"A Teacher and a Mom"

This is what Gracie answers when she's asked what she wants to be when she grows up.  I wonder if she's familiar with teachers and moms...?  :)  I take it as the best compliment one could receive.  Oh, and this picture was a request from Gracie.  She wants to frame it and put it in her room.

Speaking of (me) being a teacher and a mom, I don't think I've recorded Gracie's "Personal Safety Lesson" story yet, so here it is, recorded for posterity:

One day this fall I heard from other moms that they were talking to their young kids about personal safety:  Good Touch vs. Bad Touch.  Feeling like I may be behind on giving this lesson, I started an educational conversation one night while the kids were bathing.

I asked Josh and Grace if they knew any good touches...hugs, high fives, snuggles came up.  I then asked them if they knew of any bad touches.  "Hitting," was the only answer I got.  :)  So then, like a good mom, I started talking about our "swimming suit areas" and told them that no one should touch these areas, that they were private.  It was a thrilling and educational conversation--the kids were enthralled, talking about swim suits and high fives.  :)

So the next morning, while Gracie and I were snuggling, I thought it would be a good idea to see if she remembered what we'd talked about the night before.  I asked her if she remembered good touches--yes.  Then I asked if she remembered what bad touches were.  Of course, being an older sister, she remembered HITTING.  "Yes, and do you remember those places that no one should touch?"

Her eyes rolled to the corners of their sockets, deep in thought.  After a few seconds her eyes lit up with recollection and she breathed:  "Animal traps!"

I think we'll try the Personal Safety Lessons again in a few months...  :)

Tongue Concentration

We love watching Joshy's TONGUE while he plays on the iPad.

He's doing a very good job!

Is this genetic, like rolling your tongue?

Which side does it come from?

Moser, Weber?  Lochhead, Birchill?

I think I've seen my brother do this...and some Webers...

Daddy's Home!

HIDE!

the game that never gets old 

hiding in the same spot each time

their giggling giving them away

...how exciting it must be to be FOUND.

Pretzels & Milk

...breakfast of Champions.

I think Gracie's been here...

Hmmm...who cleared out the book bin to make room for their sleeping baby?

Who decided to make an art gallery on my living room table?

 It's this girl!

 Feeling extra silly after her rest time this week.  :)

Wonder...

I've been inspired to try taking more pictures this month by my friend, Heather, who is doing a picture each day on her blog, and by the book I'm reading:  A Thousand Gifts.

I went around the house the other day, trying to find something

to find wonder IN and practice photography ON...

Two of them are food...does that say something about me?  :)

Little Cuties!  We LOVE these winter-time "candies"!

Yes--I made biscuits, and yes, I'm feeling all right!  Who knew I could be so domestic?!?

I had to locate my rolling pin...I knew we'd registered for one when we got married...it had to be holding something in place in one of these kitchen drawers...

Ah, yes.

We want to see...

...your beautiful face!  :)

I've decided to put more energy toward having Gracie put her hair up each day--

she LOVES to wear it down, preferably un-combed.

I have started telling her that we need to see her beautiful face,

so each day we need it up.

I showed her this up-do...and she LOVES it!

"Mommy, can you put in the grown-up hairdo?" 

Of course, she'll be one of those lucky girls

who will be able to keep their hair up with a pencil.

I've always wanted to do that,

but it never worked on my fine, straight hair.

Lucky, beautiful girl!

The People in Your Neighborhood...

Josh has turned our puppet theater into his musical stage.  The song that's on repeat in his brain these days is the Sesame Street classic:  "Who are the people in your neighborhood?  In your neighborhood? In your neigh-bor-hood..."  And of course, he's sporting his beloved silly goggles.  Tonight the only tactic that got him into his jams was promising to help him BE SILLY by putting "underooskies" on his head afterward to surprise Daddy.

Cousins' Day Out 2013--SLEDDING & DONUTS!

Sledding at Manito...Jeff and Josh joined the Showalters, the Largents, and Annie & Oden (Drew would've rather been there--work!) to go sledding and then go to Donut Parade for yummies.  Gracie and I had to miss out, but she started feeling better by the end of the day, so it was good that she rested.

Joshua and Daddy

 Janie and Kevin

Ryan and Anthony and Lauren

 Angela with Anthony and Lauren

And O-Diggity with his mama

Thanks for the pictures, Angela!

Wilted Girl

No chicken pox.  The orange dot on her forehead is from the orange marker she was using to write on her friend's birthday card earlier this afternoon.  "To:  Addison,  From:  Gracie."

Never made it to the Chuck E Cheese party.  At dinner with GiGi, Grace said her stomach hurt and was laying down across restaurant chairs.  First public throw-up and we all survived.  Sad to have to skip the party, although Jeff and I thought we'd won the lottery with vomit.  :)

Home to watch a movie in jams.  Josh looks huge in this picture.  Let's not document that he's watching Barbie Princess and the Pop Star.  We REALLY need some karate/trucks/dinosaur movies in this house.  But Sick Sister got to pick tonight and it IS her favorite...

The Reason Why I'll Vacuum on Wednesday Nights

Oden is crawling, people!!!

This sweet, darling boy helped me find all the teeny-tiny treasures on my carpet
that should have belonged in the vacuum.  SUCH a fun game!
I loved watching his itty bitty fingers work hard to close around pea-sized
curiosities--to heck with the noisy, colorful toys strewn across the carpet!  :)

This feeding perch was a big hit:  cheerios on Papa LeRoy's stool.

Love our Thursday mornings with this little man!

"Mommmm..."

"...we're busy playing, here.  No time for pictures."

These two have been cracking me up lately with their pretend play.  All of a sudden they're enjoying each other while playing College or House or Yard Sale.  This picture really makes me laugh.

Partridges in Pear Trees

We've been going for drives as of late.  

1) To see the amazing snow scenery...

...B) to get the Crazies out of the house, and... 

...III) to see things we've never seen before.

On this particular drive we did see a first.

I made Jeff stop the car, back up, and drive down a residential street 

because I SWEAR I saw buzzards in the tree.

Turns out they were wild turkeys.

In trees.

Eating berries.

In droves.

We counted 21 turkeys.  (Not counting those strapped in their carseats, heh, heh.)

Our own little North Spokane zoo.

On that drive we saw 26 turkeys, 6 deer, and 3 bald eagles.

And we didn't even have to pay an entrance fee!

Man, what I could've done with my zoom lens.  Next drive.  :)

The Final Christmas--Mosers!

Christmas afternoon we spent at the farm.  Kelly and Ben and Millie came from seeing Kelly's family in Warden, and the Morrows were at the farm WAITING!  When we arrived we were met at the garage door with VERY excited Morrow girls.

Katie wins Best Stocking Stuffer of 2013.  Dad was the lucky recipient of this crocheted Santa beard.

G'ma Joan gave animal eyewear to the grandkids.  Eyes open...

...eyes closed.  (Love Millie drinking the bottle amidst this craziness!)

Brady looked high and low for Jeff's French press!

This guy is the most excited kid at the party.

A socket set for his new work pickup.  It floats HIS boat...

And then there were PILLOW PETS!  (They're sprinkled in there amidst the grandkids...)

This is a reprint of a picture that G'ma Caroline had in her house--it's of her house right after a frost.  We think Pam and Brad have the original (?) but the guy who took it came by and told Dad that he had another print.  Lucky guy got it framed for Christmas!

Mom got updated pictures on her old quilt.

Movie watching after the hubbub...

I told the kids that this was my highlight of the Farm Christmas:  Ben and Brady cooking King Crab!  These two were HILARIOUS.  They'd been waiting all year for this meal, and we all heard about it.

I can't tell.  Is he excited?

And the classic Morrow family picture as the night comes to an end.  :)  Love these guys.

Ben baiting his nieces...

Megs and Gracie wrestling.  These two are peas in a pod!

And we all got into puzzles this year!  We were able to do a couple before we left.  We stayed a few days after Christmas--got to have the girls up for the day, returned gifts in Lewiston and saw Brady and Katie's place, visited with Ben and Kelly at their house one night, and even played out in the snow!

Oh yes--and these were the two peas spending the night on the same mattress in G'ma Joan's room.  They made it!  We thought they'd giggle and end up in tears before sleep, but all was dreamy.  :)

And, TA-DA!  That was the last of our Christmas pics!  What a great end to the year.  We are truly blessed to have so many people to love!