"Daddy take me on Quacker Barrel. He's a sweet boy."

Bethany's sentences are hilarious. She gets what she wants probably a little too often because the cute-factor is off the charts. And when she does get in trouble, she tells us it hurts her "feewlings." 

Today was Hannah's first play date away from Mommy! The big girls were excited to have a packed lunchbox and some independence for a couple of hours. :)

Playing dress up with their friend Ruth.

Zonked out after a fun play time.

Nathanael loves his Bogey buddy.

Hugs and kisses.

Enjoying the historic blizzard :)

"He's not your Pop! He's the whole family's Pop!"

Watching Frozen

Donut Shop

"Mommy, are we up at heaven?"

Charis Had a Loose Tooth...

Charis got her first loose tooth just over a week ago. We were extremely excited about it.  Then earlier this week at bed time, she bit her comforter like a puppy and (oops!) yanked that barely loose tooth right out of her mouth.  The pic above is of her crying to Mike about all the blood and soreness, while Mike and I cheered and congratulated her.

The next morning she told me, "I saw the tooth fairy man.  He's sharp."

Bethany thinks her tooth is also loose.

Hannie cries every time someone suggests that she, too, might also lose a tooth one day.

And Baby Bubber is just glad he's finally getting his top two teeth.  After all this drooling and pain, please don't tell him they're going to fall out in 5-6 years.

Reflections on 2014

Happy New Year! 

In case we forget the entire year of 2014, and lest family and friends think perhaps we dropped off the face of the earth in '14, I wanted to highlight some of the major events of the year. 

When 2014 began, my beat-up face was still healing from our car accident a couple of months prior.  In March, we had our fourth baby in 4.5 years.  Around that time, we were informed that our tenant in Winchester was moving out and we would need to flip the condo a few months later.  A week after Nathanael's birth, the owners of our house let us know that they were putting it on the market and we would need to find a new house, pack up and move in under 3 months.  (With 3 small children and a newborn!)  Toward the end of March, I got Lyme disease from a tick bite which was treated successfully.  Mike began a new position at work in April, which was great but also made things even more intense. The next two months were spent house-hunting and packing.  Our family & church family all pitched in and helped us pack and move to Mechanicsville on May 31st.  The same day we moved, Bethany fell off a booster seat and broke her collarbone, leaving her in excruciating pain and motionless for several days.  During the summer, Charis began her kindergarten year of school at home, and she's doing great.  There have been many milestones (Hannie riding a bike, for example!), which I've tried to document so we don't forget.  Charis turned 5, Hannie 3, and Bethy 2.  It was a full, eventful year.  Here's to more adventures in 2015!

Christmas 2014

We got to celebrate Christmas with both sides of the family including all 4 grandparents and lots of cousin time over the holidays!  Here are some pictures to highlight the fun. 

Pretty little Hannie has been "Elsa" for weeks now :)

This little lady is now what I would call potty trained (except when sleeping)!  Today she learned how to open the latch to our baby gates.  When I saw it happen, it was in slow motion, and Charis and I looked at each other with desperate expressions and said, "nnnoooooooo!"

Cousin Max!  Such a sweet boy.

Little Rudy Man, just as darlin' as his bro.

Precious soon-to-be Cousin & Nathanael were happy to babble at each other

Thanks for the giraffe, Grandaddy!

Aunt Kelly with two of her three

Relaxing with Granna!

Snuggle time with Figgy & Pop

We got to see Uncle Ben!  He's a natural!  I wish my phone focused better on this pic.

Story time with Aunt Sally

Uncle Ben giving some technical help with the Duplos

Big Sister Susannah.  Look at that doll baby face!

Silly faces

 

 

Cozy Christmas at Home

We had a fun Christmas at home today, watching the girls open gifts, going to the park to get wiggles out, and having Christmas dinner together. The girls had a great time eating candy canes and skipping naps, Nathanael was a happy boy for his first Christmas, and here are a few dark, fuzzy pics of the day...