Ten Little Angels

Our church Christmas program took place on December 11th.  The toddlers got to sing the first song with the bigger kids--"There was ONE, there were TWO, there were THREE little angels..."  This is the group that waited oh, so patiently while the congregation worshipped for an hour before they were up...

We thought that Josh was probably too young to stand up on the stage with the rest of his class, but we were weighing what would cause the bigger frustration:  being on stage or not being able to be with Grace.  So, we went with it...

...and we hope that the audience focused on the sweet kids singing instead of the almost 2-year old who crawled for the drums and squealed when his mom carried him away from the stage.  :)

Grace did a great job.  She told us the day before that she was going to stand up on stage, but she WASN'T going to sing.  She didn't.  :)  But she stood up there the whole time--with wide eyes, taking in everything.  What a brave girl!  This always cracks us up about Grace--she knows the song forwards and backwards and sings at home constantly, yet whenever she's in new surroundings, she just takes it all in through those wide, blue eyes of hers--brows furrowed. (She inherited this brow-look from her Daddy!)

Our sweet friend, Ashlan.  She was dancing in the aisles during the rest of the program.

Thanks, Mrs. Hannah, for all your work in putting this performance together!  I am convinced there is nothing as precious as watching and listening to your kids sing to God.

A Furry Visitor

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw THIS out our kitchen window on the second week in December:

The kids and I were amazed to see this cat perched way up in a pine tree behind our house.  It took them a while to spot it, but Grace thought it was CRAZY and when Josh finally spied it he said, "Whoo!  Whoo!"  :)  An owl with whiskers?

We left it alone the first day, and when it was still there the second day, my neighbor and I started making calls to neighbors to see if they knew who he belonged to or if we should help it get down...  We were advised to put tuna fish at the base of the tree to tempt it down...but when I delivered the grub, THIS is the look I got from our high maintenance (?) guest.  I'm pretty sure its nose literally went up in the air.

Finally, on day three, Jeff got tired of hearing me worry about this cat and decided to go practice some firefighter skills.  I really wish I would've followed through with getting the video camera going, because if I had, I'm sure we would've won some money on America's Funniest Home Videos.  As Jeff climbed within reach of the cat, it jumped (flew?) from its perch to the top of the neighbor's swing set, hit it hard, flipped--a large flying squirrel???--and landed on the ground.  We all held our breath for a millisecond before it took off running through the yard to escape.

And there's no closure to this story.  Like a bad breakup, the cat was POOF! out of our yard--and lives--forever.  We keep our eyes peeled as we drive through the neighborhood...thinking we may spy him...but we're pretty sure if he survived that fall he's back to sitting on some foofy pillow eating kitty snacks that are spoon-fed to him.  :)

Toy Story 3 on Ice

G'ma Joan and Papa Greg treated us with Ice Capades tickets this year!

Gracie LOVED it.  And in true Gracie style, we couldn't tell this at first--she just took it all in with wide eyes.  Now, two weeks later, all she says is, "I want to go to ToyStory on Ice again!"  Josh, on the other hand, thought it was a bit too loud and the lights were too much for him.  During the second scene he started signing "done" and whined, "All done, all done!"  He got some quality "cruise" time in the hallway of the Arena with Mom...and then Dad after intermission.  My favorite overheard kid conversation took place a few days later when Gracie leaned over to Josh and said, "Why were you so upset at Toy Story on Ice, Joshy?  Did you not like Emperor Zurg?"

My favorite part of the show was the scene where Ken modeled his extensive wardrobe...and Jeff loved watching Hamm skate.  Crazy costumes for skaters!  It was such a fun outing to kick off the festive month of December...thanks for the fun memories, G'ma Joan and Papa Greg!

Our Prayer

May the season overwhelm us with awe.  Emmanuel.  God with us.  

Thanks to Give

*We had a great Thanksgiving this year with the Lochheads *Drew and Annie were in town from Longview--and this year Annie is sporting a lovely pregnant belly*Their Little Pipsqueak was viewed by all in many ultrasound shots, but alas, no genderistic parts were revealed*the 3 great-grandparents made sure we were on our best behavior*Jen and Kevin's clan and Ang and Ryan's crew came over for dessert to celebrate our November birthdays--Scott and Annie*Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and Jen's amazing Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingerbread crust*cousins playing on their own downstairs!*Swede eating the paper towel...and successfully passing it*and last but not least, Elmo's Christmas Countdown!

He just makes us laugh...

So the other morning Josh was playing in the kitchen and I heard some smooching noises, slightly muffled by a binky.  

I turned the corner and saw this:

 Kissing cars.  Of course!

Josh loves the "one-eyed monster" hat the G'ma Joan bought him at a craft fair.  The funny thing is, he wouldn't keep a hat on for ANYTHING before this one...apparently he just needed the perfect fit...  We are finding quite a personality within this boy of ours.

Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving with Jeff's family this year--I'll post pictures soon!  We have so much to be thankful for this year...our jobs, our community, our kids...we are truly blessed!  We missed out on hosting friends over the break, and instead our family is hosting a BUG (NOT a good trade).  A feverish little bug, that's landed in our lungs and throats, so today, our Black Friday was spent at home.  Naps, kid shows on TV, Airborne, and putting up Christmas decorations!  A good chance to re-boot.  :)

We've been hearing a very fun Thanksgiving song from Gracie the last few weeks...and last week we got to see her perform it with her preschool class--and the entire daycare, too--at their Thanksgiving Feast.

Mrs. Kristin herding 3 year olds...a daunting task to many, but not her!  Mrs. Suzy is probably nudging the stragglers...

The tune is "Where is Thumb-kin," the words:  Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey...Run away!  Run away!  If you're not careful, you will be a mouthful, Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day!

As I was attaching these pictures, I realized that she's singing on the very steps that Jeff and I got married on...sweet.

11-11-11

We could not let this day go by uncelebrated...

...and since we were at the farm for Veteran's Day Weekend, Mom helped plan the special numeric holiday only the weirdest families celebrate...

...the hats were a must with our 11-layer tacos...

...the evening's planned entertainment was a special viewing of "Ocean's ELEVEN", but alas, we were pooped out from the day's festivities...

...and now we're dreaming of DOZENS of things to do next year on 12-12-12...

Fall Family Pics

Johnny and Rachel helped us take our family pictures in early November.  Whitworth had some amazing leaves...but it was SOOO cold...you'll have to notice the red chilly cheeks!  And PS, one of these may be adorning our Christmas Card--so if you don't like spoilers, skip this post and wait by your mailbox!  :)

Halloween Tails

 This year Joshy was an elephant...

 ...and Gracie was a cow!

 I guess you can say they were both calves.  :)  

Sunday, the 30th, we went to G'ma Colleen and Papa Scott's right after I came home from a girls weekend in Leavenworth.  I think I was missed...Gracie displayed this by not wanting to rush off in costume as soon as I got home.  So, the sweet outfit that G'ma Colleen made for her was worn half-heartedly this night.

 Janie and Henry were at G'ma and Papa's house, too!

 Janie was the Tiana from Princess and the Frog

and Henry was Tigger.

(This was hilarious to us--Gracie had just had a crazy dream about "Tigger crying"a few nights before.  This Tigger was quite content, though--no crying here!)

 This boy is getting so big so fast!

 On our way home, Gracie got to eat one Mounds bar.  The others she had to save for the next day.

When we got in the garage, Jeff thought that the smell of chocolate and coconut was awfully strong...










...and he opened our van door to this:  a girl with a warmed candy bar oozing out its edges onto our cute pajama'ed girl.

But on Halloween Eve, you get a quick wipe down and you get sent to bed with chocolate smudges on your jams...

And on Monday, after work, we tried it again...

...stopping by our neighbor's house and Granny and Pappy's house.  A much better go-around.  :)

Elephant Boy.  When you ask, "Josh, what does the elephant say?" he does a quick trumpeting noise while lifting up his arm like a trunk in the air.  Cute!

Gracie wanted to be a cow ever since she saw a baby cow costume at Costco in September.  She talked G'ma into making her one and loved the red cowbell that G'ma found to complete the outfit.