Tuesday, January 4, 2011

christmas

we had a great christmas this year. this was the first christmas we've had at our home with just our little family. now that the kids are getting older christmas is getting to be a lot more fun. i tried to keep gifts simple this year. ethan and i gave each kid two presents and each kid also got one gift from all their siblings. i'd always done more than that in the past but i've realized that my kids play with their toys more often and appreciate them more if they have fewer toys. plus there's the added bonus of having fewer things to pick up.

maria's two gifts: mulan dolls and cinderella dolls. i knew she was going to be excited about these. she actually screamed when she opened the cinderella box.


with lincoln growing so many teeth (four already with more trying to burst out) we figured he needed a hefty chew toy. i love it because it's all natural - made from hard wood and finished with organic olive oil and beeswax. i also love that it is a silent toy. so hard to find these days, every thing crinkles or rattles or squeaks. i need more quiet in my life.

here is some of the felt food i made for libby. i am not a sewer and the night before christmas i was wondering why in the world i decided to do this. most of it turned out okay, tho, and i think she likes playing with it . . . well, she likes making a mess with it at least. ethan and i also gave her the pots and pan.


libby wearing the pretty dress her aunt elise gave her. she loves to be pretty. i need to get a picture of the pretty dress her grandma and grandpa nuttall gave her. she wore it to church and she loves it.


yea, playing with her new toys! she opened the pots and pan box first. all the felt food was in one box and when she opened it she let out a little squeal then grabbed as much as she could and shoved it into a pot.


lincoln's at that age where he enjoys the wrapping more than the actual toys.


the kids are showing what they got from their siblings. hudson got a sword. maria got a stamp set. libby got a microphone that creates a kind of echo so it sounds like a real microphone.


libby goin' at it.


trying to figure out what to do.


christmas morning - a typical family portrait. libby is crying because hudson was so excited he almost pushed her down the stairs and i don't remember why maria is mad.


my mom made scrubs for hudson and gave him a doctor's kit. he examined me then said quite professionally, "mom, your heart is gone."


my parents also gave him a tool set. he's been "fixing" all sorts of things around the house.


THE sword. he loves this thing. he's had his eye on this ever since we went to the american west heritage center this last spring. his favorite thing to say is, "my mom said i can't have a sword and i got one!"


ethan and i gave hudson a catapult and castle blocks. you can sort of see the blocks behind him on the right.


hudson md. he's got great bed-side manner.


Monday, January 3, 2011

birthday prep

hudson was asking how old libby is going to be on her birthday the end of this month. i told him she was turning two. then i thought it would be fun to teach libby to say "i'm two."

mom: libby, can you say "two"?

libby: daddy tooted!

should have seen that coming.

mom: no, no. say "two".

libby: ma'ia tooted!

mom: (sigh) no, libby. "tooooo". "tooooo". not "toot".

libby: toooooo?

mom: yes, libby! can you say, "i'm two"?

libby: (breaks into random song)

i never did get anymore than that.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

that's disgusting!

about a month ago libby learned to say disgusting. it still cracks me up to hear her say it.

Monday, December 27, 2010

early december

okay, so i'm a little behind. but here are some pictures and happenings from earlier this month:



asleep in her chair, again.


maria really enjoys playing piano. she's had a lot of fun playing christmas music and she started playing in the "hymns made easy" book. i admire her motivation. she likes to play things that are challenging.


i love the days when school is done happily and peacefully.


before you freak out, this is NOT the plunger for the toilet. this is for the kitchen sink. yes, still gross, but not as bad as the other. she's "strumming" it. she was using it as her guitar.


the fort/house/pirate ship we built in the front room.


earlier this month we celebrated hudson's birthday. he is four now. man, time goes by way too fast. he had a great birthday.
he got an adventure set with a flashlight, binoculars and a compass.


hugging all his presents.


new clothes. i had to take the pants back, tho - he didn't like them. they never like what i pick out which is why this year, for christmas, i didn't give any of them clothes.





and the next day was ethan's birthday.
hudson, the little stinker, snuck in there at the last second to "help" dad blow out the candles.




christmas pictures coming soon.

Monday, December 6, 2010

favorite kid quote of the week

hudson: i feel something, like, scratching in the crack of my bum . . . i think it's a bee.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

christmas tree

we got a christmas tree - lovingly picked out by my niece and cut by my bro-in-law. lincoln likes it. he rolls right over there in his little walker and plays with it. that was okay until we decorated it last night. we'll see how that goes.






the kids had so much fun decorating the tree that they were still talking about it this morning.

school with libby

libby gets bored during school. poor girl. i try to keep her busy but there's no one activity that holds her attention for very long. a lot of times she's left to her own devices. sometimes that's bad. sometimes it's just funny. i thought these things were kinda funny.

pinching the wall.

reading in lincoln's walker.

for you homeschooling mom's, any tips for keeping a not-even-two-year-old-yet busy during school? i've only figured out how to divide my time between hudson and maria. they are so young that they are time-intensive for me. what about libby? how do you school so many kids at once?