Merry Christmas

Love this drawing Grace did. If you look closely you can see Mary, Josheph, Baby Jesus, a donkey, and some sheep. Happy Birthday Jesus!

You might be a mom of young children if...

You might be a mom of young children if....

you return from the kitchen to find your 10 month old using your professional cookware as a teething ring.
during family prayer time your 3 year old thanks God for, "all Mommy's things that have been broken." (that was supposed to be my low for the week not my praise)
your 4 year old brings you this bathroom step stool that she pooped in. Oh, yes mam she sure did!

(Gotta give you the story on this one. During nap time Faith was using the potty. I was attempting to read my Bible. Grace comes to me and tells me how bad she needs to potty. I believe she said something like "I can feel it moving down my body." If you are a mom to children who have rest time you recognize this as a classic "get out of my room during rest time technique." I told her to return to her room and she could have a turn when her sister was finished. She returned to me a second time arguing her case that she really needed to go. I informed her I wasn't getting up from reading my Bible and she needed to please wait her turn. She informed me she was going to use Titus' bathroom or get a bowl out of the kitchen and potty in that. I told her no that wasn't a good plan. A few minutes later I look up from my Bible to a horrible smell. Grace was holding this step stool upside down full of her poop. It was too gross to take a picture of and too funny not to record. I'm sure she will love this when she is older.)

I love my job- where else can something be super challenging (a.k.a. cleaning that stool) and seriously funny?

Grandpa & Grandma's House

After Grace's choir performance we headed to Grandpa & Grandma's house to celebrate Christmas with them. It was a very full house. The kids enjoyed playing with each other & their new gifts.

Grandma with the grandkids in their new pjs.

This was one of Faith's favorite gifts. She is my little baker & often pretends to be making cake. These Doug & Melissa cupcakes can be decorated over and over with dry erase "icing" tubes.

Reading the girls a new phonics book. Grace wants to learn how to read so her gifts were thing to help this new endeavor.

Another favorite gift, a recordable book, with Grandma reading the story.

The whole crew with Grandpa & Grandma.
Another memorable moment from this Christmas: We gave grandpa Rick a shadow box for some of his military/police memorabilia. We brought it home after he opened it so I could put the display together. The next day Grace knocked it off and shattered the glass. So, we ended up getting to buy that present twice. But, these are the joys of young children, right?

Grace's Choir Performance

This year Grace was able to join the kid's choir at our church. This worked out well because my practices were at the same time as her choir practice. She loved practice each week. However, on the morning of her performance she woke up with a very grouchy attitude. She was not going to sing in front of all those people! Gramy & Papa were able to come for her performance, but I was very doubtful she would do it. However, Gramy worked her magic and convinced her to participate! Here she is eating with the red plate because we were so proud of her. Gramy treated us to fast food, a very rare treat these days. I even let them get a Happy Meal. The girls couldn't understand why their food was in a box.

I forgot my camera, but got a few pictures from another mom. They sang "Away in a Manger." When the older kids performed they used tubes to play a song. One of the songs was "Jesus Loves Me" Another mom told me she heard Grace gasp and say, "That's my song!"


After their performance there was a children's sermon. Faith bravely went to sit on the steps, but Grace was back to her timid self by that time so she sat with us instead.

First Snow

The first snow this year was on a Sunday. The kids were ready to go out and play the minute they saw the snow. So it was a great opportunity to talk about making going to church an important part of our lives. When we promised they could play when we got home they willingly put on their dresses. Jeremy took them out while I was getting lunch on the table. They enjoyed sledding in our backyard. Oh, the joys of living in Hannibal you can sled in your backyard. (everything is on a hill here)

Lately I have caught Faith with her tongue out in a lot of pictures. She sticks it out when she is climbing, running, etc.

Polar Express

One of our bigger Christmas activities this year was going to a Polar Express event at Wildlife Prairie Park. Gramy and Nana both came along for the fun. I was very thankful as I'm not sure I could have navigated this event without extra helpers. We started at an area with crafts & activities.

Here the kids are painting their own Christmas ornaments. A whole glass of paint water got spilt on my mom. She is such a trooper, she always ends up messy on our adventures. (Remember when the goats climbed up her jeans at Grant's farm?)
A skunk came out and opened a "gift" of food. Titus was pretty curious to watch.
When it was time for our train to depart we went to an area and listened to the beginning of the book. Then we got on a tram to take us to the train. While on the train we listened to some of the audio from the movie including the Hot Chocolate Song, Grace's favorite.



After we arrived at the North Pole we took another tram to pony rides. The girls loved this. Titus didn't take a ride, he stayed with Nana.
Faith's pony ride.
Jessica, Carter, & Ellee also came with us. Here is their pony ride.
Grace's pony ride.
Gramy with the kids waiting to see Santa.
Grace & Carter love seeing each other. They think they are cousins.
Such a long wait to see Santa.....


Grace tells Santa she wants a scooter and Faith tells him she wants a bike.
After the long wait they had a quick cookie & hot chocolate before checking out this blow up slide.
Titus' was very ready to get down and check things out at this point.

It was such a fun night for the kids, which made the 6 hours of driving worth it. (although I wouldn't drive it all again without stopping at a grandmas house)