Christmastime

Tonight I laid on the couch (with a sore neck muscle) and put Christmas music on while the kids danced around. They had so much fun and Gentry was so cute imitating everything they did. She ran around in circles for the longest time. I don't know if there is anything better than watching your children share in and get excited in the joy of Christmas. It reminded me of so many childhood memories of Christmas.

And all your dreams of open spaces,
you find in your childrens faces,
one by one.
Harry Chapin - Story of a Life

Dreamland

If you ask Lauren what she dreamed of upon waking from a nap or in the morning, she always replies "naps!" What a sweet thing to dream about.

D$#@% Cats

We have a lot of stray cats on our property. In order to scare them away I started tapping/banging on the window and yelling "scram" really roughly. The kids quickly followed suit and whenever they see a cat on our lawn they yell. The best part though is Lauren - when she yells 'scram cat' the scram sounds like 'damn'. On more than one occasion (once with my mother-in-law) she has run to the window and starting yelling 'damn cat damn cat' really rough and loud. I've had to tell people what she really means.

Sailboat Picture

Posted by Chris:

Was just up in my office working about 10pm when Vince came in to show me his latest drawing. He said Dad this is for you. It was a pretty darn good picture of a sailboat. Better than average since I could see right off what it was (sometimes some explanation is needed). Anyway, I was admiring it and Vince told me all about it and how it was me and him in a sailboat. I asked him if he'd enjoy someday going sailing with me. He paused and said, "um, no thanks." I followed up to see what that was about and didn't get a straight answer.

He started talking about fishing in the ocean. He said that on his next birthday, if I get him a gift that turns out to not work very good, then (and this part was with great enthusiasm) that maybe we could go back to the store and buy him a fishing pole! I thought this was kind of funny for a couple reasons: One, on his last birthday I bought him a remote control car that didn't work very good so we took it back and he got to pick out any gift he wanted. He chose a car track toy thingy with a jump. So he must be thinking that is a cycle that will repeat. Second, we don't really go fishing. We've been to a fish pond a couple times but it was a while ago.

Few weeks back Vince saw a picture of Jesus walking on the water and helping the apostle who had started to fall in. He started explaining the story to me--I was pretty surprised. Then he said "only Jesus can do that in his flip flops."

Primary

Today Chris and I got to go in the Primary to hear/help Hadley with the scripture and prayer. I love doing this because it also means we get to go and watch them both in there. Vincent is such a crack-up that he sits in the front row with his sunbeam class and his arms folded tightly across his chest. He is such a good little boy - in Primary.

It was doubly exciting because Vincent was spotlighted as well today! They turn off all the lights and the leader uses a flashlight and reads off 'favorite' things about a child until there is only one standing. Chris and I could see Vincent holding his hand up the entire time just knowing it was him. He was so excited and yet so polite/reverent.

I also dropped Lauren off in nursery today which is always a crack up because she never even looks back when she gets to the door. The leaders always comment on how happy and sweet she is. She truly lights up in the nursery when she arrives. I am thankful for her 'go-getter' attitude and am delighted that she will still be in nursery when Gentry joins her.

Outing

Today I took all four kids to Knotts Berry Farm by myself! It helps that we have seasons passes and that Lauren wouldn't take her afternoon nap. So I kept her up, waited for Hadley to get home from school and then told them that I was thinking about going to Knotts. I reminded Hadley and Vincent that I might need a lot of help and we may not be able to go on or do all of the rides that we want to - they are so awesome and great! It was a successful trip and so fun to just the spend the day having fun - or more like watching them have fun b/c I can't participate with everything since I had Gentry. Seriously though, they are so good at listening, staying close and understanding when they have to fore go a turn. I cannot wait until they are all older and we can go and do more fun adventures all together. My kids are awesome!