The Post Christmas Post!

Festivities with the family
Cousins and best friends
Annual gingerbread house building with our best friends
Icing, yum!
Getting creative with the mixer!
Twist it! Can't beat a classic!
One of Sweet Pea's favs
Something for Pun'kin Head and daddy!
Kids church Christmas musical
Pun'kin Head's Christmas carols
If it goes above the head that's code for a great gift!
Thank you, Auntie for the American Girl stuff!

Here's the random montage of our MANY days of Christmas celebrations. And we are STILL celebrating with more get-togethers with our wonderful friends and family.It was a very special year for us and the last Christmas in this house where our kiddos have grown so beautifully. We look ahead to a New Year of blessings and BEING a blessing. Hope you all made some fond memories this Christmas season. For we don't remember days or seasons, but rather moments!

We're Back!

Took some bloggy time off for Thanksgiving festivities and black Friday madness. It was actually a quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving at home, just the four of us! The kiddos helped with the baking this year, which was surprisingly nice. We don't normally go crazy on black Friday, cyber Monday is more my thing! But as we had a house showing on Friday afternoon, after MUCH cleaning, we ventured out and hit a couple of stores while the pupster waited patiently in the car. Here are some snaps of our humble Thanksgiving :)

What is a Dubba?

Got an email the other day from my brother Dave saying that he finally had a minute to check out my new blog! The only criticism he had was that there seemed to be no mention of HIM! Specifically, what is a Dubba? I just didn't want others to be jealous of us by mentioning all of his great attributes. Well, here's my attempt to remedy that.
I'm not sure I remember when the name "Dubba" was given to him, but all of the nieces and nephews and all other little kids call Uncle Dave "Dubba". Dubba is an incredible guy. He's a handsome, strong, snuggly bear of a guy who gives the best hugs (know wonder all the kids are stuck to him like magnets!). He is an extremely charming and friendly guy and definitely not the shy, quiet type. If you are within a mile from Dubba's house while the Red Sox or Pats are playing, you'll hear him! He is also the most generous, fun-loving, and kind person I know.
He's ALWAYS been there for me and seven years my senior, more a "father figure" than a big brother. But I am happy to say, now that we are grown, he is one of my closest friends. My husband grew up with no brothers and four sisters, therefore Dubba has become the big brother he never had. He'd be the first one to tell you that Dubba is SUPER DAD and a tough act to follow.
He not only works diligently, many hours a week, but he's always there for his wife and kids. He has coached his kids various sports teams, helped with homework, attended a myriad of dance and band recitals, school events, soccer, baseball, softball, gymnastic, and golf matches where he is always their number one fan! He even takes his kids on "dad and kids only" camp-out weekends so mom can have a break!
He travels eight hours to visit us once or twice a year and always asks "should I bring my tools?" as he has done so many projects for us at our home. He also generously hosts all of us as we travel to New England once or twice a year, even our pup is welcome!
What more can I say, other than I feel badly for all of you that don't have Dubba (or someone like him) in your life. Love you Dub, Sis :)

Harvest Photos 2008

Although we are not too into Halloween, we do let the kids celebrate Harvest and do a little Trick or Treating. This year we did not need to purchase costumes, yay! The kids were happy to use dress-ups they've played with all year. We live in such a nice neighborhood and it was a beautifully mild night to go for a walk. Even our Pup, Moses, joined in the fun and received one dog bone from a kind lady! I'm always excited to get this occasion over with, because HH does not allow me to play or sing Christmas music until it's officially Nov. (preferably after Thanksgiving, but I can't help it if I like to make it last as long as possible). Happy Harvest :)

When Daddy's away, musical beds we'll play...

We dropped Handsome Hubby off at the airport this morning. He's out of town for work until Sat. evening. Such a bummer because Friday nights are our family night. Mama gets a night off of cooking and we order out or eat out and do something fun together. Thankfully he hasn't had to travel much lately. But we always hate it when he's away. Although he works many hours during the week, it's just nice knowing he's around when we need him.
First thing we wake up to is the sound of Daddy in the shower and the whole house smelling like him when he leaves. It's his own secret combo and Sweet Pea says he smells like candy! After he smooches the kids up, his scent lingers on them most of the morning. I don't do well being apart. I don't know how some families do it. I guess if it's all you've ever known, then maybe it's a little easier.
We were spoiled from the beginning of our marriage and until the birth of Pun'kin Head, we were inseparable. We were in college and would drive to school together, then home and even to work when we worked for the same company for a while. Upon graduation, we worked at the same company, and worked part time together as youth pastors. Bottom line, we love being together. Some people would ask me, "How do you stand being together so much?" I honestly didn't know how to answer. Of course, people need alone time and have separate interests, but if they are the person you love the most in the world, why wouldn't you want to spend as much time as possible with them? HH has always said that the hardest part of parenthood has been having to share me with the kiddos. He was so used to being with me all day and now that I stay at home it's nice to know that he genuinely misses me!
Instead of crying over how much we wish he weren't working out of town, we try to make it a fun time. The kids usually fight over who gets to sleep in the big bed with mama. Pun'kin Head is in my bed tonight and Sweet Pea asked to go in her brother's bed, just to have a change of scenery. We'll see how it goes. By this time of night I'm quite the softy, so hopefully everyone will sleep :)

Before I Was Born by Carolyn Nystrom

This past summer we had the first talk concerning God's design for sex with our kids. At ages 8.5 and 6.5 they had been asking many questions about their bodies and why they can't take baths together anymore (except with swimsuits on!) We found a beautiful, four book series by Carolyn Nystrom that range in age from 3-14. We chose Book Two, Before I Was Born (Ages Five to Eight). It emphasizes the creational goodness of our bodies and our differences as men and women. It includes the teaching of the growth and change as girls and boys become men and women and a tactful but direct explanation of sexual intercourse between a husband and wife. It is filled with beautiful artwork and was a great experience to read. Afterword, there were questions and more to follow throughout the summer. Sweet Pea giggled as she asked for clarification concerning the names of body parts and much talk about having babies and nursing them. Pun'kin Head, on the other hand, had some revelations of his own. Days later, he came to me one afternoon, and asked "Mama, remember what it said in that book about how to make a baby?" "Yes." I answered. "And did it say that a mom and dad can do that any time they want to and make a baby?" he asked. "Well, they can only make a baby if it's the right time of the month and there is an egg there to fertilize," I replied. Then a very excited look came over his face as if something clicked. He jumped up and down and said, "You mean you and dad could do that tonight and make a baby brother or sister?" "That's right, I suppose." "Well, are you going to?" he beamed. "Well, I'd have to ask daddy first!" I replied. "Great!" was his response. As he ran off to play, under my breath, I whispered "Yeah, but knowing dad, he'll probably just want to "practice" again!" :)

We are praising God for our new house!!!

God is so good! This past summer was the summer of house hunting. Each day we dragged the kids from one house, to the next, to no avail. Trying not to get weary in well doing, we knew all our efforts would pay off eventually. We have lived in a small, cozy house for the past seven years and although we love what we've made it, we've simply outgrown it. A dog, cat, two kids and a mama who are home all day, need a little breathing room sometimes. One thing we'll miss the most are our awesome neighbors! We have the best neighbors in the world and it will be difficult to move on, but I believe if WE are good neighbors, then we'll be blessed with great ones again. And we'll only be 10 minutes away, so we can still have play dates with our best friends. When we moved here, Punkin' Head was only two, and Sweet Pea was in my belly. We have since morphed into a homeschooling, loving-to-be-at-home family. Our living room is the only room to watch tv, play guitar, read, play wii etc... and our dining/homeschool library is so cramped you can hardly move. It will be so great to have my very own library (did I mention yet that I'm a bookworm?)! As we will have three, yes three living spaces in our new house, one will definitely be a library!! We are excited to have more room to be a blessing to our friends and out of town family too! Although they camped out on the floor of our tiny apartment when we were in college and they didn't care. That's great family for you. Well, as you can imagine, I'm like a crazy, cleaning woman, as our house will go on the market TOMORROW, with our first open house in only four days! Yikes, gotta go!