Grandmama's Birthday and Life after Christmas...ha!

Happy birthday Grandmama! I just love this picture. So many fun expressions. We are so happy we were able to celebrate together!

We finally were able to give cousin Benjamin his Christmas gift. He loves trucks, and I couldn't manage to catch the excitement on his face as he discovered his gift, but his little mouth formed a surprised O, and he just loved it.

Benjamin's (and Uncle Robeson and Aunt Natalie's) gift to ours. We had nerf ammo behind the silver cabinet, behind couches, in mouths. It was a warzone. Wally was ecstatic. He's been threatening to buy this stuff for a while. I guess brothers can still read each other's minds when they grow up.

Aunt Clara made the cutest gifts for the kids. How special! We are using them in our stamping forays.

I got a kick out of Wally showing Greatmama his Kindle. She was very impressed.

Dancing fun. Alden was hilarious with the helmet. I don't think he could see much of anything, so he was just spinning like a slow robot.

Oh, yes they did. Uncle Averett and Aunt Jaime gave us a Clemson gnome to put in our children's garden out back. How utterly fun!

Special times. PaPa loved hearing Corwin make all of his car and train noises.

Are you feeling it?

He's just groovin'.

"Dahling, you really shoiuld get an Ipad." I STILL haven't replaced my laptop. I think in order to get an Ipad, I have to get those square dark-framed glasses...don't they sell those as an accessory to it?

Building and elaborate tower. We really need to take Alden for a haircut. The other day I was trying to fix his hair, and I finished with a flourish and let him look in the mirror. He stared at himself for a minute and said, "I look like a (long pause)....genius." I'm not exactly sure if that was complimentary...

I'm amazed at Alden's 3 year old vocabulary. Another funny quote from Alden, "Corwin ran off into the misty dark.....He's in the bathroom." Now I will run off into the misty dark, but to bed.

New Year

For the new year, Corwin has decided to take up newspaper reading. My resolution is to smile more and give more hugs, Alden's is to do more crafts (hm, is that really a resolution for him or for me???), Rhianwen's is to go to the State Fair when it comes around again, and Wally's is to read through the Bible in a year.

My family came for a visit for New Years and to help us finish our deck. We ate delicious food at the Twisted Noodle.

Corwin's first Thai food. He loved it.

My parents gave Rhianwen some Clemson cheer, but sadly, this did not provide any luck whatsoever in our bowl game. I don't even want to think about that game. It's a good thing there is more to life than football.

Jenga, the perfect way to ensure you win...add a baby.

Hangin' with Grandpa.

We do have a girly girl. No doubt about it.

Oh, don't you just want to kiss that face? He's going to be one in a week!!!

Earlier in the month, the weather was beautiful. We went to the NC Botanical Garden for a walk and picnic.

Fun in the children's area. A woman pointed us toward this area. I do have to say, she did this BEFORE our kids climbed all over a marble sculpture. I guess she thought it was inevitable, which it was. It's amazing how impossible it is to carry on a conversation with another adult AND manage kids at the same time.

Thank you, Uncle Christopher. We use the easel every day. Corwin has even tried stamps, but sadly, he only managed to surround his mouth with a very blue halo.

Corwin has more and more wanted to be a part of the action with Rhi and Alden. This was an introduction to dress-up.

Daddy date for January: a trip to Disney's Beauty and the Beast 3D. Note to self: do not let Rhianwen look forward to something like this, it will result in a fever and near hyperventilation. Next time, just surprise her.

A Very Belated Christmas Post

I think I'll just use the excuse that we didn't finish Christmas until this past Saturday. That's right. This has been the longest Christmas celebration ever! We do have our reasons. Corwin came down with a nasty cold and fever Christmas Eve, so we did not go to York as planned. Our trip was delayed until Grandmama's birthday (Wally's mom) this past week. SO, we just finished our final gift exchanges. Now, should I put almost a month's worth of pictures all in one post? Hmmmm.

These Christmas ornaments came out really well. They are made from cone-shaped cardstock, cloth, glitter, and sequins.

We, of course, did our yearly Christmas nativity. I was the angel...YESSS, finally! I remember when I was little always wanting to be the angel in the school production, but I think I was usually a shepherd. We used Handel's Messiah (Glory to God) and a flashligh, aka the glory of the Lord, for my debut appearance.

Thank you BeBe! We love advent calendars!

Hanging the stockings.

Christmas morning...ah yeah...puffs.

Happy birthday, Jesus!

What's in there?

Ah, yes, an environmentally friendly vehicle. Just what I wanted.

A Fwashwight! Yay! Alden has actually been working on saying his L's. It's making me a little sad because he's getting it. Instead of hearing, "I wuv you mommy.", I am now hearing, "I love you mommy." Truthfully, I am relieved that we won't be hiring a speech therapist, but it's sad too.

Christmas hugs.

We caved. She got dance lessons for Christmas. One unexpected positive benefit from ballet lessons is the desire to listen to only "classical" music. So, at the very least, they are instilling a love for good music.

A train table. Everyone loves this, even daddy, although he might not admit it, I think it gives him some satisfaction to redesign it every couple of days.

Carpooling even further decreases our carbon footprint.

I think I'll end my Christmas post here. We love staying at home and celebrating as a family. They also were able to attend church, without me, sniff sniff, (I had been really looking forward to celebrating with everyone else at church).