Short Visit from the Kaisers...Dan, Andrea, and kids in tow!
Is it ironic that we have not pictures of Dan and Andrea? or do you expect to just see the kids having fun together? :-)

We did pull the kids away from the toys long enough to eat a bit of dinner and to take a few pictures with Gramma...

I hope they all made it safely to their Christmas destinations (I am sure I would have heard if not...) and are having a wonderful New Year so far.

With a new baby and two growing, wonderful, curious, outgoing older ones, Dan and Andrea have an exciting year ahead. I wish the best for them and for those who will be touched by their choice to leave Chicago and be in Africa...serving. Personally I am very excited for them and am encouraged by their leaps of faith in life. Thanks for always being a big "brother" of sorts for me, Dan. God truly has blessed you and your beautiful family.
(The kids are probably watching you make some goofy face or some monkey dance as I take this picture!)

DECEMBER 23rd...

On Little Girl's actual birthday, we dressed in candy-can stripes and went to see Santa and play with some friends...
We started out quite happy and grateful to begin a week or two where Little One could be with her momma and not have to go to daycare...Gabby has this thing with men...or men with facial hair...or men she doesn't know...she cries, screams, and gets away as fast as she can...a good habit to be in, I guess. :-)
So we watched brother go talk to Santa, ask for Gordon and a puppy (again), and pose for a picture...

But when it came time for her turn...she was NOT havin' it!
Am I such a horrible mother to want a picture of my little girl with Santa????
Oh, she'll thank me someday...won't she?

So, what did I do? I showed her that he wasn't so bad and that if you are appropriately chaperoned, you can be in the same room as a man with facial hair...maybe...perhaps someday...oh wait, your daddy has facial hair! We'll have to think this through and give you the rules straight-up!

I guess it helps to be holding onto your security blanket

Actually...Owen loved Elodie like his own little sister. He played, protected, and encouraged her-he loved her adventuresome attitude!

I have been told that being a Grandparent is three times better than being a parent...hmmm.
Does this Gramma and Grampa look too pleased? Happy? OK...you got me! :-)

Julie and I wanted some sister time so we hit the hot tub at the Club while the kids napped. When we got home, Rog had everything under control! What a man!

Is it just me or does Elodie always have something on her face in my pictures??? :-)

All jokes aside, I am so truly thankful, grateful, loveful (is that a word? I was trying to have parallel language...), and... happyful ! that my sister surprised me and my family on this day. Thank you so much for the sacrifice (of plane ticket, getting put on a spending freeze, and flying with a one-year-old) just to see us! We owe you and will find a way to "get you back"!

I hope you are having a great time in the snow and getting Elodie on Skiis! I can't wait to see both our little girls on skiis together!

Cousin fun, cousin fun!

boys? I didn't sign up for this! i'm outta here!

more cameras for me!

hmmm...how can I take care of this...?

Ah ha! I'll pull her hood over her eyes and bug her! :-)

my little instigator! :-) Actually, we made him get in the picture and he wasn't too pleased at first.

Our little angel turned one...we celebrated for an entire month so this is the party that we had at the beginning of December...Owen, my precocious and spirited first-born, said "da-da" before he ever said "ma-ma" and his first official word with object recognition was "baby". I remember it so well...we were reading Prayer For A Child, one of his favorite books at the time (tho he calls it "fire book" to this day because there is a picture of a fire). There is a picture of a baby and he pointed to it and said, "baby." I think that was even before he turned a year.
On the other hand, Owen didn't walk until he was 12 1/2 months old...Gabby, my sweet precious little girl, walked at 10 1/2 months but has yet to say anything other than, "ma-ma". Regardless...I will hold on to the picture of her teetering around and the sound of her calling to me with her arms outstretched for as long as I draw breath. I cannot explain what this little girl has done to my life.

We celebrated with cup-cakes-her first taste of cake in her little life...

enjoyed and made fun with cousins...

Cousin Elodie (the little monkey!) surprised us and made herself at home here in MN. I have a feeling that she does this everywhere she goes! :-) We love it! She cracked me up time and time again...you should see the things she climbs on and gets into!

I don't think owen has a favorite cousin, but whomever will pay attention and play with him, he will cling to!

Yes, she did double-fist it once she got a taste of the good stuff!

Elodie got a lesson from her mama on how to play nice...

Of course, not a surprise, Gabby loved the paper more than the presents, but she will be able to enjoy many of the blessings for years to come....

She was surprised with a gift from he aunties: a little kitchen! I don't know who loves it more, owen or gabby...or me! We got it all set up the next day and played and played and played. I guess there are going to be many more opportunities to live vicariously through my children! :-)

I know I have so much to update, but I couldn't resist sharing...
Gabby turned one and had a great Christmas!

I know it has been awhile and I know it wouldn't take so long to update if I would be more consistent, but I guess I prioritize my time. I still find it amazing what I cannot get done around here. I wish I could paint my laundry room and put up shelves. I wish I could organize all my cabinets and closets. I wish I could pull my books out of hidden places and build some built-ins to display and store them on. I wish I could rip out the laminate flooring in our bathroom and entryway and lay down some tile. I wish I could rip out the pink carpeting in our other bathroom and tear down the dumb border that has been up there for 20 years. I wish I could figure out how to arrange our furniture so that it works better since having the piano moved into our living room. I wish I could find a place for everthing and get rid of everything we don't need (because the more we have, the more we are tied to this place and the things we think we own).

I wish I could do a lot of things...

but NOTHING can replace hugging my pinky because she follows me around or "fixing" my Pantless Wonder's plastic drills so he can stand on the coffe table and jump to the couch saying, "now we can fish!" and yelling at some imaginary friend: "NOW FISH!" or "STOP IT!". I know Owen has grown this fall because his tighty whities are getting a bit more tight around the belt-line. Or maybe that is the holiday cookie epidemic...or the whole milk that he still drinks.

Regardless...why stress about what you wish you could do and just do what you can do. Right? I hate thnking I need to clean and present my house to anyone who happens to stop over. Mess is stressful, but I've GOT TO LET IT GO!!!

And, now on to my updates...
:-)
Thanksgiving...

Owen's favorite memory of that weekend was helping Grampa build a fire:

playing with and lining up the animals is always a highlight of Owen's day! Auntie Lori called me from Toys R Us and asked me which animals Owen didn't have. Owen tells me often..."a cow, a moose, a bear, a sheep, a hippo (not on two legs...it has to be on four legs), etc..." So...she swept the shelf and bought all that I named off! :-)

pinky...need I say more...

just like at home, Gabby got a tuperware cabinet all to herself...

just hangin' and havin' fun!

play, play, play...

Game night with the DesRochers! guys against girls...hmmm, who won? well...who didn't cheat???? :-)

The weather has been insanely nice! The rest of the town had the same idea a few weekends ago: head to the zoo...

We played at the park...

sat in the sunshine...

ate a healthy lunch...
What more could we ask for? :-)

I love to sew...well...I don't get much of a chance to do it. Here, I was trying to pin an edge to iron it down before sewing...I have been working on this one project for a month now and all I've managed to do is...pin the edges (it took about two hours tonight)...perhaps I will get to sew it in the next month! :-)

I cannot complain though...I cannot think anything is more important, more precious, more imminent, more adoring, more demanding...

more fun!

It is so hard for me to start a project that I can't finish in one sitting so I will say that is the biggest struggle when trying to manage my time. That is why my house is not clean too often. That's why I am stuck doing laundry all week. That's why my car is still full of crumbs (Owen reminded me again today...I asked him who put the crumbs there...after all, they are ALL under his feet!)
But...I survive and life goes on.

We visited a different church on Sunday. The guy who spoke was older (reminded me of what Moses much have looked like after meeting God on Mount Sinai) and not the normal pastor. He spoke on Elijah. Actually, read his outline. I make it sound tough to sit through, but as I doodled (that's how I pay attention), I got something amazing from it...

Elijah was able to show the people God through sacrifice. Literally.
He challenged them to pray to their god to ignite the alter. Baal failed. Elijah called on the living God after dousing the alter with water. God burned it all, even the water. Elijah made the people see God and know they want Him in their lives. They believed.

I may not offer up burnt offerings, but I have to ask myself: do people see God in my life through the way I believe, call on God, sacrifice (try to do without), mother, teach, love, serve...and if they do, does that make people want God in their lives? know he can do anything? I am such a work in progress.

Try explaining Faith to a three year old. I'm trying: believing in something you can't see.

"But, mom, where is God?"

"Everywhere, honey. Everywhere. He can even live inside you to help you be kind and patient and gentle and loving...God even helps your momma do the same thing...she sure needs a lot of help some days."

Gramma Momma and Grampa Phil were up for the weekend. As usual, it was a working weekend...is that the nature of our family? However, for some reason, it was extra sad to see them drive out today...
Perhaps these are some of the reasons why...

Owen was helping baby sister walk...

He's so protective; at one point today we heard him yelling, "no! no, baby sister! no!"
He was protecting her from going towards the stairs.

Gramma couldn't get enough of "pinky"...

and Grampa got a kick out of Owen...

They shared a treat at Caribou Coffee. Owen picked out the cake with the most frosting and then when Grampa was cutting it in "half," Owen knew which "half" to pick: the big one!
I suggested they break it up and Grampa eat fast...then Owen doesn't know how much he ate and how much Grampa ate. :-)

Is he too young to text? :-) What is Gramma teaching him????

Last week Auntie Emmy came into town to work...and to play! We had a great time together...one story is told in the last picture below: we stopped at a consignment shop so I could sell some kid stuff. I said we could go to lunch and come back later. Auntie Emmy said, "how 'bout we brouse." um...won't say what she spent, but I will tell you there was some spoiling going on. So, the day after she left I had Owen wear one of the shirts she found for him. He decided to dress it up with some beads and a cheesy grin...and yes, those are drumsticks in his pants.

Gabby didn't mind the hugging and squeezing and spoiling either!

Thank you auntie Emmy!

I will clarify...all these clothes were for not only MY two kids, but Elodie was the most spoiled of all. It WAS her birthday, afterall! Hope you had a happy birthday little Elodie!