The Rest of the Family

Dear Raini,
I just had to share this picture with you. It's of the rest of my family and some aunts, uncles, and cousins going up Old Man's Pass to get Christmas trees from the woods. Dec. 2007.

7 Months!

I can't believe some days that she is 7 months old already! And yet most of the time when I look at her and what she's up to these days, I can't believe she's only 7 months old! She crawls, she babbles, she moves along the front of the couch, she kneels. She's a full 3 months ahead of where Joshua was at when he was this age, and more than that for Emmy! Emmy took her first steps at 13 1/2 months, and Elayna is going to be running by that age. It's amazing how every kid is so different! Dec. 7, 2007.

Cardinal at our House

We saw a Cardinal at our house yesterday. It came and got some seeds from our bird feeder and wasn't scared off by the Blue Jays. There were also some Chickadees as well, which the kids really enjoyed watching! Dec. 7, 2007.

Experimenting

I was experimenting with my camera last week, trying to figure out what all the buttons were capable of doing. These were some I took after the decorating was done and the kids were playing by the tree. Dec. 2, 2007.

The Fun of the Great Grand Box

As usual, the most fun thing ever invented is ~The Box~ better known as The Fort, The Castle, The Ship, The House, etc. etc. etc. The kids played in it for several days, until they started to tear one of the corners, which doesn't make Momma happy when she needs it to put the tree back in it after Christmas! Here Josh is feeding Elayna a bottle in The Box, something which made him feel very important! He loves helping me with her any way he can. In fact, one day he tried to be so helpful he got her out of her crib!!! I was downstairs, heard a thump, and a little cry, but I thought Joshua must have shared a toy with her or something. Next thing I knew, I heard Joshua coming down the stairs, and he came right over to me and said he got Elayna out of her crib! But he couldn't get her all the way down the stairs and needed my help. !!!! I ran up the stairs with my heart pounding to find her in crawling position right at the top of the stairs. Josh and I had a little talk about where his helpfulness needed to end! Dec. 2, 2007.

Christmas Kids

Aren't these a cute bunch of kiddos?! Dec. 2, 2007.

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

We put up the Christmas tree last weekend, and the kids enjoyed helping to decorate it as they usually do! And whatever candy canes you see in this picture - no longer exist. Emmy has a craving for candy canes apparently every time I turn my back! This year we have a *(*(*(fake)*)*)* Christmas tree - sorry guys, you just can't get a good Noble Fir out here unless you want to pay an arm and a leg and a dry Scotch Pine just isn't the same anyway, so FAKE it is for us Michiganders! Dec. 2, 2007.

Joshua Writes His Name

Joshua has been practicing his letters, and finally the time came to help him put together all the letters of his name. The center "Joshua" is the one I wrote, and Joshua's letters are just above mine. The "J" is a little funny, but usually he writes them backwards, so I thought this was pretty good! Nov. 28, 2007.