Naughty or Nice....you be the judge

Silas and Levi preparing for Baby Four. I thought these pictures were funny. The kids are getting excited for Christmas. Silas is enjoying listening to The Secret Garden audio book and enjoying listening to me read through the Little House on the Prairie books. Priya talks about babies and babies and more babies all the time. Levi is growing and learning how to climb and wrestle and be gentle...and is talking more and more all the time. 

Christian is working on some windows in the wood shop. He's got a huge order for timbers and ladders for the local gold mine, so he's hired and young guy to work at the sawmill some. He spent last sunday sledding with the kids while I baked up a storm for the annual Christmas party. 

This week, I ventured to Gunnison yesterday, babysat and played volleyball today, and am planning a goody baking party, a tie-dyeing party, and lots more cooking and wrapping and trying not to get stomach flu again and avoid the 3-week cold virus that is chasing around this town. Busy, fun week. 

Visions of sugar plums

They are so sweet when they're sleeping. These cold nights, we check to see if they are covered up before we go to bed...and sometimes find interesting positions. By the way, if you have a sugar plum, please mail me one, I don't think I have any idea what that is. Kind of like a craisin-prune?

Merry Merry

After a week of sugar cookies and stomach flu, we're all back to full health and ready for the season! I am now 14 weeks pregnant and feeling well (24-hour flu aside). I'm still running and working out in the early morning, which helps me stay sane in the long days inside a tiny house with three wild children. 

We've been cooking and baking many goodies. This week, we'll be making more sugar cookies because the kids have parties at school and a program at Kids' Klub, which is a gospel-oriented weekly program they attend. Also, I'm helping to organize a large Christmas party which will be next weekend at my in-laws' home. Last year, we had over 100 people!

The next week, I'll make one more Gunnison trip for groceries and last minute stocking stuffers and focus the rest of the week on making Christmas gifts.

We are thankful this year for our wonderful children, siblings, parents, and nephews, and for the little bean of a baby that I've already felt jumping around! Most of all, we are thankful for Christ, whose Advent here makes a true difference in our lives. 

Nerf guns, fir trees, birthdays, oh my

Silas, my first baby, has passed the five year mark. How did this happen? A little bit about the boy you may know only in photos and blogland... He's tall and handsome and incredibly strong. He's super because he can fly. He flaps his arms and then he can get off the ground a little. He likes to read about hard-working kids in the "Little House" books, but is just himself learning to be a hard worker. He prefers any project his Dad is doing to the household duties he has with me. He is a chicken farmer. He loves to sing and "do art stuff." He's still a cuddler, and holds my hand when we walk, or in church, or just because. He LOVES his cousins. He wants to marry Priya when he grows up and be a fireman. He has great insight into life and asks wonderful, spritual questions. I love this kid so much. 

To celebrate his birthday, I made him name pancakes (with fruity crisp confetti). He unwrapped a nerf gun and a light saber and we went swimming in Gunnison. Life is good for a five-year-old as long as you remember where not to aim the nerf gun. 

Growing like a weed

Levi was missed in the last two posts. No, he didn't get a costume. I barely had time to dress up the big kids since we had just gotten back from Santa Fe and Christian was suffering the effects of too much amazing Mexican food. But, Little Man has been growing like crazy lately!! I remember loving the 15 month to 2 yr stage with the other kids, too. Last week he took 3 naps that were 5 or 6 hours long. One day he fell asleep eating his lunch and woke up at 6:30 in time to snag the slice of pizza out of Christian's hand and start chomping. He has taken to wearing his brother's and sister's (!) shoes, dancing on the kitchen table, and playing golf and chess (just kidding). He is learning new words every day...my favorite new word is "PURPLE", about which he is passionate.

Costumes

We arrived home from a weekend in Santa Fe (see below post) just in time for knocking on doors and getting candy. The tradition is a little different here...you spend about 10 minutes at each house visiting. A lot of times there is hot chocolate or buttered rum or spiced cider for the parents...we only went to 10 houses or so, but it took forever! Priya made a smiley, rosy-cheeked Raggedy Ann...and Silas chose being a cowboy over a candy corn (the last minute options I gave him). Christian wasn't feeling well (too much yummy Mexican food?) So he and Levi stayed with the candy bowl at our house.

Santa Fe

Last weekend, we drove down to Santa Fe to celebrate our 8th Anniversary. We spent two nights away from the kids, who were happy and safe with Christian's parents. We left Friday afternoon got a haircut in Creede, bought some grapes in Southfork, and saw the pictured CRAZY handmade house in La Jara complete with folk religion signs...and arrived in time for some killer sushi in Santa Fe. Saturday we went up in the hills (I ran 5 miles and Christian hiked some). We cleaned up and then walked all around downtown all day including the artist's and farmer's markets and then ate some killer Mexican food (fish tacos and mango Margarita and more chips and salsa than I'd like to admit). We did some shopping at the highly recommended Trader Joe's; and hit the road to come home. What a refreshing time. We arrived home in time for some quick costuming and trick-or-treating (see above post).