You Might be a Mediocre Housewife if...

You might be a mediocre housewife if all three of your girls, upon waking from naps one day, see an ironing board set up in the living room and excitedly exclaim, "Oh, Mommy!! What's that?!"

Solid foods have opened up a whole new world of wonderful for Bubber.  Just one step closer to a trip to Five Guys with Daddy. 

He's really little!  His stats for the 9 month checkup were 25th percentile for weight, and 50-75th percentile for height and head size. We have to plump him up!

Charis and Hannie, her biggest fan, posing in front of the nursing home for the bell choir's first Christmas performance.

Enjoying some fresh air.

Nathanael still has 2 teeth, and isn't crawling yet.  He likes to log roll instead.

All the grandparents came down for the afternoon earlier this month to play and go to Charis' little music program with us.  It was so much fun to have all of them here!

Some good bonding time.

Getting spoiled :)

Slobbery smooches & snuggles.

Bethy's Christmas glamour shot.  This little princess has officially entered potty training! 

The kids have been taking turns getting sick since before Thanksgiving, so we've been semi- quarantined for what feels like a long time.  Here, Hannie was at the pediatrician for some tests to see about her high fevers.  I think she was just happy to get out of the house for a while!

 

Working on some crafts for Christmas gifts.

Painting

Playing bear cubs.  The girls have good imaginations, and Nathanael is a really good sport to get toted around all day as an accessory to whatever game is being played.

 

Christmas is almost here!  This year the kids are really into it and enjoying some traditional Christmas activities, which makes it more fun than ever.  Our meal plan for this week includes cinnamon rolls & candy canes for breakfast on Thursday.  (It may or may not also include Stauffers frozen mac'n'cheese and deli ham for dinner on Christmas Eve.) 

"Mom, I look perfect."

Hannah, all dressed and ready with only minimal help from Mommy, waiting for her knight in shining armor to come home from work and take her on a date. This was too precious not to post. :)

Weekend Fun

Susannah turned 1 last week, so we got to see family and celebrate her birthday on Saturday in Franklin!

Little Beauty!

Getting cleaned up with mommy after her cake.

Uncle Petey is hilarious!

Eating peas and wishing for a cupcake.

Can't seem to snap a shot of all four sitting still. This might have to be our Christmas card. 

Little Bear

It's rake safety month. Wear your helmet!

Such a big girl!

"Mommy, I'm chilly."

Li'l Wil Gil

Little Wilson, Charis' hamster, went missing. For the second time. Sometime in the night on Wednesday or Thursday he escaped from his cage, mysteriously descended my 4+ foot tall computer desk unharmed, and disappeared. We searched high and low. I thought he might have fallen victim to a beagle. 

Late last night I jokingly told Mike that I had asked some ladies to pray for Wilson. Immediately we heard a little scritch scratch... Coming from the dollhouse right in front of us... And look at who was coming in through the front door!

This is the stuff Beatrix Potter books are made of.

8 months

Two teeth, lots of slobbery kisses, everybody's baby in this house... One happy eight month old boy! I can not describe how much we love our little man. 

Here are more fun pics from recently. We got to see Granna & Grandaddy, Jon & Kelly, and all three cousins Max, Rudy & Layla. I don't know if I can post pics of Layla yet, but she will soon be officially our niece!

Cousin Max!

Rudy! I

Let's play mad gab. You read Charis' little story and translate it  before reading the answer key below. She did this completely by herself one afternoon.

Answer:

"Abby sees a squirrel. She gets her gun and shoots Nick the squirrel." 

A story Uncle Petey would be proud of. 

Enjoying Fall

We've been having a great, busy fall.  Baby James sprouted his first tooth (finally!) about a week ago and is working on his second. Hannie got her very own bike a few days ago and is learning how to ride. Charis is moving right along in school and having fun in music class and skating every week. Bethany is along for the ride, having a good time trying to do all the things her sisters do, but still wanting to play "tiny baby" from time to time and be rocked and snuggled.  Here are some pics!

Baby's first fall!

Hannie's new haircut (and a bunch of clean laundry)

Ridin' bikes

Coach Daddy trying to teach the girls to ride. This was too cute.

Nathanael loved sitting in my lap on the swings at the playground

New bike...Surprise - it's pink!

Her "thinking face"

They're dressed alike again!

Silly faces with the Mercers. They left us to go to Australia for a month! What will we do without the play dates?!

Playing wedding. Sssshhh, don't tell Mike. ;) 

Career Day

Today was career day at Charis' music class. She decided she wanted to be a teacher. A public school teacher, she wanted to clarify. 

Bessamie

Little Bethy Michael (aka "Bessamie" or "Bessie Michael" as she calls herself) celebrated her second birthday today with a family party and her favorite part: CAKE and ice keems!

Her current interests include playing with baby dolls, getting into mischief, and scattering an assortment of objects around the living room floor several times a day.  (Wipes, DVD's, toy food, chewed up carrots, you name it). 

Seriously though, this baby girl has been an absolute joy to our family.  She has such a sweet spirit and the cutest sense of humor that keeps us all laughing with her new sentences.  She tries to keep up with her big sisters when they play together and do school work, but she is definitely still everyone's baby here.

Next on the agenda: potty training!!

They were more excited about a pack of Smarties than anything else!

The candles really messed up this picture, but that expression was priceless.  The three girls helped make the cake earlier this morning, and she was very excited about tasting it!   

Trying to blow out the candles with "fffffffff"

"Is dis my phone? Who's calling?"

Opening presents

I can never get a picture...

...of all three sitting still and smiling at the same time.