Christmas 2009

In case you do not already know, our family does not celebrate Christmas in the traditional manner. We choose to celebrate Jesus' birth every day of the year. We just focus more on it around the 25th of December. With this in mind, we do not buy each other gifts.

Sometimes I struggle with the decision not to 'celebrate' Christmas. Not because I miss getting presents but because I miss the traditions involved. We usually go to our church's Christmas Eve service, but it was cancelled due to bad weather. I did venture out to go to the grocery store and then spent the evening making sausage balls and oreo truffles. We also had great family time, gave Grant his first real bath, and cooked smores in the fire.

On Christmas morning, the kids opened their stockings. We fill their stockings because my mom use to fill them and I miss her being able to carry on that tradition. This was the first year that Zach and Calyn really questioned us about Santa and whether he is real or not. Zach claimed that if they show him on the news, then he must be real. I told them not to expect a lot of presents in their stockings knowing that I had spent only a few dollars each at the dollar spot at Target. After they opened them Calyn told me that I had made a mistake because she got tons of toys in her stocking. So cute. We cooked a big breakfast and Tim and the kids played outside in the snow.

We went over to the Buschman's house for Christmas lunch. Job and Janis are so sweet in that they make sure that we have a place to go on Christmas. I am so thankful to them and their four children (and two spouses) for allowing us to be a part of their family. We had a great meal and lots of adult conversation

Tonight as we put our kids to bed, we will once again read the Christmas story and remind them about a tiny baby that was born to be king. Merry Christmas everyone!

Three months

Grant is now three months old. In the last month he has become more alert and aware. He smiles a lot more lately but usually won't look at whoever is holding him. He no longer sleeps well at night. He does however sleep through church every Sunday. The nursery workers are afraid he will get promoted without them ever meeting him.

Too many mommas!

Giving Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving in Wichita Falls with my dad and Lou. My brother and his family, Lou's daughter Jennifer and her family, and Lou's daughter Brandi and her dog were also present. It was our first holiday together as a new family. A total of 19 people was a little crazy at times but overall was a lot of fun.

This is the kids table minus the 3 that were sleeping.

Abby's normal nap time is 2pm. She fell asleep about 15 minutes before we started lunch.

Ashley was not feeling so good and also slept through lunch.

Grant thankfully slept through lunch.

After lunch we headed to a local park to take pictures and climb a very large hill.

Even Abby and I made it to the top.

Not easy to get a good picture of all 10 kids.

I think Zach had the most fun. The boys were 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 (I think I have those ages correct). He played and was never without someone to entertain him. Calyn was really bummed that Ashley was sick but also had fun playing with the boys.

The Big 4-0!

I surprised Tim with a party the day before his 40th birthday (I was going to say we but even the kids were surprised by the party). With the help of Janis, I created an elaborate ruse to get Tim to the Orlando's on Avenue Q. Fortunately he complied. We arrived to a room full of friends. I think Tim was truly surprised and appreciated the effort. Everyone enjoyed the conversation and the food. The guests also brought gifts to Tim. They consisted of things that an old person needs like denture cream, reading glasses, bladder control items, etc. Some of the gifts also included 40 items like 40 leaves, 40 raspberries, 40 mints, and 40 fingerprints. Overall the party was a huge success and made turning 40 easier for Tim. Thank you so much to Leah and Melissa for helping with the details of the party. Here are some pictures:

So much

I have so much to blog about:
4 birthdays
Thanksgiving
a new camera
Zach & Calyn's first Lord's Supper
a family photo shoot
our first ever Christmas decorations
sick kiddos
The list goes on and on.
Unfortunately I have to play catch-up on my part-time job that has been neglected due to all of the above. But I will be back soon. Until then I leave you with a picture of two of my favorite guys.

Because I had to

I know we are all extremely busy these days. Between my husband, kids, housekeeping, laundry, spending time in the Word, cooking, exercising, and my little part-time job, my days are completely full. Occasionally though, I see something (usually while blog surfing) that I just have to try. These little guys were too cute not to attempt.


I made them for Abby's Thanksgiving lunch at PDO. She dressed up as a pilgrim.

But she was more than happy to let her dad wear her costume.

Tiny at 2 months?

The answer to that question is no. On Grant's two month birthday he moved up to 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.

He had his two month check-up today. He weighed 12 pounds and measured 23 and 1/4 inches (both 60th percentile). He looked and sounded great according to his doctor. He is starting to smile a lot and sleeping 6-7 hours at night. He says he is ready to see both sets of his grandparents next week. He is also looking forward to meeting two aunts, one uncle, and three cousins.

24 hours

24 hours is the amount of time since Grant had his last bottle. Praise God! This little boy is nursing like a champ.

He (and his mom) is quite happy with himself.

G is for Grown-up

Zach and Calyn decided a few months ago that they want to be donut cookers when they grow up. Last Friday they were given the opportunity to dress up as donut cookers for school when they studied the letter G and got to dress up as grown ups for the day.

We started the morning with a trip to Krispy Kreme to pick up their props (donuts).


The Krispy Kreme employees were so impressed with their aspiration and costumes that they gave us a quick tour of the donut machines and walked us through the donut making process.

They even offered to let the twins come back later (we were running late for school) to take more photos and dip donuts in chocolate.

Z and C of course got their free, hot donut and we headed to school.

Zach and Calyn provided the days snack for their class courtesy of Krispy Kreme.

The other students wanted to be a doctor, momma, preacher, scientist, handy man, football player, and home depot employee.

Thanks to all the Krispy Kreme employees and the kind manager who gave us the tour. KK also donated the two dozen donuts to Z and C's class.

One-up

I am not much for one-upping my friends, but I think this experience with Abby one-ups the Annerson pooping in the tub story posted by my friend Leah.
Recently I was taking a shower and waiting for Tim to bring Grant to shower with me. As I was scrubbing I heard Tim say, "Oh Abby" in the tone that just tells you something bad has happened. Little Miss Abby had pooped in her diaper (she was not poopy when I started my shower). She then proceeded to take off her poopy diaper and slide all the way down the stairs that lead to our bedroom. I graciously allowed Tim to clean up the mess as I lingered in the shower with Grant. But if you happen to visit our house in the near future and feel the need to go up to our bedroom, I would wear shoes. I'm just sayin'.

Tough

Another tough anniversary has arrived-one year since the death of my sweet sister-in-law Susan. But as tough as it is for Tim and I, it is infinitely harder on her husband, Chris, and son, Evan. Will you please pause and lift them up in prayer? Please also lift up my in-laws, John and Terry, Tim's brother and wife, Pete and Emilie, and Tim's brother, Jeff as this anniversary is also hard for them. One more request: please also pray for Susan's brother, Andrew. He lost both parents to cancer and then Susan in just a few short years.

Thanks.

I miss Susan a lot. We often went weeks without talking but had the type of friendship where we would catch-up in minutes on the phone and then talk about nothing for over an hour. I find myself wishing that I could call her for advice (both in child rearing and scrapbooking) or wanting to share with her a funny story. I loved going to Chicago. We always stayed with Susan and she went out of her way to welcome us and keep us busy. I hate to think of going to visit and not having her there.

Susan was a great wife, mom, and friend. These pictures are old (Evan is now five) but they are some of my favorites. Susan was always smiling.