5 Little Monkeys...

This past weekend, we spent Thanksgiving with the Bigger family. All the cousins loved their time together - 5 is most certainly livelier than 3! We really enjoyed the excitement, the laughter, the noise and even the busyness of 5 children in this family. We are thankful for the Lord's faithfulness in growing our family and providing these sweet opportunities to feed on His faithfulness.

My mom gave all her grandchildren these sweet monkey jimmy-jams!

Here are all the monkeys lined up (from l to r)

Anna Grace, T, Walker, Lalla and Wyatt

It took several pics. Several tears. Several re-positionings. Several arms-in-faces. Several encouraging pep talks. But we got a picture of our 5 monkeys on the bed.

Also, on this trip, my sister surprised me with an entire box of ornaments for a Jesse Tree! She and some friends in Florence got together and did a Jesse Tree ornament swap. Kayne made 2 ornaments so she received 2 complete sets of ornaments and GAVE one complete set to me! I am so excited about this fun new tradition. Last year we began the Advent tradition in our home - and this year, what a fun, tangible way to read scripture from the Old Testament and New Testament while placing this cute little hand made ornament on our Jesse Tree.

Advent begins on November 28 (Sunday). I plan to post some on this soon...

Happy Thanksgiving...

Love,

"Little wolf" and "Deer"

A Sweet Moment...

with my little girl...

I've been jotting down thoughts over the last week for a post on mommyhood. I was struck the other day by the intensity of a twenty minute period where the needs of the persons in my home outweighed the brainpower, arms and legs that could meet those needs. Put much more simpler, my kids needed me in more ways than I could fulfill. And I was overwhelmed by 2 things - the needs that couldn't be met and my need for Jesus. I am unreliable without Him. He supplies all that I need and all that my children need.

But this was a sweet moment captured in the midst of a busy season.

(thank you Tyler LaCross for capturing this so well)

Scissors

"Encourage him to use scissors at home." were among the final words that Wyatt's teacher shared with me before our phone call ended. She had called for a routine progress report on how he's doing in school. I decided to encourage him more in this area as he prefers me to cut things out because he values neatness.

Soooo I've been encouraging him to cut things out instead, daily. He is improving every day at cutting edges straighter, etc.

Also, I (rather impulsively) decided to trim both of the boys' hair last week. Wyatt was very interested in how I did it, how I cut it, and watched when it was Walker's time. Very. Observantly.

All of this came to mind the other day.

When.

The two of them were playing and it became silent. I was actually just coming home from running an errand. Wes was holding Lalla and greeting me at the door as well as a neighbor who stopped by to see if Wyatt could play. All of this was happening at the same time when Wyatt and Walker come out of the playroom and there are blunt snips of hair...just...gone. One right in front, one right at the crown of his head.

We had a conversation about the proper use of scissor and clarified that brother's hair is NOT included in those uses.

And ofcourse, Wes shaved it.

And he was (once again) a trooper.

3 "haircuts" in 1 week

finished product (in the bath)

finished product, dry.

GRRRR

5 Years!

I can't help but get teary as I think over the past 5 years. I have known this little guy for 5 years. He made me a mommy! He was my guinea pig. We figured it out together. And I am so thankful for the Lord's grace in parenting and in specifically, mothering my Wyatt. He has blessed me immeasurably with this gift. I love him with all my heart.

This year we celebrated Wyatt's 5th birthday a week early. We did a small pirate party with all boys. It was very simple and yet, a lot of fun for the boys. I am thankful for how it all came together. Wes was a champ with his impromptu pirate games and leading the boys on a treasure hunt with a finale of bonking a good ole pinata :)

The pirate cake - which came from this great website my friend Brandy shared on her blog

goody bags

(brown lunch bags, pattern-scissors, stickers and some ribbon)

the pinata - i could not believe how well those boys followed instructions! they were awesome!!

ARRRRGH!

(Wes put Walker on his shoulders and was chasing them onto this boat as the 'two headed sea monster')

I am so thankful for our Wyatt.

I love you, birthday boy :)

Little This and a Little That

The boys are continuing to love on Lalla, sweetly and gently. I am amazed as I've seen answered prayers to this end. I am just waiting for a little bit of aggression...so far they have been soft and tender towards her.

a Walker and Lalla moment

Also, Walker has been sick 5 times in 9 weeks. 4 times he's had colds that have quickly progressed to restricting his airway and one time, the stomach bug :( He has been a trooper (mostly) through his many breathing treatments. He is being treated a little differently through the winter and spring as though his has asthma to hopefully prevent this from happening as severely as it has been in the past.

Walker (and his breathing treatment pipe) and Wyatt helping to entertain him as he sits...again...and breathes.

This year for Halloween we tried something new. Wes had a great idea for our family after a "scary" one last year for the boys to dress up, put in a movie, make some pumpkin icing cookies and give out candy to our neighbors. We tried it and the boys had a blast. They loved the candy and visiting with friends at the door. It was really a lot of fun and they got to "serve" a little. :)

even Lalla dressed up as Raggedy-Ann

We have a chest full of costumes that my boys wear often. Dress up is a very normal for them. Walker was spider man, compliments of the dress-up chest and Wyatt chose to create a character - "Bat Dog". He created his own costume as well - an orange shirt he asks to wear every day, batman shorts, a bandana around his neck and mask that he asked me to paint on him. ?

This year Wyatt requested a special design for our pumpkin...

and his Daddy more than delivered. :)

the cookies we decorated on Halloween night in between trick-or-treaters

Our Bat Dog

...and Lalla started sleeping through the night :)

(and rubbing her head while she sucks her fingers)

The Difference Between a Male and Female

I had some time with just Walker yesterday, unplanned while we were waiting for Wyatt to come home. And we decided to play "flashcards". Its where I hold up a flashcard and Walker tells me what the picture is. So this is how it went down:

Me: What is this? (bird)

Walker: a bird!

Me: Good Job! And this one? (bear)

Walker: a bear! I go get one!

Me: Okay, great idea!

And then he went and got a stuffed animal bear and propped it right next to him.

He then asked if he could be mommy and I be Walker.

I said sure. And this is how THAT went down.

Walker: what is this? (bird)

Me: um. a bird!

Walker: good job! And this one? (bear)

Me: um. a bear! (and then I pretend to be afraid of the stuffed bear and let out a big SCREAM!)

"AGHHHHHHH! Help mommy!"

Walker: I go get a gun and shoot it.