Love our boy

This is one of our fave pics.  It's so true to his life in many ways.  He often chooses the path less traveled, gets tangled in a web of his own doing, but forges on.  He's grown so much this year.  He cuddled with me twice this weekend unsolicited, just curled up next to me on the couch under a blanket.  Love my boy.  

Nothing Sweeter

Than two brothers sharing fro yo.  Peacefully.  Even sharing a few laughs.  I find scenes like this so encouraging as a mother.  I wish we could boast more of them.

Can't Recommend this book enough

This is one of my three favorite parenting books, and it was recommended by my favorite author that wrote my other two faves, Katrina Kenison (Mitten Strings for God and The Gift of an Ordinary Day).  She's golden; any book she's recommended I've loved.

Everything this guy wrote just made sense and resonated with me as I read.  Less toys, less schedule, less structured activity make room for more rest, creativity, calm, and energy in our kids.  I think it's a once a year read for me, along with "Mitten Strings for God".

Pick it up, read a section at a time, let it sink in.  It's a keeper.

A Plethora of Christmas Pics

 My sister Mary and her husband Scott got the kids their very own fishing poles for Christmas.  The kids were ecstatic!

 They had been fishing once with Scott this summer and are now making plans to meet again to try out their new poles.  Trav and I have never fished so we are no help at all in this area.  Watching Scott bait a worm was enough for me; I'm out.

 Vicki and Andy played with all the kids toys.

  We miss you Tari and Christian!!!

Sugar Cookie Making 

 Christmas Eve

 I love that Davey's hugging Payton in all of these pictures.

 Jonah is chomping at the bit to open his Christmas Eve gift.

 The reading of the Night Before Christmas

 Mastering his new stilts, I'm quite good at them too.

 Reading the Christmas Story Christmas morning and lighting our last advent candle for Jesus.

 Payton gave Davey this fat Christmas sucker that he worked on for days after Christmas.

 Brother love

 For Vicki and Sara, my new puffy paint T.  Don't be jealous

Lazy Christmas morning.  It was perfect in every way.  

A New Year's Resolution I can embrace

I stole this from another blogger, and I have it hanging on my visor in my car.

"Imagine who you want your kids to become.  Be that."

I love it, it's simple, it makes me pause every time I start to react to things like marshmallow creme smeared on my upholstery and clean laundry, a big bowl of science slime dropped on my kitchen floor, and general screaming and yelling as soon as I pick up a phone call.  You know, things like that.  I'm starting to breathe first, react second, because I want my kids to be chill parents when it's their turn.

It starts with me and what they see in me.  I hope I'm up to the task.

Crazy Ball

 As most parents will agree, it's imperative you get your children out of the house for a bit of fresh air and to release some energy, especially when entertaining guests.  Our children see guests as an open invitation to climb the walls, leap off of furniture, perform hand stands and cartwheels etc etc even though it's never allowed when we have no guests.

So, in our brightest, cheeriest delivery we tell our kids, "Hey!  Let's go for a walk to the park with everybody!  It'll be great!"  To which they always reply, "I don't want to go.  Can't I just stay here?  I hate the park, I hate walking, I will make your life miserable if you make me go..."

But then they always end up having a good time when we do go.  For some reason, they must always punish us first.  We expect it, and we all play the roles we're expected to in the continued drama.

 But we make them go anyway.  Travis and Andy had great attitudes.

 Papa challenged Payton to a push up contest.  He's still got it folks.

 Payton gave a good showing.

 And then something magical happened.  Crazy Ball.  It's loosely based on Poison, but we made up a bunch of rules as we went.

 You go in order, youngest to oldest.  The first person takes a shot at the basket from the free throw line, all other players have to be in the box by the hoop.  If the player makes it, he runs, grabs the ball, and hits the pole holding the basket, yelling "poison!"  Meanwhile, once all the other players sees the basket is good, they start running until the player shouts "poison!" when they all freeze.  The player then rolls the ball and tries to hit one of the frozen runners.  You get a letter in poison every time you're hit until you spell the word and you're out.

If the player misses, the next player up catches the rebound and shoots from where he catches it.  Round and round it goes till there's one player left.

 My dad, Vicki, and I watched from the sidelines for awhile and then couldn't resist joining in.

 We changed it to "pig" b/c there was so many of us.  It turns out Vicki is a screamer, much like myself.  And there was lots of screaming.  Trav was a big fat cheater and would hold me in place while I tried to run away.  Dad blocked me, so I couldn't run away.  I think I was the first one out.  The kids LOVED having all the adults playing this ridiculous game with them.

 New rules had to be added as the game went on.  You couldn't run past the blacktop, you had to freeze when the ball was being rolled to try and tag you.  If you moved, you got a letter.  It got heated a few times.  It turns out Davey has a sportsmanship problem.

Luckily, Davey won, so he was happy, which means we could all be happy.  Payton and Vicki are giving a salute to Travis's personal "freeze" position he would take each time people were trying to tag him with a letter. 

It was a perfect day out.  The kids had a great time, which we knew they would, and they came back with less cartwheels and handstands to perform inside the house.  Plans are already in the works for crazy ball 2012.