed that watching movies takes way longer when you have small children.

Libby is very friendly and she obviously loves her brothers and sister very much.

She's incredibly honest, even if it means incriminating herself.

Libby's also a sweetheart. Just yesterday she told me, "Mom, I love you. You so plitty (pretty)."

Yes, she's a sweetheart, and she's fun, and incredibly lovable. We definitely love our Libby.

It Makes Me Smile

I'm thinking of making this a Friday tradition, writing the little things that have made me smile throughout the week.

This week these things made me smile:

-Hearing Hudson sing "Rolling In the Deep" in the shower.

-Seeing Maria and Libby laying on the floor in Maria's room, just listening to music.

-Watching the kids play outside in what has been the warmest January we've ever had.

-When Lincoln (fully clothed, with shoes on) climbed into the tub with Libby

-And when Hudson cheerfully changed Lincoln's wet clothes and diaper for dry ones.

-Maria falling asleep with her lamp on and a book in her hands (The Lion, the Witch, and theWardrobe).

-Watching Libby play the "guitar" (broom) and hearing her declare with gusto: "I'm a rock 'n' roll staw (star)!"

-This face:

Oregon III

What? You want more Oregon pictures? Oh, alright. If I must. Just to please you. But this is the last time.

Joseph and Ethan at Oswald West beach.

Me and my little Linkies. It's not the most flattering picture but you don't mind, do you? Better not.

Who can hop across the log the best? Haha - this is sooo Nuttall.

Ethan and his family spent some time making the perfect river crossing.

Well, that's it for Oregon. It had been almost two years since we were there last and it was great to get back. And, as always, it was great to see Ethan's family again. I think it was just what Ethan needed to sustain him through his last semester of school. That's what we're focused on now. Getting done with school and what to do after that. What to do?

Oregon II

And more pictures:

Oregon

We loved it and we miss it. And so we share more pictures:

Christmas Toys

A few posts ago I mentioned Ethan and I were making Christmas gifts. Last year I made felt food for Libby, but beyond that, Ethan and I have never made toys before. We had a lot of fun (even though we worried they wouldn't be finished for Christmas) and were pleased with the results. The kids seemed to be pleased as well.

Ethan made these things:

A carrying tote for Lincoln and a set of building blocks made from the trunk of last year's Christmas tree and a felled branch from a tree in our yard.

A wood rifle for Hudson.

I made:

A felt needle book with . . .

embroidery floss and needles inside. She says she loves this gift and having it makes her feel like a teenager.

Two bags for Hudson to keep his new hammer and nails in. I freezer paper stenciled a hammer on the hammer bag and nails on the nail bag. I should have picked a different paint color - it looked brighter when I bought it.

And I made this fort kit for all the kids based on this one I found online. The kit comes with two sheets, a handful of clips, clothesline and some suction cup hooks. One of the sheets has a casing on two side with clothesline through it (the light colored sheet you see in the picture). The other sheet has looped ties stitched to each corner and side.

It provides hours of fun.

We spent quite a lot of time selecting just the right toys to give the kids for Christmas but I'll have to wait for another post to tell you all about that process.

Christmas Decorations

One of my favorite things about our Christmas holiday was our Christmas decorations. A couple handmade garlands and treasures found on the beach were all we needed to make the beach house merry.

Maria made a garland by hand knitting some yarn during our long road trip to Oregon.

Here it is displayed on the mantel.

Another garland was fashioned from strips of fabric, tied together. Driftwood, small rocks, feathers and shells were gathered from the beach. We simply tied hemp string around them to make ornaments.

Several pieces of driftwood delivered a happy message.

The perfect topper for a Christmas Beach Tree.

It was so much fun to create our own Christmas decorations and it made the season all the more jolly.

Oregon: Top Ten

We went to Oregon for Christmas, where Ethan's family lives. To accommodate the growing family (all of Ethan's siblings would be there for the holiday as well) we, as a family, rented a house close to the beach. It was amazing and we have many fond memories. I've had a hard time deciding what to share with you, hence the delay in posting anything about the holidays. But I'm ready to begin, and I do so by sharing with you my top ten favorite pictures.

And here they are, in no particular order:

More coming soon.