Say Cheese

For a long time Judah has been resistant to taking a "normal" photo. I beg and plead and it's a little pathetic. I usually get a good picture of him when I take him off guard, or when I end up threatening him. I know, I know, threatening him seems a bit much, but I love pictures so he is going to have to fall in line. Here are two perfect examples of what I mean! AHHHHH!! And daddy looked so nice.

P.S. Yes, of course I think Judah is perfect and cute anyway, but come on! Smile!! :)

Helen

We visited Helen today. She is very special to us. She used to be our neighbor. We would visit her on a regular basis and just shoot the breeze. One day, we saw an ambulance in front of her house. I went running down to see what had happened. She had fallen hard and was wedged under her bed. She was hurt, disoriented, and crying. I held her hand and talked to her. I knew she would not be coming back to live alone in her house.

She was moved to a women's home and we visit her there now. I know I need to go more often than I do. Now that we have moved too, we are closer to her.

We were sad to hear today that her beloved cat Marshmallow, had died. He brought her such joy and I could see a change in her now that he is gone. I believe she has dementia. She repeated two different stories three times, verbatim. It seems worse than a year ago. She knows her mind is going and it is very frustrating for her.

We love to talk to her, she has such a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing. She loves to see the kids and play with them. We laughed and even cried a little together. She gets lonely. I know we will be visiting more often. I want to decorate her room a little for Christmas. It is her first year without a tree. I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she said, "To get the hell out of here." She doesn't like being on a schedule for meals, or being told what to do. We will have to see what we can do to cheer her up. She continually told me how happy she was that we came and how we "made her day," She always touches my heart and I know that she is a gift from God to us, and I told her just that.

Hoop Master

Here is a quick pic of Judah playing basketball. Look how tall his coach is!!! Judah is closest on the right in the white. He is SO much fun to watch. This is one sport he does not practice all year, but he picked right back up where he left off. He has so much energy and is continually near the ball or has possession. He made some great shots, even a three pointer. I am glad he is having fun and getting so much exercise. More pics to come as the season progresses.

Side note: It is FREEZING tonight. It is 16 degrees and the bitter cold wind is shaking the house. I just put two extra blankets on each of my babies. After work my windshield and roads were covered in ice.

Tender Heart

Tonight at the dinner table we were telling our children some of the reasons why we love them so much. Judah chimed in and said,"I think one thing special about me is that I like to make shy people feel welcome." He was so sincere and it really melted my heart.

We had such a great afternoon together. Judah was playing in the snow for a long while and Stella was playing computer games.. Isaac and I cooked a great meal together. We all enjoyed great conversation over dinner and then we watched a really cute movie called, "Chestnut." Most movies like this are awful and corny, but this one was surprisingly sweet. We were all snuggled up on the couch with the Christmas tree looking beautiful. Family nights are becoming more and more special as the children are getting older.......

2nd Snow

We already had our 1st snow earlier in the week, but this is the 2nd snow and the first time the kids have played in it. They were so excited and immediately started having a snow ball fight. They were laughing and playing for 15 minutes, and then of course Judah got carried away and Stella started screaming:) I guess that comes with the territory, ha! Then she came in and watched through the window and cheered him on with things like, "Good shot Jude!! Throw one at the playset!." I love watching the joy in their faces. Snow at Christmas time is magical.

Gymnastics

Stella is REALLY enjoying her gymnastics class. This is her second session. She is learning somersaults, cartwheels, beam, and basic balance. I love watching her stretch. She is SO flexible, it blows my mind.

Judah plays in the game room while she is in class. He plays ping pong and video games. He is usually disappointed when it is time to leave. But, we usually pick up Chinese food or pizza on Fridays, so that makes everyone happy:)

Christmas Tree Shopping and Decorating

One of our favorite days of the year is the day we get and decorate our Christmas tree. We found a beautiful one this year. It is tall and very full. Other families were admiring it as we were holding it up. Usually we know when we have found "the one", and this one was it. She was a feisty one though. It took THREE hours to saw, axe and prune her so that she would fit in the house. I guess we should have measured how tall our ceilings were, now we know!!

We let the kids stay up until 10 while we decorated. They had a blast. We love to talk about the ornaments and find our favorites. We were all a little tired today, but it was worth it. It smells SO good and was worth all the needles and sap that came with it.

On a side note, when Judah got in the car today after school he said, "The girls were at the piano and made me sing Winter Wonderland, I did, and they were impressed." I thought this was so cute. I can just picture him singing that song to the girls. He showed me how he sang it and it melted my heart. He did a great job! My dad used to sing that to me at bed time when I was a very little girl.

Guy and Jackie

This is the time of year when I miss my grandparents the most. By the way, they are the best grandparents in the world, and I tell them that every time I talk to them. Every Christmas my grandpa turns their house into a winter wonderland. Trains, towns, Christmas trees, animals riding unicycles on a string overhead, singing Christmas frogs, little ski people skiing down slopes, you get the idea. Every corner of the living room is filled with fun things to watch and listen too. I miss the smell of Christmas dinner and cookies.

Some of my favorite memories with them are, watching classic disney with grandma in the squeeky chair while eating a grilled CHOCOLATE sandwich. I also loved just walking around with grandpa in the backyard, admiring all of his plants and course my favorite part was seeing his coy pond. He had tiny baby fish and great big ones that swam in a beautiful pond with a waterfall flowing.

As I got older, I just loved talking with them and soaking in all of the great stories they had to share. They were always there, every play, every holiday, every school event. Their faces bring me such joy and comfort. I love them to bits and pieces and just wish I could squeeze them this Christmas. Maybe next year.