Christmas 2009 Recap #1

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Abbie

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration and this year it was just a blast watching the kids open gifts. More importantly, it was a blast watching them grasp and understand the reason behind getting/giving gifts.

We had to wake Josiah up and it took him a long while to figure out what was going on. He perked up when he saw his new train stuff though.

All the kids were excited over their gifts…even Ceili Rain who decided to sleep for three hours after breakfast!! Pants made by me. Zoe’s shirt, I appliqued. I wanted to get a picture of them all together but just never got around to it.

Merry Christmas!!

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Abbie

Merry Christmas to everyone! I pray today is a day to celebrate the birth of Christ. God’s own sacrifice to give His Son to walk on earth.

We have been preparing for Christmas this year by celebrating Advent, reading Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide, and opening boxes to find out what God wants for Christmas. It’s been a blessing to hear the kids (especially those who are very into presents) inform us that it’s not about Santa or flying reindeer or gifts that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Jesus. They are listening!!

Yes, I made the girls outfits and they are quite adorable if I do say so myself. Lest you think we snap perfect pictures everytime…here’s proof that we don’t!

We lucked out on that first picture!

I apologize to my .2 loyal readers who were expecting posts every day. I’ve got what I want to post but do not have the energy nor the stomach power! Yes, first trimester has hit with a vengence and is due to stick around for at least two more weeks. Once I know that food will stay down and I will stay awake, more posts will come!!

Presenting the Cassanova of the Bunch…and Zoe and Ace!

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Abbie

So, last week, Zoe, Ace, and Liam had their first choir performance of the year. This was Liam’s first shot at being on stage and he took full advantage of it.

I’ll preface these videos by saying that while Liam’s 3 year old class was waiting to perform he was rough housing with the teacher’s younger daughter. She was used to it as she has two older brothers. He suddenly stopped, looked at her and said, “You’re a girl. I hug girls.” And then proceeded to give her a sweet hug. He’s a lover and loves to hug on other people, hence the video. I did not see any smooching and he said he didn’t kiss but he did give hugs and some quiet roars (at lease we couldn’t hear them).

Liam singing-the beginning from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Liam singing 1 from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Zoe’s Choir 09 from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Ace’s Choir Performance from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Listen closely and you’ll hear Josiah calling out, “Wee um!” He proceeded to call to Zoe and Ace too. We were sitting so far back that they couldn’t hear his frantic cries for waves. He loves his brothers and sister so much.

Pillowcase Craft

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Abbie

So, I didn’t get a picture of the girls with the pillowcases at Zoe’s party, but I did get a picture of the boys. I designed three different designs (3 for girls and 3 for boys) of pillowcases and made it so I could put their names on them. Of course, the boys’ couldn’t be left out of creating something that the girls did. Here they are hard at work:

Ace and Liam chose the knight/dragon design and Josiah picked the…wait for it…any guesses??? Yes, yes, the train! He colored that thing so many colors and he concentrated so hard on it. I think he would have colored all night if we had let him. He let me help color his name, though. Ace and Liam did a great job on their own and their knights were colorful and complete.

Searching for the Perfect Tree

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Abbie

Every year, Mark and I throw around the idea of buying an artificial tree. And every year, we find an excuse not to. This year, I think the excuse will stick. It’s become a family tradition to go to the Christmas tree farm and purchase a tree. And family traditions are important…besides, our kids loving having free range throughout the farm to…

tackle…

run…

lay down…

and on cold trips, cuddle!

It didn’t take much deliberation and it seems every year it takes less and less time. So, we picked out our tree, got popcorn and hot chocolate and sat around the fire. Now, our biggest blessing came as Mark worked with the Christmas tree people to get the tree on the van (an engineering genius if you ask me) and we sat around the fire waiting, munching, and spilling (there’s always a hot chocolate spill).

The tree cutting being supervised by Mark, Zoe, and Ace. It’s a fat little tree and perfect for us this year. Not too expensive…however, we had quite a time getting it to actually sit in a tree stand…phew that was a lot of work for Mark.

Back to the story…

Zoe had a tough time when we first told them we were pregnant. She just wasn’t prepared for that. It broke my heart to see her so upset and I prayed for peace and excitement to grow. Now, she’s not upset and can’t wait until she can see pictures of the baby actually looking like a baby. However, I’ve also been praying for ways to show her what a blessing they all are to us, including this little one growing. God gave us two families that spoke to us while the tree was going on the van. Each one talked about how blessed we were and how much fun it had to be. Never once did either family mention how hard it must be or that I “had my hands full.” They seemed to be thoroughly excited to see a larger-than-normal family. And as we walked away, I quietly thanked God for giving her an opportunity to see that not all people think we’re weirdos!

Christmas Party Videos as Promised

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Abbie

The Christmas Story presented by That Price Family.

The Story of Christmas from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Singing for the staff at church…

Caroling from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

A Homeschool Christmas Party

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Abbie

We were able to celebrate Christmas this year with a bunch of our homeschool friends. I think the kids had a great time and I had less stress since Mark was there to help out!

They made gingerbread houses (okay, graham cracker houses)…

Christmas tree ornaments…

Christmas trees with tons of icing…I believe Ace was contemplating licking the spoon.

And glass ball ornaments (in which I was the only one who broke one).

They also listened to stories while the moms (and dad) cleaned up.

And this is where you keep the baby while you clean up.

The kids also got to watch a Christmas play and sing carols…but those are in video form so look for the next post.

On to Christmas

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Abbie

While visiting Ge and Granddaddy, we traveled a little ways to visit with Abbie’s Aunt D and her family. And kick off our Christmas celebrations.

Zoe has a 3rd cousin that is her age and Ace has one that is his age. Needless to say, they enjoyed themselves immensely with those cousins and their other 3rd cousins who are only slightly older.

Abbie’s oldest cousin and his family. We did the best we could with pictures.

Abbie’s second oldest cousin and her family.

Aunt Yaya and family. I’m sure my mom and Aunt D got better pictures…they were taking so many that many of us complained of seeing just one white light!

Our crew.

All the cousins…ranging in age from 10 to 8 months.

Turn your head again…Ge and Granddaddy.

My (Abbie’s) Aunt D and Uncle E. They tortured us, we torture them.

Aunt D is Granddaddy’s sister. I think this is one of my favorite pictures. I love that they all still try to get together once a month. I hope to one day have that kind of relationship with my sister.

Thanksgiving #2

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Abbie

After visiting with Papa, Grandmere, Uncle B and Aunt B and kids we headed over to visit Abbie’s family…including Granddaddy, Ge, Aunt Yaya, and Uncle J and their family.

The highlight was Aunt Yaya bringing gingerbread cookies to decorate and then promptly decapitate and dismember.

Cousin J’s creation!

Cousin E’s creation.

Just turn your head and have patience with me.

Let the Wedding March Begin

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Abbie

So, what would make me load up my family and trudge a ton of miles and two days to Houston, Texas. This person right here would. This (the bride) was my best friend in high school. We shared many late night talks ranging from my love for Mark to political issues and even theological ones. Even though she abandoned me to go to U of A (that would Roll Tide Country), we still managed a couple of good late night talks…which included my mom waiting up until the wee hours of the morning for me to get home. Of course, as she trudged through medical school our visits were less frequent and even more so as I abandoned our home state after Mark and I got married.

I have been praying for God to bring her husband for a while now. She loves children and wanted so much to be a wife and mom. I was so excited when she told me about who she was dating. And then brought to tears as she shared the first time he said he loved her was when he asked her to marry him.

And so, on Saturday, we were able to watch them make a covenant with God and each other to stay together forever as husband and wife. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony. And then we celebrated at the reception…

Zoe was pretty impressed with M’s dress.

Who’s that handsome man with the beautiful baby??

Let them eat cake!

Zoe was equally impressed with the flower girls dress and had to look at it really closely. It really resembles the dress she wore in the wedding she was in.

The boys enjoyed getting some tackling loving from a sweet little girl. No, this is not Ceili Rain but she loved Liam and Josiah and was not shy to show it.